Jackson DXMG

i am extremely happy with the features on this guitar as it has everything i need the jackson trem system i feel works just as well as the floyd rose one to be totally honest, the trem locks are brilliant i need to tune about once a month because they hold so well. The guitar is the perfect look for me as it just looks metal with the inverted head and the shark fin inlays, it is the guitar that anyone looks perfect with headbanging there way through some chunky riffage. only nuisance i had from this guitar is changing string gauge and dropping to low tunings such as drop C or drop B, requires a great deal of effort because of the floating trem, recommend getting help if your not sure or stick to a tune-o-matic bridge.

This guitar suits my style PERFECTLY! the EMG HZ's hold up for the most brutal riffs you can throw down on this guitar whilst keeping vibrancy for lead sections, they produce a great tone, clean or distorted. they are better sounding in distortion than they are clean but for my musical style i dont need an amazing sounding clean tone, would be easily enough resolved though, could just upgrade to EMG 81 and 85's. I play this guitar through a line 6 spider III amp and it just sounds great. the guitar is silent no buzzing or hissing what so ever.

the factory set up was great i played it factory set up for a while as i was in a band playing in drop D, the action was perfect for busting out slick arpeggios and pinched harmonics are so easily played on this guitar they happen almost by themselves. pick ups were at a perfect height and did not need adjusting, the only real problem was arpeggios really high up the guitar are extremly hard the last 5 frets arent that well accessed could of done with a better cut out. other than that great the gloss black finish with black hardware is a great metal look.

i have gigged with this guitar only had one trouble with it and that was a string breaking which has to happen to everyone at some point, the thing with a floating trem though is that one string goes thats you screwed every string goes out of tune so always have a back up thankfully i did, as i always do, if you don't have a back up your in trouble with any guitar so never gig without two guitars and someone to restring one guitar while you use other, but anyway back to the point, the guitar is very durable bumped it a few times no marks, strap locks not required as the strap holders are strong enough, they can with stand my guitar swings on stage so there are no worries about them, finish hasnt worn at all except on back because of my belt, but the finsih will last especially if well taken care of.

i have been playing a mere 2 years but this is my favourite guitar to date i have owned 8 different guitars this ones a keeper for sure. great look great sound, i love it!
i wish i had known about the troubles of floating trem bridges before buying but now i couldnt care less was a learning experience and now im not bothered by it.
if it was stolen i would buy it again for sure!
i played several different guitars before choosing this such as esp's ibanez(i despise them), schecters and many others this just blew them away in my opinion but everyones different so shop around dont buy on looks or credability guitars are personal preferance.

Pretty much everything was listed in previous reviews, although the control knobs on mine are made of knurled metal rather than plastic (It's 3-4 years old so this may very well have changed on the newer models). The stock HZ pickups were a little muddy for my tastes so I swapped them out for some active EMGs (60/81). The knobs were spaced too far apart for the stock wiring on the EMG pots so it took a little finagling to get them in place. Other than that the only other thing I would've preferred was a metal jackplate, I don't trust it to take a hard knock and not shatter.

I'm a metal player and that's pretty much what this guitar is suited for. As above the stock pickups didn't quite fit the bill, but I didn't find them to be _bad_. If I didn't already have the actives lying around I don't think I'd have rushed out just to replace them. I play through a a 300w first gen. Warhead, an old Sunn Solaris 12X15 combo (awesome for clean sounds with TONS of headroom), and a Spider II 1X12 when I'm not trying to blow the windows out of the house. The stock setup worked well with each, the HZs lent a warm creamy sound to the mix, and there was very little noise at all but very high volumes. It really came alive with the actives though, it just screams now.

Action was set at rock bottom from the reseller with no buzz to be found anywhere. As long as I do a decent job in stretching the strings when I put them on (I dive bomb the hell out of it and retune until it returns to true each time before locking it down at the nut) it rarely, if ever, goes out of tune. I've played it in several tunings, and with various string gauges without having a single problem with the tremolo or truss rod. The neck is thin, flat, and fast and the contour where the neck meets the body makes the high frets very accessible. I've not had a problem with the finish yet. By virtue of it being black it shows smudges very easily, but some warm breath and a lint free cloth takes care of it each time. As for the fit, everything is as it should be, it feels very solid despite the light weight. This category, I feel, is where this guitar really shines.

I don't play live, but I don't think it would be the best idea to take _any_ guitar on the road without a suitable backup. As noted above the only issue I really have with the hardware is the cheap jackplate, the pickup rings are plastic as well which I've had problems with in the past (on other guitars) so that could be improved as well. Strap buttons, eh, I always replace the stockers with straplocks so I don't really take issue with them. They did seem wider than most (if that makes sense)so I'd assume they'd do a decent job. It's survived all the minor bumps and bruises so far, so I can't complain!

