Jackson is EXPENSIVE…Try These Alternatives and SAVE 

Dang man!! Thanks so much

For 700€ I got a RR3 Made In Japan with Hardcase included...

Ibanez necks are dreams. I have a RG 7 strings made in Indonesia and honestly sounds more comfortable than my 6 strings american Washburn from when Grover Jackson was there.

That is a really good point. Didn’t think about that. Thanks dude!

The best guitars I own are Japanese made Jackson RR5 two Ibanez Roadstars an Epiphone Elite/Elitist SG ‘61 reissue I actually sold one of my Gibson LPs to get another 20-40 year old Japanese guitar because in my experience Japanese guitars from the early 1980’s through till the mid 2000’s can be found sometimes in near mint condition for next to nothing if your willing to wait it out one thing that all my Japanese guitars have in common even tho there’s around 40 years difference between some of them is that they’re all super well made hold tuning as if they are made of solid steel with perfect neck and headstock string alignment we’re gotten used for less money than a cheap entry level Jackson JS or Epiphone special 2 is brand new some of them have cool features like a lot of Ibanez Roadstars came with push push pots to split their HB pickups or the Jackson RR5 has a rosewood fingerboard that’s so smooth and even feeling that you would think it’s got an ebony board if you didn’t see the colour of the wood and the list goes on….. don’t get me wrong I have a “good wood era” 1994 Gibson Les Paul Studio with ebony board and an old headstock repair and it’s the best feeling fingerboard I’ve ever played on and I love the tone and the big neck makes some styles of playing far more comfortable than thinner or flatter necks and it’s my main D standard guitar but it’s one of the good ones and it’s still not as much of a joy to play as my Roadstars or RR5 ….. I’m not a gear snob as far as brand name or popular option or country of origin I only care about how it feels to play how resonant is it what’s it sound like etc.

Japanese made guitars are good as US made. What resale value you referring to? VS US made or your regular run of the mill Jackson?

USA made Ibanez will hold a way higher resale value than Japanese. What are you talking about?

@@davidportnoy3237 Americans won't waste their time making an Ibanez.

Those Ibanez Edge have some of the best stability over all the trems, well at least not above Vega or Sophia trems

Yessir! I agree 100%

Cannot go wrong with Japanese Jacksons. The old ones from the 90s and 00s. Superb instruments. The cheap models had shitty Floyds, but otherwise were great. The high-end ones were only sold in Japan, but man, those could give the American Jacksons a run for their money.

I agree, I have my prestige RG3020, 20 years old and it’s one of my crown jewel 💎

This is good insight Tahnae. Glad you have a good working JS!

Great points my man! Thanks for stopping by. I’d love to see that Aqua

$900 could get you something like a used RR.D-120 or a RRJ2E in mint condition. And they came with Schallers (the ones with replaceable knife edges, not that you'd need to replace them, unless the guitar had been a literal workhorse for 30 years), pretty much the best Floyd-style trems.

Dude I appreciate this so much!! Reach out on IG if you want some stickers man.

I was totally impressed by 87 demos. One of the best sounding metal guitars I have ever heard.

I got a ltd sn1000 and its awesome. Should definitely get the 87

I like my Rhoads USA with a real Floyd not the special like the lower models have

Old school Jackson's the mij models but any new jackson is junk same with most guitars nowadays that's why I wouid rather copy and profile the design of the old school guitars I like and Make my own I am in eddie van Halen mode if you are not going to make what I like I will make it myself swap necks around on diferent bodies ect ect until I get what I want we need that again so these guitar companies are forced to build better again.

You got it man!

Hey Mike. Thats good to know. I had no idea the Chinese factory was the one that made crackles. Appreciate the heads up!

@@nikaxeguitarI own a x series Kelly from China and I gotta tell you the neck feels amazing. I swapped out the pickups for some emg 81-85 and I got some titanium blocks coming in soon and if It really gives me a rog open imma just swap out the bridge

@@areen5004 that sounds good!

@@nikaxeguitar yeah but for there price they should really put atleast a 1000 series in there, completely agree with ur points definitely for bang for ur buck from options from Ibanez

Used. That’s the way to go

yea... Used is best..added benefit of not freaking out every time you get a scratch on it.. . well, thats one of the reasons i like used

True. Old Japanese Jacksons are amazing.

