Jackson SL4 Soloist

This guitar was made in Japan. It has 22 frets, neck-through construction, maple neck, alder body, H/H Seymour Duncan pickups, 1 vol, 1 tone. Mine is black. Floyd Rose licensed Jackson bridge, Jackson tuners. The neck is very thin. Similar to my Hamer Californian, which is known for its thin neck. I love the neck and the cutaway heel area. Great access. It has more than enough features for me. I would be very happy with 1 bridge humbucker and a volume, ala the Kramer Baretta, but I wanted a neck-through, and a slim neck, too.

It sounds good. Nice and full. I could use a bit more harmonic response, and sustain, while fantastic on open strings, is not as good on fretted notes. This guitar is darker sounding than my Hamer Californian, which has a Seymour Duncan Full Shred humbucker in the bridge position, and it's also darker than my Kramer Focus 1000 (Baretta-style), which has the factory Schaller humbucker in the bridge position. I am very happy with the sound, overall.

This guitar was set up very well. Nice low action, and no buzzing. I raised the bridge pickup to get a bit more power out of it. I have found NO flaws in the workmanship of this fine guitar, and I have been looking very closely.

I am confident that this guitar is well built. I am very careful with it anyway, since it is my first neck-through, expensive (for me) guitar, and I really like it. I put strap-locks on it right away, like I do with all my guitars, but the strap buttons were solid. I have been playing it every chance I get since I got it (about 1 week ago) and really testing the tremolo, etc., and it has stayed in tune. I would depend on it, though I would carry a backup, since it takes time to change a string with a Floyd Rose-style tremolo, should I break one.

I haven't tried customer support. I see that Jackson requires you to submit your completed warranty card within 10 days of purchase, effectively shortening the 30 day return period that Guitar Center gave me, which is too bad. I wish Jackson said on their web site exactly which Seymour Duncan pickups this has. I'd like to know.

I have been playing for 20 years. I own a Hamer Californian, Kramer Focus 1000, Ovation Celebrity, Zoom 505II, SansAmp GT2, etc. I have tried to convince myself to return this guitar, since I still like my Kramer and Hamer and really don't need another guitar, but I can't do it. This is just a sweet axe.

I LOVE the fact that it is 22, NOT 24, frets and neck-through. Having grown up playing a Kramer Focus and a Charvel Model 1 (both 22 fret neck guitars), my fingers know where to go on a 22 fret neck. If this were 24 frets, I would probably have just purchased a $280 Kramer neck-through from MusicYo and replaced the bridge pickup. I also love the slimness of the Jackson neck, and the workmanship is fantastic.

Dislikes? I don't have much use for a neck pickup, and I would have preferred a Les Paul-style switch over a blade switch. Coil tapping would be nice, too, while we're talking about switches. Guitar Center didn't give me a case, which seemed cheap of them, but I can't complain too much, getting it for only $700. I bought an SKB case. The Jackson case (also made by SKB) looked cool, but it was such a tight fit, it pained me to wedge the guitar into it.

The bottom line is this fine quality and inexpensive guitar sold itself. I had gone into Guitar Center to look at amps and absolutely didn't need another guitar, but when I saw and played this, I couldn't resist. I still can't. I play it for hours at a time. I love it.

This guitar was made in Japan. It has 22 frets, neck-through construction, maple neck, alder body, H/H Seymour Duncan pickups, 1 vol, 1 tone. Mine is black. Floyd Rose licensed Jackson bridge, Jackson tuners. The neck is very thin. Similar to my Hamer Californian, which is known for its thin neck. I love the neck and the cutaway heel area. Great access. It has more than enough features for me. I would be very happy with 1 bridge humbucker and a volume, ala the Kramer Baretta, but I wanted a neck-through, and a slim neck, too.

It sounds good. Nice and full. I could use a bit more harmonic response, and sustain, while fantastic on open strings, is not as good on fretted notes. This guitar is darker sounding than my Hamer Californian, which has a Seymour Duncan Full Shred humbucker in the bridge position, and it's also darker than my Kramer Focus 1000 (Baretta-style), which has the factory Schaller humbucker in the bridge position. I am very happy with the sound, overall.

This guitar was set up very well. Nice low action, and no buzzing. I raised the bridge pickup to get a bit more power out of it. I have found NO flaws in the workmanship of this fine guitar, and I have been looking very closely.

I am confident that this guitar is well built. I am very careful with it anyway, since it is my first neck-through, expensive (for me) guitar, and I really like it. I put strap-locks on it right away, like I do with all my guitars, but the strap buttons were solid. I have been playing it every chance I get since I got it (about 1 week ago) and really testing the tremolo, etc., and it has stayed in tune. I would depend on it, though I would carry a backup, since it takes time to change a string with a Floyd Rose-style tremolo, should I break one.

I haven't tried customer support. I see that Jackson requires you to submit your completed warranty card within 10 days of purchase, effectively shortening the 30 day return period that Guitar Center gave me, which is too bad. I wish Jackson said on their web site exactly which Seymour Duncan pickups this has. I'd like to know.

I have been playing for 20 years. I own a Hamer Californian, Kramer Focus 1000, Ovation Celebrity, Zoom 505II, SansAmp GT2, etc. I have tried to convince myself to return this guitar, since I still like my Kramer and Hamer and really don't need another guitar, but I can't do it. This is just a sweet axe.

I LOVE the fact that it is 22, NOT 24, frets and neck-through. Having grown up playing a Kramer Focus and a Charvel Model 1 (both 22 fret neck guitars), my fingers know where to go on a 22 fret neck. If this were 24 frets, I would probably have just purchased a $280 Kramer neck-through from MusicYo and replaced the bridge pickup. I also love the slimness of the Jackson neck, and the workmanship is fantastic.

Dislikes? I don't have much use for a neck pickup, and I would have preferred a Les Paul-style switch over a blade switch. Coil tapping would be nice, too, while we're talking about switches. Guitar Center didn't give me a case, which seemed cheap of them, but I can't complain too much, getting it for only $700. I bought an SKB case. The Jackson case (also made by SKB) looked cool, but it was such a tight fit, it pained me to wedge the guitar into it.

The bottom line is this fine quality and inexpensive guitar sold itself. I had gone into Guitar Center to look at amps and absolutely didn't need another guitar, but when I saw and played this, I couldn't resist. I still can't. I play it for hours at a time. I love it.