Jackson guitars

[mixmkr]

I'd like to spend about $500 or less and get a good shred guitar. The Jackson reverse dinkys look so cool to me, and I'd love to get one. I think I need to make a Nashville trip in the next week or so, and see if I really like them or not.

Wadda ya all think of the dinks?

And...I've never owned a guitar with a Floyd Rose and locking nuts... and I'd like a whammy to stay in tune. Such a thing on a shred guitar?
My comfort zone has been with the Strat whammies and the Gibson Vibrolas...probably known to be the worst for tuning.

But...I'm ready to come out of the 70's and get a new lead guitar.

[-=¤willhaven¤=-]

mid-80s jacksons were the best IMO. i believe the necks got a bit slimmer in the 90s and the overall quality seemed to suffer a bit too.

[Tadpui]

I sold my Charvel 475 about 5 years ago, but it was pretty close in form to the Jackson Dinky. It lasted me about 10 years, survived 4 years of dorm room life, many trips to/from practice, many knocks, drops, and dings but it still kept on kicking.

Mine had active electronics in it,but the pickups never sounded very good. they just weren't articulate. It had Jackson pickups...not sure what they put in the Jacksons.

The Floyd Rose double-locking trem definitely stayed in tune VERY well. You could dive bomb so deep that all 6 strings would go completely slack, and they would all return perfectly back to pitch. But, there are lots of drawbacks to the floating trems, like if you ever want to drop your low E to D, then it makes all 5 other strings raise slightly in pitch. even tuning to pitch in the first place is a pain in the ass because every change in pitch you make to any string, it affects all the other strings. God forbid that you'd ever change string gauges, either...adjusting the screws in the back to find a balance between string tension and tremolo tension is a pretty aggrivating process.

changing strings is a total pain...on mine, I had to cut the balls off of each string and go through a 3-handed process to get the new string in place.

That damn floating trem was the whole reason I went tune-O-Matic! After a while, it just becomes too much of a hassle.

Also, the resale value of those guitars is next to nil. They just aren't in demand like they were 15 years ago, so don't expect to get much in return when it comes time to trade up.

Also I hate pointy headstocks anymore. they make your hair grow long

[-=¤willhaven¤=-]

actually, the drop-d problem can be fixed quite easily with a small piece of wood.

i used to buy lots of these pointy headstock floyd rose "metal" guitars. my first was luckily an ESP Horizon custom. the floyd it had was really sweet. they put an extra fine tuner and machined it into the block. if you extended the screw, it would rest against the body of the guitar in a way that allowed you to dive bomb but not pull up. all you had to do then was increase the spring claw tension a bit and you could easily go from E to D without loosening the locknut or having to re-setup the guitar.

i had a couple ibanezes after that and used blocks of wood, felt, and some strong glue to get the same effect. not quite as swank as a built in screw, but still worked well enough.

my friend tapped out his floyd and added an allen screw to do the same after he saw how mine worked.

but, yeah... jacksons are good guitars. especially if you get a high end one.

[ibanezrocks]

Also I hate pointy headstocks anymore. they make your hair grow long

aah, but isnt the huge hair the key to any guitarists strength?

[Tadpui]

Originally Posted by ibanezrocks

aah, but isnt the huge hair the key to any guitarists strength?

Yes, it is. that's why I keep mine in a cupboard in the kitchen.