Jackson Pro Soloist SLS3

This is one of the more unique soloist guitars in Jacksons line. It has a very vintage tone but with a super light and super modern feel. This guitar is the Jackson Soloist SLS-3. It has a mahogany body with an arched top design for comfort. The guitar features neck through construction and the neck is mahogany as well. The fretboard is ebony and has 24 jumbo frets. The fretboard features Jacksons compound radius design which is very cool. The guitar has Seymour Duncan 59 pickups in the bridge and neck position which is something you do not see much. The bridge is a tune-o-matic with a string through tailpiece. The controls are pretty basic with a master volume and master tone with a 3 way blade switch.


UTILIZATION

I love the playability on this guitar and I prefer it to the higher end Jackson models. The ebony fretboard is super smooth and the jumbo frets let you get a super easy action. The compound radius fretboard means your chords at the low end are nice and comfy while your bends and solos at the high end are greasy fast. Without the locking tremolo system you get rock solid tuning stability and it doesnt take all week to change tunings. The neck through construction means there is no large heel to get in the way. The 3x3 headstock although it may just look like a basic features is pretty important on a guitar like this. Since it has a mahogany neck the neck is not as strong as a maple neck would be. With a large 6 inline headstock the longer headstock would be more prone to breaking. This shorter headstock puts less stress on the neck so it is less likely to break.

SOUNDS

Normally a guitar with two Seymour Duncan 59s may have a bit of a muddy sound but it matches perfectly with this guitar. This guitar even with having a mahogany body and neck still has a bit of a brightness to it. Since this guitar is neck through with a string through body tailpeice. Both of those items increase the brightness of a guitar. These features perfectly balance out the super smoothness of the Duncan 59s to give you a smooth but clear tone. 59's have a very smooth tone. They are a lot like old PAF's. With their smooth tone they are usually used in the neck position in the bridge position it does not have a lot of bite that people might expect nowadays. The construction as I said helps this but it still can get muddy in the bridge position if you are playing heavy. You may want to swap out this pickup for a JB.

OVERALL OPINION

I love the design of this guitar. It is like a Les Paul that you can shred on. The mahogany body and neck provide great tone. Most shred guitars like this have a bright tone due to their alder bodies and maple necks. This guitar has a darker smoother tone which is more suited for modern music. If you are looking for a pretty simple guitar that sounds like a Les Paul but is super easy to play like a Jackson here it is.

This Jackson has the following specs:

Mahogany carved top body
Neck-thru mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard and 24 frets
Some unique inlays
A hard tail bridge
One volume, one tone and a three way switch
HH configuration with Seymour Duncan '59 pickups

UTILIZATION

Jackson did a pretty cool job with this guitar. It's similar to the DXMGT, but it's mahogany with an ebony fretboard. Since it's a neck-thru, getting up to those higher frets is super easy. They're pretty resonant, and that's a great thing. The fretwork on the guitar is pretty good, and I think the newer Jacksons are finally starting to stabilize after the whole Fender buyout thing. The shape is real easy to get familiar with because it's the industry standard superstrat that's been around for years and years.

SOUNDS

The guitar itself sounds really unique. This thing has two '59 pickups in it. These pickups are low to medium output, and they really lend themselves towards giving this guitar a kinda hard rock vibe. The lower output pickups means that every little nuance you do will be translated directly to the amp. Some people might not like that, so I recommend trying these things out before you commit to buying them. The overall tone is very fat, and I really like the '59 in the neck. Personally, I'd replace the bridge pickup with something like a JB or a Distortion. I think those would suit this guitar better.

OVERALL OPINION

If you want a Jackson that's not totally balls to the wall metal, check out this guitar. The '59 pickups in this really help make it more versatile than the standard Jacksons out there that are equipped with hotter pickups. Be sure to play one before you buy though. The '59 in the bridge isn't for everyone, and I don't feel they're hot and powerful enough to do extreme metal.

- Made in Japan, very good quality, very neat, I see no difference between the USA and made in Japan except the unjustified price ... (personal opinion) <img class="smiley" src="https://fr.audiofanzine.com/images/audiofanzine/interface/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink" />
- Mahogany body
- Channel driver mahogany (great sustain obtained) over the radius is compensated, starting with a rounded handle boxes 1 to get to a flat handle box 24, ideal for downhill speed.
- Ebony fingerboard with mother of pearl inlay + pearl inlaid pattern in the beautiful ... <img class="smiley" src="https://fr.audiofanzine.com/images/audiofanzine/interface/smileys/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt="mrgreen" /> "(24 cases)
- Tune-o-matic bridge with string-through (added to that driver handle the sustain is tip top)
- Convex Table
- 2 Seymour Duncan pickups 59 '(I replaced the bridge with a sh1 sh5 I will explain below)
- Mechanical Jackson oil bath (it relatively well like the agreement)
- 1 3 position selector, 1 volume, 1 tone

I put 9 the top have been a volume knob for each microphone

USE

Getting lovely hand is an easy to play guitar (strat shape so no problem either standing or sitting).
The guitar is lightweight and sound does not suffer so far, far away ... even hear the sound of Gojira plays a Sls 3 ...
The string action is low, very accurate, perfect for palm mute and fast phrasing.
Access to acute is excellent thanks to the crossing handle.
This gives a great sound whether clean as distortion, the guitar is very versatile.

SOUNDS

To expand a little more sound, my 3 SLS is granted in Drop C with a draft of 11-58.
I replaced the bridge pickup with a SH5 that is more powerful and more accurate than the original SH1.
In its clear: I get a warm and round with the neck pickup without notes slamming me beautiful chorus!
With the bridge pickup I get a clear sound very clean.
In its distortion I get through the bridge pickup (SH5) sound very powerful (the SH5 is as powerful as EMG81 and is also nearly as accurate contrary to what one could believe).
The neck pickup is ideal for solos, it does a very good job without any problems.
I play on a Single rectify Mesa 2x12 Celestion V30 + Cab Mesa + Pedals Boss ME20.
I love everything about Jackson, the clear sound is super nice (you can play the blues no problem), the sound distortion is to die for.
It's a beautiful guitar with a design really goes through everything and a versatile sound that will satisfy both the rocker or metalhead bluesman without any problems.

10/10 since I put a SH5 instead of the easel SH1.

NOTICE GLOBAL

I've had seven months now and I think not only second to part with so it sounds good in all registers.
I love its simple design goes hand across his evil and it is able to go out in distortion, while more than correct in the clear sounds.

I have a Gibson SG Standard I also like a lot,

I had:
Washburn mounted EMG81 / 85 very good guitar, excellent value for money.
Ibanez Rg kind

I tried: ESP Horizon / LTD ec-1000 / RR24 Jackson / Jackson Demolition.
In this price range Jackson SLS 3 is really excellent, it was a nice guitar to play, very light, versatile, with a very clean finish and especially SOUND whether for Metal or property punchy she slams Rock !!

The price / quality ratio is good, 1300 euros for a guitar that gives you pleasure every minutes is the price to pay!
other brands often sell a guitar of this quality at 1000 euros more ... <img class="smiley" src="https://fr.audiofanzine.com/images/audiofanzine/interface/smileys/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink" />