DK2M Quality Control?

[KBDkaTana]

Here's what I have had to do to get this guitars working properly.

Stoned frets...never known a guitar with such unlevel frets before from new!
Adjusted truss rod
Set floyd level
Fixed the sloppy trem arm fitting
Adjusted the bridge bolt housing (with a hammer!). It previously bottomed out the bridge and wouldn't adjust any lower than 2.5mm at the 12th fret)

I know they don't spend any time setting up imports, but is it normal to have to do such extensive work to a new guitar?

I now have buzz free action of 1.2mm high E and 1.6mm low E at the 12th fret with 10 guage eb's (0.2mm relief).

I am very happy with the tone of the bridge pickup, but not sure about the neck Jazz SD. It is a little "muffled / boomy".

So be warned, these guitars are fairly cheap, and can be set up to work great, however, don't think for a second that Jackson will do this for you!!

[SlaytanicDude]

Sounds like you just got a bad guitar, Jackson's imports are rather good compared to most other imported stuff. And Floyd Rose's should be set up whenever you get a guitar with one, it's one of those devices that needs a good setup once, then should work very well.

Even Gibson will put out bad Les Pauls- models that cost upwards of $1000. Most guitars will need work at some point in their lifetime. If you don't want to work on the guitar, it won't work for you. Also, testing them out in stores is a good way around having initial setup issues. But if it's a guitar you like, setting a trememlo up properly or other maintence shouldn't bother you.

[Inazone]

Where do you live, and where did you buy the guitar? The truss rod adjustment isn't surprising, and if the guitar came from someplace dry to someplace humid or vice versa, I could see there being potential for fret issues also. It happened to me every spring and fall until I started storing my guitars in a room with a dehumidifier.

[DonP]

That's funny.

I bought a used DXMG and the setup was awesome. As good as my SL2H.

It is possible the person before me paid for a setup, but the guitar wa in like new condition with a fairly new s/n, so I doubt it.

I have seen a few imports with not so nice a setup and frets. Luck of the draw I guess.

[BayRocker]

I find all guitars with Floyd's in need of a setup whether old or new. After playing my perfectly setup model 4 exclusively for the last 22 years, I've just gotten used to its setup. When I go to a GC or local shop, even the USA mades feel out of whack to me. I just got a DKMG and this thing was so far out of whack, I completely took her down and set her up like my M4. Floyd was set all the way back, as in no pulling notes up. Strings felt 6" off the neck. Intonation shot. Arm sloppy loose. Now she's like butter.

[nhspike]

Welcome to the forum KBD

Can you explain the hammer thing in more detail?

Sounds scary.

My DK2M has as good of a low action as anything I own (thanks to Joel's setup!)

[Mazz]

Welcome!

[KBDkaTana]

Can you explain the hammer thing in more detail?

Sounds scary.


Not realy... I removed the trem, re-inserted the posts and lightly tapped the post surrounds in a little. I gained around 1 mm, which was all I needed.

Interestingly, when I bought the guitar, they had a number of them on display. Most of them had a clear gap under the 23/24 fretboard extension and the body. It looked to me like a badly fitted neck joint. However, it seems that maybe this wasn't the case. Saying that, I would still prefer my "tweaked" flush fitting neck.

[KBDkaTana]

Thanks for the welcome.

[nhspike]

Oh, ok.
You just seated the bushings a bit.
Coolies.


You gonna post some pics of her?
We likey pics.
Guitar pron.
Etc.

[KBDkaTana]

Spike....If you can tell me how to, I will. Sorry, i'm a noob to this forum. Does it have to be linked to a http or can images be imported?

[SlaytanicDude]

Host to photobucket.com, then copy the link here with [img] [/img] tags/

[Newc]

Am I the only one who has never had a bad Jackson?

Here's a huge handy tip:

When the guitar comes off the truck at your house, unless you live in the same city or county or region of the state as the store it came from, don't adjust the trussrod or action or string gage or tuning for at least 3 days (in this situation, one day = 24 hours, not 30 minutes).

Wood only moves quickly in a bad way, and it's reactive to environmental changes, including temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure.

Ergo, when it went from, say New York's 30-40 degrees to your 50-60+ degree weather, not to mention if it went to 10,000 feet via Air delivery, or more than 100 ft above sea level in a truck, the neck reacted to that. Yes, there's a rod in the neck, but that's to keep it from bending like a banana under the tension of the strings. Wood will move on its own if it can. The common theory is that it will bend in the opposite direction of the strings or towards the strings, that's why there's a rod in it that can go both ways. Moving that rod before the neck has had time to acclimate to its new environment can cause problems, including warping, and lifting of frets when the slots contract and therefore let go of the fretwire.

After that, you'll spend a month - at least - trying to get the trussrod back where it should be, because even though you notice a difference right away, the neck will still flex slowly, and you gotta keep adjusting it.


However, that doesn't excuse uneven frets (if they were truly uneven and it was not something related to adjusting the trussrod too soon), nor the raised trem bushing, which should have been even with the surface of the route.

The "sloppy trem arm" is normal where machined parts tolerances are not maintained, or are too broad. However, given than this is not 1990, Jackson is not going to give away a perfect guitar with perfect hardware for $500-$800 again. The hardware is there to get you started, not to give you a hard-on.

Bridge setups are as individual as hairstyles, so no, you're never going to find a guitar that's set up to your specs. At least not at these prices. Unless your personal preference is for whatever comes from the factory, that is.

Lastly, instead of beating it with a hammer, get yourself a QuickGrip clamp with the rubber pads to squeeze the bushings down. It's a lot safer and will prevent you from splitting the shelf where the inserts are.



As for the Jazz, yes, it's boomy. Has nice cleans, but is a pretty weak pickup IMO. Then again, I think they designed it for Jazz, not high-gain applications. I know Rhoads had one, but did he ever use it?
Anyway, I'd say replace the Jazz with a JB or Custom/C5/C-Custom.

[toejam]

As for the Jazz, yes, it's boomy. Has nice cleans, but is a pretty weak pickup IMO. Then again, I think they designed it for Jazz, not high-gain applications. I know Rhoads had one, but did he ever use it?
Anyway, I'd say replace the Jazz with a JB or Custom/C5/C-Custom.

Jazz pickup boomy? It's actually a bright pickup and works great in the neck. The '59 is also a great pickup, but that's the one that's got the tendency to be boomy.

[nhspike]

My wood moves quickly in a good way sometimes!