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.

This Guitar comes with 2 single coil pickups on neck , mid, and a humbucker near the bridge. The guitar has a floating floyd rose bridge. the tuners are locking

Features are not as much as I would of expected of a mid to high priced guitar.

The sound of the Humbucker pickup near the bridge is awesome, Handles heavy distortion very well. However, the neck pickup is useless for soloing with and is only good for playing chords and riffs in clean tone because of single coils haveing low sustain.

This guitar does not suit soloing with.

The action in factory settings was horriable, I had to straighten the neck up myself and further tune the action of the guitar for a whole day until it felt right for me. But once the action is all set, the guitar seems to handle very easily. The finish of the guitar is awesome, shines out and is glossy. This guitar is a piece of eye candy to people.

I have had this guitar over 1 year and nothing has ever broke on it. This guitar is very rugged and durable common to all Jackson guitars.

I had an one year warrenty on this guitar. But because this guitar was so durable, I have neaver had to use this warrenty.

This guitar could of been great, because of its awesome bridge pickup, its wounderful looks, and its fantastic durability.

Its a shame that an absence of a humbucker near the neck let this awesome guitar down.

Brand new DK2L guitar in solid black. S/S/H pickup configuration with an EMG-81 dropped into the bridge position. Floyd Rose-esque tremolo of decent quality. Killer shark tail inlays. Other than that, this guitar isn't particularly flashy or amazingly special. It's a decent low-mid range guitar for most guitarists.

The sound for the stock pick-ups is great actually. Very clean, very crisp, very clear. Took the heavy distortions pretty well, didn't produce too much feedback and grossness. Personally, I just prefer a higher output which is why I got the EMG, but the stockers are not bad in their own right. They work well with general rock and metal. They have a semi-bright tone. Only one volume and tone, though, so not a lot of variety in terms of the sound from the guitar itself. It's decent, though.

The action is phenominal. This thing shreds with the best of them. It plays really well and is exceptionally light and comfortable. The whole setup is pretty clean and well adjusted. I can't really see much that might need to be changed from the factory setup at all.

Everything looks pretty stable, although I haven't really had the guitar for very long, so I couldn't really vouch for its long term reliability. The hardware is pretty solid and clean. It has a solid construction, doesn't look like it's going anywhere.

No sir. Never had to.

I've been a guitarist myself for just under 5 years. I've played many different instruments in that time and for a left-handed model at a reasonable price, this guitar definitely rocks. It's absolutely, 100% worth the money and more. Maybe just a little tweaking here and there, depending on your personal preference, but it's a damn fine setup stock. I love it.

2004 dk2. Black with chrome hardware. Bound maple neck with roswewood fretboard and 24 jumbo frets. Solid alder body, dinky style. Jackson trem. duncan designed H/S/S pups. 5 way selector switch, vol & tone. Sealed Jackson tuners. Nice fast neck. Came with tools for trem & truss rod adjustment. Made in Japan for Jackson. Gives it a 9 instead of 10 cause trem bar would have been better positioned a half inch further back on bridge.

I am and remain more a fan of double humbucking equipted guitars. But wanted a good HSS guitar for my collection. That said, it sounds very good for death/black/thrash metal, techno, and other extreme musics imo. The Duncan designed single coils have nice crunch as does the Duncan designed humbucker. Likes the pups sound better then most of the Seymur Duncan & Dimarzio pups. Though I'd prob slightly prefer EM Hz pups. Note sustain fade out could be slightly longer. Though sustain overall is better then some non trem guitars with set necks. Good useable voice in all 5 positions.

I did unbolt, glue in and rebolt the neck. Something I do to most bolt on guitars and basses. Improves sustain, harmonics and broadness of sound. Gives close to set neck sound chars.

Very well set up out of box. No defects nor loose parts. Did readjust bridge pup for better sound. Lowered action just a tiny bit to better suit me. Restrung it with GHS Boomers, 9's.

Well made like all Jacksons. Good size strap buttons. Wold not use it to gig without backup. Simply causeI mainlyuse HHup equipted guitars that are also nontrem.

Never dealt directly with Jackson.

Played since was young teen. So more then 20 yrs. Also play a BC Rich Warlock, Epiphone G400 SG, & Epiphone G1275 doubleneck.

Well.....I'm a beleiver again! After close to 10 years of playing non-floyd guitars I picked this little beauty up on ebay. It was new, however, not purchased from a delaer. It's a 2003 model in Eerie Dess finish, which I get more comments on than any other guityar I've ever owned. HSS passive pickup configuration which I simply hate (see below). Has a Jackson Floyd Rose copy, which appears to be made by Schaller. Has a Duncan designed humbuker, and two Duncan design single coils (middle and neck). 1 tone and 1 volume control. 24 frets, and shark tooth inlays. About everything a guitar player needs. The neck is thin wide, and extremely fast. The guitar is light in weight. I love the Dinky body size......just feels right on me.

