Jackson DK2 Dinky

this guitar is a pro series, made in japan. hum single single pickup configuration, pickups are seymour duncan jb tb4 in the bridge, stk1 and st2 in the mid and neck positions, fast profile neck, 24 frets and a jackson licensed fr tremolo. its very versatile and plays very fast.

when i first got it the circuitry in the selector switch was faulty, and was such a weird occurrence that the people who repaired my guitar emailed pictures to fender (who own Jackson) to figure just what the hell happened. this caused my guitar to be stuck in single coil position, but when i got it fixed the jb was top notch for the heavy tones i prefer, and the neck and bridge were surprisingly good for cleans.

the guitar was pretty shotty when i first got it, between the faulty selector switch and the excessive fret buzz on the g string made the first week or so very frustrating, but after set up played like a dream. The finish is very nice, i have the erie dess swirl.

i cant really say how dependable this guitar is considering i dont tour in a band or play any tours with it, but it seems sturdy.

the issue i had with the faulty selector switch was something i didnt use their customer support for so no opinion here.

I think it was made in Japan, has 24 frets with HSS Pickup Config. Passive Duncan Designed pickups. Alder body and maple neck, floyd rose licensed tremolo. Rosewood fretboard.

It suits my style of playing really well, from killswitch engage to ozzy and in between it sounds amazing. I use some crappy crate amp but the guitar cleans up its tone. It has pretty good lows just that if you let the notes ring it does get a little muddy, and sounds really good on the clean channel in the neck, it almost sounds like an acoustic. Very versatile, that is all I can say.

Since I got mine used, it was not set-up properly and was missing a back plate and the whammy bar. I did end up changing the licensed floyd to an all original floyd rose, and it is worth it, it retrofits perfectly. I have had this guitar for about 6 months, and there is currently no flaws.

I am pretty sure jackson guitars are made to be able to withstand live playing, but I have not played live so I do not know yet. The strap buttons are like a little smaller than a nickel so I don't your strap will slip out. And I would use this guitar without a backup, but then you never know.

I have never dealt with Customer Service. Since I got it used, I think it was still under warranty, but I don't count on it.

I have been playing for about 3 years. If this guitar was stolen, I would have no reason to live anymore. I love everything about this guitar, from the hardware, the look, the sound, everything, they only thing I wish it had came with was a whammy bar and also got it in transparent red.

shark fin
duncan design pickups
floyd rose licensed trem

im using line six. and marshall jcm 2000.

i like the tones for metal, good clean sound kind of wish they had real duncans though

looks fucking tits

ive had trouble with the tremolo

na i bought it used

I ve been playing for 17 years. i own a les paul studio. i like them both for different reasons.

its versitile, i like the sound but i would imagine that the real duncans are better

Previous owner listed it as 4 years old. So I'm guessing it was made in 2004. It was made in either Japan or it may have said Indonesia on the sticker. 24 jumbo frets. Body is Alder and is a solid top. 5 way switch with H/S/S pickup configuration. Pickups are passive Duncan Designed. The newer models come with real Seymour Duncans. Neck is Rock Maple. Bolt on. Rosewood fretboard with shark inlay and bindings and locking nut. The neck is very thin, but it is wide. Body style is a Dinky with hot rod red flames with yellow pin striping around them. Flawless besides a lil chip out if it on the back.

Has a chrome Jackson licensed Floyd Rose. Gotoh style non locking tuners made by Jackson. It came with a hard shell case worth at least 60-70 bucks. Not the optional Jackson case.

I play mostly hard rock and metal. Some cleans. I'm using it with a Peavey Valveking 1x12 and with a George Lynch signature wah with a couple distortion pedals. It is actually quite beautiful and full sounding on the clean channel when playing. On the OD and distortion channel there is a little feedback. But it all depends on how far or close you are to it. The sound is very very aggressive on the OD/Distortion channel. I can get Black Sabbath tone and up to decent Metallica and Slayer chunk out of it.

The humbucker in it is great. The single coils are weaker and should only be used for clean and slight overdrive settings (Hendrix, SRV). Which I can get out of them

From what I can tell. The guitar was still setup from factory when I bought it. Factory wrap on the strings and everything. I didn't play it much with the stock setup. I threw on a new set of D Addario .10-.52's right away. I never setup a Floyd rose before.. but I have a Strat tremolo. It wasn't all that difficult at all.

Neck installaion job looks fucking pro. I have to admit though.. I don't know if it was just carelessness but when I took the cover off of the back.. the router job looks pretty sloppy. Not over the top sloppy.. but they could have done better. No way does it effect it's performance though.

Only flaw it came with was that there is a little chip taken out of the paint on the back.. and that the pots are a little scratchy.

I would get the pots fixed first (scratchy) but besides that and maybe breaking a string. This thing would last threw a gig from start to finish. I have heard of Licensed Floyd Rose bridges being ******... But I believe this Floyd Rose with last me at least 4-5 years if it is maintained and used correctly. The tuners are by anything the only thing I think might give out before they should. But thats a 35-40 dollar bill for locking ones and your pro.

Strap buttons are large and seem very sterdy. I would trust them without strap locks unless you are doing around the worlds with the guitar. Finish is solid. I felt the place were it is chipped. The paint must be 2-3 millimeters thick. I don't gig.. and I don't think I would ever go to one only bringing one guitar. Never know?

