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tjon901 « Lightweight mahogany soloist »
Published on 08/17/11 at 11:02This 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.
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.