These QC issues make me wonder if the Jackson team js using the same facility that produces the lower end JS models. Finish issues like you mentioned probably wouldn't be a dealbreaker on a $300-400 guitar but are inexcusable at triple that price. If it is the same team making the pro plus models I bet their QC will improve a lot as time passes.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial You said that the floyd* bridge doesnt stay in tune very well with whammy, but according to google its the best sht for whammy tuning stability. ''A Floyd Rose trem system locks the string both at the nut and the brige. Due to this reason it stays in tune far better than any trem system.'' explain that please, I gotta buy a guitar soon
yeah so why did you bash floyd rose specifically for tuning issues if its the most stable trem? obviously all trems are gonna cause some tuning fuckery right so when you single out floyds there for having bad stability, you're just saying trems have bad stability, because if you're talking about the floyd specifically, its the most stable type and thus making your comment pointless right? @@GuitarCinemaOfficial
@@blazikenzz1896 Not true. Go on Floyd Roses website and you will see there are multiple versions of this Tremolo system. The Special, the 1000 etc. The one on this guitar is one of the cheaper versions, in general I've found the more expensive you go the better the tuning stability is. I didn't "bash" anything in this review, I reported back my findings with this particular Guitar which was that the tuning stability was poor. Take from that what you will.
It's still on my radar. I'm in the market for an under $2,000 super strat, and it has the specs I want. I hope if I go for it, the finish issues are resolved.
Just a note. Jackson has been producing Pro Series Soloists in China for years, my Pro Series Soloist SL3R, the mirror one is MIC. The quality and playability on mine were excellent.
I just ordered a Pro + Dinky in the Metallic Black today and eagerly awaiting its arrival in a few days..my last Jackson was a SLQ2 in Transparent Blue and it was awesome..but the JB trembucker in the bridge position put out way too much bass which is hard to believe,,but I installed a SD Black Winter trembucker in there and it woke right up with my EVH Stealth amps.. So I have a Black Winter trembucker here now and will of course check the guitar out first before I swap anything..also I will install a push in tremelo arm real quick like ! You did a great job here pointing some the qc issues out..I will as always thoroughly inspect mine when it gets her..hopefully it's perfect !
I got one in the second-hand market for 700 euros. Mine, it's well finished, no painting problems. In my opinion it depends on the operators and quality controls. In a store, i saw different colors, and i noticed problems but nothing dramatic. The problem is the price, 1100 euros, brand new, and gigbag. the thing if you afford 250 euros more, you can get an ibanez prestige with a hardcase. The fret problem was fixed by the previous owner, but if you have the knowledge and the toolingyou can fix that.. Just give some time to Chineses factories to improve the quality. Like we did to the Japanese, 60, and 70s guitars from Japan were crafted like baseball bats. So just give some time.
Made in Japan Jackson is phenomenal. All of us Jackson fans were confused about the pro series coming from China now. Hopefully they start some in Korea for 200 more we would pay it for the QC boost. Love the 🎸 though. Good to see you brother 😎👊🏻💯
I have one of these in metallic black and mine has none of the issues you mentioned. Maybe I got lucky or you got a lemon. I paid $899.99 for it and it is worth the money. The neck is phenomenal.
They are cropping up at quite reduced prices now mate sort of round the £800 mark. Could be worth a punt at that sort of money? Let us know how you get on if you do go for it.
I can’t deny that it looks a million bucks, and the appointments are there, I just hope the QC gets better as I was hoping to pick one of these up as an 80’s shredder type guitar, we need more blue guitars in the world Also if I win that guitar I’m going to do unspeakable things to it (not really, just install the newer models of kahler) Great video as always!
Great video man. Bad nickel frets are fixable, while bad stainless steel ones are a nightmare. Even if your tech works on them, they'll charge you a heck of a lot more.
The Soloist is NOT bigger than the modern Dinky - they share the same outline. Soloist = neck through construction. Dinky = bolt on. That's the only thing that separates the two. There was a Dinky with shorter cutaways, but that hasn't been in the catalogue for a while now.
I know engineers and trade ppl that go to China for their company. The Chinese can make a quality product. They are told by the company to keep the cost down by cutting corners. Not everything is junk. I've had Gibson and fender that I was just floored by the cheapness of quality. Point is don't judge a book by is cover. Shecter has Chinese guitars that are really good.
Made in China definitely concerns me. Last “MIC” guitar I tested was an Epiphone Adam Jones Les Paul Custom and the fret board wood wasn’t properly aligned with the neck wood so you could feel a slight ridge! Was such a bummer to witness-especially at $1500.