Never dealt with Jackson yet. I don't think it is under warranty anymore. Even if it was... nothing much can go wrong with it besides maybe the electrical or the Floyd Rose falling apart. If either of those happened, I would just take it to a tech to resolder the wires or I would just buy a new OFR

I have been playing for 3 years (this December 2008). I own an Epiphone SG 65 Reissue (still my #1) an SX strat and a Vantage acoustic. If it were lost or stolen.. I would be upset cause I like it and I go it for such a smokin deal. Favorite feature is the flame paintjob. It looks almost retro but modern at the same times. (I hate using the word modern). I prefer set neck guitars. So my only wish I would like to have would for it to have a set neck. The neck is quite thin.. which I don't mind. But it is a wide neck so.. a little thinner would have be nice.

I got this guitar for $250 bucks. With a hardshell case. I can resell it in 3-4 years for 350 bucks and make 100. Good enough for me

It has A very powerful Seymour Duncan Humbucker and 2 dual stacked Single coils. All of the pickups can be coil tapped but it does not come stock on it. The Jackson licensed locking tremolo is ok but not the best. the tremolo bar cannot be locked down all the way so it will always be a little lose. I had to order 2 Jackson DK2's in EDS from musiciansfriend because the first one was stripped in the scew hole at the nut so it snapped and popped. The second one really is identacle to the first just without being broken. 1V,1T knobs 5 way blade pickup switch. It has maple binding on the neck which looks great on it.

It sound great in all 5 positions. If you don't like the dual stacked single coils you can coil tap it later or swap them. But the Humbucker is a nice one. It gives a Grundge and a nice soft clean but powerful at the same time.

The Bolt-on neck really does not get in the way too much. The frets feel strong and becuase they are jumbo, you can really get good grips. The neck feels great and smooth. The finish is just awesome. At the moment I have 2 exactly alike and they both look sweet. It is a real attention grabber in Eerie Dess Swirl. You can adjust the action to any good height and it is pretty easy to play as soon as you adjust some things.

Honestly I really want to give it a good score here but I just can't.
Because I bought my first one and it was broken and the second one has sideways srews on the truss rod cover I have to give it a 6. Some things are really nice on the guitar but others are really cheap. The 2 singles are screwed on to the bare wood, very cheap.There are not holes on the other side of the neck where the screws are scewed in at the nut so stripped nuts will most likely happen to all the DK2's within about 5 years. And be careful, the screws they use on this thing are so small and brittle and the wood is so soft that a single hard twist will have you sending it back to the factory.

Musiciansfriend was ok with the issue and returned the first one with no charge but we express shipped the other one. Next day air we choose. Cost $56 to do that and since the first one was broken you should think we should get the second one shipped next day air free. We ordered the 2nd one on a wednesday and with nexy day air, and we did not recieve it until the following Monday. We were refunded the $56 but the hastle was annoying.

If you get a good one then it really is a great deal for an ok price.
If you want versitility then you should get one but be prepared to have it be a bit of a hastle otherwise buy one today.

Jap make, 24 frets, 1 volume and 1 tone knob each, 5 way pick up selector, s/s/h seymour duncans SC 101 singles and JB TB4 humbucker etc etc For the price, I coudnt have asked for more, especially here in India.

Sound is not so great, As of now, I have a roland cube 15, and I run it directly into it. I also have an aria STG 004 and the sounds from the two guitars are different, though I would'nt say that the tone from the dinky wins hands down. I have also played it with a Marshall MG 10 cd. I guess I havent played it with any real amp so far but I still love the sounds she can make. Though the sounds can range from bright to deep bassy distortion, I still have to play it with a better amp to see what she can really do.

Action was high. I had to lower it significantly to get some good legato going. And though there is a little fret-buzz now, I would say that you would be hard pressed to find a guitar in this price range which does'nt give this problem, and the action is pretty low, so there. The first string doesnt stay on the fret board sometimes during legato or vibrato, which is irritating at times. There are no other issues that I came across.

Live playing ? Yes! Hardware is pretty solid, and should withstand lots of playing, and I'd easily depend on it without a backup.

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for around 3 years. I have an aria STG 004 apart from the dinky. Also, I have a Roland cube 15 along with a marshall mg 10 cd. Noeffects though. I compared it to the ibanez in the same price range and liked it hands down. Though if you compare the prestige series with its found wanting. I love the neck and the curvature it has. Also, the frest are pretty smooth and play out well. the only glitch it has is that the first string tends to slip out of the fretboard during vibrato. This I've heard from people, can be corrected using sand paper on the frets but I havent tried it out. I wish it came with a Boss GT 8 :P
Ill write more when I know her a li'l more.

Alder Body, Flamed Maple top (got mine in transparent black, the finish is awesome)

Seymour Duncan Pickups (JB in the bridge, and 2 SC101 Singles in the neck and middle)

Volume, tone, 5 way selector

Liscenced Floyd Rose, locking, jackson tuners

24 fret maple neck

I just got this guitar after my ibanez RG6 piezo broke down (dont ask how, ill just get pissed off :) so I went to Samash and found this guitar on sale for $578. The sound is AMAZING!! I play mostly progressive metal, and i love John Petrucci(a.k.a. GOD)'s tone. So I run this bad boy through my Boss GT-8 into a Marshall Zakk Wylde micro stack and boy does this baby burn!!!!!!!!! The JB in the bridge is the perfect pickup for anyone. Ive played all types of guitars with various pickups and i gotta hand it to mr. duncan as he definitly knows how to make a great pickup. The sound is crisp, clear, and can be modified to any sound based on amp settings whether you desire scorching metal or old school rock n roll or even clean sounds this baby can hold its own. I use the single coils exclusively for cleans as they react the best with the acoustic simulator on the GT-8. Seriously i can get a piezo sound or even an actual acoustic sound with these pickups! Since its an alder body its got a nice fat bottom end and really screaming highs. The sound is naturally bright but can be adjusted via the Jb as i explained earlier can make the guitar sound like anything. Overall i think this is the greatest sounding guitar in the price range. Of course, nothing beats an american made jackson but this thing will definitly satisfy your needs regardless.

