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tjon901 « Jackson Soloist in a custom finish. »
Published on 08/16/11 at 19:35This is one of the special finish soloists Jackson puts out every once and a while. The Jackson Custom shop has a lot of contracted painters that are always putting out cool new finishes on their guitars. This is one of the simpler ones but it is still something different than the typical black and red you get on most guitars. Otherwise the specs on this guitar are pretty regular for a Soloist SL2H. The guitar has an alder body with a neck through maple neck. The neck on a soloist is something special. The neck is wide and flat with a compound radius. The compound radius allows the for great playability on both ends of the neck. Near the headstock on the low end the radius is 12 inches which means the fretboard is slightly more curved up there to make playing chord shapes more comfortable. Near the high end the radius is 16 inches which makes shredding and lead playing effortless. The guitar has 24 frets on a rosewood fretboard. The pickups are two Seymour Duncans. There is a master volume and master tone with a 5 way blade.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is buitl to play fast. The neck-through design is a feature I love and wish more guitar makers would use. The wood for the neck goes all the way through the body and the top and bottom of the body are glued to the side of the neck piece. With this construction there is virtually no neck joint which makes playing up at even the highest frets as easy as playing at the middle of the neck. Not only does this construction let you not have a bulky neck joint it also increases sustain as the pickups are mounted directly to the same piece of wood as the neck. The compound radius makes playing all over the neck comfortable and the ebony fretboard feels good under your fingers. The original Floyd Rose is the original double locking tremolo system and its still the best. When properly setup this system will never go out of tune. The superstrat shape is naturally light and gives great upper fret access.
SOUNDS
With Seymour Duncan pickups these guitars can do just about every style of music and not just metal styles. The JB in the bridge is the benchmark for a good bridge pickup. The JB is like a hot rodded PAF with a more punch. The low end is tight and does great for metal but the pickup overall is lose enough to do classic rock and it even gives a great blues tone. The 59 in the neck is super smooth and is like an original PAF. It has a super smooth tone which is what you want for lead solos on the neck position. It can get a great blues tone as well. It can get a bit muddy if you are playing with a lot of gain. If it is too muddy the Jazz is very similar but with a slightly tighter sound.
OVERALL OPINION
Jacksons are some of the last true shred guitars that have been made continually since the 80s. Their designs have changed very little and this is because there is nothing really to change. These models are made in America and have great fit and finish. If you are looking for a nice Soloist but want it to have a unique color this is one of the options you have.
UTILIZATION
This guitar is buitl to play fast. The neck-through design is a feature I love and wish more guitar makers would use. The wood for the neck goes all the way through the body and the top and bottom of the body are glued to the side of the neck piece. With this construction there is virtually no neck joint which makes playing up at even the highest frets as easy as playing at the middle of the neck. Not only does this construction let you not have a bulky neck joint it also increases sustain as the pickups are mounted directly to the same piece of wood as the neck. The compound radius makes playing all over the neck comfortable and the ebony fretboard feels good under your fingers. The original Floyd Rose is the original double locking tremolo system and its still the best. When properly setup this system will never go out of tune. The superstrat shape is naturally light and gives great upper fret access.
SOUNDS
With Seymour Duncan pickups these guitars can do just about every style of music and not just metal styles. The JB in the bridge is the benchmark for a good bridge pickup. The JB is like a hot rodded PAF with a more punch. The low end is tight and does great for metal but the pickup overall is lose enough to do classic rock and it even gives a great blues tone. The 59 in the neck is super smooth and is like an original PAF. It has a super smooth tone which is what you want for lead solos on the neck position. It can get a great blues tone as well. It can get a bit muddy if you are playing with a lot of gain. If it is too muddy the Jazz is very similar but with a slightly tighter sound.
OVERALL OPINION
Jacksons are some of the last true shred guitars that have been made continually since the 80s. Their designs have changed very little and this is because there is nothing really to change. These models are made in America and have great fit and finish. If you are looking for a nice Soloist but want it to have a unique color this is one of the options you have.