Adrian Smith USA vs SDX?

[JacksonSDX]

Please, I do not want opinions on this from what you might think... I really want people who have opinions on what they KNOW as they have experience with both.

I've never owned a USA Jackson. I got the Adrian Smith SDX, I put USA pickups in it and an original Floyd rose. I have much more expensive guitars and they don't come close to this. Although that only happened after the pickup change and Floyd Rose, I cannot knock this thing out of tune no matter what I do. I can hold it in the air and bounce it up and down with the bar and it won't go out of tune. The Floyd it came with, wasn't great.

Anyway... Since I like the guitar so much and have the money right now I keep thinking about going ahead and buying the USA version and making the SDX my backup. But my SDX plays so well with the modifications it's honestly hard for me to believe it could get any better. I am someone that has experience with expensive USA guitars, just not Jackson.

Is it really that much better or am I simply paying for USA labor and slightly better woods? I'm afraid I'll get it and end up thinking it's only slightly better than the SDX or perhaps for some reason not even as good to me, or maybe even about the same.

Then there is the Charvel USA So cal that is basically the same guitar but different pickups, neck, etc. The reason I'd go with the Jackson is I hear this neck is better than the Charvel for most people.

Is it worth it?

I have spent thousands of dollars on guitars before only to end up playing a 500-899 guitar all the time. Gibson is a good example. When I played Les Paul I spent a ton of money for them and yet my main guitar was always the LTD EC-1000 which ran me 800 dollars, it out weighed the Gibsons by far.

All the things I could find wrong with the SDX, pickups, Floyd rose special, nut... I fixed and now I can't find anything wrong but theres still part of me that wants to hit that buy button on the USA version. But man 2 grand is a lot to spend to find out that the only advantage is that it's made in the USA and has better woods that I may not even hear much of a difference with.

Anyone here have or tried both? Besides saying the tremolo and pickups are better as that's now irrelevant as they would be the same as on my SDX after the mods I've done. I can't tell from youtube videos, I try and it always sounds like I can get that same sound out of the SDX. But I can't feel it over youtube.

[Mudlark]

I have no experience with either, so I'm breaking the rules by commenting, but there's a strong chance the USA won't feel as great as the one you're playing. Doesn't sound possible to outperform the one you're playing.

It'd be interesting to know how the weight and neck profiles compare.

[JacksonSDX]

I have no experience with either, so I'm breaking the rules by commenting, but there's a strong chance the USA won't feel as great as the one you're playing. Doesn't sound possible to outperform the one you're playing.

It'd be interesting to know how the weight and neck profiles compare.

Well, I'm not saying it can't be out performed but I am saying, I have gotten it to a point that there is no way to get it to go out of tune no matter the intensity of the whammy bar usage, the action is set perfectly, there are no high frets, the new nut I put on there makes the strings feel much better toward the first fret, the pickups sound amazing.

Which makes me think the USA one might feel different... But it's hard to imagine it being better. I have guitars I can imagine being better. This is not one of them, I'm not sure anything could be done to make it better to a degree that would matter enough.

However, since I kinda want two of them anyway I'm curious if its possible that just because I have this guitar set up perfectly to my liking that the USA model may go to a level that I simply am not conscious of.

[Mudlark]

Well, I'm not saying it can't be out performed but I am saying, I have gotten it to a point that there is no way to get it to go out of tune no matter the intensity of the whammy bar usage, the action is set perfectly, there are no high frets, the new nut I put on there makes the strings feel much better toward the first fret, the pickups sound amazing.

Which makes me think the USA one might feel different... But it's hard to imagine it being better.

I would say that list of performances would, to me, be all you could expect out of a guitar. It'd be pretty hard to outperform that guitar is what I'm saying.

I have a $700 Japanese Dinky that does everything as well as my $3800+ USA Soloist(new replacement cost of an SL2HT in Nova Scotia with tax), and I mean everything. Many days the Dinky feels and sounds better. There isn't 1 thing I could ask more from the Dinky.

Hell, I've got a $300 JS3 Indian bass that I can't find a fault on. 5+ years old and it still performs as new. Damn thing goes all year on 1 maybe 2 truss adjustments. My guitars get 4-6 because of this old damp house and crazy weather extremes in Atlantic Canada.

I'm tellin' ya'...the odds are stacked against the USA from your description of the SDX. Feel is blind to price tags.