I had to adjust the action, as it was a little high for me. The volume knob is a BIT shakey but that dosent even matter cause it dosent affect the sound. overall its almost flawless.

This guitar is NOT something i would go axe slashing with, as it WILL fall apart due to the lightweight alder body. But other than that, it should withstand all gigs. This guitar is something that if taken care of properly, could last a couple of generations aside from once in a while tune-ups (not even a joke). overall built very well and will last u a long time. I would only get a backup for different tunings but thats it.

never had to deal with them

I have been playing a little over a year and a half, but i practice over 6 hours a day so my skill is (as ive been told) at the 10 year mark. Other than this i have no other guitars, i use this one exclusively, and only because i cannot picture myself playing any guitar for practicing or gigs. Overall fantastic value. If you truly appreciate music then buy this guitar now. You will not be disappointed.

* make:Japan 2006
* finish: flat black
* body: strat type alder
* frets: jumbo 24
* neck: bolted rosewood/maple
* inlays: shark
* tuners: Jackson
* pickups: Seymour Duncan (S-S-H)
* trem: locking Jackson (Floyd Rose licensed)
* free: Fender California cable and strap!!!

i bought this guitar specifically for really heavy and fast music. i have a practice amp at home and an assorted marshall combos at the studio. im also using the zoom G2u1.

with the correct amp and effects settings, there's nothing this baby cant do with the Duncan humbucks. it would be really great if i had a humbuck at the neck too tho because i love soloing with a full sound but i can still easily compensate using the effects.

i plan to replace the humbuck with an EMG due to tonal preference.

other than that, this baby kicks major butt.

off the shelf, the action was a tad higher for my taste and the pick-ups too were not adjusted to my preference. also, i noticed it wasnt intonated. but not dangerously out of tune though.

i can play a metal gig with this guitar fresh from the rack.

i wouldn't use its alder body to shield myself from gunfire. but if you do a townsend, you can break this guitar in pieces. if you do a hendrix, the paint will burn with the lighter fluid. idiocy aside, this guitar will last beyond your grave.

it came with a one-year warranty for the electronics. no idea with Jackson's support tho.

i've been playing for more than 10 years now. i have an ibanez rg550 and a hamer slammer.

if it were stolen, id probably buy it again. or i maybe give the rr1 a try. i compared it with its js cousins but won hands down.

i wish it came with a reversed stock.

Beautiful paint job, a red kinda swirl thing. Definetly has the look of a Super Strat. It's a licensed Floyd which kinda sucks because the real ones are way better. Jumbo Frets. It was made in Japan and it has a 5 way, with s-s-h pickup arrangement. Not sure on what the woods are.

I play everything, and this guitar is very versatile. I have a massive rack of effects, and I run it through a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL. Very nice sound.

Got a little rust on the pickups but thats about it.

Everything works nicely, I don't like the strap buttons though, my strap occasionally will fall off. Def. use a backup.

I had to replace the input jack a while back, it was a piece of crap. 1 year warranty. Never dealt with Jackson.

I highly recommend this guitar, it is highly playable and fun. I would buy it again.

hot rod flames
jackson floyd rose style trem
h/s/s pickup config
sharkfin inlays
1 vol, 1 tone w/5 way switch
alder body
jackson tuners
24 jumbo frets

when i bought the guitar, i played in a modern rock band, and to seperate myself from the other guitarist's sound, i wanted a metal guitar sound. the jackson delivers just that. using it through a crate half stack, the guitar is a loaded weapon, delivering a face melting sound, but for clean sounds the s/c pickups were a little weak but got the job done.

since i bought the guitar at a pawnshop, it had been pretty much used and abused. the finish was chippied & scratched, but the worst damage was the poorly repaired headstock that had been broken off between the 4th & 5th tuners which i did'nt even see until i got it home. it also would'nt play in tune, even after i took it to a nearby music store. after setting the intonation myself, it played better. the volume pot was shot, but i never fixed it

after all of the abuse the guitar sustained, i played it at every live gig for about 6 months, no tuning problems, no hardware issues. the hot rod finish got more comments than my playing. it is a very dependable guitar. i would'nt use it without a backup because the tremelo breaks alot of strings,mainly because i use it more than most guitarists.

no warranty, never dealt with jackson

been playing for 25 years. i also own a squier stagemaster 7 string, squier stratacoustic, cort solo 7 string, dean ml x, yamaha rgx 110, aria pro II bladerunner zz. if it were stolen, i would be crushed. the paintjob is what attracted me to it. i have better playing guitars, but it sure looks cool hanging on my wall o' guitars

-floyd rose bridge
-locking tuners
-shark inlays
-seymour duncan single coils(2) and humbucker --> S/S/H
-thin neck , nice to play
-1 volume
-1 tone
-5-way switch
-black color
-black bridge , tuners and knobs?


