Question: Are the USAs worth the extra $ over Imports?

[Twitch]

Heres another way to look at it quality wise. Japan is not a third world country, they are on par with the US and Brittain Germany etc. in their economy and technology. I would even bet you that there is Japanese manufacturing technology at work in most of the US guitar manufacturing facilities, not to mention US manufacturing facilities in general. So, when you ask about quality in US vs. import Jackson(in Japan at least) I would say that there is no real difference in quality at all between US made and Japanese made Jackson guitars. The only percievable difference is the status mark that you own a USA made Jackson. I own both a USA Soloist and 2 Japanese made Jacksons and all 3 are all very well made and between the 3 I cant find any variance in quality and craftsmanship. Now Indonesian and Chinese and all the other 2nd and 3rd world manufacturing, yeah, youll find quite a bit of them vary quite greatly from the USA made and Jap made and even amongst themselves from the same facility(look at the JS series for example).

[tonemonster]

I will say this, the MIJ jackson charvels made during the early 90's a damn close to teh USA models in quality. I play USA's but I also have a few of those MIJs from the early 90s, and dammit, those are GREAT guitars. I feel they are every bit as good as a USA model. they only had about a 4 year window those guitars were produced. they had schaller trems, great workmanship, just damn great guitars. good pickups too by jackson. The only thing I think they could have did better is put Duncans in them, of course thats just personal opinion.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

You can make great or crappy guitars in any country in the world.

[tonemonster]

You can make great or crappy guitars in any country in the world.

you got that right. look at the garbage gibson was putting out about 5 -10 years ago. $3500 for 2nd rate crap.

[PowerTube]

It's not that Japan can't build guitars that are every bit as good as American-made. In fact, they build some outstanding instruments. It's just that Jackson has chosen to offer imports to fill a certain price point in the market. If there were only USA's like it was back in the 80's, they wouldn't be able to compete with the other companies who use the cheaper labor overseas.

For example, back in the 80's when all Jacksons and Charvels were American made, Kramer was also offering the Focus and Striker series which were Japanese, in addition to their American made New Jersey line. I bought a brand new Kramer Focus 1000 for $480.00 in Austin, TX. This guitar was made by ESP and it plays just as well today as it did back then. It even came with an OFR while lots of companies were selling cheap pot metal/pig iron licensed copies. Not to name names, but IBANEZ comes to mind (don't even get me started).

Conversely, that same store where I bought this Kramer (Lightning Music in Austin) also sold Jacksons. Were they nicer than my import Kramer? Absolutely, but there's no way Jackson could have met that $300-$500 price point with their attention to detail, features, and American labor.

So that's the bottom line. Every company wants to compete at each of the popular pricing points and the only way they can do that is to offer imports that are made with cheaper labor and have "lesser" features. That labor might be every bit as skilled, however.

[bucketbrian45]

I have two imports an RR24M and Kevin Bond Rhoads both are better than any of the Gibsons I had. I highly doubt that a USA Jackson would last any longer than an import would. But I would prefer a USA just because of all the nice touches.

[Mikey2201]

I chose USA because of feel and sound. It just felt better and sounded better than the import. The import quality seemed good but in my experience the USA was just better. Cost more yes, worth it YES!

[potatohead]

Somehow I doubt that

MIJ neckthru's already aren't that much cheaper than USA's
this is due to the sum of all parts:
materials/craftsmanship/labour

if anything MI3rdworld manufacturers usualy skimps on Everything

Yes I think they would be cheaper than MIJ, but not by much (MIC Rasmus/Suhr for $1k anyone?)

Well, the difference between a base SL1 and SL3 is $650, or you can say the SL1 is about 55% more money.

Also, Japan is hardly a third world country... Not even close. It is one of the most developed countries on earth. Just look at their automotive production, for instance. To compare Japan to Indonesia and China is not even close to reality.

With all that said, I do not disagree the USA's are better guitars. I do imagine most of it may be fit/finish and setup, however.

[fordsho90]

A bit of Jackson import history for you....http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/jack...al-history.htm

[Acesofbelkan]

A USA Jackson is worth the 2x extra cash over the Pro line if:

-You want a guitar with a legacy.
-you feel nostalgic, and want to satisfy your dream to have a guitar that were played by the guitar hero's of the day.
-If you strongly prefer the neck and sound of the USA(which in my opinion of owning 2 pro series and 1 select, The Select is just downright AMAZING)
-If you want to Retain Resale value for the most part.
-Bragging rights
-For the "made in USA" decal on the headstock

[Scream And Fly]

I agree with the sentiments above regarding Japanese Jacksons. I think their quality is fantastic and as close to USA quality as you can get. I never played any of the neck-thru Pro-series guitars though.

[nhspike]

Play a few blindfolded.

[RockinJim]

Well, just to let you know how it turned out, I ended up buying an Epi Zakk Wylde Bullseye Custom with ZW active EMGs for $555. So I did not buy the DKMG, I did pay $125 more for the ZW but it is probably a far better guitar. It certainly looks a lot hotter. LOL

[nhspike]

those are pretty cool looking.
Nice score!

[RockinJim]

Thanks, I don't have a Les Paul in my collection and at that price with the active EMGs, couldn't pass on it.