Jackson SL2H for sale - quick answers, please?

[VitaminG]

if nothing else, you can point out to them that the last update on the serial number chart on Jackson's website has UO8970- in 2001. So no way this guitar is an '87

as Newc said, and the serial number chart supports this, an '87 would have a J serial

[RR_YJMFAN]

This store is a total joke! A buddy of mine was in deperate need of some cash back in Dec. and took a DK1 in to see if they would buy it outright. They offered him $350 dollars. What a bunch of morons.They probably don't have much more than that in the SL2H.

Good grief!

No surprise, though.

I'm no Jackson historian, but it just didn't have the "vibe" of a 1987/1988 model, if that makes sense. This Guitar Center never gets anything right. I can't tell you how many times they've either marked some old hunk of junk up into the stratosphere because it's "vintage" (never mind that nobody wanted it when it was new) or they've marked the wrong model on something.

A few years ago, they had an Indian-made DX10X stickered as a DX10D and priced to match a DX10D. I told them this at least three times, but apparently it was always "someone else's job" to fix it.

[PowerTube]

Update: I just called and asked if there was a manager on board today (Sunday). This guy got on the phone and I told him the situation. I said that the Jackson website has serials listed through 2001, and that this guitar is most definitely post-2001. I also told him that I heard from another source that the serial number puts it in 2003. I said that I wasn't looking to make trouble for anyone, but they needed to get their facts straight about what they're selling. Yesterday, they said it was a 1987 model. Last week, I was told that it was a 1988. I was also told both times that the bridge pickup isn't wired. It is indeed wired and working. And besides, with a great guitar tech onsite in the store, why in hell wouldn't they have paid him $20.00 to wire it if it wasn't?

You know what he told me? "I was in a band with the guy who owned that guitar and he's had it for at least 10 years." I told him, "The only way that can be is if the serial number stamped on it is actually wrong. Not only that, but I believe that the 80's-style Broken Glass finish was the photo realistic-looking type, not this cartoonish-looking type." Then he said (brace yourself), "Well, maybe I'm thinking of a different guitar."

I would seriously rather buy a guitar from a damned pawn shop than from this particular Guitar Center. The pawn shop people don't have a clue, but at least they're honest about it instead of feeding you a story about how it was owned by a little old lady from Gatlinburg who only played church hymnals on it or whatever.

RR_YJMFAN....when you checked it out, did you actually talk to anyone about it? Now that I've let them off the hook about the year, I would love to have someone else walk in there next week and see what year they claim it is.

[LEOKV2]

Unbelievable. When I was in the USA I "used" GC just to go there and buy the small stuff, like picks, a strap (not even pedals), and mainly play around and walk around when I was bored at home.

Sure enough, people who worked there sucked! I had already bought my KV-2 at a small store called American Music Seattle, and I brought it one day to the store since I noticed they had a guitar tech there. I did it to get my guitar wired with a pair of EMG 81's I got from GC that same moment. When I took the guitar in, the guy at the door who is "super friendly" and checks the gear and writes it down, was all like "wow DUDE, that's a Jackson guitar, wow man, thats awesome! Is that an American made?" And I said, yeah, it was. Next he told me to give him the serial #, and since I was speaking on my cellphone, he said "no problem DUDE, I'll check it myself". NExt I turn around and I find this guy with his sweaty hands all over my guitar "looking" for a serial #, and he then turned to me and said, "ehr... sir? I think we may have a problem, your guitar doesn't have a serial #". Yeah, I had to show him it was embedded in the fretboard, and even then he didn't believe me, he called a second "super friendly guy". When both geniuses finally understood the fact, they let me in, pretty amazing huh?