I play in a cover band that covers hits from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and today. This guitar suites all styles extremely well.....although I do sometimes feel a little silly playing Lynard Skynard on a Jackon shredding machine. I sometimes bring my strat and switch to it on the 70's stuff......just a little better for that stuff. I'm using a myriad of effects. My preamp is a tech 21 TRI-AC, through different amps. Sometime I go straight into an amp.....sometimes not. Sometimes I deploy a butt-load of effects, sometimes not. Really just depends on my mood, and the gig. This guiat is great with exception to the pickups. I just don't know why a shredders guitar would have a single coil in the neck. I switch to the neck pickup to get that "end of the world" lead tone, and quite frankly with the stock neck pickup there's just not enough gain and balls. The middle single coil is fine. Helps thin out the sound in positions 2 and 4 on the 5 way switch. The bridge pickup has it's own cool mid-range thing going which sounds good with just a little edge on it. With that said, I'm a die-hard Dimarzio guy, so I just ordered a Tone Zone for the bridge, a Fast Track 1 for the middle and a pro rails for the neck. I'll then have my Guitar tech set up the bridge and middle so I can split the coils. Other than the cheesy picks I have no complaints about the sound of this guitar.

The good news: The finish and dressing of the frets was flawless. The bad news: The factory set up was horrendous. The truss needed adjusting, the intonation was off, The strings buzzed, and the floyd was floating at an incorrect angle. I had to spend about 2 hours setting it up when I got it. The worst part is that the neck creaks. There's an ever so slight movement of the neck because it doesn't sit perfectly in the neck pocket. As soon as my pickups come in I'm going to drop this thing off at my guitar tech to have him install the pickups, coil tap switches, and look at the neck pocket. I suspect there is a little extra paint in there causing the problem. Anyway a new guiatr should not have these problems. Nevertheless I still love this instrument and am willing to put the extra money into it to make it right......especially since I only paid $399.00 for it new, and the chepaest I could find it with the custom Eeerie Dess paint job on-line was $549.00.

Seems to be OK. The floyd is cheap and the fulcrum material is soft on these because they are made from soft cast material instead of hardened steel. With the amount that I yank on the Floyd I know this WILL cause tuning problems down the road. Eventually I'll install a REAL Floyd Rose in this thing.

In one word........it SUCKS. No phone number on the website, no email address, no support Forum....nothing. The website sucks, and I don't know how to get a hold of them to ask some questions. This is the worst support I have EVER seen. If Jackson goes down....it'll be because of their worthless support. You'd think a company that has been around as long as they have would understand that support is HALF of the product value in the eye of the consumer. You'd think Fender (who recently purchased Jackson) would know this as well.

Been playing about 20 years now. Owned it all pretty much at one time or another. It's a good axe. I have a Jackson DR-3 which is basically the same guitar with a reversed headstock and two humbuckers. The neck pocket on that guitar is nice and tight.....so I suspect the neck issue on this guitar is a fluke. I suppose the neck creak bothers me more than anything else. Hopefully it is fixable. I think the American made version of this guitar would address all of my issues (pickups, cheap version of Floyd, neck pocket) so I think in retrospect i would have spent the extra $800 and bought that instead. After I get done with the parts and labor I'll be up to that much money anyway. Oh well......Live and learn!!!

2003 DK2-Dinky Eerie Descent Swirl. Picked her up April 2003. It nearly jumped off the rack into my arms. From the minute I saw her, I knew she had to be mine. I've been playing for about 15 years, mostly hard rock. I've always played Ibanez (Joe Satriani, who else?). My wife wanted to learn, so we got 2 matching Ibenez guitars with Floyd Rose fakies for $200 apiece. BIG MISTAKE! Worst guitar I've ever owned. It felt like I washed my mouth out with Coast soap. Anyway, the wife lost interest fairly quickly and I got the go-ahead to purchase this baby. Loving life ever since.

Lots of hard rock, metal, classic rock, you name it. The guitar dishes out whatever sound you want. Minor complaint- it seems like to big of a gap on the 5-way selector from High Treble to the next lowest setting. Sometimes a little to bright, but the next position down is just a bit low. Not that big of a deal, though; I'm just really picky.

After having the guitar for about 6 months, I took it to the local dealer and got it re-stringed. After finishing that, the guy told me the pickups were too high, which threw the tuning out of wack from time to time (true). He fixed that, and now I have zero tuning problems and the action is even sweeter. I'm a bit dissapointed in the factory setup.

I've always played Ibanez but being a Randy Rhoads fan I've always loved Jackson. She's my first one, and we are off to a lifelong relationship. I see no issues with durabiliy.

I play through a Crate GLX65. I lost the beautiful chrome tremolo bar that came with it, and no one seems to know how to get/order another one. Any ideas?

This is a review update, follow up, etc. Read on............

I guess I can make a few comments here. Still kickin ass after 2 years! Just like the way it was the first time I plugged her in the day I got her. Replacing the bridge pickup to a Seymour Duncan TB-6 Distortion showed me where I had been going wrong with all the axes I've owned before. I'd have to say the TB-6 pushed this guitar over the edge. Killer combo as far as I'm concerned. Sounds great through just about any rig. For shits and giggles I used a friend of mines Crate BX15 bass amp with my DOD EQ and BOSS Metal Zone. Sounded great. Played it through a Marshall JCM800 full stack with a vast aray of FX pedals and it kicked ass! My rig is all solidstate so it's all set up the way I like it. Still sounds great.

