Jackson DK2M Dinky

The Jackson Dinky DK2M is a great mid level superstrat guitar that is designed to offer an exellent shred guitar with the signature Jackson playability at a price that won't break the bank like some of the higher end models might. It features an alder body, a maple neck and fretboard with 24 frets, black hardware, a Floyd Rose licensed locking tremolo, a pair of Seymour Duncan humbuckers (Jazz and JB) and a simple volume/tone/pickup switch layout. This guitar is not one of the super cheap Jackson JS models made in India or China, but rather is one of the nicer midline models that's made in Japan, so you're getting a good guitar for the cash.

UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is pretty ergonomic overall. The body has that nice superstrat shape and the whole guitar is reasonably light too. The neck has a great fast feel and the thin profile is perfect for shredding on. The upper fret access is great on these guitars as the neck joint has been modified from the typical Fender design to facilitate access to the top frets.

Getting a nice sound out of this guitar is pretty simple overall, which is helped by the good quality wood and the Seymour Duncan pickups, which are almost the same as the ones used in the USA Select Series guitars. The tones are quite good for lead work and can even sound good for rhythms as well.

SOUNDS

The tones out of this guitar are pretty good overall. It's definitely designed to sound best for brighter shred work, but when used for things like cleans or lower gain tones, it doesn't sound too too bad. I don't find it has the sparkle of a Fender or similar, so the cleans are more of a modern processed kind of sound rather than an organic type of clean. The distorted tones are very bright and clear sounding. This is ideal for all kinds of lead playing from sweep arpeggios using the neck pickup and fast alternate picking or tapping using the bridge pickup. It sounds cool for rhythm work too, as the pickups have a certain tightness that works reasonably well for rock or metal chord work.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Jackson DK2M is a great buy for anyone looking for a reasonably priced entry into the superstrat world that has the looks, feel and tone of some much higher priced instruments. It comes in at about $600 new which is great because of the quality that is put into this. If you're looking for a guitar that combines flashy Jackson looks with a feel perfect for shredding topped off with great tones from the Duncan pickups, give the Jackson DK2M a look, it is set to shred!

These have to be my favorite Jackson instruments that they make. It's very close to the superstrat style of guitars that have been very common in the 80s crowd such as the Charvel guitars. To basically this is almost exactly like a new production Charvel guitar. There are subtle differences such as the tremolo system has been cut away from the body so what sits down flatter across the frets. Most of the Charbvel guitars have the Floyd Rose mounted on top of the body. You get to see more Duncan pick up switches usually standard in many of the Charbvel guitars. You also have the rock hard maple neck which is a little bit different than most Jackson guitars that feature the rosewood back. You get a typical shark fin inlays within the frets.

UTILIZATION

Series: Pro Series

Body: alder

Neck: rock maple with scarf joint

Headstock: Jackson 6-in-line pointed

Tuning machines: sealed die-cast

Fingerboard: maple with 14-inch to 16-inch compound radius

Number of frets: 24

Fret size: jumbo

Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan TB-4 JB humbucker

Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan SH-2n humbucker

Controls: master volume, master tone

Bridge: Jackson licensed Floyd Rose tremolo

Pickup switching: 3-position toggle: bridge pickup, bridge and neck pickup, neck pickup

Hardware: chrome

Strings: NPS, gauges: .009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042

Scale length: 25.5 in.

Width at nut: 1-11/16 in.

SOUNDS


The tone is guitar is a very exciting tone because it has a great frequency response with any amplifier that you use. I think it must be the alder wood combination with the rock hard maple neck that just really excites a high gain amplifier. The color of it is pretty usual and standard with any type of hard rock or metal guitarist. However the overall feel and tone of this guitar is extremely versatile and fun to play. If you like the pointy headstock then this is a great guitar for you. It's a fun guitar and the neck is very comfortable to play as well.

OVERALL OPINION

These guitars you can find new for right around $600 or so. However they're going to be a little bit harder to find because they have been discontinued. So if you looking for something more comparable than you might have to go with one of the newer production model Jackson guitars. Overall they're a fun guitar and very cool looking to boast.

