All user reviews for the Jackson Stars NASL-j2e

You don't come across these guitars too often for whatever reason. To me, they're almost like a Caparison or real metal PRS in certain ways. I happen to really like them, but they're not for everyone, it seems. The guitar features the following specs:

Arched Mahogany Body
Mahogany Thru-Neck Design
Bound Rosewood Fretboard with Special Inlays
Schaller Floyd Rose
EMG 81 in the Neck and Bridge
One Volume
One Tone
Three Way Switch

UTILIZATION

The guitar has a lot of good things going for it. For one, the fretwork on this was very good. The frets were huge, and they were all properly beveled. On certain guitars, I'll sometimes see the frets flattened, but they weren't properly crowned for whatever reason. I never understood that. The ends were also nice and rounded, so they don't slice your hand up. The neck was bound, and I dislike the feel of binding, but it was still a good guitar overall. The floyd on this isn't too bad, and it should be able to withstand some decent amount of abuse, but it's a bit stiffer than a normal Floyd Rose.

SOUNDS

The guitar had EMG 81s in it, and it was totally meant for metal. The EMG 81 in the bridge is super tight and searing. Under high gain is where these pickups shine. You have this tightness that simply can't be beat by any other pickup. They can be a bit "linear" and "sterile" but that's part of what makes them EMGs in the first place. This is great for that heavy metal rhythm, but I'd never use these for lower gain stuff. The EMG 81 is a bit too bright and searing for me in the neck. I much prefer the EMG 85 in the neck as it's fatter and smoother. Given that I'm a big fan of smooth neck tones, that's generally the pickup I tend to install in my guitars.

OVERALL OPINION

The guitar is very solid, and if you're looking for an alternative from the usual metal guitars that you always see, I'd recommend this. However, they're a bit hard to find since they've been discontinued. If you happen to run across one at a good deal, I'd say jump on it as you won't be losing much. They're high quality guitars.