I set the action, leveled the bridge, adjusted the neck and replaced the humbucker with the TB-6 the day I got it. I stretched the strings and tuned her up and plugged her in. From then on it was a love afair. I have yet to need to readjust or tweak anything. No neck shifting or bridge problems. I pull off some George Lynch stuff like holding the guitar by the neck and the trem bar and putting it through dive bomb hell..................it handles it and keeps on going. I rarely have to re tune. Total stability. The finish has lasted through alot. It fell off the guitar stand a couple times and has it's little scratches here and there, but still looks new. The frets are holding up very well. Almost no wear at all for 2 years worth of constant playing. ACTION, FIT AND FINISH still kickin ass after 2 years!

This guitar has been taken apart, banged into shit, water splashed on it, beer spilled on it, etc. Durable as a battleship. Can't beat it.

If I have to recomend a guitar that is suitable for a beginner to a pro, great feel and playability with a killer sound...........the DK2 is the one. Lets put it this way............a friend of mine bought an SL1. I took my DK2 with me so we could jam. My DK2 to me out played his SL1 and cost about a 3rd of what his cost. Hell, if I bought 3 DK2's I would be set. I think even if I were ever to tour ever again I would feel safe taking a few DK2's with me. The Jackson DK2 is truly a Fantastic Value.

Newer model with the red flame paint job. Made in Japan. It has 24 frets and a floyd liscensed type whammy with all chrome hardware. It has 1 humbucker in the bridge and two sigle coils in the neck and middle postions, controlled by a 5 way switch and 1 each volume and tone knob. I don't know what the body is made of but it's light. The neck looks to be a rock maple variety and very flat radiused and stable. Has big jumbo frets too! Also, the scale on this thing is similar to a les paul. I'll give it an 8 because it's fairly eye catching and I like the flames. It takes me back to my 80's Charvel Jackson days. I got this thing used and it came with no case or tools. No biggy to me. It looked like it just rolled out of the factory. I'm sure it was originally purchased by some kid and he couldn't feep the floyd copy trem in tune, so he probably traded it on something else. One man's trash is another man's treasure! For 270 bucks I got a decent foundation for making something cool. As is from the factory this is a poor man's guitar with a great neck. I love charvel and jackson necks.

I like it. I can play dirty or clean and it sounds o.k. I use it with a Marshall 2x12 combo. It does have kind of scratchy volume pot, and the single coils can get noisy. I can make van halen sounds as well as a fairly convincing twangy strat sound, especially with the neck position single coil you can get funk sounds! I did have to raise the pickups to get clarity and punch out of them. Being as I'm a tinkerer I'll probably rout out the neck postion for a double coil and install new duncans throughout. I'll give it a seven because of noisy electronics.

The setup was off and the floyd copy was not level in the bridge cavity. I fixed this. The floyd being higher on one side caused some binding and tuning problems. I oiled all the friction points with molybendum disulfide grease and installed a hipshot tremsetter. All of my floyd rose guitars have this device. The tuning and return to zero is rock solid now. The fit and finish are o.k. The neck and frets are nicely leveled and polished. I really dig the big frets with the shorter scale.
I'll give it a seven here because the factory setup could have been a little better. Either way, I've got to where I'm enjoying fiddling with guitar setups and really didn't mind working on this one.

The guitar is fine for live playing and will hold up well to abuse. I've got a new volume pot for it and will replace that here in the future. Who gives a crap aabout the finish? I like em' when they are worn, dented, and chipped. After I put a little setup time into it, I feel like I can depend on this guitar. The strap buttons are good and I'd never ever gig without a backup.

Never used em'

Same features as listed below. The body on mine is alder with a flame maple top in trans-blue.

Amazing after switching out stock DD HB102B to a SD TB-6 Distortion. The stock singles sound great to me and serve their purpose.

Holding up well. No problems.

The humbucker ring is cracked, but has been replaced and the volume knob fried and has also been replaced. So far this is it.

I have had this guitar since March of last year and like the jackson I owned before it is top notch stuff. If you are looking for that one guitar to fill several needs musicaly and don't have enough to spend.......this is the way to go. If the stock pickups don't suit you there is always Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio and EMG to name a few. I have had no tuning problems, neck was adjusted by me the day I got in in March 2002 and hasn't been touched since. This is the best Jackson I have ever owned or played in my opinion. Drop the cash on one today. You won't be disapointed.

This is an update to an earlier review. I've had the guitar for six months now, and the honeymoon is over. Not too big on features, but it's a rock guitar. Plenty of features for me.....in fact a little too many as you will later find out. H/s/s. Floyd copy. 25.5 scale. 24 frets. Floyd didn't stay in tune as well as i ha expected, so i took two wood screws and screwed them in under the bridge so the trem doesnt float anymore. Hey, it stays in tune like a dream now, and if the urge strikes me, i can still divebomb.

I play rock and metal. The stock Duncan Designed just sucks, so that had to go. At first I did the old EVH and only had a volume knob and the bridge humbucker. Ok sound, but muddy and undefined. I put and Invader in the bridge (still no singles or tone knob) and it sounds GREAT. Take note, plenty of bass in the Invader, so adjust your amp accordingly.

It had a dent when I got it, and now it had two, from me dropping it while soldering. The body is poplar, so it dents VERY esily. There are even a few small dents in the body from pushing the bar too far during divebombs. I think i fuck up the action long ago, while i had the trem off installing pickups. Not too bad though.

Dents easy as piss, but it get the job done. With the trem blocked off, even if i break a string it stays in tune, so that helps some. I would depened on it. Of course i put on some strap locks, as you all should do....

