I am a lefty and purchased a Jackson three years ago, being a lefty I have a lot of experience playing cheaper guitars... despite being made in China my js32 dinky smashes my Indonesian Ibanez, korean Epiphone and Mexican strat in terms of overall playability, tone and build quality. I've honestly had zero issues with the Jackson Branded Floyd Rose, all they are is rebranded floyd rose specials out of Korea , they even have the FR logo stamped on the sustain block. The neck and fretwork was absolutely perfect and it honestly has better sustain than my mexican alder strat despite being a poplar body stock. I swapped out my bridge pickup for a Duncan distortion and switched out the alpha pots for full size CTS, it will probably be getting a Duncan '59 in the neck soon. The Jackson pickups really are pretty good though, what I got with a Duncan Distortion upgrade was just a bit of a fatter tone with a tighter low-end, the Jackson pickups sound a lot like a Duncan JB with that boosted mid-range just thinner and less compressed... But I will say that the Duncan Distortion kind of thickened up the overall tonality of the guitar making it a whole other animal.. in short the Jackson Dinky is a great base for customizing to your liking. I will personally take a Jackson neck over anyting else as well.
My guess is the Dinky's neck is waaaaaaay better than the Harley Benton. And that makes it definitively better. Some people say the neck is THE most important aspect of a guitar.
The Jackson compound radius necks are pure butter... as I mentioned in my comment on this thread... my Chinese Jackson Dinky smashes my Indonesian Ibanez, Mexican Strat and even my Korean mahogany Epiphone and once I put in a Duncan distortion on the bridge, there was no contest.
In this price point you get way more for the price w/ the HB Fusion. If Jackson, Ibanez or Charvel sold a guitar w/ everything it comes with it would be around the 700-1200 USD price point. I talked to a guy that works in production for Floyd Rose in German and he told straight out, only difference between the OFR German made and the 1000's is that the 1000s are outsourced for guitar manufacturers that want to offer the Floyd, it is made of the exact same metals and materials as the German made floyds unlike the Specials and the licensed Floyds, so saying it's just a step above the licensed is sort misleading. It's a huge step up. I have guitars that were over 1000 USD that come w/ Floyd 1000s. The Floyd 1000 costs around 200-250 each. So saying you'll swap it out for what? I mean I did take a Floyd 1000 off of one of my Jackson soloists, and put in a Gotoh, just cause I wanted black hardware on it and i had the gotoh laying around. I did put the 1000 I took off which was the smoked chrome and put it on my Ibanez Jem Jr. Anyway, Floyd Rose Specials would just be a step up. As for saying the HB doesn't look all "shreddy" it has more of a strat look. You mean looks a lot like those shreddy charvel and Shurs.. Which is what these are based off. Also a step up from China is Korea a step up from Korea is Mexico and Indonesia.. you're step ups are killing me bro. Their leaps not steps.
Agreed, for $400 and $330 used there is not a better guitar, its just not possible to buy any guitar with the harley benton specs for such a low price, I own the guitar and the pickups are great, like every other pickups, the bridge does not go out of tune and nothing needs replacing what soever, I think he's just a jackson fan
I think you meant Korea is a step up from Indonesia. Korean made guitars are every bit as good as Japan of 10 years ago. I have a Korean made Schecter solo 6 that is flawless.
@@vmathias2023 so you have one Korean made guitar and that makes you think Korean made is better? Korean made is getting better, but lets be real they're pretty much all made by Cort to whatever specs the brand is calling for. Korea is where brands had their entry level/cheaper lines made, Indo was where their mid level and import signatures are made. Still that way for the most part but I've had excellent made guitars from Korea and China and I've had a couple higher end Indo guitars that needed a lot of work out of the box, but that's rare, usually it's the other way around..
I own guitars from Indo and Korea. Look at Schecter for example. Their higher end pricier guitars are Korean, and their more budget lines are Indo. I am not saying Indo are not good, and I do believe it depends on specs. I have owned a plethora of higher end US and Japanese made guitars, and my Korean made Schecter sits right there with them. I believe Korea holds a slight edge in quality. Show me an Indonesian guitar as good as a newer Schecter solo 2.
Shipping for HB is pretty pricey, but I've found that you can get multiple guitars from them for the one shipping price of $70. You could get a couple of friends and pool your $ together to buy a couple of guitars on one order to save on shipping!