[JacksonSDX]

I would say that list of performances would, to me, be all you could expect out of a guitar. It'd be pretty hard to outperform that guitar is what I'm saying.

I have a $700 Japanese Dinky that does everything as well as my $3800+ USA Soloist(new replacement cost of an SL2HT in Nova Scotia with tax), and I mean everything. Many days the Dinky feels and sounds better. There isn't 1 thing I could ask more from the Dinky.

Hell, I've got a $300 JS3 Indian bass that I can't find a fault on. 5+ years old and it still performs as new. Damn thing goes all year on 1 maybe 2 truss adjustments. My guitars get 4-6 because of this old damp house and crazy weather extremes in Atlantic Canada.

I'm tellin' ya'...the odds are stacked against the USA from your description of the SDX. Feel is blind to price tags.

That's true, I want a backup so I might just go with the Charvel for 899 that is basically the same guitar. Because it's just too hard to imagine that anything would be better than this guitar and if it somehow was it would be so small that it wouldn't justify 2 grand.

I got away from Les Paul's for a lot of reasons but that's a big one. Gibson quality control is horrible. 3 grand will get you a guitar that is sub par compared to a freaking LTD for 899. Just because of the name and it being made in the USA.

One of my favorite guitars I own is a really cheap guitar... Fender Squier Strat 60's vibe. The pickups in it sound really good and it has the best clean tones I've ever gotten. I only prefer my Fender over the Squier because the Fender I got with HSS the squire is SSS. But it was only like 300 bucks and its fully stock.

I've known this was the case with strats because I've owned a few and all I do is add locking tuners to the Fender Standard HSS from Mexico and it doesn't feel or seem any different than an American one. Even the stock pickups are solid.

You wouldn't happen to know any locking tuners that would fit my Jackson AS SDX would you? Like without drilling? Direct replacement. I know that seems redundant because it has a Floyd rose, but it makes changing strings really fast and I'd prefer them to be on there, I just don't wanna drill out bigger holes or something like that.

I've read some threads where some American Jackson Adrian smith owners will say, "You immediately know the difference when you feel it and play it from the SDX." and I just can't imagine it being that drastic. Not with a good set up, original Floyd rose, better nut and all of that.

Oh well, I guess it's good to save 2 grand, maybe I can use it to eat healthy instead of buying new guitars. lol I know that if I bought it I would regret it as soon as the newness wore off. That's what happened with the Gibson Les Paul's and I ended up selling them and only keeping one because all I'd end up playing was the LTD $899 guitar.

Back when all this super strat stuff started, all the legends had crap guitars. Spare bodies with necks they'd go find, jam a hum bucker in there and not even having it fit right. Like Eddie Van Halen, getting famous from something he builds for practically free, or less than 100$ but now a replicate of that guitar is thousands of dollars.

[ps43203]

I will add that when I wiggled my way into my USA DK1. It did open my eyes to the difference in quality. Thicker fret board, ebony, binding, etc... Like night and day between that and my dinky reverse, and fusion(s), but those are aesthetic things. What really matters is what is going on between the nut and Bridge, setup, REAL Floyd, you get the picture. If it feels right to you, doesn't matter where it's from, just matters if you dig it. Usa Jackson's are, USUALLY, less work to get the desired play-ability, but at a ridiculous premium. Jackson is not off compared to the rest of the industry, but still insane, for a name. But people pay, so what are going to do? Your SDX is fine I'm sure, write music with it! Then if you make a few bucks, get a USA.

[Mudlark]

Yes, that's what I say. The USA has nicer specs, but they don't affect playability or performance.

USA's 'nicer' specs:
Headstock cap
Pearl inlays/logo
Ebony
Quarter Sawn Neck (may help stability in many cases, but swear to God, my flat sawn Dinky requires less adjustments...wood is finicky)
Nicer, thicker binding
Neck thru (bolt on is just as nice, but there's no denying the easier access on a NT...for me anyways)
Japanese Gotoh tuners (The Korean Jin Ho tuners on my MIJ are just as dependable, but I needed to replace the plastic nut with bone for proper stability)
USA electronics (5+ years old and I recently heard my first scratchy pot on the MIJ...the USA had new electronics added at 7-8 years of age)

The 'nicer' specs haven't given my USA an advantage over my MIJ at all. Both are TOM bridges, so a pesky licensed tremolo doesn't hold my MIJ back. This is one guitar, though. Not all imports are created equal, but MIJ Jacksons had a stellar reputation for 21 years.