very happy with all these features :D and standard seymours on your guitar :p

i play metal, punk , rock , alternative
i play with a hughes&kettner matrix 100 combo , sounds sweet :p
for clean and grungie sounds i use my single coils , for the hard work i use the humbucker in bridge possition :p the guitar plays like heaven , no stupid other sounds that are not needed

nice fit and finish , the headstock just flows in over the neck , shark inlays nice done

once , my guitar fell on the ground , but ther was nothing on it :p

very nice and strong guitar

i would use it without a backup , the strings are fit in a floyd rose bridge (speaks for himself :p ) and my guitar is very comfortabel to play to . the guitar doesnt untune tnx to the locking tuners

the company of jackson delliverd my guitar in one week , i live on the other side of the company :p

i play more than 2 years new , it's my 3th guitar , and finaly the right guitar :D if it was broken , i get a new one rightaway

it hase a litle of ibanez , but jackson is better to me :d

Well, go to the Jackson Internet-page and find out.

First off I have to say that I bought this thing as a replacement for my Jackson JSX-94, which will fall to pieces sometime and there are no replacement-parts.
I wanted a strat. I also wanted strat sound. Maybe with a humbucker in bridge-position. And with a floyd rose. I definitely need that for my working-horse. Fender Strat sounds are sweet - at least most of them. Have you ever compared two identical strats only that the second one had floyd rose? Half the tone is gone. Jackson and Ibanez are able to maintain a lot more tone despite the floyd rose. Ibanez even feel a lot better than Fenders but their look doesn't appeal to me and they all have the humbucker in neck-position. don't want that.

and then there's the jackson dinky. ok, let's go for sound first:

- nice sc sounds with neck-pu. you want hendrix? you get hendrix! and clapton too ;-)
- the middle pu does sound a whole lot different than the neck-pu, which you shouln't take for granted at all! I don't use it too much, so I don't wanna judge it. it's ok for me.
- bridge humbucker rocks. I play a lot of 80's hair-metal stuff and I think the jackson suits it perfectly. compared to my jsx-94 which i pimped with a DiMarzio SuperDistortion it's just a tiny bit more powerful, not just louder or hotter. It has that certain something that the jsx-94 was lacking.

disklikes? well, there's a bit of noise from the SCs of course... and even from the humbucker, but nothing serious.

I did have to lower the floyd rose a tiny bit so it matches the body's top. The action is ok: no string buzzes but no legato-problems either.

Sometimes the high e-string feels like slipping off the fretboard when playing pull-offs on the empty string. but I guess it has to do with me being used to 011 strings and it still has the factory's 009 mounted.

Can't say too much here. The JSX-94, which is very comparable to the dinky, is over ten years old now and it's still playable. I guess the Dinky will be too.

A gig without a backup? Don't ever do this with a floyd rose!

Nothing so far.

I have been playing for 12 years now and I become kind of a purist, so I hardly ever use any effects (not even reverb in live situations) - and this guitar can handle it.

Amazing - not only for it's price. It's the second cheapest I have but it really is the best I have.

So don't let your wallet decide about quality. I played a lot of different Strat-style guitars before I bought the Dinky. I would have spent 2000 CHF (around 1500 USD) if any of them would have been worth it...

I bought a DK2 (2006) new based on the paint job and the reputation of Jackson, took it back after 3 days.
I'm glad I didn't drop 2k for a 'Van Halen' POS.

For metal the p/u's were weak, not real weak, but they didn't have the dynamics of a MIA pickup, the duncan designed stuff is crap. The pole pieces of the p/u are low grade steel, and should be iron, the magnets...well I didn't have to get that far did I? The pots and jack seemed ok, but when everything else is shit then that's it.

Paint was great, finish was great, fit was well, does anybody in that company know anything about guitars???? It looked like it should be OK, but there were things that were just plain stupid.

I didn't keep it so this doesn't apply. Bridge is 'licensed under floyd rose'...means low grade metal and it's gonna be basically worthless when you try to resell it.

same as above.

I have built several guitars, set up probably 100 or more. I was hoping that maybe the japanese could build a worthy guitar, they're not there yet.
Problems (pay attention)
Fret rake- the edges of the frets are too gradual, for what, comfort in playing?? If you try to vibrato the string it pops off the fretboard.
Finish is wavey on the neck, be prepared to put sandpaper to work here to smooth it out.
The neck is set too low meaning you can't set the strings good and low.
The pickups are weak.
The Floyd is soft metal, meaning the knife edges of the fulcrum are going to wear badly.
Sharkfin inlay-gay
Bound neck-gay
Tuners-borderline bad
Just set up a good sounding and playing guiter, this is USA, not Japan we value PERFORMANCE over looks.

2005 Model, Made in Japan. Solid Alder w/ Volume (1), Tone(1) and 5 way switch. Two Duncan Designed singles, one Duncan Designed HB. Licensed Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo. Guitar is exactly what it describes to be, well constructed and great looks.

Strings were set a little low for my taste, easy fix. Other than that, it was ready to play. Great for crunching, pretty decent tone, jumbo frets are great, but really it is a thrashing-distortion-machine. If you like to play Hi-Gain stuff, this guitar is for you.

Stated above, it was ready to play and in tune. Center single was set a little high, easy fix. Neck is great for playing at every fret. For the money, you can't find a better metal guitar.