I've got the js 32 in natural wood. The stock floyd on that guitar..... problems upon problems. Swapped it out for an actual floyd rose but there is a problem doing that, there is a mounting plate in the cavity that does not allow you to sit the floyd down far enough so you will have super high string action, your strings go out of tune because the bridge isn't floating (it's bottomed out) so if you have the guitar all tuned up and do a dive bomb, it will actually cause the knife edges to move on the studs/posts throwing the guitar out of tune because it will not return to zero. That mounting plate has to be removed and it's a pain because it's super stuck and has to be pressed out like a bearing, once it's out and you start putting in actual floyd hardware, that is also sketchy because you can damage the wood. The wood dents very very easily.... Other than that, the neck is sweet, and I swapped in all better hardware and went for some budget gfs crunchy rails which really woke up the guitar playing through a tube amp. Might be getting the Amarok series from Harley Benton next, I also want to try one of their vintage series strat guitars when i'm not playing ear melting metal lol.
I took a gamble on a cheap guitar bought the jackson js22, it was so good a year later I ordered the jackson js32. The jackson has heritage and amazing quality control, the jackson has graphite reinforced neck, its the same as the wizard neck! the arch top body is sooo comfy ( I always avoided the archtops) the pick ups are banging tuned to jackson perfection. over all if you want to buy a winner you buy any jackson js22/32. for £150-£250 sherddy metal guitars its this jackson, then kramer strat , then harley benton. On Paper HB sound good, but Jackson has heritage and HB feedback is often hit or miss. you dont want to buy a miss! you want a garanteed winner, that looks good too.
I love to play thin and rather flat necks like Ibanez' wizard or Cort. I guess the neck of the Jackson might come close to that. Too bad Harley Benton doesn't produce this kind of neck, I would really immediately buy a Fusion-III. I live an hour from Thomann so I could even pick it up there.
Well I have last years model of the JS32 in Neon Orange, as you said I put a set of Duncan’s in it & up graded the term to a Gotoh. I was still having a little tuning problem & noticed all my other high end guitars with Floyd’s had string retainers after the locking nut, soooo I bought a retainer & problem solved 🤘🏻
@@richardjones2811 because when you lock down the nut without the string retainer you HAVE TO retune using the fine tuners and you gotta do alot of it, I've tried with and without retainers and the retainers just make it 10x more stable
I have the Jackson Dinky, and the neck feels amazing. I've always liked Jackson, and although the trem is Floyd Rose licensed, the guitar doesn't let down. It is a great deal for the price. BUT, I've also heard the Harley Benton Fusion. The variety of tones you get, the fact that it comes with the splitting, the Floyd Rose 1000, AND the price are a HUGE plus. If the Dinky came with a Floyd Rose 1000, it would be up in the $800 - $1000 price range or more. So, personally, I'll give it to the Haley Benton.
@Dude my point is more that most people looking for a budget guitar do so because they don't want to spend a lot of money. But it is probably a good idea to keep upgradeability in mind, like you say. Even though they probably won't change anything for some time
No but Hardware gets changed out eventually from wear and tear, and I know a lot of musicians you change our Hardware on very expensive instruments... Budget guitars like Jackson make great foundations for modifying to your liking... but the Chinese Jackson dinky is seriously great out-of-the-box, and they have the best stock pickups I've ever played, and I have had zero issues with the Jackson Branded Floyd Rose even after three years of daily playing.
It's 2022. Why is anyone still calling the vibrato bar system a tremolo system??? tremolo is a change in volume, vibrato is a change in pitch. cmon. 2022? Anyway, interesting comparison.
@@nikaxeguitar ya. I'm just watching random vids on YT at night killing time. I dabble on guitar once in a while and sometimes I just watch some guitar based vids. I waste my life watching "how to play fast" vids. Why? I don't know. It's like watching how you will never achieve it over and over. hahahah anyway, take it easy!!!!
@@nikaxeguitar I think I stumbled on your vid cuz I watched some reviews of this Harley Benton guitar and so yours popped up. Sounds like a nice guitar for the money. anyway, thanks!!
Don't know about the Fusion, but I have a JS24 DKAM with roasted maple neck and a Harley Benton SC Custom II. The Jackson is pretty high level, I think it's on par with my 40th anniversary Squier Strat, maybe a little worse because of the plastic nut or tuners (which are functional, but not great), nothing that you can't change because the rest of the guitar is surprisingly good. And the Harley benton, which isn't the fusion (mine the sc custom II) is another excelent guitar, really surprised, looks quality (again, nut is probably the worst part, and maybe the neck pickup wich is a little boring), but both guitars in terms of construction, feeling, necks, quality perceived etc are very on high level, so, i don't doubt that Fusion is something like too.
id go with the harley for the stainless steel frets alone, im a gigging musician, within months i have fret wear, ss frets it eliminates that problem, harley all the way for me,
@@carlosclaptrix Its not that big, but id like it if the fretboard was a bit wider, i have 2 fusions the neck on the ebony fretboard version fits my hand better
Thinking hard about that purple burst Fusion III, replacing the bridge PU with a Duncan JB and it would make a great guitar for gigs. Biggest complaint seems to be the frets, but maybe a after a fret level, they're ok?