N/A

With the trem blocked off, the Invader put in, and a set of strap locks, it does all i need to do, and quite well. I have some lil' screamin demons for the neck and mid, working on installing those next. The neck it the best, though. Plays like a dream. The transparent blue looks nice enough, too. Not a bad flame top, although It's probably not real. If you wanna rock, buy it. If you wanna play country, a Tele is calling your name.

Alder Body, H/s/s pick up configuratoin, 1 vol. 1 tone...Jackson Floyd Rose licesed trem copy...locking nut...I like my guitars simple, and this is pretty simple othre than the floyd...suits my needs

MOTHER EFF'N METAL!!!...this thing kicks out the tone...I love the way it sounds through my Marshall...i play metal and more metal and this thing delivers the goods

plays like a dream, better than anything else I've ever played, and I own a Gibson LP Studio Custom, an Ibanez GAX 70 and a BC Rich NJ Neckthrough warlock...and I've played many high end schecters and gibsons and fenders...very well set up by the factory...low action...you can breathe on the damn thing and hold a note...

haven't had it very long, but I'm sure it will last my abuse

never contacted them...

I've been playing about 5 years, I own a marshall combo a crate blue voodoo fullstack, I already listed my guitars...I play in a gigging band and If this guitar was stolen, I'd kill the theif...not only is it a great guitar...but it was also a gift from my fiancee...

2002 Model Japanese DK2-L dinky, left handed. 24 frets. Volume and tone, five way selector, hum-sin-sin config. Came with crappy duncan design passive hums, cant remember the exact make, you all know em anyway :P. Alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, pearloid sharkfin inlays. Standark jackson dinky body, sorta modified strat :S. Jackson JTP Licensed floyd rose, chrome. Locking Jackson tuners. Jumbo frets, standard 25 1/5th scale (I think thats it). Came with Jackson hard case, all the allen key tool thingys :S. For the price, very good.

Well I'm going to rate the sound firstly on how it was before I changed the pickups, then after. I play metal and guitar instrumentals, in the vein of Dream Theater, In Flames, Symphony X, Children of Bodom, blah blah blah. I was using it through a Digitech GNX3 guitar processor, which is fairly versatile, no matter what amp I'm using it through, so the crappy Yamaha 2000-PE I was using was good enough. Aaanyway.. the sound was muddy, rather than bassy, and was quite noisy on the bridge position, definately not what I needed out of a metal axe. Anyway, after four hours worth of playing, I decided that the pickups were the ONLY fault with the axe, so I sent it in to get actives whacked in. Two EMG-SA's for the single coils, and a MasterTone SPA in the bridge hum. What a transformation! The bass is huge and stays clean forever, sustain for days, cutting highs and huge harmonics. I simply can't understand why Jackson don't put decent pickups in these things as standard and jack the price up a couple of hundred. Definately worth it. Not to mention the variety of sounds I can get out of it is incredible, but I mainly have to credit that to the MasterTone hum, nothing sounds like it. Check my review on that too :P. I almost don't bother with the other settings!

Well, it recieved a set-up the day before it was sent, courtesy of guitarxpress.com, what a great bunch of people. Dont really have to comment much on this one, no problems with the axe itself, action was low, harmonics were all in.

Really impressed with the axe so far, finally found a guitar that can put up with as much playing as I do. If there was anything I'd change, it'd be the bridge, probably to an original Floyd, just for that extra bit of stability. The finish is black, fingerprints easily, all that means is I have to clean it for a change, heh. Strap buttons I was impressed with, really big and solid, safe enough that I didnt feel the need to put locks on em. Wouldn't gig without a backup, talk about suicide :P. Stage lights, sweat, *twang*.

Well as far as customer support goes, a definate 10 to http://www.guitarxpress.com , why buy a Jackson from anywhere else? Everyone raves about their customer support and huge range, as well as ridiculously cheap prices. Its the truth. As for Jackson, I got a year warranty, which by the looks of it I wont ever need to use, which is probably a good thing, the fine print pretty much rules out everything anyway :S

Been playing 6 years, playing 8 hours a day, I'm completely guitar obsessed. If anyone's read through the Ibanez reviews (grx20L and rg7420) you'd know I've had a shitful experience with guitars, and I'm glad to say I've finally found an axe that fuckin well screams. Combination of a good quality make and huge sounding pickups. Stolen? Ahahaha... I'd hunt them down to the ends of the earth, and split their manhood open with the headstock. Then again, if a chick stole it, I'd have trouble pulling that one off huh.. :S. Oh, its a sick axe too.

This guitar was made in 2002 it is a Japan model with the bolt on neck. I got the model with the flamed laminated top finished in red. Really a great looking guitar. The Dinky body style is a superior design as it is very comfortable to play either standing or sitting. This guitar has a Jackson Floyd Rose on it. It also has the H/S/S pickup configuration. I've had the guitar about three months now so I decided to do a review. (I like to wait a while after I purchase something to review it as I feel it takes a while to honestly evaluate a guitar or amp.) I would also like to say that all the ratings I will use are based on the fact the guitar cost 300.00 and should therfore reflect value as compared to similarly priced guitars. One would not expect the hardware on a three hundred dollar guitar to compare with the hardware on a 1500.00 guitar.

