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Hatsubai « More extreme V »
Published on 04/27/11 at 17:23The Jackson King V is one of the two most iconic Vs that Jackson has to offer. It's a more "metal" version of the original Flying V that Gibson offered, and while it was originally built for Robbin Crosby, Dave Mustaine is probably the most notable user of this guitar. It features an alder body, maple neck with ebony fretboard and shark fin inlays, 24 jumbo frets, an original floyd rose, HH configuration, volume knob, tone knob and a 3 way switch.
UTILIZATION
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the way Vs are when you sit down. They feel very uncomfortable to me as you have to sit in a classical style and support the neck a bit. That said, the guitar has very nice access to the higher frets thanks to its neck-thru body. The coolest thing about this guitar is the compound fretboard radius. This allows chording at the lower register to be much easier, but huge bends at the higher frets don't fret out like they normally would.
SOUNDS
The guitar, while mostly being portrayed as a rock/metal machine, can do most any style thanks to its pickups. The JB in the bridge is an extreme versatile pickup that can really cover most any style, and thanks to this wood selection, it allows it to really shine. The neck pickup in this guitar is actually a JB as well. While I'm not a huge fan of the JB in the neck, it can work for some people. Personally, I swap it out for a Duncan '59.
OVERALL OPINION
If you've never tried a V guitar before, I highly recommend playing one first. They can be a real pain to sit down with. That said, this guitar is a wonderfully constructed guitar with great fretwork, nice tone and fairly versatile pickup configuration. It's a bit expensive, so I recommend looking for one on the used market.
UTILIZATION
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the way Vs are when you sit down. They feel very uncomfortable to me as you have to sit in a classical style and support the neck a bit. That said, the guitar has very nice access to the higher frets thanks to its neck-thru body. The coolest thing about this guitar is the compound fretboard radius. This allows chording at the lower register to be much easier, but huge bends at the higher frets don't fret out like they normally would.
SOUNDS
The guitar, while mostly being portrayed as a rock/metal machine, can do most any style thanks to its pickups. The JB in the bridge is an extreme versatile pickup that can really cover most any style, and thanks to this wood selection, it allows it to really shine. The neck pickup in this guitar is actually a JB as well. While I'm not a huge fan of the JB in the neck, it can work for some people. Personally, I swap it out for a Duncan '59.
OVERALL OPINION
If you've never tried a V guitar before, I highly recommend playing one first. They can be a real pain to sit down with. That said, this guitar is a wonderfully constructed guitar with great fretwork, nice tone and fairly versatile pickup configuration. It's a bit expensive, so I recommend looking for one on the used market.