I'm the new owner of a HB HH Tele, and I just can't put it down! It sits among my high end guitars, like a USA PRS, Charvel San Dimas pro mod, and a Japan ESP eclipse... WTF is going on at Thomann?? I have 4 more HBs in the shopping cart already... Guess what everyone's getting for Christmas?? 😏😎🤘
Ya everyone is getting the non Harley Benton guitars for Christmas lol I bought the fusion 3 roasted Maple neck with a FR and the HH Tele and i love both guitars. Awsome guitars for the money.
Kaine. The HB’s do seem like a good deal. The only bummer is it is an online company and you cant really go to a shop to try one out. Otherwise, it seems like a deal
As an owner of JS32 DKA-M I have to agree :) Neck feels a bit more to my taste than Super Wizard Prestige neck in my Ibanez. But the tremolo is horrible. There seems to be some kind of a "bump" in the fine tuners which always happens to be just in the wrong spot and is quite hard to get to correct pitch. I also replaced pickups with EMGs, but there was not a big difference. Maybe I just need to let this one go :D
@@Rikardozthat's a bummer, I am three years in with my Lefty Jackson Dinky and I have had zero issues with the Jackson branded Floyd Rose tremolo and it gets played nearly every day and I seriously have to never tune it up and that thing gets banned all to hell and back. As far as the pickups go, The Jacksons are actually really good but I swapped out my bridge with a Duncan Distortion and it made a huge difference with fattening of the overall tone and tightening up low-end... I'm personally not a huge fan of actives but I guarantee if you were to swap those for a Duncan JB or distortion you would see a difference in the tone of that guitar.
@@alexanderholden82Yeah, those were my first and propably last active pickups :D I did try also Super Distortion in the bridge position and it sounday way better. But since then, I have sold both the EMGs and JS32 and have acquired two more guitars: Squier Telecaster Deluxe and Ibanez Jem Jr. which are more suitable to me :)
@@Rikardoz I hear that, for me to Jackson pinkies necklace Worth's told me that my hands perfectly... and also to be fair in the world of left-handed guitars, I own a Korean mahogany Epiphone Les Paul, Mexican Stratocaster and Indonesian Ibanez and honestly after the few upgrades I made... The Jackson Dinky smashes all 3 in tone, playability and build quality... so much so that I actually sold my Mexican strat which on paper should be the best of all four guitars. Queen my mahogany Epiphone and Basswood Ibanez.. I actually like the Ibanez better with playability but the Epiphone is warmer and thicker. The Epiphone lacks a lot of high-end though, I've often wondered what a super distortion would do to help brighten it. I've been wanting to revamp my Ibanez but on the fence about what bridge pickup will bring out the best of it.
Harley Benton is always a gamble. But if you can tolerate RMAs and maybe having to order the same guitar multiple times they can be a lot of guitar for the money. I just got burned too often for my tastes, so I don't buy their stuff anymore. But brand snobs can go shove it up theirs, that's for sure!
i'm considering buying the jackson js 32 warrior, because of the tremolo and the warrior look, i just love the way the guitar looks, and i'm a big wes borland fan and he used to play on warriors, what do you think about it?
@@053180jlove well, i bought the warrior 3 months ago, already i can see, that the floyd got kinda wiggly and it's not that good anymore, so the trem isn't a good deal in low end jacksons, but i don't regret it, because the warrior look is still something i really enjoy. In the future, i'll upgrade the guitar with floyd rose 1000 and maybe new bridge pickup
@@ondrashin I also like the warriors shape. I considered buying a 90's jackson pro warrior about 4 months ago but for what the guy was asking I could've bought a usa warrior. The HB is probably the best value out there. Ofc it doesn't hold its own to my SL2H but it's as good as any import for 500-1k guitars out there
Tengo la Jackson JS24 HH ceramicos caoba sin Floyd y esa misma Fusión SS HH Alnico V Floyd Rose Ambas son geniales El tono de la Jackson es más agresivo
Harley benton all day why would you put $300 or €400 into a guitar that's still an overpriced Chinese built guitar worth to much already..paying for the name
