Jackson guitar amplifiers

[Animal]

Turns out Jackson was messing around with making guitar amps sometime around the early 90's. The last time I went to my local second hand gear shop, there were two Jackson 4x12 guitar cabinets. They seem to be very solidly built, heavy, in great condition and look absolutely bad ass with it's metal grill and shiny jackson logo on it. They we're only $400 AU a piece also. I would get one straight away if one could actually fit into my car!

They seem to get very good reviews on Harmony Central also. I'm just wondering if you guys have any experience with these cabs or Jackson amplifiers in general.

Now I know I don't really need one because a 4x12 seems like overkill for my needs but goddamn I'm gassing for one. They seem to be so rare, especially in Australia.

 

[Animal]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

anyone?

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

This is the first I've heard of them. I wonder if they're Marshall copies.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

They are extremely rare everywhere. I've only ever seen 1 head. The amps get mixed reviews. But that's all I know...

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

Never heard of them until you brought it up.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

I had one of the 50 Watt Jackson amps back when they arrived (1992-ish?). Big SOB, kinda heavy, fuzzy carpet instead of Tolex. Ran it through a Laney cab w/ celestions.

It was Marshall-esque in sound. EL-34's. Had a 2 or 3 position (can't recall exactly), mid "shift"...which helped dial in different mid frequencies, high, low, etc. The amp had quite a bit of gain... two cascading gain controls IIRC...think modded 800 series.

It was OK for medium crunch type sounds..AC/DC..Thin Lizzy, late 70's hard rock stuff. It did not sound good under high gain to me (at least at the time)..it got buzzy, fuzzy and mushy. I usually just ran my TubeScreamer as a boost. It needed to be cranked more than any tube-amp I'd experienced up til that time. Took alot to get those power tubes breaking up (Back then, pre-amp gain was all the rage :vomit: )

I was never happy with the sound out of it really..I remember it being dark/thin/muffled or icepicky and brittle..never could find the happy medium with it.

When they came out, I ended up buying the first Marshall Tube Preamp (9001?), and running that into the loop, and just used the Jackson as a power amp. Although that Marhsall pre-amp was a PITA and hard to dial in, it was a big improvement. More "sparkle", fatter, bigger, crunchier.

I'd like to try one again someday now that I am armed with more knowledge and experience as far as tone goes Might like it better than I did. But haven't seen one in at least 10 or 12 years.

Don't know about the cabs, sorry.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

Never heard of them until you brought it up.

+1

must be rare then

 

[mnbaseball91]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

I know a guy who has a Jackson head and cab setup. I've never actually played it, but he says he likes it. I seem to recall him saying something to the extent of "the cleans are good, but the distortion is just so-so."

 

[Animal]

Re: Jackson guitar amplifiers

I found a picture of a Jackson 4x12 cab:

The Jackson cabs I saw at the guitar shop didn't have the ugly red speaker cones and were in far better condition.