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Hatsubai « Fairly mellow tone »
Published on 10/13/11 at 14:38This is one of the few American Jacksons that I've played that actually has a poplar body instead of the normal alder or mahogany body. It's also slightly different from the normal Dinky that you tend to see all over the place today. The guitar features a poplar body, a maple neck with an ebony fretboard, 22 frets with no inlays, a licensed floyd rose bridge, two humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The first thing I should mention about this guitar is that it has a licensed floyd rose. I'm really not a fan of the bridge that's installed in this. It doesn't flutter as nice as a normal floyd rose does, and it doesn't seem to have the normal tone that I look for in the floyd rose. It just seems to be a bit more mellow than the normal floyd. The fretwork on this was great, so no issues there. It's a 22 fret neck instead of a 24 fret neck, and that might be a downside to some people. You'll have to see whether or not you prefer those extra 2 frets enough to want to get one of the normal Dinky guitars that Jackson has to offer, or maybe even a Soloist. The rest of the guitar was pretty much what you'd expect.
SOUNDS
The guitar had a Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck and a Custom Custom in the bridge. The Custom Custom is a very thick sounding pickup. It can do a lot in terms of genres, but it seems to be suited towards darker tones overall. If you're looking for that super bright spanky tone, go get a strat or something as you won't be getting it from this unless you split it. The low end on this isn't quite as tight as the normal Custom, but it's not too bad. The Jazz in the neck is very clean sounding. It works great for clean tones, but it can sometimes sound a bit digital or linear for leads. It's not bad, but there are better pickups out there for leads, I believe. I tend to prefer the 59 in the neck myself.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is good, but I really wish it would have had an original floyd rose instead of the licensed bridge that was installed in this. Also, the overall guitar was just very mellow and didn't seem to have a ton of bite. I think that has to do with the poplar wood, combined with the cheaper floyd rose bridge that was installed in this guitar. It could have also had to do with the Custom Custom in the bridge.
UTILIZATION
The first thing I should mention about this guitar is that it has a licensed floyd rose. I'm really not a fan of the bridge that's installed in this. It doesn't flutter as nice as a normal floyd rose does, and it doesn't seem to have the normal tone that I look for in the floyd rose. It just seems to be a bit more mellow than the normal floyd. The fretwork on this was great, so no issues there. It's a 22 fret neck instead of a 24 fret neck, and that might be a downside to some people. You'll have to see whether or not you prefer those extra 2 frets enough to want to get one of the normal Dinky guitars that Jackson has to offer, or maybe even a Soloist. The rest of the guitar was pretty much what you'd expect.
SOUNDS
The guitar had a Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck and a Custom Custom in the bridge. The Custom Custom is a very thick sounding pickup. It can do a lot in terms of genres, but it seems to be suited towards darker tones overall. If you're looking for that super bright spanky tone, go get a strat or something as you won't be getting it from this unless you split it. The low end on this isn't quite as tight as the normal Custom, but it's not too bad. The Jazz in the neck is very clean sounding. It works great for clean tones, but it can sometimes sound a bit digital or linear for leads. It's not bad, but there are better pickups out there for leads, I believe. I tend to prefer the 59 in the neck myself.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is good, but I really wish it would have had an original floyd rose instead of the licensed bridge that was installed in this. Also, the overall guitar was just very mellow and didn't seem to have a ton of bite. I think that has to do with the poplar wood, combined with the cheaper floyd rose bridge that was installed in this guitar. It could have also had to do with the Custom Custom in the bridge.