N/A

I've been playing for 12 years now and this has been, dollar for dollar, the best value I've received out of an instrument. If I were to lose it I'd probably buy two more (the price is right).

This guitar just looks pure metal. It has a basswood body (solid black) and a bolt on 3 peice maple/maple/rosewood neck, with a H/H pickup configuration. I would have liked it if the hardware was a chrome or perhaps even gold in colour though

My main style is metal but because of the passive pickups, its really suited to any type of music thats guitar oriented. I personnally wouldve liked active pickups though, lucky i have it running through a digitech death metal pedal for rhythm and a (believe it or not) a digitech RP50 for a really good lead sound ive discovered. in a way the pickups are good cause ive already got all the distortion i want. They keep the mid tones at a low which is what i really go for

This thing is an absolute BITCH to tune, hence the LICENCED floyd rose. people, never get 1, make sure its the original. once your done fukn round witht he tunings for an hour it should stay put though. This guitar (after a while) bored me in looks, as theres nothing other than BLACK to see

This guiar is one tough son of a bitch, ive fell on it a number of times, and smacked it on walls countless times, but hey, why be afraid of ur guitar getin scratched, ya gota have war marks

ive had it retuned to lower and higher tunings before, only cause im quite lazy with it, bought it striaght off the shelf about a year ago. they guys who sold it to me know what they are talking about!!!

i give this guitar a 8.5 rating

when I first purchased this guitar I liked the HZ's but after 6 months I installed 81/85's and upgraded the floyd to an original. the original floyd rose is much better and the actives scream. after 2 months a volume pot went and I had to replace it. still a good guitar with good looks!

get rid of the HZ's and put in some actives or dimes. but still for the price range not a bad guitar just sell those HZ's on ebay make some cash and buy some decent pickups

I think this is were this guitar really shines for a guitar in this price range it's got hella good action! I also own a custom shop sl2h and someone said that it's comparable I will just say NOT!!! comparing this to a soloist there is no comparison, but what you get for the money is worth it! and this was well built! if you don't know how to set up a Floyd then have someone show you instead of just getting pissed off, guitar center I think will do this for free when you purchase a guitar. also you can not beat that 30 day deal!!

I am not hard on my stuff and take good care of my guitars. I have not had any finish problems and I've owned this guitar for 4 years and I would buy another in a second. I want to buy another and drop in some dimes or some duncans. If you drop your shit don't bitch that it breaks!!

never had to deal with them so I guess 10

This is one hell of a guitar I wish they made this in mahogany (they may now) next to my sl2h this is my favorite I've been playing for about 13 years and I've owned all sorts of guitars this is a good one. If you play metal this is a good guitar even better if it was mahogany!!

As all the other reviews, you get the picture so I won't repeat again.

One thing to say, the sharkfin inlays and reversed headstock look the business in the flesh!

This is a rock guitar, that's where it really comes alive. You can play other types of music with it but it really is meant to be thrashed to death! I initially played it through a Metal Zone and a Marshall 100w combo and the sound was really good, I was well impressed. I managed to get relatively good Sabbath, Pantera, Metallica sounds from it no problem.

Six months or so ago I upgraded to a Mode Four half-stack and the DXMG absolutely cooks through it! The only slight moan I have is that the pickups can sounds very slightly muddy at high distortion/volume. I have recently upgraded HZ's to an EMG81/85 set and the improvement has taken it from an excellent guitar to a TOP guitar. With the HZ pups I would have given it an 8, now it's a 9 with the 81/85's.

The finish was good, frets were level and there were no flaws on the body etc. The action was nice and low, although the intonation was slightly out (takes less than ten minutes to sort so it's of no consequence).

I've never had any problems with this guitar, it feels like it's built to last although it's not heavy or cumbersome. I certainly wouldn't gig without a backup purely because if you did so and broke a string, you'd have to stop for five minutes to re-string! I have no worries about the DXMG's construction, it has been dropped a couple of times and once at rehearsal I swung it round me head (don't ask!) and thumped the head into the concrete ceiling.. it gouged it a little but it's still cool - kind of gives it a bit of a battle scar!

No idea, thankfully I've never had to deal with them.

I've bene playing for 18 years and have been through numerous guitars. Whilst this isn't the best guitar I've ever played (I've played some top Gibson, Ibanez in my time) it is amazing value for money and I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to step up from a first guitar.

