Hatsubai « Low end Jackson »
Published on 06/25/11 at 11:38This is yet another low end Jackson made overseas. The guitar has the following specs:
Basswood body
Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard
24 extra jumbo frets
Sharkfin inlays
A Jackson licensed floyd rose
HSS configuration
One volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The Japanese guitars back during this day had some hit or miss things going on with them. There were some that were killer. These were the ones made with the same woods as the American counterparts. They were also built by a certain luthier. The lower end ones made with basswood don't really sound that great, and I find their quality isn't quite as good.
This guitar had some iffy fretwork. The frets themselves didn't have any sharp edges, but they should have been crowned a bit better. There were some issues as to how perfectly level the frets were, and that can prevent super low action. The neck joint wasn't too bad on this one, but it really depends on the particular guitar you have. Some can be a bit sloppy, I've found. The floyd on this is pure trash. You should replace it right away with an original floyd if you're going to keep this guitar.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this are pretty poor. They sound undefined and lack that organic quality that most quality humbuckers have. The bridge was bright, but when you played it with some gain, it sounded like there was no definition at all. The neck and middle pickups were pretty noisy, and they didn't seem to give that great single coil quality I love. If you're going to keep this, I recommend replacing them with real Seymour Duncan pickups. They really do give the guitar an entirely new dimension of tone.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're going to get a Jackson, get one of the better ones that has wood other than basswood. I love basswood for my Ibanez guitars, but it just seems wrong to have a bolt-on basswood Jackson guitar. Spend some extra money and get one of the higher quality Japanese made Jacksons used or something. Or if you can afford it, look towards the higher end LTD series as they're extremely high quality and should give you a similar tone/feel.
Basswood body
Maple neck with a rosewood fretboard
24 extra jumbo frets
Sharkfin inlays
A Jackson licensed floyd rose
HSS configuration
One volume, one tone and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The Japanese guitars back during this day had some hit or miss things going on with them. There were some that were killer. These were the ones made with the same woods as the American counterparts. They were also built by a certain luthier. The lower end ones made with basswood don't really sound that great, and I find their quality isn't quite as good.
This guitar had some iffy fretwork. The frets themselves didn't have any sharp edges, but they should have been crowned a bit better. There were some issues as to how perfectly level the frets were, and that can prevent super low action. The neck joint wasn't too bad on this one, but it really depends on the particular guitar you have. Some can be a bit sloppy, I've found. The floyd on this is pure trash. You should replace it right away with an original floyd if you're going to keep this guitar.
SOUNDS
The pickups in this are pretty poor. They sound undefined and lack that organic quality that most quality humbuckers have. The bridge was bright, but when you played it with some gain, it sounded like there was no definition at all. The neck and middle pickups were pretty noisy, and they didn't seem to give that great single coil quality I love. If you're going to keep this, I recommend replacing them with real Seymour Duncan pickups. They really do give the guitar an entirely new dimension of tone.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're going to get a Jackson, get one of the better ones that has wood other than basswood. I love basswood for my Ibanez guitars, but it just seems wrong to have a bolt-on basswood Jackson guitar. Spend some extra money and get one of the higher quality Japanese made Jacksons used or something. Or if you can afford it, look towards the higher end LTD series as they're extremely high quality and should give you a similar tone/feel.