I've been playing guitar for about two years now and for most of that time I have been using the same guitar, but I've decided as of lately I want to buy a new guitar—one that will give me a different sound, also.

I am currently using an ESP LTD F-2005. It has a mahogany body, 3-piece maple neck, ebony fingerboard, tune-o-matic bridge, string-thru-body, and two active EMG 81 humbucker pickups. It generally produces a warm, thick tone. The distortion is pretty good, but I do not care for the clean tone much. I want a guitar with a different tone than what I have now so I will have more variety.

One thing I know I want is a (Floyd Rose) tremolo bridge. I want a guitar that produces a more brighter, thinner tone, good for cleans, while maintaining a fairly good distorted tone. I think I would prefer some single coil pickups to humbucker pickups to get a better clean tone.

I told a guy at Guitar Center what I was looking for and he showed me a Jackson DK2-TB Dinky (part of the Dinky Pro Series). They only have one left and are holding it for me for two days, so I need to make a decision soon.

This guitar is made of a different wood than the one I own now: alder. The guy said alder would produce a brighter tone. It also has a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo bridge. It has two single coil pickups and a humbucker (s/s/h), all three Seymour Duncan. In contrast to my current guitar, it has a bolt-on neck, and a rosewood fingerboard.

I tried the guitar out, and while I’m definitely no expert on tone, I think it offers more or less what I am looking for. The guitar seems much more dynamic with the five-switch option between the single coils and the humbucker.

On the other hand, there are five things I am not sure about the guitar.

First, the Floyd Rose is a licensed Floyd Rose, and not an original. I have heard that the licensed Floyd Rose bridges are much cheaper than the originals. Is this true? Will the Floyd Rose that comes with the Jackson work well enough?

Second, I have heard on some websites that the Seymour Duncan pickups are knock-offs and not originals, but I don’t think this is true.

Third, the fret board felt slightly awkward to play. I cannot really explain it, but it did not feel like I could move up and down the fret board as smoothly as I can with my current guitar. Is this because I’m so use to playing my ESP that I just need to break in and get use to the Jackson?

Fourth, I have been using EMG pickups for a while now and I'm not sure how I will like Seymour Duncan pickups in the long run. What do you recommend more? Which is better? I have heard good things about Seymour Duncan pickups, but I'm not sure; I need more details.

Lastly, and most importantly, the high E-string seemed like it was too close to the edge of the fret board. When I would play some rhythm riffs on the high E string up by the first and second fret, the string would sometimes bend off the fret board. I’m not sure if this is a flaw in the guitar or something to do with the Floyd Rose nut not being adjusted right. Is it the difference in designs between my current guitar and the Jackson?

To be honest, I have never heard of Jackson guitars. When I started investigating guitars earlier on, I focused mainly on ESP guitars. Are Jackson guitars reliable? Why or why not?

To help you get a better understanding of what tone I want, here is the music I play.

Lately I have been focusing a lot on Opeth, a Swedish death metal band. The guitarists usually use PRS Custom 24 guitars, which are way out of my price range. Their solo tone is different than what I usually hear metal bands play. Usually the solo tone I hear is produced from a humbucker neck pickup and gives a very, very warm tone. Opeth’s solo tone is usually slightly different and may be coming from a single coil. On the other hand, Opeth has fairly good clean tone to simulate acoustic riffs live.

Before I got into Opeth, I was a huge Dir en Grey fan (a Japanese band). I realized I wanted better clean tone when I heard the clean solo for Macabre live. Click here and forward to around 2:40 into the song to see what I mean.

Another Japanese band I was into was Kagrra. The one guitarist uses this guitar and gets excellent clean tones, in my opinion. Click here for an example.

I have just started writing my own songs and I am very interested in clean riffs, even if they are in the background of a distorted riff, especially classical guitar riffs. For distorted rhythm riffs, I do not like a real thick tone like you usually hear in thrash metal bands, but something closer to what Opeth gets; in other words, I usually like the distortion tone slightly more trebly. For solos, I do not really like the sound of my EMG 81 neck pickup, so I need something different.

To sum it up, I am looking for better, brighter, thinner clean tones, preferably coming from single coils, while maintaining a good distorted tone and solo tone. I want a guitar that will give me variety without having to buy a PRS!

My price limit is about between 700 and 800. The Jackson at guitar center is about 650, plus there is a gradual payment plan.

Please tell me what you think of the Jackson I described or recommend what you think is better. If you would like me to clarify, though I tried to be as detailed as possible in describing what I am looking for, just let me know.

One last thing, when trying out the Jackson or any guitar for that matter, what things should I be looking for? Can I trust the guys at the Guitar Center? What should I be asking them?

ok. first off, i'm going to say you can do a heck of a lot better than that jackson for your price range. the dinkys are ok guitars but i still think you can do better. i think chuck would know a few things about these jacksons too. have you played any other guitars? one thing too is that you want single coil pickups... and it's going to be hard pressed to find a guitar with just single coil pickups in it unless it's a strat. granted, i would recommend strats for the over all sound you are looking to achieve but, they don't have the floyd you want. some strats have a really nice trem on them but some don't. you should go play a few and see what you think. and judging from what you described on that jackson you played, that probably isn't the guitar for you. it can be set up and that E string can be fixed but you don't want to buy a new guitar and then have to spend 50 bucks getting it fixed to play

guitarfreakyman wrote:

ok. first off, i'm going to say you can do a heck of a lot better than that jackson for your price range. the dinkys are ok guitars but i still think you can do better. i think chuck would know a few things about these jacksons too. have you played any other guitars? one thing too is that you want single coil pickups... and it's going to be hard pressed to find a guitar with just single coil pickups in it unless it's a strat. granted, i would recommend strats for the over all sound you are looking to achieve but, they don't have the floyd you want. some strats have a really nice trem on them but some don't. you should go play a few and see what you think. and judging from what you described on that jackson you played, that probably isn't the guitar for you. it can be set up and that E string can be fixed but you don't want to buy a new guitar and then have to spend 50 bucks getting it fixed to play

I'm not sure I want ALL single coil pickups. I think the setup on the Jackson may be better: single coil, single coil, humbucker. You said I could do better for that price, but what do you recommend?

i think the bolt neck Jasksons are ok at best. real Jacksons are neck thru.

as for the pickups..... Duncan makes some of the best pickups you can get. i am sure they make something you will like. try the Duncan Invader, or Dimebucker, the Trembucker distortion would be great too. all 3 have lots of output,and are coil splitable.
Dimarzio ,and EMG make great pickups too.
i think that humbuckers with coil taps would be your best bet.
that way you still have the humbucker power and tone and with the coil taps you can get single coil tone too.

as for the Floyd Rose vibrato bridge....some liscensed Floyds are fine , some are not.

LTD makes some very fine guitars in your price range,so does Schecter,and Ibanez.
go to as many stores as you can ,and play as many different brands and models as you can find.
when you find the right guitar,the one that fits your hands like a glove...you will know it.
dont worry so much about the pickups , you can change them to exactly what you want.
the more important thing is the acoustic sound of the guitar...is it a resonant piece of wood?
the better it sounds acousticly the better it will sound amplified.

so if you have found the guitar with the perfect neck, that has a resonant tone,and a good double locking Floyd Rose vibrato you have found a real gem that you cant pass up.
if you like the pickups ..great. if not, its no big deal to replace them or have them replaced with the perfect ones for your needs.

it is a royal pain to go guitar shopping , but it can be a lot of fun too.
just dont let some guy at a music store sell you something you dont love.
its your money...buy the guitar you HAVE to have , the one you cant put down.








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