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King Loudness « Very classy superstrat »
Published on 12/30/11 at 09:35The Jackson SL2H is a variation of the famous Soloist that has been made by the company since the '80s. It features dual humbuckers for the electronics platform, which is a departure from the typical H-S-S pickup configuration. Specs wise, it features an alder body, a maple neck with ebony fretboard, 24 frets, Original Floyd Rose Tremolo, a pair of Seymour Duncan humbuckers ('59 and JB) and a simple electronics layout of a single volume and single tone control, along with a 3 way toggle switch. It comes in a variety of finishes including some really awesome graphics that take you right back to the time of big hair and loud guitar finishes. They're built in the USA by Jackson and are as high end as you can get without veering into Custom Shop territory.
UTILIZATION
The design is very ergonomic to me. The guitar has neck through construction which feels very solid and smooth. The shape is extremely contoured and forms to the body quite well. The weight of these guitars is a bit heavier than one might expect from a superstrat, but it's still not like holding a Les Paul on your shoulders. The upper fret access is great considering it's a neck through and nothing will impede your hand from getting all the way to the 24th fret.
Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty simple. It's meant to have a nice bright tone for hard rock and shred sounds mainly. It's pretty much going to get those standard shred type tones but it does have a fairly thick quality to it as well that is great for rhythm work, so it's not a one trick pony by any means.
SOUNDS
The tones out of this guitar are really quite nice for modern lead playing. It's not the most versatile guitar in the world I find, but what it does, it does very well. The clean tones aren't the greatest in the world but they do have somewhat of a sparkle to them when put through a good clean channel of an amplifier. The mid gain tones don't do a whole lot for me because I find them to sound a bit forced and bright sounding. This guitar uses alder, maple and ebony together which is a bright combo, so you really need a sound setting that can handle that amount of treble. The highest gain sounds are really top notch. The Seymour Duncan '59 at the neck offers a nice smooth liquidy tone for leads, and the JB at the bridge is perfect for raunchy riffage and very '80s lead work. Very cool.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Jackson SL2H is a great guitar for anyone looking for the top of the range neck through superstrat that can really do those '80s tones as they were intended. It's not cheap at about $2,200 new, but you're getting a quality instrument that will last you for decades to come. The parts are all top notch and the feel and tone are just superb. Aside from Suhr, I think the USA Jacksons are in the group of some of the best superstrats made today.
UTILIZATION
The design is very ergonomic to me. The guitar has neck through construction which feels very solid and smooth. The shape is extremely contoured and forms to the body quite well. The weight of these guitars is a bit heavier than one might expect from a superstrat, but it's still not like holding a Les Paul on your shoulders. The upper fret access is great considering it's a neck through and nothing will impede your hand from getting all the way to the 24th fret.
Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty simple. It's meant to have a nice bright tone for hard rock and shred sounds mainly. It's pretty much going to get those standard shred type tones but it does have a fairly thick quality to it as well that is great for rhythm work, so it's not a one trick pony by any means.
SOUNDS
The tones out of this guitar are really quite nice for modern lead playing. It's not the most versatile guitar in the world I find, but what it does, it does very well. The clean tones aren't the greatest in the world but they do have somewhat of a sparkle to them when put through a good clean channel of an amplifier. The mid gain tones don't do a whole lot for me because I find them to sound a bit forced and bright sounding. This guitar uses alder, maple and ebony together which is a bright combo, so you really need a sound setting that can handle that amount of treble. The highest gain sounds are really top notch. The Seymour Duncan '59 at the neck offers a nice smooth liquidy tone for leads, and the JB at the bridge is perfect for raunchy riffage and very '80s lead work. Very cool.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Jackson SL2H is a great guitar for anyone looking for the top of the range neck through superstrat that can really do those '80s tones as they were intended. It's not cheap at about $2,200 new, but you're getting a quality instrument that will last you for decades to come. The parts are all top notch and the feel and tone are just superb. Aside from Suhr, I think the USA Jacksons are in the group of some of the best superstrats made today.