Don't play live other than garage level. I expect the guitar to last many years at my level use use and care. I baby it. It is so well constructed, I imagine it would be a good gig guitar. Without a backup? Only a fool would play a gig with no backup.

I expect to not need Customer Support.

Playing only a few years, mostly hard Rock/Heavy Metal (Metallica, G-n-R,Van Halen,Ozzy etc.) through a Behringer V-Tone 210. Best part, the neck is so playable, even lazy fingers sound good. Only change I'd like is better volume control placement, about 1 inch further from the pickups. . The way I play constantly changes the level. I bought it because it is exactly what I was looking for and it exceeded my expectations. I'd definately buy another, maybe different color, if lost or stolen. Like I said above, for Hi-Gain Distorted sound, you can't miss.

2004 made in Japan, 24 frets 1 humbucker EMG 81 in the bridge no tone or volume just a kill switch. Maple neck rosewood fretboard, Alder body
Black diamond plate finish , Jackson Floyd Rose designed bridge, locking nut, jackson
tuners fast neck 25 1/2 scale.use to be a eerie swirl with hum-sin-sin duncan design pickups but it looked crap so i changed it.

i play mostly thrash metal so this guitar is perfect for that. i am more of a rythm player though so the floyd rose can be a bit annoying. but with the EMG in it it sounds kick ass and if i could play any solos it would sound better. the diamond plate has also give it a bit more tone.

when i bought the guitar the action was a mile high but was easily fixed and the pickups where very noisey apart from that the 80s finish was perfect.

i ve played about 20 gigs with this beast and it is still going strong. the strap buttons are massive so the strap wont come off easy. this guitar is in standard tuning because of the floyd rose and i have an ibanez sz320 for the other tunings and i can always tune that back to standard if i need to.

never dealt with jackson

i have been playing for about 4 years now so i would say i was quite good. i also own a ibanez sz320 which is the best guitar i have ever played on without a doubt. if i lost this guitar or it was stolen i would probably get a jackson soloist because of the fixed bridge. altough this is a sweet guitar and very metal.

* 2004/5 Japanese made.
* 24 Jumbo frets.
* Solid top (beautiful Blue Orange Flame with the artist's signature.
* 1 Volume, 1 Tone - easy to use.
* H-S-S configuration. All Duncan Design pickups. The humbucker is and HB-102B and is just shy of a full-fledged JB and the single coils are SC-101s and are hum-cancelling.
* Alder body with flame Maple Veneer.
* Jackson Soloist style body.
* Floyd Rose tremolo bridge.
* Locking nut with Die-Cast tuners.
* 25.5" scale length neck with jumbo frets and shark fin inlays.
* Comes with your standard Allen Wrenches for locking nut and bridge adjustments.

This is a radical departure from my Fender Player's Deluxe Strat. I run a DigiTech RP200A for my effects through a Peavey XXL 212 Combo (100 watt amp with reverb). The guitar is all clean. I can achieve pinch harmonics to high bends to just about anything the imagination can concieve. I love having the H-S-S configuration. It give so many tonal possibilities.

I'll have to go down on my rating here. I took it to a well-known luthier (the same one that sold Keith Richards the Telecaster he uses with The Rolling Stones). I had to have the controls tightened, a re-cut on the lock-nut (it was too high), recovered a burr that was on the high "E" nut(kept breaking my "E" string), tightened the loose tuners, and had to have the pickups and pole pieces adjusted.

I've not had the chance to play live with this guitar, however, since it is a Floyd Rose tremolo and strings can break, I would not gig without another guitar in the first place - unless I had a TOM bridge and Stop Bar Tailpience. The hardware seems that it will stand the test of time. I'm very careful to ensure that I wipe everything down when I am done playing. I am very picky about how my guitar looks. I always want it looking showroom quality. I found a small crack in the paint job at the heel (not going to affect how the guitar plays). This guitar, I believe, would stand the test of playing live. That I have no doubt. Since it's the Blue Orange Flame color, I know I will get some great looks from the audience.

Customer Support through Musician's Friend was fast and prompt. They sent me a return paper if I decided that I wanted to send it back based upon the crack in the finish (if I felt so inclined).

I've been an active extreme hobbiest for the past 21 1/2 years. If this guitar was stolen, I probably would not be able to purchase another one with this color because they are now obsolete. I love the way the neck works with my hands. I have medium-sized fingers and the fret board is very flat (Compound Radius 12" - 14"). My hand and fingers do not get tired. Overall, it's a really sound instrument. I'd feel the need to replace it if it was lost. I'd definately look for a different type of Jackson (probably a Dinky with string-through body.

I believe this is a 2004 model, made in Japan.
24 jumbo Frets, sharkfin inlays for that metal/80s glam look ;)
Flame-top maple on an alder body, very pretty hehe. Rock Maple neck, Rosewood fingerboard.
Volume, Tone and 5-way selevtor switch.
Duncan Design Pickups, s/s/h setup (passive) SC101s and a HB102-B
Strat-like body with double-locking licensed Floyd Rose.
Jackson Tuners, your usual kind.
All in all, everything you need from a mid-priced guitar!

I play lots of prog like Godspeed You Black Emperor, Pink Floyd et al, and Death Metal like Opeth and Bloodbath, so I needed something capable of both. I have a Strat and a Platinum Mockingbird, but needed something between the two to stop me needing to swap guitars all the time. This guitar turned out to be the answer.