I agree. Used is the way to go!

My Dinky is made in Japan

Crazy what US Jacksons are going for now. I switch to a Fender custom shop Strat and just ordered the AZ prestige. How does yours compare to the Suhr?

@@jonathanficco8384 Honestly I think that AZ Prestige is right there in terms of quality. In other words, we would REALLY be splitting hairs to say the Suhr is superior. To be noted I have a Suhr Classic, which is 100 percent in true Strat world (although it is HSS, and of course it is John Suhr's take on a Strat, which isn't too shabby considering he was the head of Fender custom shop in the 90s). The AZ I have is also HSS, but is probably closer to a Suhr standard in feel and tone. AZ has slightly higher output pickups/slightly more compressed. I would say the bridge pickup is close to a Duncan JB (and I may like the AZs Hyperion pickups better, honestly). The Suhr has an SSV in the bridge, which is a beautifully wide open sounding pickup. So satisfying hitting big open chords with it. I digress. They're both great, and I believe that 2K for the Ibanez is a very reasonable price these days.

I appreciate the feedback I’m looking forward to playing it.

@@jonathanficco8384 Ohh, lastly. Some people have experience "tuning stability" issues. I will say, for whatever reason, the more you play the guitar, the more it seems to "settle,' and the stability is excellent at that point. The stability of the AZ right now is just as solid as the Suhr

Awesome thanks for that info. I’ve had pretty good luck with two point trems.

If it's a fair comparison, you would compare U.S. made Jacksons with those U.S. made Fenders and Gibsons. Then you would see that they are not far off in price.

I have a SL2, agree with all your comments, I would prefer that ibanez 550 mij than the dinky but I hate the bolt on construction, Ibanez doesn't offer the neck through construction at least in that price range

Exactly dude

I'm curious. Would you mind explaining how you got those numbers or where that information came from? I haven't heard anyone mention anything like that.

@@JunkfoodZombieGuns I did the math based on the costs of all the parts (including the wood) against how much the retail price is

@@SnarkySloth You are forgetting one very important detail then. A guitar's price isn't just the added cost of parts. It's also the labor. Workers in Indonesia make a much smaller wage than American workers. That cost of labor has an effect on the price. I'm not saying that the Jackson's aren't a bit much for what you're getting, but you simply cannot expect an American made product to cost the same as a similar Indonesian product.

​@@JunkfoodZombieGuns Both guitars made in Indonesia.

Ummm without seeing exactly what you’re looking at, Ibanez is a better deal right now overall. Especially if it come with an Edge over a FR Special

That’s a good perspective Wesley. I agree 100%

used is where its at!

Yeah cant go wrong with that original floyd man

Absolutely man. Thanks so much for coming by!

You got it man. Appreciate you stopping by.

This is good advice. Thanks dude!

That’s awesome man. I’m glad you had an awesome experience! But idk, Benton’s sound pretty good!

@@nikaxeguitar i don't know that Benton, but Ibanez is definitely not a substitute for Jackson. for start Ibanez and Jackson have different ratio on the neck. Jackson Mojo comes with a very nice neck profile that I'm not sure Ibanez can provide. I own both Ibanez and jackson guitars. i bought this Premium Ibanez back in 2012 just to give it a try coz it was recommended by the sales guy at the local store. guess what. turned out to be the worst mistake I've ever made. with an USA-made Jackson, you get that very unique thin neck profile with extra-jumbo frets that no other guitar on the market has, Alder body with quartersawn maple neck-through. you get the Seymour Duncan pick ups that are killer for metal and basically any style of music. I'm aware that a cheap Jackson guitar won't live up to the brand name but if you go with a higher tier you'll notice the difference. the only guitar better than a USA-made Jackson is a custom USA-made Jackson.

Reaper Ramirez I got the same Jackson RR24 as well but mine is Winterstorm. I lucked out and bought it during beginning of covid for only 1k now it's like 1250 wow......also same with my EVH 5150 iii 50w 6L6 head I got for 1k now it's 1350 wow.

