kill your scene
New member
I appreciate Jackson for their quality. Don't get me wrong... their guitars are some of the nicest on the market. But I got a big fat bone to pick with that company.
They adamantly refuse to diversify their product line. It's really insulting to those of us who want Jackson quality but also want to buy a guitar that suits our own needs. Jackson is a company that appears completely close-minded to the demands of current players.
Consider:
1) Jackson has some weird aversion to mahogany guitars. Most metal and hard rock players love mahogany for it's dark, rich tonal character. Although I like Strats for certain applications, when I play metal and hard rock, I want a guitar that has a heavy, Les Paul-style sound. I did some comparison shopping.... out of their entire product line (both foreign and American-made guitars) Jackson offers roughly five to ten mahogany guitars and over 30 non-mahogany models. The mahogany models I mentioned are the ones least promoted by the company.... often hard to find and way overpriced. ESP, on the other hand, offers about 40 mahogany and almost the same number of non-mahogany guitars. The non-mahogany guitars I speak of come in alder, ash, maple and a wide variety of other tone woods. Clearly, it's easier to find the metal guitar you want from ESP.
2) Jackson doesn't produce guitars for the non-trem player. In today's market, Floyd Rose trems have greatly gone out of style and most players (myself included) just want a string-through or stop tailpiece. Jackson doesn't deliver. Again, I did some comparison shopping and found that only 1/3 of Jackson's guitars AREN'T Rose-equipped, whereas 1/3 of ESP's ARE. ESP obviously is doing a better job of keeping up with current players' demands.
3) Jackson doesn't make basses. Every band needs a bass player and, yes, bass players do exist. I want a company that offers many different basses and does a good job advertising and backing them up. Jackson's bass line is a joke. They sell 6 different basses, 4 of which are still produced and widely available. ESP, on the other hand, sells 27 different basses.
I compared ESP to Jackson because they are the two top metal guitar companies and ESP's name seems to come up every time that a Jackson fan wants to spit venom at someone.
I know a lot of Jackson fans will argue "What's a company supposed to do, cater to current market trends?" The answer is no, a company should not cater EXCLUSIVELY to current market trends. They should, however, provide today's guitarists with something we want to use. I'm not talking about the sloppy nu-metal cretins of the world, I'm talking about completely legitimate up and coming metal bands that are technically accomplished and looking for an axe to suit their needs. They probably won't find it at Jackson.
Jackson does stoop.... to the needs of forty-year old 80s hair metal audience. The Jackson fan-base is so vehemently opposed to anything new that they constantly slam ESP's, Ibanez, and any other company who wishes to reach a new group of players. If you don't see what I'm saying, go to the Jackson/Charvel Forums for awhile. You can get crucified for playing an Ibanez. The close-mindedness is unreal.
Again, nothing against the guitars themselves, because they are always high-quality and still good "bang for the buck". I just feel that the company is like a clubhouse that doesn't want any new business. That's a crappy way to run your company.
Diversity rocks and Jackson doesn't have it in their guitars.
They adamantly refuse to diversify their product line. It's really insulting to those of us who want Jackson quality but also want to buy a guitar that suits our own needs. Jackson is a company that appears completely close-minded to the demands of current players.
Consider:
1) Jackson has some weird aversion to mahogany guitars. Most metal and hard rock players love mahogany for it's dark, rich tonal character. Although I like Strats for certain applications, when I play metal and hard rock, I want a guitar that has a heavy, Les Paul-style sound. I did some comparison shopping.... out of their entire product line (both foreign and American-made guitars) Jackson offers roughly five to ten mahogany guitars and over 30 non-mahogany models. The mahogany models I mentioned are the ones least promoted by the company.... often hard to find and way overpriced. ESP, on the other hand, offers about 40 mahogany and almost the same number of non-mahogany guitars. The non-mahogany guitars I speak of come in alder, ash, maple and a wide variety of other tone woods. Clearly, it's easier to find the metal guitar you want from ESP.
2) Jackson doesn't produce guitars for the non-trem player. In today's market, Floyd Rose trems have greatly gone out of style and most players (myself included) just want a string-through or stop tailpiece. Jackson doesn't deliver. Again, I did some comparison shopping and found that only 1/3 of Jackson's guitars AREN'T Rose-equipped, whereas 1/3 of ESP's ARE. ESP obviously is doing a better job of keeping up with current players' demands.
3) Jackson doesn't make basses. Every band needs a bass player and, yes, bass players do exist. I want a company that offers many different basses and does a good job advertising and backing them up. Jackson's bass line is a joke. They sell 6 different basses, 4 of which are still produced and widely available. ESP, on the other hand, sells 27 different basses.
I compared ESP to Jackson because they are the two top metal guitar companies and ESP's name seems to come up every time that a Jackson fan wants to spit venom at someone.
I know a lot of Jackson fans will argue "What's a company supposed to do, cater to current market trends?" The answer is no, a company should not cater EXCLUSIVELY to current market trends. They should, however, provide today's guitarists with something we want to use. I'm not talking about the sloppy nu-metal cretins of the world, I'm talking about completely legitimate up and coming metal bands that are technically accomplished and looking for an axe to suit their needs. They probably won't find it at Jackson.
Jackson does stoop.... to the needs of forty-year old 80s hair metal audience. The Jackson fan-base is so vehemently opposed to anything new that they constantly slam ESP's, Ibanez, and any other company who wishes to reach a new group of players. If you don't see what I'm saying, go to the Jackson/Charvel Forums for awhile. You can get crucified for playing an Ibanez. The close-mindedness is unreal.
Again, nothing against the guitars themselves, because they are always high-quality and still good "bang for the buck". I just feel that the company is like a clubhouse that doesn't want any new business. That's a crappy way to run your company.
Diversity rocks and Jackson doesn't have it in their guitars.