Using a Leech PA and WEM speaker cab thats almost as big as me. Can't remember exact watts etc, with a Boss GT3. Sounds great clean and distorted, with the bridge humbucker being great for distortion sounds etc. The singles are perhaps a bit weak, but I use them for rhythm guitar parts etc, then again this could be the settings on teh amp being a bit iffy (it is old). Great clean sound that loses no sound anywhere on the fret-board and no fret-buzz or any other problems evident.

Of course compared to a PRS C22 or a Les Paul its not as good, but compared to a strat and a mockingbird its excellent. A brilliant guitar for the price.

Everything was PERFECT

Excellent, it hasn't gone out of tune from any dive-bombs or the like after several shows, only needs tuning once a week really, which is good for a lazy bugger like me. I have no idea how to tell if the materials will last, as my crystal ball seems to be broken at the minute, everything seems solid to me. The strap buttons are your usual affair, I have a locking strap anyway.

9 cos it appears that it will last, but then again my brother's squier strat is still fine after 5 years, so this will probably last just as long. If you treat it well I can't see anything going wrong at all.

Never had to contact them.

A great guitar for it's price, it has features that much more expensive guitars don't even bother with. I love the Floyd Rose, keeps in tune despite all my buggering about with it, so that's fun. THe pickups allow you to get all sorts of sounds, from a strat-like clean tone to a loud angry demonic distortion (with the right pedal of course, you can't expect an amp to come with that lol). Basically covers everything I want from a guitar without having to pay twice as much for something more "classic".

I have the 2003 Eerie Dess Swirl model and it is a very nice guitar. The pickups are screamers through my Crate GTX 65 amp and the Floyd Rose is cool for tricks, but I usually play my Ibanez PF200 because of the tone and no-hassle tuning.

Mostly rock and metal, and the sound is outstanding. The Seymour Duncan pickups do the trick nicely for that type of music. Again...screamers.

As all the other previous reviews have stated, the factory settings were complete CRAP! I took it to Guitar Center to have it re-stringed, and the technician told me the action was not set correctly. Anyways, after he fixed it, the action is great. However, I have one small gripe. The middle pickup is exactly were I pick the strings, so my pick is constantly banging into it, as well as the upper control knob (tone). I removed the tone knob, but I might end up taking out that middle pickup, too. Does anyone else have that problem, or am I the only way who hits the middle p/u while picking?

Once this sucker is in tune, it's a fire-and-forget type of weapon. I had completely lost faith in previous Floyd Rose designs, but this is excellent. Never goes out of tune. I think I dropped it once from about 2 feet and no dings or changes in sound. But, sometimes when I use the volume knob, it "crackles" and goes in and out. Really annoying. I've cleaned the knob mechanism and connectors and still no improvement. Oh well. I keep it cranked up EVH style anyways!

Never tried.

If it were stolen, I would try to get it back, but would not buy another one. The Rose is nice and all for Satriani/Vai dives and such, but I prefer the old school Zaak Wylde approach. Still, it's a fun guitar that looks cool as hell and plays very nicely. As I said earlier, I have a Crate GTX 65 amp, and am looking for something bigger, so I'll probably trade him this guitar for his Crate GX 1200H half stack. It is a good guitar, but I really don't need it. If you are looking for a good axe with dive-bomber capability to start off with, this is a very good instrument to start off with. Just make sure a qualified technician gets the action and bridged set to specs first.

Your bog-standard "Superstrat": Duncan Designed Hum-single-single, floating licensed Floyd, one volume, one tone, 5 way selector, maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets. The works.

Would've given a full 10, but license Floyds usually get quirky along the line.

The stock pickups are perfect for my style. (Hard rock a la Van Halen, Def Leppard, etc...) Playing through a 15-watt combo, it sounds a tad muffled, but that's what the amps EQ is there for.
Plugged into a half stack, a whole different story.

You can get all kinds of sounds from this, from R'n'R to jazz.

Except for the light gauge strings, it was well set up. A couple of personal tweaks to pickup height, that's all.

Haven't had a chance to play it live, but off-hand I'd say it'll withstand just about anything.

But I'd still have a backup, in case of string breaks.

Haven't had to deal with them... yet.

If this axe were stolen, I'd go buy another one.

24 frets, s s h set up fast neck, floyd-licensed trem... 1 volume 1 tone. Lots of goodies. I changed the pick-ups though. It came with Ducan Designed pickups. I got 2 YJM's and an Evolution in it now.

I play jazz and shred... since I put in new pick-ups it plays alot better... But the Evo is a little too hot for the jazz stuff.

My 1 gripe with this guitar is the bridge. It seemed a little flimsy. I had a Hipshot tremsetter installed and now the problem is solved. Its aways good to have a trem stabilizer of some sort so that your double stops stay in tune when you bend.

I've had it since 99 and ir's still going strong!

Never called them... Didn't have to.

I love this ax!!! It was my #1 for about 4 years, now I have an SL-1 with the same set up, but it still comes to the gigs with me as a back-up.

Specifications can be looked up on www.jacksonguitars.com

There are the common features, nothing special.

You get used to the floyd rose, stop complaining. I enjoy working with it.

The neck is like perfect for me.

This guitar is actually very versatile. I personally think its more personal preference, than certain qualities taht make a gutiar more suitable for a certain style of music. I like the singles for jazz actually. Bright and clear.

