Whats with Jackson making mostly cheap shitty axes nowadays?!?!?

[Sephiroth]

I agree with using a different name for Jackson's low end js and x series, and keeping the Jackson name on midrange and up. When I first wanted a Jackson, I didn't even realize they had low end series. All the stores I went into had Japanese RR's, Kelly's and Dinky's, I knew when I bought my first Jackson it was gonna be killer.

Now they have js and x series that have sharkfins, floyds, active pickups. You can't tell where their beginner guitars and midrange start...

I'd have to agree. Fender does it with "Squire" so why not with Jackson?



And I am kinda OK with the lines often blurred with the low-to-mid guitars for the sake of the guitar's identity. Sharkfin inlays and certain other details I outright expect on Jacksons are indicative traits of them.


And pretty much everything has actives in them now. They're the ultimate compensators for all the cheaper aspects that make cheap guitars sound bad and help people on a budget get something that sounds halfway decent, even though personally I don't like them and don't have any guitar that uses them.

[Rich#6]

It's not about either. Fender has horribly mis-managed the brand name. Just look at their history and you can see they don't know what to do with it. They recently shut down Hamer for the exact same reason. They didn't know what to do with it and trying to figure out took too much of their time away from other products, which they also don't know what to do with.

But they did figure the chinese hamer line out. they redid the line and now call they The Desolation Charvels.

[1994]

So ESP are rebranding their standard series to "LTD Elite" (guitars are identical to current standard series but with a different headstock logo). Fender, gibson, Jackson etc have made their ranges mega confusing and seem to relish these re-branding/repositioning exercises. The only end result for players is higher prices. Give me a quality guitar at a competitive price and they can shove all the marketing nonsense.

[CowboyFromHell]

Maybe revive the Charvette brand for the lower end guitars like it used to be. Save Jackson for the mid to high section and put Charvel as the top of the line brand. You could switch Jackson and Charvel if you want, but you get the point.

[Sephiroth]

So ESP are rebranding their standard series to "LTD Elite" (guitars are identical to current standard series but with a different headstock logo). Fender, gibson, Jackson etc have made their ranges mega confusing and seem to relish these re-branding/repositioning exercises. The only end result for players is higher prices. Give me a quality guitar at a competitive price and they can shove all the marketing nonsense.

I thought Gibson has been pretty straight-forward with their epiphone models

Fender, on the other hand, should do more to visually distinguish those $1800 strats from their $400 ones so it doesn't take studying the thing to determine what you have is worth because you can have two strats of the same pup config and the same color and only people who really know Fenders can tell you which one is the better one.

Maybe revive the Charvette brand for the lower end guitars like it used to be. Save Jackson for the mid to high section and put Charvel as the top of the line brand. You could switch Jackson and Charvel if you want, but you get the point.

Personally I am all for them using the Japanese "Jackson Stars" name as a base model for the US

[Sinistas]

So ESP are rebranding their standard series to "LTD Elite" (guitars are identical to current standard series but with a different headstock logo). Fender, gibson, Jackson etc have made their ranges mega confusing and seem to relish these re-branding/repositioning exercises. The only end result for players is higher prices. Give me a quality guitar at a competitive price and they can shove all the marketing nonsense.

I thought the LTD Elites were being made in Japan? That's a difference worth mentioning.

[RacerX]

Personally I am all for them using the Japanese "Jackson Stars" name as a base model for the US

Jacksette?

[mr426]

I tried a bunch of X series and Pro series the other day at a shop here in MN. I liked them all. Played well and felt awesome. The fret ends could have been filed down a bit and It fealt a little weird having the 3 bolt neck, but not huge issues. Jackson does need to lower prices on thier Select and custom shop stuff though.

[Nightbat]

I tried a bunch of X series and Pro series the other day at a shop here in MN. I liked them all. Played well and felt awesome. The fret ends could have been filed down a bit and It fealt a little weird having the 3 bolt neck, but not huge issues. Jackson does need to lower prices on thier Select and custom shop stuff though.

Knowing Jackson they'll probably introduce a range between the MiSweatshop and USA select, with a more diverse choice of colors ...ofcourse nothing but dual humbucker layouts

[Scream And Fly]

I will never buy a Chinese-made Jackson or Charvel. Yeah, yeah I know, 'it's a global economy now' blah blah. I don't care. I'm glad I got one of the last USA-made Charvels. They may play fine now, but who knows what the quality of wood is in those, or how properly the wood was prepped. There is zero pride of workmanship in those Chinese factories.

[stevoc]

I'd have to agree. Fender does it with "Squire" so why not with Jackson?

Fender even goes lower than that. They have the Fender Starcaster that you can buy in Target. I think it would be good for Jackson to create a separation of their different product lines.

My first Jackson was a USA DK1, and honestly, every other Jackson product below that line has always been compared to playing that DK1, which I admit is not fair. But, because the DK1 was my first, it is hard to find an import I like. The model that I found to be comparable are the older DK2M line....they just seem to be close in feel and ease of play, IMO. This doesn't mean the other lines are not good quality, I just did it backwards, and there is quite a big difference between the USA and bottom line import models.

[stevoc]

Jacksette?

There you go!

[wilkinsi]

Fender even goes lower than that. They have the Fender Starcaster that you can buy in Target.

With stiff competition from cereal packets with elastic bands on them?

[RacerX]

With stiff competition from cereal packets with elastic bands on them?

Hey, start a NGD post!

[wilkinsi]

Hey, start a NGD post!

I was gonna wait til you posted full pictures of your "Big galloot Custom" mini Rhoads first