Tell me about each Jackson “level”...
- Thread starter PFDarkside
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PFDarkside
of the Forum
Details?
if Jackson, Fender and Gibson all build poor guitars, what does one buy? ESP and Ibanez? Send a check into the ether and hope a small luthier doesn’t disappear?
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Plenty of good brands out there. Schecter, Charvel (Fender's best line IMO), LTD, Dean, etc.
Also, I don't think Fender, Jackson, and Gibson build uniformly poor guitars. You just have to be careful about each brand at a particular price point.
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jimzucco
New member
I definitely do not think Fender or Gibson put out poor guitars, and I did not say that Jackson does either. My issue with Jackson is that stuff coming out of their Custom Shop is having QC issues. This, to me, is inexcusable. I have personally played a custom shop Jackson purchased by a good friend that had some disgusting issues. Keep in mind this is a 3500 dollar custom shop model that he waited over a year for. The guitar had a fret job worse than my MIM Fender Player strat. They completely jacked up the binding I guess while finishing the fret edges. Whatever happened, there were multiple gashes in the binding along three consecutive fret edges. There were some serious finish flaws as well, including, strangely, finish over spray on the nut. How that happens beats me since it was a Floyd. This may seem a bit harsh, but seriously we are talking about a guitar that should be a work of art out of the box. I've had issues like this from Gibson too, but never a custom shop. I recently grabbed a brand new Les Paul Studio with serious finish issues - it happens. But not custom shop guitars. Unacceptable
nexion218
New member
No luck there either.
Go to an ESP forum and be shocked at "how much worse their new lineup is compared to my 92 Custom Shop XY model" or at "how inferior the built in Tokyo E-II line is. In fact, those are not even real ESPs, just botched B-stock ESP, which were rebranded because ESP doesn't want ashame itself with that sh!tty quality" blablablablabla.... None of which is quite true of course. I bet Ibanez has the same stuff going, but I was never intereted in them, so havent read about them as much. That being said, CS gaffes are indeed a shame, no matter which brand.@jimzucco: These things are mass produced. Even the USA ones. And I believe the most expensive part of production is the QC and setup. So the less you pay, the higher the chance for a lemon. It's kinda disturbing, but that's free trade and market economy I guess. Until we keep buying them, they'll keep selling them. And while they're at it, they will try to lower the production cost and raise the MSRP each year.
To me the best strategy is try before you buy, if no can do then chose a place with impeccable return policies and in general lower the expectations for non top of the line stuff. Learning to do good setups can go a long way too and save 2-3 grands. In my experience 1000+ USD guitars can perform just as well after some setup as something for triple it's price. Aesthetics and finishing touches will not be impeccable, but I take a great sounding and playing guitar any day over an impeccable looking one. Sure, both would be great, but I don't earn enough money for that.
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All Jackson necks are awesome, thought this was already a postulate
weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Yeah, that's the strength of Jacksons, I think, no matter what price point. I'm still wary of the X series though. JS is a great budget range, and the Pro Series guitars I've tried have all been excellent. The X just doesn't seem like good dollar value (QC or features or general build). Not saying you can't get a great X series Jackson but IMO your chances of getting a lemon increase in that category.