Jackson has been in a bit of a slump the past few years after Fender bought them out, but the newer experimental models they're releasing are pretty cool. This guitar has the following specs:

Alder body with flamed maple veneer
Bolt-on maple neck
Binding
12"-16" Compound radius
24 jumbo frets
Black sharkfin position inlays
Two humbuckers
3 way switch
Master volume, master tone
Jackson licensed floyd rose

UTILIZATION

The guitar is put together fairly decently. I noticed that the edges of the frets aren't quite as beveled as the upper models tend to be, and that's fairly common on these kinds of models. The binding is done nicely, and I didn't notice any issues regarding that. However, the biggest issue I have with this guitar is that the floyd rose that they put on this is pure trash. It's one of those really cheap pot metal ones. Over time, it won't hold like the real deal will, so I recommend replacing it with an original if you're going to keep this guitar. The Gotoh is a nice alternative as well. You'll not only get a stability benefit, but you'll also get a nice tonal benefit as I honestly feel the original floyds sound better than some of these cheaper licensed ones.

SOUNDS

The guitar has real Seymour Duncan pickups installed in it, and it really helps make it stand out compared to some of the other lower models in the Jackson line up. The JB in the bridge is a very love or hate pickup, but it's been the staple of high output pickups for the past 30+ years. It has a bitey treble and somewhat loose low end, but it lends itself to being a great "jack of all trades" pickup. It can do everything from blues to death metal. The Jazz in the neck is pretty interesting, but I find that it can be a bit bright and "clean" sounding for leads. It works nice for cleans, but under gain, it's somewhat synthetic sounding. I find that these work best in guitars like Gibsons or something with a big slab of mahogany to help support the treble spectrum that the Jazz has.

OVERALL OPINION

I recommend getting one of these, but if you do get it, replace the floyd with something that's better. Either the original or the Gotoh should fit right in without a problem, but you might want to confirm that on discussion forms before just buying and trying to install it. I also recommend buying used as you'll get a much better deal.

Jackson has been in a bit of a slump the past few years after Fender bought them out, but the newer experimental models they're releasing are pretty cool. This guitar has the following specs:

Alder body with flamed maple veneer
Bolt-on maple neck
Binding
12"-16" Compound radius
24 jumbo frets
Black sharkfin position inlays
Two humbuckers
3 way switch
Master volume, master tone
Jackson licensed floyd rose

UTILIZATION

The guitar is put together fairly decently. I noticed that the edges of the frets aren't quite as beveled as the upper models tend to be, and that's fairly common on these kinds of models. The binding is done nicely, and I didn't notice any issues regarding that. However, the biggest issue I have with this guitar is that the floyd rose that they put on this is pure trash. It's one of those really cheap pot metal ones. Over time, it won't hold like the real deal will, so I recommend replacing it with an original if you're going to keep this guitar. The Gotoh is a nice alternative as well. You'll not only get a stability benefit, but you'll also get a nice tonal benefit as I honestly feel the original floyds sound better than some of these cheaper licensed ones.

SOUNDS

The guitar has real Seymour Duncan pickups installed in it, and it really helps make it stand out compared to some of the other lower models in the Jackson line up. The JB in the bridge is a very love or hate pickup, but it's been the staple of high output pickups for the past 30+ years. It has a bitey treble and somewhat loose low end, but it lends itself to being a great "jack of all trades" pickup. It can do everything from blues to death metal. The Jazz in the neck is pretty interesting, but I find that it can be a bit bright and "clean" sounding for leads. It works nice for cleans, but under gain, it's somewhat synthetic sounding. I find that these work best in guitars like Gibsons or something with a big slab of mahogany to help support the treble spectrum that the Jazz has.

OVERALL OPINION

I recommend getting one of these, but if you do get it, replace the floyd with something that's better. Either the original or the Gotoh should fit right in without a problem, but you might want to confirm that on discussion forms before just buying and trying to install it. I also recommend buying used as you'll get a much better deal.