Jackson Stealth XL

I bought it from a store for around 250-300 dollars.

I like the tone on this guitar, it can be heard clearly through a great amount of distortion unlike others guitars i have purchased, i like the floyd rose bridge on it because you can go through many dips before losing your sound. what is really great about this guitar is it's slim neck, since it's slim you dont have to move your thumb around on the back of the neck which caused me personally to have soreness in my hand. i definitlly recommend this guitar for someone who like to play a lot of rock.

I dont like that when a string breaks the entire guitar goes out of tune because the brigde doesnt have as much force pulling on it (ie. the strings.) so it goes about a half inch lower. also the volume and tone knobs became loose to the point where it came off but tightening was too much of a hassle.

This guitar has locking tuners, awesome bridge, a humbucker in the brigde position and single pickups. the quality is great other then the control knobs which can be easily taken care of.

overall it's not a bad guitar but i would only recommend it to someone who has been playing a little and wants to get a premium guitar for a little money.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The biggest difference between this XL model and the other models is that this one has an HSS configuration. Aside from that, it's pretty much your standard Stealth with either a basswood or ash body. This guitar has the following specs:

Ash body
Maple bolt-on neck with a rosewood fretboard
22 jumbo frets with dot inlays
Licensed floyd rose tremolo
HSH configuration
One volume, one tone
Five way switch

UTILIZATION

The guitar was put together decently, but it did have some wear and tear on it. There were grooves in the frets due to the fact that the guitar was used and played a good bit. The finish itself was also starting to flake a good bit. I think the guy who had it last wore a belt or something because the back was a bit beaten up. The floyd on this is pretty sub par compared to other floyds out there, and if you're going to keep it, I recommend replacing it with an original floyd rose or something comparable.

SOUNDS

First of all, the ash body on this makes the guitar a bit heavier than some of the basswood models. It's a bit denser, so keep that in mind. The ash body on this accentuates the highs and lows. The stock pickups in this are pretty bland sounding overall. The bridge pickup in this is a bit muddy sounding, and there are some brightness in the top end due to the ash body. The middle pickup is bland, but it works decent when you split it with the other pickups. The neck pickup didn't have enough output for me, and it was a bit noisy. I'd recommend replacing the pickups if you have a chance.

OVERALL OPINION

The ash body on this gave it some extra flavor that you don't normally see from Jacksons. It's a real cool body wood, but you have to be careful of the high end. With the right pickups, these guitars can really scream. I'd also recommend a floyd swap. If you find a good deal on these used, go for it.