This area is very tricky to give a rating and therfore I won't. What I will try to do is give you my evaluation of the sound. When I first recieved the guitar I was inatially disapointed with the sound, because when I would unplug my Gibson SG from my Marshall 1/2 stack and plug this Jackson in with the same amp settings, the Gibson clearley had a "Hotter" sound. I was similarly disapointed when using the bridge pickup and comparing it to my strat. I decided to change the pickups. Before getting around to changing the pickups I plugged the Jackson in to a Carvin Tube amp I have that has a EQ built in. I messed with the amp for about 30 min and I was listing to some Fusion Style jazz on the Radio at the time. I found I could exactly nail the sound I was hearing with the Jackson but when I tried it with Gibson the sound was way off. I decided to leave the pickups alone and use this guitar in conjunction with the Carvin amp to play Fusion style music and I have come to love the sound stock. Moral to the story is if you are looking for a "Hard Rock" sound this guitar could disapoint you with the stock pickups, if you are looking for a "Fusion Rock/Jazz" sound this guitar is great.

The factory setup on this guitar was the worst of any guitar I have ever bought. The strings buzzed everywhere, the neck needed to have a truss rod adjustment just to make it playable. In fact I considered sending the guitar back when I recieved it. However The finish of the guitar was a work of Art, no kidding, this thing looks great so I spent several hours setting the guitar up and now I glad I kept it as it is becoming one of my favorite guitars. For rating this category I would rate the finish a 10 and the setup a 0 so averaged this is a five

I haven't owned to long enough to give a usefull evaluation here.

I've been playing 27 years and I own six other electric guitars, (Gibson SG, Schecter C-1, Ibanez Artist and Less Paul,Fender Strat, Charvell 255) I also have three tube amps and three soild state. I would buy this guitar again as I like the neck, and the feel of the guitar, I've come to like the sound also. Bottom Line, at this price point it is a great guitar.

Japanese made. 24 Frets. Volume, tone, 5-way switch. S/S/H Pickup configuration. Duncan Design pickups. Smooth, unfinished maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. Strat-stye body with a licensed Floyd Rose temolo.

I'm using it with a Randall RG100SC, and it makes a great rock/metal combo. I got it used, and it had Lil' Scremon Deamons in place of the stock neck and mid pu's. Stock bride pu, which I am going to replace with a Duncan Distortion. Stock pu sounds ok, but it's just a little to muddy.

I got it used, so I'm not to sure about factory set-up. I raised the bridge pu and lowered the middle one for picking. The neck feels amazing, really smooth and fast. I will never go back to a finished neck. The volume knob was loose, but I tightened, and no problems. I wish the Floyd Rose stayed in better tune, that's why I got a guitar with a Floyd Rose. It's alot better than a 6 point fender bridge, too. It floats, so you can pull it up as well. That is kind of cool.

Seems good enough for me. Nothing looks too cheap for a guitar in this price range. Never gig without a backup.

N/A

I've been playing for about 2 years now. I mostly listen to and try to play Van Halen, but I also like Metallica quite a bit. This guitar is perfect for both of those. Worth getting for the neck alone. I wish the Floyd was more stable, but I am going to put a Hipshot Tremsetter on it, so that should help. I am also going to add a d-tuna so I can go into D without having to take half an hour to re-adjust the Floyd Rose. Other than that, I love it. I think it's a great value and I would buy it again.

Features are the same as the rest below. Does have an alder body with a maple veneer over the top that is a little thicker than some may think. This is an update post as to how this axe has handled 4 seasons and several modifications.

I replaced the bridge pickup with a real Seymour Duncan Distortion humbucker. The stock pickup was a Duncan Design modeled after a SD JB model or TB-4. I need a raspy and deep bottom end at my command. For me the Distortion bucker does that for me in conjunction with my EQ and amp settings. I had 6 guitars in my collection at the time. Due to some financial problems I got rid of all but my DK2. It was up against a few Fenders and an old Charvel. The DK2 won hands down.

It's holding up. It has a few battle scars from slipping on the guitar stand and when trying to replace the volume knob I chipped the top a little. Thats how I found out how thick the veneer was. It's a pretty tough guitar. Everything is holding out on it pretty damn well.

The volume pot took a dump on me. This is after about 10 different pickups were soldered in. It's been fixed though. Everything else is top notch.

If you want versatility that will hold up, this is the guitar. I can't say enough about it. A friend of mine has a Jackson SL-1 Soloist neck thru. I like mine better. It may be just me though, but this is the best Jackson I have played yet.

2002 Japan 24 Frets, 1 Volume and one Tone, S/S/H, Duncan Desiged Pickups, Popular wood body, Hot Rod Flame Finish, Strat style body, Floyd Rose Double Locking Tremolo, Jackson brand tuners, very thin rosewood finger board, alan and truss rod wrenches included.

The guitar suits my 80's style of hevey rock. I use just a Pig Nose amp and Korg PX2. I don't like the pickups. They don't sound good at all. They will be changed in the future.

The auction was set up for 1/2 step down tuning. When i tuned the guitar up to red 440, the Floyd Rose needed adjusting to bring the saddles back to the right position.

The guitar seems like it will last a lifetime.

Never had to deal with Jackson yet.