I really think the Dinky’s just are lower quality as a whole in the Jackson lineup. The American Virtuoso (renamed Dinky) felt the same way you described this guitar, and that goes for over $2000. However, the American soloist SL3 was incredible to play. So I’m wondering if it’s just a Dinky thing, I wanna try to find a soloist Pro Plus to see if they’re all this bad or if it’s just the Dinkys. The American series guitars make me think it’s just the Dinkys.
Great review! As for guitar, pros: design, color, materials, frets, pickups, truss-rod placement, strap-locks. Cons: build quality, cheap Floyd, string noise (beating frets), most probably low quality electronics (like on X and Pro series). 1k? Too much. Most probably price will go down, they will not sell them a lot at a full price. For reasonable money (±1k EUR) at the end of 2023 still Ibanez Genesis is unbeatable. Pro Series with all this issues can be good at 700-800 EUR, for 1000 shouldn't be any issues. IMO.
Stainless steel frets on the pro plus line was a big deal for Jackson. Jackson still refuses to put them on any other of their guitars (that I know of) However the pro plus line was all “super strats” which I am tired of. If Jackson adds a rhoads, warrior, kelly, or king v to the pro plus line with stainless steel frets, I’ll purchase one regardless of its origin of manufacture. Jackson needs to start competing with LTD, Solar, and Schecter instead of resting on its laurels as a legacy brand. There is a huge resurgence in the presence of Jackson guitars (at least in the hardcore punk community) it seems every new band that I see is playing a Jackson which is a cool thing to see. Hopefully this galvanizes Jackson a bit. Great review!
I have a Dinky Green Glow, and was looking at an Emerald Green 2024 model but I ain’t paying £1k+ especially when they’re near enough nearly the same models. I’ll wait for a significant price drop!
OK, so I just bought a DKAQ (Quilt top version of the Pro Plus DKA). My only complaint is that the edges of the pickups where I rest my fingers are very sharp. Is there a way to soften this without damaging the pickup?
I compared the Distortion pickup on my SLA3Q to those on my RR24-7 (concept Series). I think the edges are rough because the black stuff wrapped around the winding overlaps the edges of the pickup cover on the RR24-7 are wrapped aound too low on the pickups of the SLA3Q amd DKAQ. @@GuitarCinemaOfficial
it is the plastic casing, but that velcro or whatever it is should be overlapping the edges, as so not to expose them. I will speak to a guitar tech and see what he says.@@GuitarCinemaOfficial
Thank you for the sub! I ended up returning this guitar not due to the frets but the absolute state of the pickup cavities lol. But any scratchy/rough frets have always come up like new for me by using a small amount of Autosol and a Microfiber 👍👍. Honestly can't remember where I got the necklace it may been eBay 🤣
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial Thanx for this complete and kind replay. I bought a cople years ago a very gorgeous ESP-LTD guitar, VERY similar to an ESP Horizon. Carved and figured top, all red. A real beauty. Used, but almost new. Just unpolished frets. I thought, ok, I will polish them myself easily. ...Wrong!!! Those bastards cannot be polished at all !! Unbelievable but TRUE !! Luckily it was from a shop that knows me from decades, so, I was able to return her. But obviously buying another one, adding up some hundred K. Thanx and Bybye
It’s a shame really…I really wanted the black version of this to upgrade my JS series Dinky (amazing for the money) but at 1k I don’t think it’s gonna be worth it. Probably gonna go for the Jeff Loomis sig HT version
That hard tail Kelly is showing at only a couple hundred quid more than this DKA at Peach Guitars in the UK currently. Also it's made in Korea so should be built like a tank..
Hi, I have watched your reviews, both on Extura Prophecy as well as on this Jackson, since these 2 models I focus on. Also watched more reviews regarding Extura, and there are also QM issues as well on it. On the other hand, I have returned a Jackson RRX24 with severe QM issues regarding fretboard. I would say Extura has as a plus the active Fluence pickups, looks extremely nice, locking tuners! The big plus for Jackson Pro Plus, I would say is the stainless steel fretboard. Yet, a hard decision for me to take ! Any sincere piece of advice ?
Two very different guitars. I'd say Extura would be the choice for Rhythm focused players. Jackson better for Lead playing. Personally I'm a Rhythm guy so things like a Floyd Rose and high fret access are not priorities to me. Hope this helps!