Finish: solid (i think its satin, here in spain we say solid... lol i dont know maybe its "solid" in english)
Body style: "dinky" ?
Bridge style: Floyd Rose
Tuners: Locking
Neck/Scale: Jumbo Frets, and type of wood i dont know
Any included accessories: tools
Where was it made: Japan
How many frets: 24
Solid-Top
volume, tone, 3-way selector
Pickup configuration: H/H
Make and model of pickups: EMG-HZ
Passive electronics
Body and neck woods: No idea... lOL

I play black metal and some 80's thrash (sodom, destruction...). The guitars suits this styles perfectly. I use it with a boss metal zone pedal and a cheap and crappy AXL 60W. Its sounds really good for this setup, i can't imagine the sound on better amps, it has to be KILLER. The EMG's work well, against what the people say on their reviews, at least when playing black metal.

The action was perfect. No problems on this, only that the floyd comes untuned, and as i am a beginner, it has become something to me difficult to do. the pickups came low so i put the bridge one higher. All material perfect, no scratches etc. and very clean.

i dont know if the guitar will withstand live playing because i never played live, so i cant give any opinion on this. It looks long lasting and solid.

i have been playing 4 years with an "academy" cheap stratocaster clone so i think i am too happy with this guitar because of this, its an enormous difference between the 2 guitars. before buying this guitar, i asked if it will suit well for black metal, and they said to me that it suits perfectly on any kind of metal. I love the shape, color, and something that really impressed me is how easy is playing it at fast riffs (tremolo picking - pure black metal hehe) or fast palm mutes (Trash). I compared this guitar with some same-price ibanez's, but all the ibanez's come with generic Ibanez pick-ups, thats why i bought this.

2005 model, great avxe , high qualitey,made in japan, would buy again, maybe dkmg( has emg 81&85), great features

sounds great great fro metal and rock

great out of the box

hasn't let me down yet, play it everyday

haven't delt with them yetm and i hope i don't have to!!!!!!

great guitar nothing to say! look out ibanez!!!

Made in Japan, 24 frets, alder body covered in grey metalic type paint, passive EMG HZ pickups, nice comfortable super strat body style like an Ibanez, maple neck with lovely looking rosewood board(I must have gotten lucky!), locking nut and floating tremolo, and a H-H pickup configuration with plastic pickup rings.

People spend 2 thousand pounds on PRS guitars and the first thing they do is change the pickups, so their sound is really not important, most people will either change them right away, or do it at a later date, but in most cases a pickup change is inevitable.

To answer the question, the pickups are EMG HZ, and are not sounding particularly sweet. They are thin sounding, and to save all the jibba jabba, they are nothing compared to the 85 or 81. You get the picture, but that's not to say that a player cannot be content with these pickups until a time when he can upgrade. They are satisfactory in that they don't sound horrible. Dig.

This guitar was set up very well where I bought it. The action was good, it felt nice, very easy to play. I don't imagine this was a factory set up, I think this guitar was set up in house by one of the shops guitar techs. I didn't notice any electrical issues with it, apart from the pickup being so high that it choaked when you pulled back on the trem, but that was no problem, we can set our own instruments up to our liking when we get home, and if you can't, you'd better learn. It's childs play.

The guitar is made out of wood, glue, nuts, and bolts. It won't come apart unless you bash the crap out of it, and if you do that, it's your fault. Here's a tip, don't gig without a clip lock strap or similar, just something so that the guitar is 100% secure, otherwise you're going to damage your guitar at some point, and that's no good, not when it can easily be avioded. Here's another tip, learn how to change strings properly, and how to maintain everything that your strings sit in, then you won't have problems with strings breaking. So, yes, you could use it without backup, but that is something you just don't do if you're a guitarist that gigs regularly.

No opinion. My warrenty is 12 months long.

Alright, this is the important part of my review. I've seen the very expensive Jackson Soloist guitars, the guitars that are #1800 etc, but HOLD ON A MINUTE, what's the BIG DIFFERENCE between? What difference warrents ANOTHER #1500? OK, the neck construction is EXACTLY the same, it has a scarf joint. The binding is EXACTLY the same in most cases, the woods are PROBABLY the same, because I can't tell, you can't tell, the guys who make the guitars know that, so why are they going to use more expensive maple for a neck, when they know they don't have to?

What do you get on a nice custom limited edition #1800 soloist that you don't get on this?

EMG 81 and 85, you don't get them, so how much is that? At trade prices, about #80 for both.