I would like to add a few things. For the money $299.99 from American Music Supply, you can't bet this guitar with all its features. The hot rod paint was flawless. The neck is very thin and the sharkfin inlay on the rosewood fretboard is a plus. Here is what I don't like about the guitar. The neck is a two peace neck. You can see where the wood comes together on the back of the neck below the headstock. I hope this will last for years to come. The pickups don't sound good at all. The middle and neck pickup have a hum to them. Also it has the weirdest Floyd Rose I have ever seen. The saddles are on a pivot screw. I don't like that. I would like a normal floyd for it.
All in all its a solid guitar and American Music Supply has free shiping over 200.00. I would grab it. I got the case for 79.00 extra for it. Its nice also.

2002 model, Japanese made, 24 jumbo fret solid poplar with flamed maple veneer (can't really call it a 'top', since it's just 1 millimeter of wood). One volume, one tone, five-way slotted pickup selector switch, S/S/H pickup configuration, Duncan Designed HB102B humbucker in the bridge-position, two SC101 single coils in the middle and neck position. The HB102B is a Korean made, Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck-inspired humbucker. Passive electronics. Hard rock maple 25.5 inch 16" radius (?) neck with a nice pearloid sharktooth-inlaid rosewood fingerboard. The finish is Transparent Amber, but it's not as blindingly yellowish with the enourmously red glow on the rims as on the pictures on the Jackson-website. It's more of a somewhat natural maple-color, with an orange glow on it. Looks beautiful!

The bodyshape is Strat-like, but calling it a real Strat-style body would do Jackson short. It's actually a little bit smaller than a real Strat, and a bit sharper curved, where a Strat is rounder. And thank god this guitar is rear-routed, and does not have the pick-ups installed on a 2 millimeters thick plastic scratchplate. The pick-ups are firmly secured in genuine WOOD, and therefor this baby sounds the part where the Strat lacks sustain.

The bridge is a Jackson JT580LP, a Floyd Rose-licensed chrome stainless steel Lo Pro double locking tremolo, with a locking nut. 'Jackson' tuners, probably licensed from some well renowned brand. I think they're 18:1.

Included accessories were the basic tools to adjust the Floyd and nut and the truss rod tension.

I'm still in the stadium where I'm not bound to any particular style in my playing, since I've only played the guitar for about two years now. I like to play (or at least try to play) a lot of metal (I listen to progressive, gothic, death, black, symphonic and power metal) and some old rockstuff like Wishbone Ash, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. The Jackson is perfect for al of it, though the humbucker lacks output for the real tight and heavy sound I demand for the real heavy stuff. Clean, it gives a nice growl without really turning to distortion, which is nice for blues-like '60's and '70's rockstuff. When turned to overdrive, it delivers raw power with a lot of bottom end, while still remaining its clarity and brightness. This baby can blow the windows out of any home! The single-coils produce all the vintage Strat-tones, which make this guitar really versatile.

Factory setup was fine for me, but I'm not a very demanding guitarist yet after my two years of playing. I did however lift the humbucker a bit in order to increase the power. Top is beautifully bookmatched, bridge is well routed, no flaws.

Time will tell...Don't know yet, after owning this guitar for three weeks :D

Haven't dealt with them yet, hope I'll never have to.

If this guitar was stolen, somehow, somewhere, some-one would have to pay the ultimate price! I've waited half a year for this guitar to come in, since I had to order it lefthanded. It was worth the wait, and the person who'd steel it or wreck it 'll definitely die!!!
I obviously really love this guitar, it delivers any sound I wish with sublime quality for the money. I compared it to Ibanez' RG470 and Gibsons LP Studio and some Strats, but the versatility of the Jackson was the main reason for buying it. I don't ever want to sell this baby!

2002 Japanese made Dinky bolt-on. SSH, Floyd rose licensed copy or something. The usual appointments for this type of guitar.

Duncan design pickups had to go. Replaced with Dimarzio evolution bridge and two fast tracks in the middle and neck positions.
Sound is decent, but I think Jackson peaked 10 years ago as far as their quality of guitars. Most of the guitars coming out of Korea are complete shit, but since Jackson is now making some of their stuff in Japan i figured I'd give it a shot.

Finish & fretwork is pretty good, but this damn thing goes out of tune every 5 minutes.The hardware just seems to be cheap.

Sorry, I'm not keeping it long enough to find out. I'm in the process of building a Warmoth strat...You know, a real guitar.

NA

I suppose these guitars are Ok for some kid working at 7-11 that can only afford something in this price range. But if you can shell out the extra $$, you might as well get something nice. There are a few nice guitars in the $600-700 range (Carvin is an exceptionally nice axe for the money).

Made in 2002 in Japan.

24 Frets.

Flamed maple top.

5-way selector.

S/S/H - Duncan Designed pickups.

Passive electronics.

Bolt-on maple neck and alder body.

This DK2 is finished in Eerie Dess Swirl, making the guitar a DK2 EDS.

Strat body style.

Floyd Rose - double-locking tremolo.

Non-locking Jackson tuners.

25.5" scale, 24 jumbo frets, .735 x .810 Neck Dimension, 1 11/16" nut width.

Came with case and tools.

It doesn't really suit my style of playing, which is why I bought it. It's got a fairly legitimate Stratocaster sound, when using the singles.

I run it through a Rocktron Chameleon to a Tube Works MosValve Real Tube Overdrive RT-2100 combo amp.

The guitar is noisy in the middle and neck, single, positions. This is because the Duncan Designed pickups are definitely of inferior quality.