The quality on the recent Indo, Chinese and Mexican is spotty. Some are fantastic, some aren't.

Look for a Gotoh tuner. There's another well known brand that requires no drilling, but I can't recall it.

[MetalDaze]

Find a place with a good return policy and order it. No risk short of paying return shipping.

[Grandturk]

Find a place with a good return policy and order it. No risk short of paying return shipping.

This is probably the best thing for you to do. Although honestly from your posts, I think you've already made up your mind. As an Adrian Smith owner since they first came out, I wouldn't trade my USA for anything. It's a dinomite guitar. Mines the ebony fretboard model and I've thought about adding a maple board model as well.

Frankly, I've played a couple of the SDX's off the wall and I wouldn't be satisfied downgrading to one of them. But that's me and where I am in my guitar playing these days. That said, I have had cheaper guitars in the past that I've upgraded and they did just fine. There's nothing wrong with that.

[shreddermon]

From your post, sounds like you've already made up your mind on how you'll perceive it, but you want someone else to convince you otherwise. You want the USA model, but don't feel the upgrade is worth the significant extra dough. That's a subjective choice, there is no right or wrong answer. If you go into it with pre-conceived notions, no-one will convince you EXCEPT yourself. Go into it with an open mind, and you might be surprised.

P.S. - Maybe the compromise you're looking for is to buy a minty used one? USA model without the full USA cost.

[Alissarr]

I always think of Jackson as the highest performing guitar for the dollars spent.

That said I don't understand what you like about your SDX so much (they are killers for the price point but you don't mention much about your feelings toward it). Since you needed to mod the electronics to get the tone you wanted, with out you picking one up and playing side by side no one can really answer that question for you.

I always tend to regret buying that next guitar until I sit and play with it for a few weeks. Grabbing a used one is good advice, as is the return policy. You want to be alone to dump it if it doesn't meet your expectations. I am never a fan of having to MoD a guitar outta the box.

Edit: Have demoed both and you can always tell the difference between a US mad and an import but my recent experiences with the Jacksonnimports is they are making one helluva guitar for the dollars spent.

[MountainDog]

I have the maple board USA and the ebony board USA (I bought each new for around $1800) and a maple board SDX I bought used/mint from Guitar Center for $250. I don't like the DP100 humbuckers and swapped both the USAs over to Tone Zone. I actually prefer the tone of the stock SDX humbucker over the DP100 and tone zone (at least thru my guitar rigs). I changed out the neck single coil on the SDX to something better though. I've compared the SDX maple board neck to the USA maple board neck and really can't feel much difference. The body contours are very similar, and weight/balance feel the same between the two. All have excellent set-ups, proper neck relief, intonation, nut height, bridge height, etc. Do the USAs play 7 times better ($1800/$250), no. Do they play twice as good as the SDX, no. Emotionally the USAs have the 'made in usa' psychological advantage, but I find myself playing the SDX more often than the USAs.

That said, you'll always wonder what the USA will be like. As others have said, look for a used mint one to save some bucks over new, one might pop up with a low enough price to fit your budget.

there's one on reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/6024145-jackson-adrian-smith-san-dimas-dk-2008-snow-white

[Mudlark]

Do the USAs play 7 times better ($1800/$250), no. Do they play twice as good as the SDX, no. Emotionally the USAs have the 'made in usa' psychological advantage, but I find myself playing the SDX more often than the USAs.

I admire your honesty.
I've had assholes tell me I'm a liar/inexperienced for basically saying exactly what you said when comparing my MIJ to my USA.

There are snobs on the facebook J/C forums that would NEVER admit this.

[Axewielder]

Yes this simple trick is the secret that Jackson doesn't want you to know and will save you thousands on your next guitar.

[Alissarr]

I admire your honesty.
I've had assholes tell me I'm a liar/inexperienced for basically saying exactly what you said when comparing my MIJ to my USA.

There are snobs on the facebook J/C forums that would NEVER admit this.

I always hated that snobbery as well. My favorite Jackson is one that was made in India (1996? I know yuck!). They are supposedly riddled with issues and poorly built. Mine was the perfect mixture of cheap and a fabulous sound and look.

I can understand the economic snobbery of the US made. There was something special in me knowing my USAs are made at home by people who have been employed doing what they love for 10+ years. They play great but I can't really tell the difference between them and a well put together import.