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tjon901 « Good midlevel RR »
Published on 09/04/11 at 09:42The RR5 is a good midlevel guitar in the RR line. Randy Rhodes was an iconic guitar player for many people and the RR series of guitars is a lasting tribute to him. The RR5 is pretty close to what he last played. It has some high end features of the RR1 with some simple features that increase simplicity and reliabilty. The RR5 has an alder body with a neck though maple neck. The guitar is a hard tail so you get 6 normal tuners up top and a tune-o-matic bridge. The bridge has a string through stop tail that increases sustain. The pickups are a classic set of Seymour Duncans. The bridge pickup is a Duncan JB with a Duncan Jazz in the neck position. The controls are pretty typical with two volumes and a master tone with a 3 way toggle.
UTILIZATION
The playability is pretty good and is increased by the hard tail setup. Upper fret access is pretty decent. Only having 22 frets helps this because the V shape is pretty broad and with 24 frets they may get hard to reach. The rosewood fretboard feels good under your fingers. The neck through design means there is no heel so that is good too. Jacksons at these levels come with compound radius necks. This means that on the higher frets the radius is flatter making it easy to bend but on the low frets its more curved making chords more comfortable. The hardtail bridge means you have excellent tuning stability and the string through hard tail increases sustain.
SOUNDS
The alder body with the maple neck give you the classic shred guitar tone. Not many companies put after market pickups in their guitars but Jackson does. Jackson knows if you are paying more than 1000 dollars for a guitar you should not have to change the pickups right after you get it. The JB and the Jazz is a good set if you are playing heavier music. The JB is a great bridge pickup when combined with the right wood guitar. In a mahogany guitar like this it is perfect. The low end is tight but not djent tight. It has a nice about of sag to it. It has good midrange and high end to it. It cuts really well and does not get muddy. The Jazz in the neck is clear and tight. The Jazz is like a more modern sounding 59 pickup. It is as smooth as the 59 but it has a bit more top end so it so it does not get as muddy as the 59 when you are playing with high gain. The sound matches the classic metal vibe of this guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a Jackson RR but dont like tremolos this is a great deal. RR1T's are pretty rare and cost just as much as a normal RR1. This guitar has all the same features of an RR1T for like 1/2 the price. This guitar has great aftermarket pickups and great Jackson playability. What more could you need.
UTILIZATION
The playability is pretty good and is increased by the hard tail setup. Upper fret access is pretty decent. Only having 22 frets helps this because the V shape is pretty broad and with 24 frets they may get hard to reach. The rosewood fretboard feels good under your fingers. The neck through design means there is no heel so that is good too. Jacksons at these levels come with compound radius necks. This means that on the higher frets the radius is flatter making it easy to bend but on the low frets its more curved making chords more comfortable. The hardtail bridge means you have excellent tuning stability and the string through hard tail increases sustain.
SOUNDS
The alder body with the maple neck give you the classic shred guitar tone. Not many companies put after market pickups in their guitars but Jackson does. Jackson knows if you are paying more than 1000 dollars for a guitar you should not have to change the pickups right after you get it. The JB and the Jazz is a good set if you are playing heavier music. The JB is a great bridge pickup when combined with the right wood guitar. In a mahogany guitar like this it is perfect. The low end is tight but not djent tight. It has a nice about of sag to it. It has good midrange and high end to it. It cuts really well and does not get muddy. The Jazz in the neck is clear and tight. The Jazz is like a more modern sounding 59 pickup. It is as smooth as the 59 but it has a bit more top end so it so it does not get as muddy as the 59 when you are playing with high gain. The sound matches the classic metal vibe of this guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
If you are looking for a Jackson RR but dont like tremolos this is a great deal. RR1T's are pretty rare and cost just as much as a normal RR1. This guitar has all the same features of an RR1T for like 1/2 the price. This guitar has great aftermarket pickups and great Jackson playability. What more could you need.