Largely bright sound.

It's actually quite versatile but always lands on the Strat-sound end of the scale.

I love this guitar. I wouldn't change anything but the pickups.

The guitar was the best setup of three Jacksons I own.

Pickups were adjusted well.

The Eerie Dess Swirl finish is absolutely stunning. Very cool.

The guitar arrived in perfect condition.

This guitar will withstand live playing, it's a Jackson.

The hardware, finish and strap buttons seem durable.

I think it's a dependable axe.

I have two other electrics, so a backup is automatic.

Jackson is an extremely gracious, if overworked, group of good folks.

I have never had to get it repaired.

Lifetime warranty.

I've been playing for about six years. I also own a Jackson KV3 and KV4.

This guitar fuflilled every one of my expectations.

If it were stolen, I'd buy it again.

I love the unfinished neck. My favorite feature is the 24-fret fretboard.

I never compared it to anything else. I play Jacksons exclusively.

The guitar has everything I'd want, except premium pickups.

It's an extremely comfortable, versatile and somewhat forgiving guitar.

As far as the features go, this guitar has it all. The pickup configurations works very well for metal. The sound differences between them are not as drastic as the pick ups on a fender strat or something like that. W/ a fender strat, the bridge pickup is way to trebly and the neck is way too muddy. The DK2 is just the opposite, the pickups are very well balanced. The floyd rose sounds and plays well. Its very sensitive though. It also keeps the guitar in absolute perfect tune.

The sound is very good as long as your on the ditortion channel. On clean its very tinny. Its even alittle tinny on distortion too. It still sounds alright though. I might change the bridge pickup to a dimarzio super distortion.

The guitar came perfectly setup. The string height, the intonation, ect. The pickups were well adjusted too. The only problem was that the high E string saddle was alittle loose so when ever you plucked the E string, the saddle would vibrate agianst the B string saddle and you would get this horrible buzzing sound.

This guitar is un breakable. Very reliable and durable.

If I were dumb enough to loose this guitar, I would probably buy another one. If not I would get one of the Jackson SL series guitars. Don't get me wrong though, I love this guitar. It sutes my needs perfectly.

2002 Made in Japan DK2 with Trans Blue top. It has everything that everyone elses has except for an added feature I put in 20 minutes after I took it out of the box.

Stock Duncan Design humbucker is a thin piece of trash as far as my ear interprets it. It was too thin and not hot enough for me. I put a real Seymor Duncan Distortion humbucker in it and it shreds. The stock single coils are just what they are......stock. I like em though. I use the neck single alot. This guitar is my shredder and my Fender Strat all in one. I love buckers and I love the neck single on any strat. 10 with new pickup. No teelin what the Duncan Design would sound like in another rig. My rig begs for hot pickups. I have a sucky rig.

All I had to do was raise the bridge posts to my tastes. The intonation is great.

Stays in tune, sounds great, looks great. What more could you want.

Jackson is the best of the best.

I have owned Jackson guitars in the past. I love this one alot. This is the only one I've replaced pickups in. If you want a quality instrument for very low cost, Jackson just left Ibanez in the dust!

I bought the 2001 model...specially ordered left-handed. It has 24 frets...5 way switch, 3 knobs (2 tone 1 volume), passive humbucker and to single coils. The duncan design ones. I keep hearing how shitty they are...but i dont hear it...i can make this thing scream. The finish is black. It also has the Floyd Rose system (its ok...gets kinda old NOT being able to change the strings yet) I have only been playing for a year and a half or so.

This guitar sounds pretty good for the type of music i play...ANY kind of metal is what i play. But i cant really comment on how this fits though, this is my 2nd guitar...my 1st was a shitty strat that cost me $40 from a pawn shop. Im using a Crate GX900H Excalibur head with a Fender DT-4X12. It can make quite a variety of sounds...i personally keep the tone ALL the way UP!

i dont know a WHOLE lot about guitars...like the "action" and the set up. I just left it and the set up must be fine because i enjoy this guitar. All of the knobs are in working order. Nothing has broken on it. I tried to changed the strings and the bridge just bent WAY up and it sucked.

this guitar can stand live playing. The hardware seems as if it would last. My old strat cuts out ALL the time. I have to solder the wires for the connection at least once a month (which sucks!) Everythign is solid on this. I can depend on it..and i would use this guitar without a backup.

i wouldnt even know...

ive been playing a year and a half and this is my 2nd guitar which is a hell of a lot better than my 1st one. I wanted a ESP EX-250 (350,351 not out yet) but at that time ESP didnt make leftys...a month or so after i got this they started making them. I kinda wish i would have waited...but this guitar is a very good deal for any right handed person. They kind of OVERCHARGE the leftys with this one. i wish it had 2 EMG HZ's in it instead of 1 passive humbucker and to single coils.

The guitar I purchased is a 2001 model. I'm still fairly new to guitar playing. I still own my Ibanez Les Paul. The set up on the Jackson, in my opinion is teriible. The pickups stink, the action is OK, and the neck is OK. My older Les feels better and sounds much better. I think if it's set up correctly, this thing would scream. I tried a Jackson DX10D first. The electronics were bad, but the neck was fantastic. I returned it because of the electronic problem. The local dealer didn't have the DK2, so I ended up buying out of state. The trem is something new to me, so I can't comment on it.