What else? A set or neck-through - this is a big difference, and it takes longer to make a neck like that, so let's add an extra #200 for good measure, but wait, it can't be that hard, since you can buy Ibanez through-neck guitars for #400, so I think I'm really over estimating.

What else? Chrome pickup rings, WOW. #10

What else? Normally, a gibson like pickup switch, instead of the switch you get on this guitar. #5

What else? In most cases, a paint finished neck, or finished in some nice glossy laquer that feels lovely, let's add an extra #40 for this, I think that's more than fair.

What else? A Floyd Rose tremolo, but HOLD ON A MINUTE, what is the difference between the that, and the one on this guitar which says Jackson on it. Take a look - Nothing, but let's add #40 again, for good measure.

What else? Sometimes a nice ebony board, so let's add #15 for that.

What else?
Umm
Umm
I can't really think of anything else, can you?

So, how much do we have added up now

Let's take the average price of this guitar #300, and add #390 to that makes #690, and that's including the profit for the guitar retailers for OUR guitar, so lets take that away and make it #590, now let's think realistically, they pump these out by the second on self operating CNC machines, and let's come to the conclusion that these guys pay next to nothing for all the parts, because they buy so many of them, so a nice figure for the #1800 soloist, it would probably work out at about #240 as a production cost, at a push, probably less. Now, we don't have a soloist, but if we did, we'd have payed a HUGE amount of money for a spiced up version of this guitar, and this guitar only costs #300 on average in the United Kingdom, so really, we've got one damn good deal on a very pleasent guitar, and if we buy any of what I just typed up, I think we'd be willing to give this a 10 without question. Dig.

I got a Jap import DXMG off my gf in UK. I was a big Ozzy/Rhoads/E Lee fan so loved the idea of owning a Jackson. The axe looked the business the black mirror finish was awesome! But that's where the good news ends I'm afraid!

The EMG HZ pickups were slightly disappointing after my DiMarzio super distortion humbucker on my strat copy.

Now then where do I begin! F*$%*ng terrible! Trem arm missing, cover plates on back couldn't have looked or felt any cheaper. The knobs on the front were horrible cheap plastic. Screws holding cover plates on were in at an angle! Set-up was awful. Wiring fault on selector switch. Just aaarrgghh!!

I wouldn't have dared even lend it out as a backup axe! Judging by the build quality I think it would drop to bits if used in anger by a pro.

Re-seller wasn't particularly helpful. Offered to send it away for a few weeks to get sorted but I thought mmmmm you have nearly #500 of my money and you want to take my axe too without even the offer of a loan? No thanks refund please!

You're paying for the Jackson name here and its not worth it. I'm sure Jacksons from the states are a different animal but I would steer clear of Jap imports. For around the same money I got a Maverick Streetfighter SF-1 and its in a different league as far as build quality and sound goes.

made in China i think (could be japan)
black, 24 frets, selector, H/H EMG-HZ's blah blah you know the rest
It looks good i got to admit (you dont buy a guitar for its looks though do you?)

well the guitar comes with EMG-HZ's which sound Fair. Not great by any means...if your wanting a better sound put EMG 81's in. Sound is pretty generic..wish it came with EMG 81's or a better pickup tbh

HORRIBLE. Absolutely pathetic setup from factory. the action was as high as a bridge and get this, the frets were SHARP. I mean razor sharp on the ends...it would cut your hands to shreds when playing. I filed this down which made it better.
The guitar just feels generally Cheap and nasty.
I bought the guitar for its LOOKS (yes stupid I know) which it does have. It is a nice looking guitar, but if your after a metal guitar you can do much much better than this, and Jackson imports in general .

i hate the floyd on this thing, it aint the best for staying in tune...this guitar put me off getting a floyd guitar in future.

never replied to emails and their site is shit

DO NOT BUY THIS GUITAR WITHOUT TRYING IT. I made the mistake of buying this guitar from ebay because i fell in love with the look of it (black/shark fins...reverse headstock...it really does LOOK like a kickass guitar)...after playing the guitar i was really really disapointed! Playing this guitar has taught me to try guitars before buying them (individual guitars, not just the type)...with imports you may find a good one, but most are shitty quality which is sad.
It is not worth the ?500 or so that it RRP's at, NO WAY AT ALL!! For that you can get a secondhand gibson or epiphone which will blow this thing away.
After I got rid of this guitar I found an 80's BC rich warlock which was used and looked battered...I played it and WOW it is awesome so i bought it. And funnily enough it is an Import and had an EMG 81 installed in it. This thing cost me around ?150, half the price I paid for the DXMG and it is 10 times the guitar sound wise and playability (doesnt look as good...but who cares!).