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Hatsubai « Bringing back the X series »
Published on 11/02/11 at 15:53You don't see too many neck-thru guitars with these kinds of specs, and in my opinion, there's a reason for it. Jackson is reviving the X series guitars, and they're a bit of a mixed bag on certain things. The guitar features a basswood body with a maple veneer top, a maple neck-thru neck with a rosewood fretboard, 24 extra jumbo frets with sharkfin inlays, a licensed floyd rose bridge, two real EMG humbuckers, one volume, one tone and a three way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is a neck-thru design guitar, so access to the upper frets is an absolute breeze. There's pretty much nothing at the higher register to get in the way, and reading that last fret is as easy as can be, really. The guitar had a decent weight that was right around the 7 lb mark, so while it's not exactly "super light" as they say, it's still a pretty light guitar. The frets on this were decent, and I was able to get some nice action with it. The bridge is one if the main weak points of this guitar. It's a licensed bridge that I'm not a huge fan of. One thing that was really annoying was that the arm wasn't perfectly tight in the cavity, even with it screwed down all the way.
SOUNDS
The guitar itself is mostly maple thanks to its neck-thru design, but the wings are made out of alder. This is a somewhat odd combination of woods, but it's not too much of a big deal thanks to the EMGs installed in it. Before anyone starts, no, EMGs do not sound the same in every single guitar. However, they sound a lot more linear than other pickups in guitars, and I find they're more "compatible" than a passive might be. The guitar had an EMG 81/85 combo, and anybody who has played these knows they work out quite well for heavy metal. For other geners, they're a bit lacking, but for metal, they can do that melodeath/death metal sound with ease. They're compressed, tight and linear enough to get the job done for those who want that awesome grind you normally hear from actives.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is a pretty good guitar, and while the bridge isn't too bad, it's still something that I'd like to see changed up. The pickups in this are good enough to stand on their own, and there's no need to replace them. The guitars are also cheap enough to where you won't break the bank buying one of these, and you can have a pretty good "bang for your buck" guitar.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is a neck-thru design guitar, so access to the upper frets is an absolute breeze. There's pretty much nothing at the higher register to get in the way, and reading that last fret is as easy as can be, really. The guitar had a decent weight that was right around the 7 lb mark, so while it's not exactly "super light" as they say, it's still a pretty light guitar. The frets on this were decent, and I was able to get some nice action with it. The bridge is one if the main weak points of this guitar. It's a licensed bridge that I'm not a huge fan of. One thing that was really annoying was that the arm wasn't perfectly tight in the cavity, even with it screwed down all the way.
SOUNDS
The guitar itself is mostly maple thanks to its neck-thru design, but the wings are made out of alder. This is a somewhat odd combination of woods, but it's not too much of a big deal thanks to the EMGs installed in it. Before anyone starts, no, EMGs do not sound the same in every single guitar. However, they sound a lot more linear than other pickups in guitars, and I find they're more "compatible" than a passive might be. The guitar had an EMG 81/85 combo, and anybody who has played these knows they work out quite well for heavy metal. For other geners, they're a bit lacking, but for metal, they can do that melodeath/death metal sound with ease. They're compressed, tight and linear enough to get the job done for those who want that awesome grind you normally hear from actives.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is a pretty good guitar, and while the bridge isn't too bad, it's still something that I'd like to see changed up. The pickups in this are good enough to stand on their own, and there's no need to replace them. The guitars are also cheap enough to where you won't break the bank buying one of these, and you can have a pretty good "bang for your buck" guitar.