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tjon901 « The bolt on Soloist »
Published on 06/16/11 at 05:18In the 80s Jackson went out to make the best playing shredders guitars in the world. One of the models was the Dinky. It is named Dinky because of the slightly smaller body than normal. The Dinky is pretty much a Jackson Soloist but with a bolt on neck. It is priced lower than the Soloist respectively. The guitar features an Alder body with a rock maple bolt on neck. The fretboard is rosewood with jumbo frets and Jacksons famous compound radius fretboard and Jacksons trademark sharkfin inlays. he compound radius allows the for great playability on both ends of the neck. Near the headstock on the low end the radius is 12 inches which means the fretboard is slightly more curved up there to make playing chord shapes more comfortable. Near the high end the radius is 16 inches which makes shredding and lead playing effortless. It comes with Seymour Duncan pickups from the factory. The pickups are two STK-1 single coils in the neck and middle with a JB TB4 in the bridge. These pickups are similar to what you get in the high end SL1. You get a Jackson Licensed Floyd Rose which is of decent quality.
UTILIZATION
Because the guitar is bolt on construction it will have a heel at the neck joint unlike the higher end Jacksons that are neck through. Jackson has done their best to make sure the heel does not get in the way. They have recessed the heel and the back of the guitar. The jumbo frets let you get a nice action and the compound radius fretboard means that you can comfortably play on both ends of the neck. Unlike on the neck through Jacksons this guitars bolt on neck means you get a bare neck. Many people prefer the feel of bare wood to a finished neck. A finished neck can sometimes get sticky as you play the guitar and sweat. The licensed Floyd Rose tremolo is okay and will work fine with a proper setup.
SOUNDS
With the humbucker and two singles these guitars can offer up very versatile sounds. They can do any type of music. Coming with quality Seymour Duncan pickups from the factory put its ahead of most companies guitars which just come with in-house pickups. The middle pickup allows you to emulate strat tones while the bridge humbucker lets you rip it at high gain for all your metal songs. You must remember that two of the 3 pickups are single coils so they are not noise cancelling. With the neck and middle pickups by themselves you will get more noise than you would with a humbucker by itself.
OVERALL OPINION
The Jackson DK2 is a great mid range shred guitar. It has all the features of the high end Jackson models but with a few construction changes that allow a drastically lower price. The factory Seymour Duncan pickups mean you wont need to swap them out when you get the guitar so thats a plus too. The bare neck is something it has over its more expensive neck through cousins. If you are looking for a traditional super strat shred guitar the Jackson DK2 is one of the best.
UTILIZATION
Because the guitar is bolt on construction it will have a heel at the neck joint unlike the higher end Jacksons that are neck through. Jackson has done their best to make sure the heel does not get in the way. They have recessed the heel and the back of the guitar. The jumbo frets let you get a nice action and the compound radius fretboard means that you can comfortably play on both ends of the neck. Unlike on the neck through Jacksons this guitars bolt on neck means you get a bare neck. Many people prefer the feel of bare wood to a finished neck. A finished neck can sometimes get sticky as you play the guitar and sweat. The licensed Floyd Rose tremolo is okay and will work fine with a proper setup.
SOUNDS
With the humbucker and two singles these guitars can offer up very versatile sounds. They can do any type of music. Coming with quality Seymour Duncan pickups from the factory put its ahead of most companies guitars which just come with in-house pickups. The middle pickup allows you to emulate strat tones while the bridge humbucker lets you rip it at high gain for all your metal songs. You must remember that two of the 3 pickups are single coils so they are not noise cancelling. With the neck and middle pickups by themselves you will get more noise than you would with a humbucker by itself.
OVERALL OPINION
The Jackson DK2 is a great mid range shred guitar. It has all the features of the high end Jackson models but with a few construction changes that allow a drastically lower price. The factory Seymour Duncan pickups mean you wont need to swap them out when you get the guitar so thats a plus too. The bare neck is something it has over its more expensive neck through cousins. If you are looking for a traditional super strat shred guitar the Jackson DK2 is one of the best.