Most of my guitars are speced out £1000-1300 rrp south Korean guitars (variax, Sustainiac, evertunes etc) Most I would pay for a Chinese guitar is my Mooer W900 for £900 but that has built in amps/fx. Lush purple to green sparkling finish paint , roasted maple neck, amazing fret work/zero fret plus decent gig bag, wireless interface and 4 pedal Bluetooth midi switch. A Chinese Jackson with Duncan and Floyd Rose 1000 or 1500 and no locking tuners (which you can't buy for £25 to be fair) seems pretty wild to me. That and I can't stand the string pull with those headstock to the tuners although it's mitigated by the locking tuners. Imo there's 100s of better guitars out there with more for less cost so yea it's controversial to me.
Where a guitar is made is irrelevant, what matters is the QC of the factory or rather how much the ''parent'' company cares about said QC. I've played Made in USA guitars, that cost twice the money of this and were absolute garbage and also 600 Euro, Made in Indonesia import models which were absolutely amazing in terms of fretwork/construction. Sadly, Jackson is dropping the ball in terms of QC and value for your money, as of lately. I mean, they just released that new Made in USA ''Virtuoso'' series, which cost's 2000 Euros and it comes with a 1000 Series Floyd ffs! I guess they spend all the budget on the marketing campaign. For this money, I would rather get myself a Schecter or the Ibanez Genesis series or maybe a Vola. Vola is now selling factory direct and their models have gone down in price, at least here in the EU, not sure how the prices are in the UK after Brexit and everything. P.S. A 1000 Floyd should stay in tune, when you go hard with it, that's the whole point of having a locking nut trem system. Maybe they screwed up the set up from the factory?
Just ordered one on a black Firday deal at £849 (in Oxblood Red). I've been looking for an 80s inspired hair metal guitar for a while and this fit the bill perfectly as it has the pickups I like and comes with a Floyd 1000 rather than the Floyd special most in this price range come in. Hopefully you got the runt of the litter and others are bit better.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial Great guitar none of the paint issues. However the frets do need a polish. £849 is actually the price point it should be. At £1200 I'd expect shark fin fret markers and something better than the Floyd 1000.
What is Jackson doing, ugh! Would I pay 1199 USD at Sweetwater for this guitar, heck no. Considering you can get a Made In Japan Ibanez RG 550 Genesis for 1000 USD or Vola Luna 1149 USD or even a Vola Blaze for 1399 USD more, with better QC. Mexico, Korea, or Indonesia would make more sense.
It cost me £399 for a JS3 Concert Bass, made in China. No issues at all. I have just ordered one of these Pro Plus Soloists, seeing as I didn't notice any issues on the Dinky I demo'd yesterday. Whichever one is in the best condition will leave the store with me next week.
well, the trem bar took some effort to attach to the floyd. like the thread was rough/wasn't cut properly??. Disappointed in the lack of a forearm rest (don't know the name for it. It's the crease at the back of a Soloist/Dinky). It is by far one of, if not the most uncomfortable guitar I've ever played. Frets sound accoustically scratchy. They're not badly cut, but this is the only guitar I have with stainless steel frets. I'll give them a polish and change the strings. Hopefully, my opinion will change.. I don't think it's worth what I paid for it. The gigbag is shit, but I knew it would be before I saw it, so I took a proper hardshell case with me to the store.
@@wilkinsi Jackson quality control living up to it's reputation sounds like. At least all these issues are more or less fixable? By forearm rest do you mean upper cutaway where the body corner tapers off? Usually archtop bodies like this don't have one. I hear you about the gigbag but honestly it's so rare you get one under 1K now I was just happy to see it in included 😂
Gig bag (not a hard case), unpolished frets and awful finishing issues = £1000 My Jackson Dinky JS22-7 that I modded with some decent pickups and locking tuners = WAY cheaper 😆 I had to laugh that you were impressed by the gig bag. For that price I would expect AT LEAST that, or some seriously intense packaging. These bigger brands need to look around and see what time they're living in, it's a different market these days.
I agree the gig bag/case situation is desperately sad but it's actually unusual for anything 1K or under to come with one. I recently took an interest in the new BC Rich Shredzilla 7 String models and found one in stock at Andertons, 2 grand and nothing but the box it came in...
Other than visual stuff what is there to complain about if you aren't being nitpicky? Jackson is still king of the super strat market, you'd be hard pressed to find an axe with as much versatility. MOST guitars are made with C&C nowadays, even Gibson fanboys complain because Epi does better QC sometimes. As long as you, the musician, are comfortable with it, fuck it. I'm just glad they dropped something in a not "crazy" color scheme.