I'm not impressed with the sound at this point. I like playing 80's rock. After some tweeking, I think it might come around. I'm using a Crate DX212. It sounds incredible with the Les Paul I have. The Jackson isn't in the same league with the Les Paul.

DK2 EDS finish. The finish on this guitar is beatiful! The finish is one of the best I've seen for a guitar at the price I paid for it. Flawless finish. I really think the pickups need some adjustment. I'm not happy with the sound.

It's much lighter than my Les Paul. The kind of playing I'm doing, it should last forever.

The people at Jackson are super. I've not had to use them with any problems I have yet, but I have talked to a couple of people there before I bought the DK2. I wanted to make sure the guitar I was buying out of state was an authorized dealer. They confirmed that with me and told me a little bit about the dealer as well. Very helpful.

If this was lost or stolen, I would consider something else. I really do love the look and finish of this guitar. It's still new to me and I'm not used to it yet. I hoping after some sdjustments it will get better. If anyone knows of a place in the Denver area where I could take my guitar to get it set up correctly, I would appreciate any comments.

This is a 2001 model, Flamed maple top...H-S-S...you know the rest. The pickups will be replaced with actual Duncans. The Duncan "imposters" lack the warmth and balls of the real ones. I have an ESP top loader strat with 2 Duncans and this piece outplays the ESP (for a whole lot of less money). I have owned many Jacksons over the years and this thing is topped only by my Soloist. It came with the case as well. The Jackson "Floyd" tremlo is as good as the original Floyd in my opinion, (although I don't use it like I would have in the 80's!

Like all Jackson guitars, it owns the stage. I play through an assortment of amps as well as a Line 6 Modeler, and it rocks. The imported pickups are OK, (rate it about 7) But with the TB7 (Jeff Beck tremlo version) and 2 single coils it sings like a canary (with it's nuts in a vice)!

Factory set up was done on an assembly line, but if you don't know how to set up your rig, then take up the flute. If you keep the Duncan Clones, you will need to raise them up so they can scream. The finish was as good as I have seen.

I will tour with this rig, no problem. It makes an excellent choice as a primary rig, or an overqualified back up rig. As far as strap buttons, (who actually leaves these things on anyways?) I replace them with Dunlop strap locks. I would not use it without a backup because only an idiot would go live without a backup...regardless of your rig. Strings break...it's a given.

I have always had excellent service from Jackson.

I have been playing for 17 years. I have had: Les Pauls, Soloists, other Dinkys, Ovation, Gibson Explorer, Ibanez RG, and a few other pieces I can't remember. This one sits up on top, just below the Soloist, and as good as the Les Paul.

2001 jap dinky. 24 frets. solid poplar i think. hss with five way switch. duncan design pickups ( which i replaced with real duncan!)
amber sunburst wit flame top.

i play metal rock and classical and the guitar meets my needs perfectly!
the pickup i put in is a george lynch screamin demon which is phenomonal!

I think this was made in the year 2000. 24 frets, Beautiful amber flamed maple top, Duncan Design S/S/H, Rosewood fretboard w/classic Jackson sharkfin inlays, Pewter colored Floyd double locking trem. 5 way selector. Came with a great Jackson case and necc. tools and brief setup procedures.

The sound is great, but my ear is not all that good at subtle differences so I might not be the person to ask. I can get just about any sound I want from it EXCEPT that great sound I get from my Jackson Surcaster SC3. I would say to a metal and hard rock junkie that you need not look elsewhere than Jackson. The pickups are a little weaker than might be desired on this nice of a guitar so that's mostly why it gets a 9 rather than 10

Wow, this is kind of a bummer because if it would have been set up just a little better from the start it also would have got a 10 in this category. The action was nice from the word go, my prob was the Floyd Rose springs were just not adjusted quite right and when I got it to where it would tune nicely..... buzzzzz! Had to adjust the bridge height which of course brought the action up and that was not acceptable with me. I started from scratch, set the neck truss rod, restrung with new super slinks 9-42. Fiddled around for 3 or 4 hours to get it right but after that it played like a dream. Things happen I understand, but it was a pain since I am not the most experienced guitar repairman nor should I have to be with a new ax! Everything else looked and felt flawless until I adjusted the volume to the always wonderful scratch of a dirty pot. After cleaning it a bit no problems. The guitar is so nice in spite of these original headaches I won't go lower than a 7 here but I would be pissed-o-plenty if I had it happen again.

If you can afford a good guitar then there is really no reason not to have a backup so why would someone do that unless they love humiliation? It is made by humans and not God so it can fail but has not done so yet. Jackson quality to me is unsurpassed all across the price range, compare a low end Jackson for $200 or so to a Fender Squier or to get back into the heavier rock zone look at a BC Rich cheapie. Jackson wins hands down. As far as the mid range instruments like this one I would put it up against anything... nothing copares to this guitar for $500. I own 3 USA strats and an Ibanez, nice guitars or I would get rid of 'em, but this Jackson is my favorite no question. Nicely built.

Haven't had the pleasure in 8 months of ownership. I fact hope I never do.

Overall I would give it a 10, but hey I should not have to do 4 hours of screwing with it to get it right since I bought it new and not used. Score slips for that reason alone. After that day I could not be happier with it, It stays in tune and kicks out some very serious sound. I am going to try some EMG's and see how that does....