Indonesian Vs USA What Really Is The Difference? Mick Thomson Signature Models

[mrfrisky330]

Here is a look at the actual differences between a USA artist model and its “affordable” equivalent

Bought the Indonesian Mick Thomson from a music shop who nicely packaged it poorly so it got a big chip in the paint, also the previous owner put a cheap gold locking nut on it and a single cheap gold pickup ring!
By sheer fluke managed to buy the USA version (at a massively over priced amount) so thought I would take the opportunity to compare the two directly, so we can all know what your really paying for with USA over Indonesian.
NOTE: The Indonesian is made by Cort - hence the IC at the start of the serial number which means great build quality

Weight:

Indonesian: 2Kg (6 lbs)
USA: 3Kg (7 lbs)

Headstock:

Exactly the same shape and thickness, the USA has “made in USA” on it, but also for some reason “Custom Shop”??? I can find no record of Jackson Custom Shop making a white Thomson guitar, I am assuming it is marketing bluff like Gibson did in the 2010’s with the Les paul Customs slapping Custom Shop badges on them yet the Q.C. was terrible!

Colour:

Indonesian: brilliant white reminds me of the Ibanez 7VWH
USA: creamy white hint of ivory

Electronics Cover:
Indonesian: plastic
USA. : metal with a textured finish

Frets:
Same on both, USA has a really bright shine to them

Fingerboard Wood:
SAME quality on both guitars(!)

Tuners:
Indonesian: Typical average quality Jackson branded
USA. : Jackson branded but different back design

Pickups/covers:
Indonesian: plain black surrounds, textured pickup covers
USA. : textures surrounds and pickups covers

Side Inlays:
Indonesian: white bars
USA. : white bars WIDER

Strap Buttons:
Indonesian: Wide ends
USA. : Shorter rounder

Trem Cutaway:
Indonesian: Looks like the area was routed then painted really rough
USA. : At lot smoother

NOTE: BOTH gutters have a small chip to the bottom right hand corner when viewed from behind, that has been hand painted over!

Truss Rod:
Indonesian: Slightly rough cut hole standard wide thing walled mid priced truss rod
USA. : Smooth hole thicker truss rod wall

Electronics:
Indonesian: Conductive paint, cable tied loom Cort switch and small Alpha pot
USA. : No conductive paint much simpler loom, Oak Grigsby switch small unbranded pot

Both have solder less pickup connectors, Indonesian has sticker on the battery cover USA does not
NOTE: Why are the pots so small and why is the cavity so huge?

Cutaway:
Indonesian: deep swooping curved cutaway across the back
USA. : shallower cut with a slightly flat angular appearance

Case/gigbag:
Indonesian: None
USA. : Standard Jackson hardcase, mine came with a Custom Shop certificate (?) and two strap locks (with no instructions on how to fit them), interestingly Jackson’s website stated BOTH models should come with a signed trussed cover, was not included in the brand new USA I bought..

Is the USA worth it?:
In my opinion the USA isn’t worth the $4000+ price tag, also the Indonesian isn’t worth the $1000+ cost either, as it is made from average quality wood and electronics. The USA to me is massively over priced for what it is, putting a “Custom Shop” logo on the headstock doesn’t validate it either!

If you can get and Indonesian version for its real value priced of $500-$600 get one it is a great guitar, but I advise don’t pay anymore for the USA than its real world value in my opinion $2000-$2500.
My ultimate advice - buy both used, that way you can pay what they should have been new!

Both are great guitars, the Indonesian is made by Cort so the build quality is great however the Q.C. isn’t as good and having owned a few Cort branded guitars (and a load made by Cort for other brands), I can qualify that when Cort make a guitar for themselves the Q.C. is good, when they make them for other brands the Q.C. is noticeably lower. I assume this is due to cost restraints enforced by the brand using Cort to make their guitars.

Due to the difficulty in sourcing quality ebony it was still a surprise that BOTH guitars are using the lower quality Macassar ebony, if the USA really is a "Custom Shop" guitar (which I doubt) that's shocking!
If I hadn’t bought the USA I would have kept the Indonesian

Photos Link:

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ehmmrho5o6bd1/JacksonMickThomsonUSAVsIndonesian

Picture filenames has "USA" or "Indo" so you can tell which is which

[wrldeatr7]

Interesting stuff. One can see that the US is a bit better when it comes to small details, as expected. How are the fret ends on both? And how do both guitars feel when playing them?

[metalhobo]

how can you tell the fingerboard on the usa is macassar ebony? or on the pro series for that matter?

[Atomicfear]

Bang for your buck? GO indonesian. But you know in your gut you want the American one and won't be satisfied unless you do. Sad but true. Life of a gear snob.

[mrfrisky330]

The USA has much better woods and more sustain and a warmer tone, and I discovered today a 1mm thicker fingerboard (wow!)
However definitely NOT worth more than $2,500 and I still have not been able to discover why mine has "made in U.S.A" and "custom shop" on it, my assumption is they branded it "custom shop" as the model lost popularity so they could shift the stock!!

[wrldeatr7]

Well, they did make 14 limited edition custom shop guitars of that model.
Plug the serial number into the serial search box at the Jackson site, see if it's part of that limited run or if it's something else.

[Mechayoshi]

Isn't the limited one red? Or was it in white too?

[mrfrisky330]

Its not limited edition, had a response from Jackson it read:

All USA Jacksons are actually made in the Custom Shop. So while not a Custom Shop model technically, it is made by the same builders.

Regards,

Nathan Jones – Senior Gear Advisor

!!

So how does the customer know their guitar is a genuine custom shop guitar? That reads like purposeful mis-branding by Fender/Jackson, there is no justifiable reason to put a custom shop logo on a non custom shop guitar, so my USA Jackson is just that effectively incorrectly labelled "Custom Shop"!!

[metalhobo]

what do you think "custom shop" means? that it was custom ordered by an end customer? why is that important? if I custom ordered this guitar as a custom select and specified all the same options, ostensibly I'd end up with an equivalent guitar, sans the signature, since, as the rep says, they're made on the same line by the same people. so, in your eyes, which one would be worth more?

So how does the customer know their guitar is a genuine custom shop guitar?

conceivably you look at the COA. which you have. which means you have a genuine cs guitar. why are you so hung up on this?