Jackson Stealth EX Value and Quality

[M.G93]

Hello Everyone,

I´m owning a RR24 but i am thinking of buying a Strat for some time now.
I found a Stealth EX, built in 93, Stone Finish, no changes at all.
Price is 200 Euro, (i´m from Germany) so it´s about 245 Dollars.

My Questions are:

1. Is the Price reasonable (its in pretty good condition)
2. What´s to say about Quality and playability (I have read about some issues in terms of quality)

Thanks for your help

[Carbuff]

I think its a fair price if you like the stone finish. Quality should be on par with japanese jacksons of the era. It has a thinner, lighter body than the usual jackson dinky. If thats a plus for you then it adds to the value. A case would be nice too. I like mine.

[Mudlark]

It's a good price, especially if in great shape.
I can't recall ever hearing of quality issues on a Jackson from that era. Those guitars were often flawless in build quality.

[tomjonesrocks]

I've had a weird obsession with the Stealth since it was my dream guitar when I was learning scales - and now after all these years later I finally decided to acquire one a few months back (turns out it was plated as a '95 but really was a '96 - thus a TH1 - and in purple not stone). I particularly love the natural XL with matching headstock - never seen one for sale otherwise I'd be in the mix.

Unsure why these aren't more popular and I'd like to do more research as to why that is. Maybe they suck and I just am blind/uninformed. Whenever I read about the Japan models of this era (Pro aside) it seems like they get mediocre quality marks. Yet, these have the stamped Takeuchi 580 trems which were also in higher models (and seem to be a desirable option vs. others in the era) - and my guitar had the Armstrong pickups (although all the Jackson pickups seem to have mixed opinions these also seemed preferred). IMO the neck on these is killer - HUGE frets and -flat- fretboard - zero complaints there from me.

I bought mine in good condition as a project guitar - and at around ~$250-$300 US used these seem like a good value. I disassembled all the hardware on mine and polished and cleaned it, bought new OFR screws and blocks for the trem (they fit) and rewired completely with EMGs. Now, keep in mind if you do anything like this the guitar is *quite* thin and the output jack a highly unusual design to achieve that jack-in-the-front look. A lot of 3 and 5 position switches are deeper/thicker than the body itself - and replacing the jack to go with the new setup was no picnic! That said well under $500 done I'm more than satisfied - pretty cheap to cross off a bucket-list item.

Anyway the stone is interesting - actually rough to the touch! It might have a benefit of looking both very unique AND brand-new. Would be a fun one to customize perhaps...

[VitaminG]

I think the Stealth wasn't as popular because Ibanez was already producing the Sabre. Similar body types & Ibanez was a more popular brand. The differences between RG & Dinky bodies are enough that people would fall into one camp or the other. Stealth & Sabre were so similar that I think people just went for the one in the Frank Gambale ad.

Jackson's quality during this period was uniformly very good. The top of the line Pros were more optioned up but were built no better than the rest of the Professional models. The Performer series never felt as good to me, but I might just have been a bit snobbish at the time.

The Jackson pickups of the 80s were wound in the US shop & are excellent pickups. The 90s ones are solid, but not great. Although I do quite like the J92s in my Fusion SSs. I swapped out the 90s J50/J80 combo in my Fusion Plus. Armstrongs were an upgrade, although many people now know have no idea what they are.

[slayer]

I always wondered what Jackson pickups are in my Fusion H-H. Never checked.