Jackson Stars ASL-j2

This is a fairly high quality Jackson made over in Japan. It utilizes the regular tone woods that the MIA Jackson's use, and it even has real Seymour Duncans installed in it so you shouldn't have to swap out the pickups like the rest of the line. The guitar has the following features:

Alder Body
Maple Thru-Neck Design
Bound Ebony Fretboard with Sharkfin Inlays
Schaller Floyd Rose
Seymour Duncan Pickups (Custom and 59)
One Volume
One Tone
Three Way Switch

UTILIZATION

The guitar is just an alder body as opposed to the ash body w/ maple top on the DK01, so it's not quite as heavy. That's a good thing, in my opinion. I have an issue with super heavy guitars, and I find that they sound less resonant than a normal or lighter weight guitar. The guitar has a Schaller Floyd on it, but I find it's not quite as good as some of the other Schallers on there. This is made to Jackson's specs or something, and it just doesn't seem to be quite as good. That said, it's still not a bad trem like the TRS ones. The fretwork on this was pretty good, so no real issues there. All in all, fairly solid.

SOUNDS

The guitar had the Seymour Duncan Custom in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck. The Duncan Custom is one of my favorite bridge pickups. It has enough bass to help thicken up the alder and maple combo, but it also has some good treble going on so you don't lose that natural bite that the guitar gives off. It's not as organic as the Custom 5, but it's tighter and more direct. The 59 in the neck is probably my go-to Duncan when it comes to neck pickups. It's fat, yet it's also clear. I'm mostly a lead player, and it helps with the legato aspects of my playing. I'm able to cut through, but I'm also able to get that liquid gain going on.

OVERALL OPINION

I highly recommend people check out these guitars if you get a chance. They're very solid, especially for the used price they tend to go for. The problem is that you don't see them for sale too often. The quality of the instrument can easily rival the MIA models, and it's kind of like a well kept secret. Solid tone woods, solid pickups, solid everything, really. Check it out if you get the chance.