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Hatsubai
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Published on 03/17/11 at 10:22I walked into the local music store and saw this guitar. I always wanted a neck-thru Jackson, and they gave me a great deal on this guitar since it was a floor model. They might have changed since I bought mine, but this one had a licensed Jackson floyd, 24 frets a rosewood fretboard, maple neck and alder wings. I don't remember the neck or middle pickups, but the bridge was a Duncan JB. It had your typical five way blade switch with a volume and tone knob.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was put together alright. The fretwork wasn't the best, and the floyd was pretty trashy. I was never able to get the action I wanted out of the guitar. The neck-thru construction allowed for great access at the higher frets, and the sharkfin inlays gave it that signature Jackson look.
SOUNDS
The sound of the guitar was average. Back then, I was more concerned about playability than anything else. The JB was fairly bright in the bridge, and everything just seemed to scream "budget." I never use the middle pickup, but the neck wasn't too terrible sounding. I think I later replaced it with a Hot Rails, but I can't remember.
OVERALL OPINION
Jackson is becoming a bit less relevant in today's market place. ESP and Ibanez are taking up the budget superstrat market where as Suhr is really soaking up the higher end market. Keep in mind that I'm not really a fan of neck-thru guitars' tone today, so I'm basing my opinion off of that. I also never bothered replacing the bridge pickup, which might have been a good idea. The floyd was just total trash, though. The fine tuners were awful, and the thing was made of pot metal. I think they might have fixed this on the newer revisions, but I'm not 100% sure.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was put together alright. The fretwork wasn't the best, and the floyd was pretty trashy. I was never able to get the action I wanted out of the guitar. The neck-thru construction allowed for great access at the higher frets, and the sharkfin inlays gave it that signature Jackson look.
SOUNDS
The sound of the guitar was average. Back then, I was more concerned about playability than anything else. The JB was fairly bright in the bridge, and everything just seemed to scream "budget." I never use the middle pickup, but the neck wasn't too terrible sounding. I think I later replaced it with a Hot Rails, but I can't remember.
OVERALL OPINION
Jackson is becoming a bit less relevant in today's market place. ESP and Ibanez are taking up the budget superstrat market where as Suhr is really soaking up the higher end market. Keep in mind that I'm not really a fan of neck-thru guitars' tone today, so I'm basing my opinion off of that. I also never bothered replacing the bridge pickup, which might have been a good idea. The floyd was just total trash, though. The fine tuners were awful, and the thing was made of pot metal. I think they might have fixed this on the newer revisions, but I'm not 100% sure.