San Dimas vs Ontario

[ps43203]

Maybe the oddball here, but I prefer Ontario all day and twice on Sunday. The pinnacle of Jackson quality and prestige IMO.

[ps43203]

I do hate the big ass cavities too though, they make noise if not properly installed.

[xenophobe]

Maybe the oddball here, but I prefer Ontario all day and twice on Sunday. The pinnacle of Jackson quality and prestige IMO.

RIP "The Mothership"

[Catharpin]

Binding over frets is my favorite feature from SD but I have so many nice Ontario pieces that I have no bias. Both eras have gems.

[xenophobe]

Binding over frets is my favorite feature from SD but I have so many nice Ontario pieces that I have no bias. Both eras have gems.

Both eras have gems, but I think consistently the post 86 guitars just feel more together, just minor tiny intangibles. Just my personal preference, but my custom 89 Strathead was amazing because it had the old school filed down rolled edges AFTER the frets were installed... Some people hate that feel, but it's easy to index fingerings. I do like the newer rolled edges put on before frets are cut slightly short and installed, but that is a pure cost cutting measure.

[Black Shadow]

J80, J90, and J95 are my favorites
J50 is AWESOME when used in conjunction with the Jackson active circuitry (nomenclature escapes me), but does sound thin without it.

I have a Jackson Soloist and a Charvel 475 that both have the original J50BC/J200/J200 setup + the active JE-1200 midboost. No plans to ever change them, because they work and have a recognizable tone that I really like. I was considering changing the singles to Cool Rails, but discovered the hard way that they won't fit without a lot of wood routing and expense due to the wiring, and decided to cancel that project.

It does seem as if Jackson designed the J50 to be quite thin and bright with no boost. But when using about 25-50% boost for crunch and 50-75% it is one of my favorite lead pickups ever for old school '80s metal! It's a little soft on the bottom for really aggressive crunch, but fine for less extreme metal rhythm playing.

I like the J90C quite a bit also, although has anyone ever compared it to the J50M? That was Jackson's distortion class pickup designed as an upgrade from the J50BC. I thought my Soloist had it as the J50 in that guitar sounds more aggressive than the one in the Charvel, but I confirmed that they are the same.

[xenophobe]

I always thought the J50 was alnico and often used with the JE1000... the J50bc was ceramic with the same winding, just a bit hotter output. I love the J50bc, it's like a slightly milder 81 but without the clipping/compression, similar to running it 18v...