But, the story continues. After I picked up the guitar like 4 days later, I had to try it out to see everthing was alright. So I plugged my guitar in a Mesa Stiletto that was sitting there in the Mesa "booth" next to the Rectifiers. I started playing a little, checking the action, the sound, etc etc when one of the old fat "expert senior" or whatever guys came nearby and he said: "so you like that Mesa huh?" And I was like, yeah, though I'm just trying out my guitar. Next, he told me this: "well, if you're interested, this is the best amp you can get from Mesa, it's the NEW Rectifier model, they've discontinued the Rectifier series and the Stiletto's are the new models, almost the same but better and with a different name". I stood speachless.... Come on, I'm from PERU in South America and I know more than this guy who WORKS here? When I was starting to try and tell him he was wrong, I just dropped it and said "oh, cool, thanks for the advice" and he moved on. So did I, and this time, I started playing a little on a Peavey 6505+ head. There wasn't the regular 6505 that I wanted to try out since I've been told the 6505+ don't sound as good as the regular one at least in the distortion channel, much better on the cleans though. So again, the same guy came around... This time he was being too stupid. He told me "nice, that's the new 5150's. But the one you're playing on is the top of the line, it has an additional 12AX7 preamp tube, it gives it even MORE gain than the regular model! It's insane man!". I just looked at him, packed my guitar, and left home.

Weird, they should hire people who besides knowing how to play an instrument (at least), they should also be familiar with the gear, like, make them pass a test or something. God!

[PowerTube]

Unbelievable. When I was in the USA I "used" GC just to go there and buy the small stuff, like picks, a strap (not even pedals), and mainly play around and walk around when I was bored at home.

Sure enough, people who worked there sucked! I had already bought my KV-2 at a small store called American Music Seattle, and I brought it one day to the store since I noticed they had a guitar tech there. I did it to get my guitar wired with a pair of EMG 81's I got from GC that same moment. When I took the guitar in, the guy at the door who is "super friendly" and checks the gear and writes it down, was all like "wow DUDE, that's a Jackson guitar, wow man, thats awesome! Is that an American made?" And I said, yeah, it was. Next he told me to give him the serial #, and since I was speaking on my cellphone, he said "no problem DUDE, I'll check it myself". NExt I turn around and I find this guy with his sweaty hands all over my guitar "looking" for a serial #, and he then turned to me and said, "ehr... sir? I think we may have a problem, your guitar doesn't have a serial #". Yeah, I had to show him it was embedded in the fretboard, and even then he didn't believe me, he called a second "super friendly guy". When both geniuses finally understood the fact, they let me in, pretty amazing huh?

But, the story continues. After I picked up the guitar like 4 days later, I had to try it out to see everthing was alright. So I plugged my guitar in a Mesa Stiletto that was sitting there in the Mesa "booth" next to the Rectifiers. I started playing a little, checking the action, the sound, etc etc when one of the old fat "expert senior" or whatever guys came nearby and he said: "so you like that Mesa huh?" And I was like, yeah, though I'm just trying out my guitar. Next, he told me this: "well, if you're interested, this is the best amp you can get from Mesa, it's the NEW Rectifier model, they've discontinued the Rectifier series and the Stiletto's are the new models, almost the same but better and with a different name". I stood speachless.... Come on, I'm from PERU in South America and I know more than this guy who WORKS here? When I was starting to try and tell him he was wrong, I just dropped it and said "oh, cool, thanks for the advice" and he moved on. So did I, and this time, I started playing a little on a Peavey 6505+ head. There wasn't the regular 6505 that I wanted to try out since I've been told the 6505+ don't sound as good as the regular one at least in the distortion channel, much better on the cleans though. So again, the same guy came around... This time he was being too stupid. He told me "nice, that's the new 5150's. But the one you're playing on is the top of the line, it has an additional 12AX7 preamp tube, it gives it even MORE gain than the regular model! It's insane man!". I just looked at him, packed my guitar, and left home.

Weird, they should hire people who besides knowing how to play an instrument (at least), they should also be familiar with the gear, like, make them pass a test or something. God!

Yep, that pretty much pegs it. I don't know if you have these in Peru, but have you been in a Wal-Mart, Target, KMart, that type of store? Well, to me, most Guitar Centers are just like that except for selling musical gear. The one here hires mainly these 18-22 year old "hip" looking guys who don't have the foggiest clue what they're talking about. About a month ago, I plugged into a Roland Micro-Cube and I was in the middle of checking it out when this guy came over and started all of the, "Dude, this amp is awesome! See? It's this, that, blah, blah, blah...." I wanted to tell him, "I'm already checking it out and I was probably playing in bands before you were even born." I actually came back later and bought one with no thanks to him.