@@NubsWithGuns I want an American made Jackson but don’t have 5 grand for one

Not to mention you might need to do a fair amount of fret work on that Harley Benton

This guitar still exists

Hey Stu! Thanks for dropping by. You love your fusion III?

@@nikaxeguitar Absolutely! Hardtail, dual humbuckers which I swapped for a JB/59 set, locking tuners, stainless steel frets which were perfect right out the box and my absolute favourite thing is the roasted maple neck 🤤 satin finish, perfect profile. Just a wonderful instrument and basically everything I need in a guitar plus it's sparkly pink. 😂

I love Harley Benton as much as the next guy, and despite the quality they offer for their price point they're still not competing with top of the line brands like Schecter, ESP, Jackson or Ibanez. Also, dumbing intricate instruments like guitars down to just "wood and metal" shows how little you actually know. So you should probably hold off on making long winded comments about them. That's like me saying a cheap french horn is just as good as an expensive name brand french horn and how it's embarrassing how people will pay four times as much for a twisty piece of brass.

@@razztastic Or, hear me out, stfu because I don't care what you have to say 🙃 guitars are wood and metal, you can dress it up all you want to sound like a smartarse ponce but they are wood with metal and maybe a bit of plastic. That's it.

@@razztastic w0rd

Of course man. Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate it.

I really wanted the new Jackson mj series with the yellow pickups. But could not justify the £1500 + price. Ordered the RG 550 yesterday in yellow for £899 and can't wait for it to arrive

Appreciate that!

Yessir!!

@@lotechrevolt4513 Thank you

Hey Randy. Thanks so much for stopping by. I love to hear that solar was impressive for you!

@@nikaxeguitar yes sir. Apparently some people had issues with solars qc in the beginning. So I try to mention them when I can. They really do deserve recognition. I do setups for people to make a little side cash, and Im pretty picky. Solar really surprised me. It's like when you get a perfectly built and set up schecter or Ltd, but better😆 ok I'll stop now. Lol I hope you keep putting out interesting content. I enjoyed this video very much. The guitar market is so strange, and different from when I first started playing. The trends are interesting to watch and talk about. Thank you for your comment.

to get any decent LTD model it is like 2 thousand Canada :(

@@krabuh you can get used Ltd ec1000 deluxe for around $500 u.s. really nice guitars. I mostly buy used gear, now that I work on guitars. You can find some great deals, on the used market.

Hey I appreciate that Henry! Thanks so much.

You got it man! Thanks for stopping by!

@@nikaxeguitar buying the RG550!

Yo! I have heard of them but haven’t done a video. I’ll have to look into them a little further

Thanks my dude!! Yeah a little mind blowing huh?

Yeah me neither man. Seems like such a rip off

@@nikaxeguitar They are making some of the "pro" series Jacksons in China too now.

That’s such a bummer man.

Yeah man totally agree!

Nice!

You’re right on that!!

Yeah thats true. Thanks for stopping by! Appreciate the comment.

Thanks for stopping by Fred! You’re support really does mean alot.

Ahhh good catch man. Thanks

@@nikaxeguitar Anytime np

Tuners are so easily replaced

You obviously know your guitars

@@scottjackson4743 well, i know my guitars and what i like .i also know guitars ive had some experience with and only those guitar models.. Gibson SG and LP,Jackson dinky's and some later 80's kramers such as the focus 1000 and striker 200,600. not one that says he likes or dislikes something without having experience in that guitar or amp like for instance. the worst tremelo ever created imo, that has the FR name on it is the Floyd Rose II.. my god, terrible one . Makes even my fender FR licensed trem look spectacular by a very wide margin. The FR II came stock on the kramer st 600 btw. i remember that string breaker quite well and its been 30 years.

Hit me up on IG. I can give it to you if it still works

Really? Never seen one before!

Yo Lucas. Yeah, since I’ve been looking into these I feel like they have a pricing scheme. None of the guitars are really a deal unless you can shell out the money for a premium, US mass model. Lose lose really

@@nikaxeguitar It seems to me that Fender hasn't done much in terms of designs etc for Charvel too.I wish they would put a bit more effort in selling a dream guitar whichever price range it is!

Really??? Shoot.

Ill sell it cheap to just message me also have crate gx -65 95 watt amp with custom design speaker

Hahaha yeah. Thanks for watching!