Jackson Performer Bass

90's japanese dinky strat style solid body with solid black finish. H-S-H pickup configuration - volume, tone, 5-way selector. Passive stock Jackson pickups. Floyd Rose style tremolo, locking nut, Jackson tuners. Thin 24 fret maple neck with jumbo frets on a rosewood fingerboard. Headstock is NOT reversed and fret markers are centered.

I've rated the features overall an eight and this is due IMO to the quality of the stock pickups. They are just too blah. They don't even have a bad personality - they simply have no personality. I also didn't like the floppy tremolo arm (more on that later).

I play all kinds of metal. Jacksons are made for metal, so 'nuff said.

I plan on using this guitar to make home recordings and to just jam on. I'm primarily a bass player so I run it through my little bassman amp.
The usual effects, all Boss pedals, Metal zone, Heavy metal, delay, flanger, EQ, chorus, SYB-3. Plus whatever I add to it on my computer and in my 8 track.
As I said above the pickups are just lame. They do the job but they don't add anything extra into it. I can get some slight variations in tone by switching the pickups and the tomne knob but it is the same pickup in the bridge middle or neck position so it doesn't make much difference. One thing that can be said these pups is they are predictable. Predictably dull but they don't scream all over the place or have any quirks.

I purchased this guitar at a pawn shop so the factory set up had long since worn off. I have to say though I instantly fell in love with the feel of the neck and the heft of the guitar. It has some weight to it and being a bassist I guess that appeals to me but the neck was what really got me. Just a joy to play - I couldn't believe at that point I was holding a $140 guitar. So I bought it!
I have since had it set up by a guitar tech. On the advice of another review I read on this post I bought an Original Floyd Rose tremolo bar and had that fitted onto the "licensed" bridge. Now I can lock the arm out of my way. Great advice thanks! I also had the floating trem blocked so it's easier to tune. The floater is a pain in the neck as far as I'm concerned so I appreciate the ease of the blocked tremolo. Even Eddie Van Halen has his blocked! (Says so on the Floyd rose site)
The guitar had bad pots, bad input jack and the 5 way switch was now a 4 way switch(?) so I had them all replaced. I had wanted to add a Megaswitch that stewmac.com sells. That would have allowed me to switch between coils on the pickups and add some versatility but the cheap pups weren't able to be wired in that way. No matter, it plays like a dream now - I absolutely love this guitar. The action is incredible and it has "Go out and get a bite and AAAH!" type sustain.

This guitar has withstood I don't know how many owners and most instruments when they reach the pawn shop aren't exactly loved anymore. I would have to say it's pretty tough. One trip to the guitar repairman and it has been resurrected. I would have to say it is going to last. Blocking the tremolo also makes breaking a string less of a catostrophe. This is a solid axe now.
It came with enormous strap buttons but I changed them for Dunlap Straplocks so I could switch with my old strap.
Would I use it live without a backup?
If the clouds were to part and two angels were to descend from the heavens with a guitar made of gold perfectly stringed with silver lining and the angels were to ask "Will you use this live without a backup?"
"Are you nuts?" would be my reply.

I have been playing bass for 20 plus years and guitar here and there. I've recently become more interested in guitar for my projects and I was set on buying a Gibson SG like the "68 I had once. I like this guitar better. It has the jumbo frets like an SG but it has a nice solid feel against my body - it isn't neck heavy and the neck plays like an SG only thinner and faster. I love the feel of playing and what else can you ask from an instrument? I tried some epiphone SG's and some Ibanez that were similar to the Jackson but I like this ine better. I even like it better than the Jacksons I've played at Guitar Center in the $350 - $450 range. It was just made for me.

Two things I would change about this guitar:
The pickups - which isn't such a big deal because I usually change them on my expensive guitars as well. Another reviewer wrote that you should factor a pickup swap into the price and he was right. So buy it cheap and customize it for your own.
The fret markers - I hate the plasticy, fake fret markers. they aren't even fake MO Pearl - it's white plastic that looks like white plastic. I tried a little ebony wood stain on them to give them a little character - it worked some. But I bought abolone dot inlays off stewmac.com. to change them out - I read it's not too hard to do if you are patient.

Keep an eye on www.matterthief.com for my upcoming demo!

This is an early to mid-nineties, four string. Made in Japan. It features the "dinky" precision body style with "pointy" headstock. The fingerboard is rosewood, 34" scale with 22 jumbo frets and the neck is maple, four bolt with scarf-jointed, fourteen degree angled headstock. (no string retainers!) The body is alder and is painted a deep metallic blue. The tuners bear the Jackson logo, though I suspect, as the bass is Japanese in origin, these are Gotoh. The bridge is die-cast, top-loading, barrel style adjustable for string height and intonation. All hardware is black enamel. The pickup configuration is "p" at the neck and "j" at the bridge. These were passive pickups with a Jackson label, but otherwise looked and sounded like EMG selects. I replaced them with real EMG pickups which the rear-routed control cavity accomodated well

As stated, I replaced the pickups. The stock pickups sounded OK, but had a sort of vintage tone and not enough output for my tastes. I do like the p/j configuration, though, as this allows the player to dial in a variety of different sounds, from the balls of the "P" to that staccato, Jaco "j" sound and anything in between. I play at home with an SWR workingman's 10 and out with a GK 115 combo which is lined out to the board. It always sounds the way I want it to and I am able to coax my favorite tone/s with minimal tweaking. I attribute this to the fact that, even though this is strictly, an electric instrument, it has a good acoustic sound.

The factory setup was OK, but an excellent setup was easily attained through adjustment of the bridge and truss rod. Action is a subjective thing. What one player likes another may hate, so you're left to draw your own conclusions, but I can say that, no matter how you like it, you could find "your" set-up on this bass. I must also say that I encountered none of the flaws that other reviewers have mentioned (i.e. problems with jacks, tuners, strap-buttons etc.)but I am a meticulous tweaker so I may have pre-empted some of those problems early on. I will say on the negative side, that, if I had stuck with the stock p/u system, I would have had to have changed those pots. Not dirty or anything just those tiny high resistance pots like you see on active systems--inapropriate for passive use.

I've had this bass for two years and it has met my every demand. Once last winter, I discovered a fret-buzz during a sound check which required a bridge saddle adjustment, but I can't attribute that to poor materials or construction. I figure the neck is pretty stable for a bolt-on. Intonation is good. I always tune to the piano in rehearsal/sound check and then thats it. I live dangerously-never using a back-up.

Never dealt with them / don't know.

I have been playing for about 20 years now, and owned my share of basses. My satisfaction with this instrument may come from the fact that I am an experienced buyer. I can't compare this bass with a Warrior, Alembic etc., because the comparison would be unfair. For what it is, though, its great and I've never had it embarass me. I bought it thinking that it would be enough to hold me over until I found something I really wanted, but recently I had the means to upgrade and decided to stand pat. I think that says it all. Hats of to Jackson!