Jackson Professional series??

[BloodRose]

How are these?? Ive got a line on one thats seems to be a good price. Its a soloist shape, but bolt on. Ive ALWAYS wanted a real soloist, but never been able to afford one. I had a DK2 once, but had to sell it during a low period.. Plus, I didnt think it played or sounded as good as my charvel 4.

Im guessing the Pro series (Says Jackson Professional on the headstock. Jackson is in toothpaste logo) Is probably about equivalent in build to the DK2..??

Please advise.thanks

[Spivonious]

Professional Series guitars were made in Japan from about 1992-1996. Each model has three variants, Std, XL, and Pro. The Pro variants were so good that they were taking away sales from the USA-made guitars. The Std and XL variants are about the quality level of today's Japanese line (DK2, SL3, etc.).

The variant should be on the trussrod cover, e.g. "Dinky Std" or "Soloist XL" or "Rhoads Pro".

If it comes with the original case, I'd pay about $250 for a Std and $350 for an XL. The Pros can fetch quite a bit more.

Check out the 1994 catalog for some more details: http://audiozone.dk/cm/displayimage.php?album=61&pos=9

[rjohnstone]

Professional Series guitars were made in Japan from about 1992-1996.

Umm.. they were around a lot longer than that dude. Try 1990 to roughly 98 or 99. Then the "Professional" logo was dropped and renamed to the Pro series.


The "Professional" line is fantastic.
If you can find a 90-94, they are built to the same specs as the USA versions.
The current Pro series are great guitars, but not the same build quality as the earlier Professional series.

Post some pics of what you're looking at.

[BloodRose]

thanks for the great info! There is nothing on the truss cover of the one Im looking at.. Neck is bound and has sharkies, if that helps. in nearly excellent shape and has hSC, but not orig. Asking 395.

Also, duncan designed pups

[rjohnstone]

Duncan Designed pups and no marking on the truss rod cover = late 90's era.
Still decent though.
$395 is a bit high, but if the guitar is in great shape it might be worth it.
Hard to tell without pics.

[Rich#6]

These at least have the good tackuchi jt580 trems. If it is from around 95-96 or earlier it might have MOP inlays and not MOTO

[pro-fusion]

1990-92 was the sweet spot for the Professional series. After that, Jackson started cheapening them up, particular the lower-level ones, by putting TRS trems and inferior pickups on them. The "Pro" guitars stayed unchanged all the way through 1995, however, IIRC.

[Vass]

Schaller trem or something else? Ebony board or rosewood? Perloid headstock or painted? These are the easy ways to identify the higher end pros.

All great guitars.

RJ- early pro models had blank truss covers, no?

[laihojrxo]

Professional Series guitars were made in Japan from about 1992-1996. Each model has three variants, Std, XL, and Pro. The Pro variants were so good that they were taking away sales from the USA-made guitars. The Std and XL variants are about the quality level of today's Japanese line (DK2, SL3, etc.).

The variant should be on the trussrod cover, e.g. "Dinky Std" or "Soloist XL" or "Rhoads Pro".

If it comes with the original case, I'd pay about $250 for a Std and $350 for an XL. The Pros can fetch quite a bit more.

Check out the 1994 catalog for some more details: http://audiozone.dk/cm/displayimage.php?album=61&pos=9

bro, you're crazy. i have a soloist pro, and it beats today's sl1 and sl2h. i'm pretty sure that even the soloist std is better than todays sl3.
as for prices, the std goes for $400ish, XL can go until $750, depending on color and condition. as for the PRO, well i got my pro from a fella member. so i got it for cheap(650 + emgs). but as a guy that watches ebay like a hawk, its surprises me that the PRO goes for $850ish w/o emg.

[rjohnstone]

RJ- early pro models had blank truss covers, no?

I seem to recall them having their model engraved on them.
Jackson stopped doing that around 95 or so.

[pro-fusion]

I seem to recall them having their model engraved on them.
Jackson stopped doing that around 95 or so.

The '90-91 Pros didn't have the engraved cover. At that point, the Professional line included only the upper level "Pro" guitars--all the cheaper stuff was still under the Charvel name. It was only in '92 when the Professional line was expanded to replace the Japanese Charvels that the Pro guitars were labeled as such on the trussrod cover.

Gawd, they made things confusing, didn't they?

[FusionFarmer]

The serial no.s can help, first # 1 =91, 2=92, but, my 90 fusion pro starts w/90xxxx, I've others as well that do that

[laihojrxo]

The '90-91 Pros didn't have the engraved cover. At that point, the Professional line included only the upper level "Pro" guitars--all the cheaper stuff was still under the Charvel name. It was only in '92 when the Professional line was expanded to replace the Japanese Charvels that the Pro guitars were labeled as such on the trussrod cover.

Gawd, they made things confusing, didn't they?

i think your theory hits the bullzeye because my 93 Fusion ex mutt and my 93 Rhoads PRO have an engraved cover while my 90's soloist PRO doesnt.

[rjohnstone]

Yep... went back to some old pics and 90/91 seem to not have engraved covers.
It's all moot though.
The OP's guitar has Duncan Designed pups, so it was made sometime after 1996.

[Newc]

Pickups and trussrod covers can be changed easily. The Jackson pickups that came in the early Pros were not the best, and someone may have put in the Duncan Designed to get a better tone, or maybe they thought they were "just like the real thing", as is the common myth.

And the Std and XL were on-par with the Charvel Model series in terms of wood and playability, which is still miles above the later EX and current offerings.