Sometimes I seriously wonder if they're really that clueless or if they're deliberately trying to rip people off. I miss the old mom-n-pop music stores. Sure, you might have paid a little more but they were a great source for service and advice, plus most of them were interested in repeat business, which means treating you fairly in the first place. I get the feeling that the Guitar Center crowd is much more interested in making that one sale, right here, right now, than anything else.

[RR_YJMFAN]

No I just saw it hanging on the back wall. If I remember correctly, at the time it was the only Jackson I saw in the whole store.

[LEOKV2]

I think GC should only be used to purchase only a range of products, like cheap amps or guitars for practice and for beginners since you actually get cheap gear and you don't need that much of an advice to get an amp or guitar that will sound very similar than the others. That's why they stock up so many asian made guitars and amps.

Now, your Micro Cube experience reminds me of when I bought a Peavey Rage 158 again at GC so I could practice at home for those 3 months, the guy at the store kept telling me it had 40 watts. I said, no dude, it has 15 watts. So he turned around the combo, and there was this label by the power supply, it said "110V 40Watts" or something. So I looked at him and told him that was the power consumption. He then said, "no way DUDE, where else can you read the amp's wattage in the combo? Nowhere, this is the only place where it says watts, so it's referring to its output." I looked at him and said: "well, it's called 158 because it has 15 watts through an 8 inch speaker. He just kept saying "Im not sure, but I'm possitive this is a loud little box DUDE".

Don't get me wrong, I respect people who want to work and try to make a buck, maybe these people are just trying to sell stuff because they maybe have some kind of a dead-line or a sales goal or whatever. The ones to blame are the executives behind it.

[PowerTube]

No I just saw it hanging on the back wall. If I remember correctly, at the time it was the only Jackson I saw in the whole store.

In case you weren't aware, I have a somewhat devious mind.......... you really should go in there sometime this week (assuming that it hasn't sold), pick it up and play it, then wait for someone to come over with a sales pitch. Then you can report back here and tell us what year they claim it is. I can't do this myself because I talked to at least three people about it and they'll probably realize that it was me who called today.

And yes, their Jackson inventory seems to get smaller and smaller every time I go in there.

[RR_YJMFAN]

I'll try to get up there sometime this week and see what happens.

[PowerTube]

Now, your Micro Cube experience reminds me of when I bought a Peavey Rage 158 again at GC so I could practice at home for those 3 months, the guy at the store kept telling me it had 40 watts. I said, no dude, it has 15 watts. So he turned around the combo, and there was this label by the power supply, it said "110V 40Watts" or something. So I looked at him and told him that was the power consumption. He then said, "no way DUDE, where else can you read the amp's wattage in the combo? Nowhere, this is the only place where it says watts, so it's referring to its output." I looked at him and said: "well, it's called 158 because it has 15 watts through an 8 inch speaker. He just kept saying "Im not sure, but I'm possitive this is a loud little box DUDE".

Yeah, that's about par for the course. What sucks is that they're the only dealer in town for Jackson and a few other brands. What I've learned is to either:

a. Go to the company's website and get the facts about the product, then buy it at GC. That way, I don't have to depend on their "expert sales staff" to tell me anything. Or, I'll just ask about it here first and get some real-world experiences.

b. Try it out at GC, but then buy it online and have it shipped.

Don't get me wrong, I respect people who want to work and try to make a buck, maybe these people are just trying to sell stuff because they maybe have some kind of a dead-line or a sales goal or whatever. The ones to blame are the executives behind it.

Agreed. A store is only as good or as shitty as the management makes it.

[PowerTube]

I'll try to get up there sometime this week and see what happens.

Cool! I wouldn't want you to go to any trouble but it would sure be fun to bust them! As an alternate plan.....you could call them and ask them to tell you all about it. I think they're open until 6 today.....

[RR_YJMFAN]

Just got off the phone with a guy named Jimmy, he didn't know the year but quoted me the serial.

[PowerTube]

Just got off the phone with a guy named Jimmy, he didn't know the year but quoted me the serial.

Did it match the one I posted here?

[RR_YJMFAN]

Yes it did.

[RacerX]

a. Go to the company's website and get the facts about the product, then buy it at GC. That way, I don't have to depend on their "expert sales staff" to tell me anything. Or, I'll just ask about it here first and get some real-world experiences.

Well if it's Jackson's website....


Better off askin' here!