I swear before RU-vid no one bitched about things like neck cavity edges…I’m not a metal guy but I tried one and the pickups sounded amazing and the jumbo frets and neck made me feel like I could play so fast. The stainless steel frets made it so that it requires a tiny bit of pressure to play the note. Maybe I have a low bar but fenders Mexican player plus was over a 1,000 and lacked Seymour Duncan’s and SS frets and oil rubbed neck (I did feel like the neck was fresh it’s hard to explain but I just wanted to slide up and down) I got home and again I’m a young guy but I play boomer blues, 9.5 radius single coil, 2 point trem is all I know. The fact that I couldn’t stop thinkin about this guitar and the noises I was getting and these sweep runs I was getting so easily, and how light and comfortable I can’t describe it but like a switch blade with strings. I drove back to the store and bought one and the Duncan JB even in my dumb positive grid spark or solid state fender GTX100, the harmonics on that thing I can’t describe it but I’m happy. It plays amazing and I never would of noticed 90% of these QC issues if it were not for RU-vid, but I also seek out deals online that have blemish discounts bc I don’t care for cosmetics, just sustain, harmonics, and playability
That's fair enough. Thing is I wouldn't feel justified calling a video a "Review" if I didn't present all the facts of the guitar. I'd be remiss not to cover the build issues, some people it may not be an issue for like you said. I still think it's a killer offering for the money as mentioned in the vid. Thanks for watching!
As a consumer, it's bullshit to let the manufacturers get away with these kinds of QC issues out of the factory, especially at this price point. If you want to cuck out and let them rake you over the coals at full MSRP, I guess that's your prerogative.
Great review. Not slamming it for not fitting perfectly into the "Metal Box", but instead seeing it's potential/spot in the rock-box instead is great insight. With a guitar from China, the finish/quality control was what i was fearing to be honest, maybe a bit too rough. That said, I think I will have a hard time finding a guitar with similar specs in that pricerange.
I think it's bit expensiv for all the errors on that guitar. The fretsa can ofcouse be polished and fixed but the paint flews are to mush for a 1000 pound... But i have a couple of Chine made B.C. Rich's and they are flawless, so country of origin meen not much to me. I love Jackson and i think they do make a great metal/rock guitar, but for thouse money, the flews are to mush.
@@GuitarCinemaOfficial My NT series Warlock and Zombie where both made in China as far as i remember. Both are neckthroughs, ebony fingerboard, with widow headstocks and a Floyd Rose 1000 and same kontrol layout. They have both been modded beond recognition sins them thou...
It’s morons that listen to gospel, that’s literally it. It’s the same people that think fret material or body wood affect your high gain tones. My favorite guitar is an old Pacifica 721, made in Taiwan (would be called Chinese today due to politics in the area) and it plays incredibly well. The only guitar that’s reminded me of it since was the American series SL3 soloist, and that’s 4 times the price. What these people don’t understand is that you’re simply paying more for the labor cost.
@@watersnortmoment3734 you lie to yourself because you can't afford modern equipment, you belittle quality because you're stuck with garage heirloom 😂😂
@@WarrenM9 There isn't much in the way of new models, just different specs for existing models. Giving a Dinky direct to body mount pickups and calling it the "Virtuoso"?
@@Thegamer12342 Jackson's were traditionally a bit on the expensive side for what you got, but under IMC ownership the factories tended to have very high quality control. But the market has changed and other brands have - in particular ESP/LTD - are offering higher specced guitars for less money, with (from what I hear) more consistent quality control. Since Jackson USA was moved into the Fender USA plant, prices have risen over 50% whilst quality took a nosedive. What's more, there have been a lot of complaints about Fender's attitude towards warranty and customer service.
People in the guitar community always underestimate China made instruments. Yes generally they are made to be inexpensive. But China is a nation that can make ANYTHING at ANY quality. Dont believe me, check out Eastman guitars and Shije guitars....will give USA made instruments a run for the money. That nation has the ability to 1:1 copy any car, watch, bag, equipment, guitar, food, clothes and pretty much everything else.... Great video mate.
Yeah I don't think made in China means bad necessarily. There are bad made in Korea, made in Japan and even made in Usa guitars out there. Sure the risk might be higher, but you can always return the instrument.
Quite a few members of this community are quite racist and fall for media propaganda. The Build Your Dream electric cars are better than Tesla cars, but some people are ready for this conversation yet.
