Jackson Phil Collen PC1 (2006)

2006 was the year that Fender officially acquired Jackson, and as a result, Jackson was allowed to use the original Fender headstock. This is now on all of the current Phil Collen models as that's what he originally wanted in the first place. The guitar features a mahogany body with a quilted maple top, a maple neck, 24 frets, dot inlays, an original floyd rose, HSS configuration, one volume, one tone, a five way switch and two switches for the sustainer.

UTILIZATION

The quilt on this wasn't quite as nice as the Pre 06 I had. It was a strong quilt, but the older one seemed to pop a bit more for whatever reason. Every guitar is different, so keep that in mind. The neck joint on this was nice and tight, so no issues there. The frets could have been leveled a bit better, but they were pretty good for most applications. The guitar has a pretty big neck on this, so if you like thin necks, you might want to look into another guitar. Aside from that, it's a pretty normal Jackson, although it weighs quite a bit considering the maple and mahogany.

SOUNDS

The guitar has a DiMarzio Super 3 in the bridge with an HS2 in the middle and a Sustainer in the neck. The Super 3 is another take on DiMarzio's Super Distortion. Imagine a Super Distortion, but now add more midrange and less treble. That's basically what this is. It's great for a very fat sound, but it can be a bit one dimensional at times. For the tone it does do, however, it does it in spades. The HS2 was never a huge favorite of mine, but it works on cleans. The Sustainer in the neck is super fun to play with, and you can get all kinds of cool harmonics with it thanks to the various toggle switches.

OVERALL OPINION

I recommend going to the store and playing these to see if you like them. They're not for everyone due to the neck and the Sustainer. Not everybody wants that feature, and you might be able to make do with a cheaper Jackson. That said, it's a pretty high quality guitar, albeit slightly overpriced new.