We take an in-depth look at the latest Jackson Pro Plus Soloist SLA3Q and Pro Plus Dinky DKAQ. Get complete details and specs in the review here: musicplayers.c...
And it's really hard to choose between these two!!! Personally, I love to play guitars with the HH pickup configuration... but my love of blue guitars pulls me to the Soloist. Ugh! :-) -- Scott
I have the Pro Plus Dinky and it is truly a great guitar. Will probably get a soloist soon too cause the soloist is just a tiny bit more comfortable for me to play.
From owning the blue soloist here are my takes. Good neck, nice fretwork, great arching on the top. The Floyd 1000 is inferior to a German floyd, the backplate and control cavity plate are extremely thin, and the quilt top is absolutely wasted on this finish as you can't really see the quilt. I'd rather have them use simple maple for the top, upgrade the backplates, and take the price down a touch. Also, the biggest upgrade you can do on these is to lose the wimpy 9 gauge strings (that sound like spaghetti noodles) and put on 10s or 11s. A Floyd is remarkably stable with 11 or 12 gauge strings. The pickups are absolutely fine, no need to upgrade them.
Just ordered the same dinkey. I am eagerly waiting for it, but in the meanwhile i read a lot of people who are worrying about it being china made. How was the quality of these models? Any details you noticed?
Good question. Most of my instruments are USA or European. I have a few regular USA Jacksons plus three custom shops. These neckthrough Chinese models are built fine, but they may be priced a little high to a comparable ESP. Graphite rods in the necks so they'll take temperature and humidity shifts. Fretwork is fine. The finish has some weak spots and only the Tiger Eye and Fuschia finishes are suitable for quilt maple (the blue and yellow/blue models are really a waste for quilt). Binding is done well, the necks appear straight, no rough fret edges. The Ebony fretboard is likely dyed as pure black ebony is rare these days. I don't like the Floyd 1000, but that's not the builder's issue. If the neck warps or the like I'll come back and report it. The bolt-on models probably have similar quality. I am using the blue model from this video as a practice 6 string and it is fun to play.