I play a bunch of different styles. The way i think of it. Music is music, its just how you apply it to form different styles. Thats a great point of view, and thats how i think of it.

Played acoustically, i love this guitar. Its relatively loud and bright, surprisingly.

This guitar is almost perfect for me. Neck Thru, and stacked singles, this guitar would be perfect.

The mids on this guitar are very nice, it gets nice and pronounced when the mids are cranked. It gives the guitar a nice singing quality. Try this guitar on a marshall with the bass and mids cranked. The Alder has a pretty nice low end actually. Its a bitey low end. Its not smooth and all basswood like. Its a vintage full sounding wood. Cranks the mids people. Thank me later. Alder isnt as bright as people think it is, its definitely bright, but maple is brighter.

Chords are very sizzley, and powerful, very pronounced. Single notes in the high end are vocal. Harmonics are awesome. Lots of sounds you can get from this guitar.

The only thing i dont like about the guitar is that i would prefer a NEck Thru. The Bolt on is fine, but more sustain would be cool. And there is no need for that extra bite. But, the bolt on is definitely acceptable.

Perfect.

I got the eerie dess swirl. Gorgeous.

No complaints. Reliable, but dont be stupid. Use common sense.

never dealt with jackson

I compared this to my les paul, and my ibanez rg prestige. Its brighter, and more vocal, and more enjoyable to use. Not as beefy as the les paul but more beefy than the prestige.

I would like a neck thru, and stacked shredding single coils.

Made in japan
Alder body (flame maple veneer on transparent colours)
bolt on neck rock maple
double locking trem (2 point floating trem)
Controls: master vol & tone
24 jumbo frets
Fingerboard: rosewood
shark inlays
duncan designed pickups (seymour duncan)(1 HB 2SC)
and the very cool jackson headstock
The floating trem was the main reason I bought this guitar as I play Van halen, steve vai and joe satriani stuff, the semour duncan humbucker gives you a great meaty sound the neck single coil is pretty weak but i never use the neck pickup anyway.

It suits my style prefectly as i said play van halen stuff and its a shredding machine, I didn't go for an Ibanez as this is better for the money.
I use this with a marshall mg100dfx and a boss me-30 and is a great combination
The pickups don't hum at all unlike my crappy squire stratocaster
The humbucker gives a great meaty sound
Gives a great range of sounds
so far have been making animal noises using the locking trem such as a horse and a elephant!!
I pretty much like every thing about the sound except the locking trem takes away some of the sustain but if you are using distortion that don't matter.

I got the transparent blue finish on mine
The low action is good as it makes fast picking easy, but palm muting a bit more difficult
My guitar had things adjusted at a shop before it was sent to me so everything in tiptop condidtion

Although I have complete faith in this guitar I never play live without a back up (epiphone les paul) and the hardware seems like it will last
The strap are massive so the strap will never fall of
The finish will seem like it will last but too early to tell

haven't had to deal with

I have been playing for electric for two years (used to play classical for 4 years) I own a epiphone les paul standard good but damn to heavy and a squire strat and this is easily the best
If it was stolen I would definatly buy a new one or hunt the person who stole it. Randy rhoads had the first jackson every made and I am sure that one of the greatest guitarists would know a thing or two about a good guitar. Its a great buy. Buy it

My THIRD EVER guitar - and its a keeper, basically. Twenty-four jumbo frets (medium would've been better but its great nonetheless), a pretty fast flat bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, solid Alder body, Hum-Sing-Sing combination Duncan Design pick-ups two SC-101 Singles and an HB-102 in the bridge - hence five-way selector switching, one volume, one tone, a Jackson Floyd Rose bridge for all you locking-tremolo freaks who love the whammy-bar choreography, well-made Jackson tuners similar to Grover, and to top this section off, the body and neck are well-balanced when you play standing with it.

My style of music was all over the place at first, but now its Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Eric Johnson-style riffs/songs and this guitar can definitly keep up with my ever-changing style - and it has done for the last two years I've had it for. The effects I've used with this guitar are a Boss DS-1, a Boss MD-2, a Boss CH-1, a Boss DD-6, a Dunlop Crybaby, a Boss ME-50 multi effects pedal, and an Alesis Midiverb 4. The AMPS I have tried this with are a Marshall MG10CD (first amp), a Marshall AVT50, a Marshall JCM2000 Half-Stack and the one I currently own - the Crate GT1200H Half-Stack. It sounds great in all of those, with the exception of possibly the only drawback to name: Noise. There's too much noise - and also with the dynamic drop of output when I switch from bridge to middle to neck pick-up. I recently had a 500k volume pot put in so that brought out the depth of the pick-ups at least, but the noise still remains. It DOES sound good though, and I'm going to replace the bridge pick-up with a DiMarzio Tone Zone soon - but I'm gonna also hold onto the pick-up being replaced because I like it, and should a custom guitar project come up I shall use the HB-102 pick-up. The range of harmonics from frets four to twenty-four is wide, and the tone of it - pre-500k-pot - was alright to tolerate - too middy and bassy, not that much treble, but now that the 500k pot is in there its lifted everything a lot higher, it just screams, sings, whispers - anything! So obviously, the pot is recommended for optimum performance.

The action, when I tried it in the shop (EBGB Music, Durham, England) was too high for my liking, so I couldn't get a feel for it, but I like it as low as possible without the obvious buzz-fret and no-fret noises. The pick-ups were adjusted alright-ish, again I like them as close to the strings as possible without any magnetic contact even with the whammy bar all the way down. The bridge was routed perfectly with the exception of the trem post nearest to the whammy bar holder, as it is a bit wonky and so neither edges of the base plate were parallel with the routing sides so I may see to that in the near future.

