30th Anniversary Soloist Review

[shreddermon]

Saw this yesterday in Guitarist (UK) magazine, they reviewed the 30th Anny Jackson Soloist. Pretty cool article, which also had a "back in the day" sidebar with Mike Shannon and Phil Collen.

I've really started to dig this magazine the past couple of years. They do some cool in-depth pieces on artists, albums, etc. And their gear reviews are a lot more detailed than their US counterparts. The overall tone of the mag is, shall we say, a fair bit more "mature" than GW or others. (Yeah, guess I'm becoming an old fart. LOL)

Anyway, for anyone interested, here's a link to the online version of the Soloist review...

http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/jackson-30th-anniversary-soloist-599487

[neilli]

Surprised to read this, cos this just ain't true:

"..the first Soloist would have had those active Jackson pickups. If you look at the pattern of the control layout," he continues, "I still have the original template, and that layout of two volumes, a tone and three mini-switches is put together using the tools we used back in '84.""

[shreddermon]

Yeah, there were a couple of "say what?" moments in there. :think: Then again, it's not like I would accurately remember much stuff from 30-plus years ago, myself. So kind of understandable. LOL

Also, I just watched some videos of the 30th Soloists at NAMM, and the Jackson guys repeatedly referred to it as an "homage" to 1984 spec. So that's why us screw counters think some specs aren't "right". They weren't trying to get it totally accurate in the first place.

[daisp]

Interesting...

[neilli]

They weren't trying to get it totally accurate in the first place.

Then why even bother LOL I also still don't understand why they'd 'reissue' a guitar for 3k when originals go for $1200..

[shreddermon]

Maybe because many of the originals are beat to heck, and some folks want a brand new guitar but built to (sort of) SD era specs? And without having to go to full master built custom shop pricing? Or more likely, J/C wanted to take the opportunity for some marketing attention (look, anniversary model!), and some of the guys there thought they came up with some cool SDish Soloist homage specs to go with. ...I don't know, just a couple of guesses there.

I mean, I agree it would've been preferable to stick to all original specs. But I wonder if they felt like they had already been there / done that recently with the 25th anny? Remember the couple of two hum SD era spec Soloists they did then? Cool guitars but, IIRC, the reaction wasn't exactly overwhelming.

So maybe that's why they decided to do the semi-SD homage route this time, instead? And it's not like this one is totally out of left field. I mean, heck, except for the third knob and the EMGs, I might see going for one. And the EMGs can totally be swapped out, so no biggee there.

Kind of cool. Not a "gotta have it" home run, but not a fail either. But, hey, that's just MHO.

[neilli]

Well true, some of the originals are toast, but I personally have three SD h/s/s soloists which were all sub 1500 (and one half that) and they're all in great shape. I don't think that can be the reason - they're not chasing the 'old school Jackson fan' market IMO They're thinking that the guitars might appeal to newer players or players who remembered them from the mid 80s but haven't followed / don't have the screw counter thing or whatever. Plus FMIC are besotted with 'anniversary' guitars, just look across their range... I remember the 2 hum SD spec guitars, but nothing ever came of them which I always thought was a shame. I seem to remember trying to track down the pink one.. Obviously this is entirely subjective, but I can't help but feel like fewer controls is the way to go - for the market these guitars are aiming for, how many people really use a tone pot or even a 2 volume setup? But maybe that's just me..

[Dog Boy]

Another Aniversary blast from the past.

[shreddermon]

Opinions and personal preferences, it's all cool.

Then again, if the run was SD era accurate, it'd have about an 80/20 split equipped with Kahlers. LOL

[pianoguyy]

Well true, some of the originals are toast,

I've said this before.....

I would love to see someone create a catalog of the originals. Like what they have over at jackson guitar palace or the one on the Kramer board.
This helps us know what is still available, what was modified, what has been destroyed, and what has become mutt

[toejam]

Eh. Makes me wonder why Chris Cannella is working for ESP now and only playing their guitars live...

[shreddermon]

Geez, wasn't aware of that, Joe. Seems like quite a few personnel changes at J/C the past couple of years or so.

[toejam]

Just read that earlier on FB. Chris is a member of the JCF page there.

[neilli]

Yeah, I didn't know of that either..

[dvscool]

I didn't get a chance to read the article. Am I the only one that HATES those mini switches?
I wouldn't buy that axe simply due to those switches.....