This guitar sounds GREAT live and can't wait to get its sound sorted out and ready for recording with! The hardware WILL last because I say so...hah nah, if you think about it - Alder body, Maple neck, blocked Floyd Rose (can't pull up, I'll explain further on>>) - this thing's built like a TANK. The finish is lovely - a few dings and marks but its very playable and in good condition. The strap has never fallen off this guitar whilst standing so the buttons are sturdy and stable. If I gig with this I'll probably not need a back-up as far as the actual GUITAR goes, but if a string is snapped then I'll no doubt be bringing along a back-up, so yes I actually would need one.

Never dealt with Jackson in any way, shape or form.

I have been playing guitar for 4 years actually, but my skills have come a long way and can improvise pretty well for someone who hasn't been playing for that long. Other gear I own guitar-wise is an Ibanez JS100 Satriani Signature guitar - I'll review that someday. I could've asked for my Jackson to be checked up before asking to purchase it but hey - trial and error, right? If it were stolen I would definitly get this guitar again without thinking about it - OR if I can't find it in a hurry, I'll get a different Jackson guitar as I would like to become an endorsee of Jackson and/or this model in particular. I love everything about this guitar except the incomplete accessibility when fretting past the twenty-first fret - it could've been an all-access neck so I might umm....make it so =) (D.I.Y. - get what I'm saying? Heh) I couldn't compare this to any other guitar because everything about it is right where I want it to be. I chose this one pretty much off the cuff - wasn't really expecting to get this guitar...but lets just say 'God bless Mothers' haha nah I was just looking for a guitar with a locking tremolo and more than TWENTY-ONE frets, which really frustrated me because my music was constantly changing. I wish it had a trem-setter so that I could pull up on the whammy bar like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani - its not a COMPLETE must but it is essential for the things I would like to do with the soloing that would be involved.

In short, this guitar is a MUST for anybody with similar idiosyncrisies as me. Hope this helps you choosing.

Nice Guitar with SSH setup, 24 jumbo frets,Floyd Rose licence whammy and master Tone / Volume Potis. The Body is made of alder and it has a bolt on maple Neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Mine has flames inlays, which look very great with the complete black guitar. The two single coils are Duncan Designed SC-101 and the Humbucker is a Duncan Designed HB-102B. The 5way switch changes bewtwwen bridge PU / bridge & mid PU / mid PU / mid & neck PU / neck PU.

I play mostly AOR to Metal and the Humbucker has a quite soft but powerful output that fits for most distorted sounds. The singlecoils have a very clean output with much punch and attack but lower sustain. They produce a nearly Strat-like sound, which i think is very cool. But don't try to use them with distorted sounds, it won't fit.

The Factory set up is not as good as it could be, having the price of the guitar in mind. But it takes only half an hour to have the action closer to the fingerboard. At my guitar, i have the feeling that the neck isn't bolt on too precice, that could have been done better.

The guitar is solid and i have no doubt it won't abandon me on stage. Anyway, i won't dare to have no backup at all.

Haven't had a reason to deal with Jackson

I purchased the guitar about half a year ago and play it over a H&K Attax 50 and a Marshall bass & lead 100W Top with a homebrew 4*12" Box. I use the Marshall Jackhammer and an Ibanez Cyberdrive vor overdrive and Lead sounds, an Ibanez Compressor and the Marshall Supervibe as a chorous. The Guitar fits with every sound i can make out of my gear.

When i looked around to buy a guitar, i played lots ob Ibanez and BCRich Guitars around in local Music stores, but the Jackson was my favorite right from the first time i held it in my hands. I will buy this axe again and again and again, if someone dares to steal it. The only thing is, that it'd be find if it had the floyd Rose Speedloader system - but yiu can't have everything.

2004 made in Japan, 24 frets 1 volume 1 tone control S/S/H pickups
Duncan designed passive. Maple neck rosewood fretboard, Alder body
Black finish, Jackson Floyd Rose designed bridge, locking nut, jackson
tuners fast neck 25 1/2 scale

I play mostly classic rock, blues, metal, and a bit of everything else. I use a Zoom GFX5 pedal into a Marshall 100 watt tube preamp combo. Guitar itself is warm sounding with good balance.
Single coils are less powerful than Humbucker but good at sounding like a single coil should... (Strat like.) Humbucker is on the hot side but very warm. It's not a scorcher by any means but very good.
You can achive a wide variety of sounds from this P/U configuration.

The neck action was excellent I love the feel of the neck.
I needed to tweak with the bridge and P/U's to get what I wanted from them, but I expected to set it up to my liking anyway
The controls and wood are all in excellent condition.

Seems quite durable I've only had it 3 weeks now and it is very soild so far. Finish is flawless, strap buttons are large and reliable.
I never gig without a back up, but I have ton's of confidence in this Axe

Haven't dealt with them. The website seems to be missing a contact email address but I'm sure I could reach them if I needed to.

I have been playing 24 years and have Carvin, Ibanez,and Fender guitars as well. This Guitar is a great bang for the buck! My Carvin DC127 was my favorite and does have some higher quality advantages than the Jackson. But damn this Jackson is awesome. I find myself reaching for it first when I play and I have a hard time puting it down.