Important Announcement

[dg]

I see what you're saying, but when aked about it, he said...

No sir... I still have alot in stock. Until everything is sold out, the sig and the logo's on the banner above will stay. Only then will some new artwork appear at the top of your screen.

[SEEGERMANY]

Thanks for the clarification.

[Brian]

Hello, I am a new member here but not new to Jackson .

I just came across this thread and was reading quite a few of the responses.

From 1993-2001 I played nothing but Jackson's. I eventually stopped playing them and started ordering stuff from ESP due to the amount of mistakes Jackson was making on orders even back in 2000. I'm about to order a new Jackson Custom and I must admit, between this forum and the Jackson Guitar Palace you could say I am a wee bit concerned. Hopefully things will be smooth sailing but man... talk about nerve wracking.

Matt - I have never done business with you (I've been a pretty faithful DCGL guy for 10 years now) but I have always heard good things about you via the ESP forum. It's very unfortunate FMIC has handled things in such a manner that they lose one of their most reputable dealers.

As for the ESP Customshop and USA orders. They've had quite a few mistakes over the last 3-4 years. After much discussion and arguing on the ESP forum it has been determined by most that it's a translation issue once the orders arrive in Japan.

I have ordered 2 Customshop ESP's. The first one was a Silver Horizon 6 string in 2005. This one was built correctly to my specs (to my knowledge anyway). No issues with it. However, it was fairly standard. SRC control layout, Bridge/Middle hums EMG 81's, 24 frets, Ebony board, no inlays with white binding. The biggest change was I requested 24.75" scale length since all Horizons are 25.5". I wanted something that felt like my ESP Explorer. They did the scale length correctly, however they quote me the price for a 25.5" scale. Once they realized they goofed they tried to change the price but thankfully my dealer and ESP USA agreed that they should honor the price they quoted as it was written on there clearly. They did.

My concern with this guitar is now that it is two years old it has suffered it's first major ding/knick at the tip of the headstock. Some paint was chipped off and it looks like it is Maple. I requested a Mahogany neck/Mahogany body. It's very hard for me to tell as I am not a wood expert or anything (and the truss cavity was painted black so I can't look there.) but it definitely looks lighter than any Mahogany I have ever seen.

The second guitar I ordered was a 7 string Baritone Horizon. A replica of the one Devin Townsend played at Ozzfest 2006. This guitar had some pretty specific specs. The guitar is neckthru with a Maple neck, Mahogany sides, and a Maple top. The finish is Satin Black, so I cannot see visually if they did a top or not. I could probably scrape off some paint in the control cavity but id rather avoid that.

I ordered the guitar exactly to Devin Townsends work order. It explicitly states on the work order in two different sections that the side position markers are to be "Glow in the dark TRIANGLE side position markers." They did dots. I also requested there to be NO BATTERY ashtrey for the EMG's. Frankly, I hate the things. I don't want more wood routed away for such a useless thing. Especially when there's room in the cavity. They put a battery ashtrey.

The two mistakes they made were minimal enough for me to keep the guitar. But they sure made my blood boil. It's simply not what I ordered, and on a guitar that retails for $6000 there's no excuse for it. Anyway, you guys know all about that side of the coin so no sense ranting about that.

From my experience over on the ESP forum over the last 4-5 years the one thing I have noticed, especially compared to Jackson, is that nowhere near as many USA customers purchase ESP customs as they do other brands. It seems for every 30 Custom Jacksons there is 1-2 truly Custom ESPs. I suspect that is a contributing factor as to why we have not seen/heard as many horror stories about ESP vs. Jackson.

However, many of the folks on the ESP forum who have purchased ESP customs have had glaring mistakes due to what many suspect is translation problems and simple neglect. Carved tops not being carved completely (IE: upper horn was carved, bottom horn was not.), wrong binding colors, issues with necks not settling properly, horrible quality tops, using wrong logos, wrong woods, etc etc.

Not trying to scare anyone away from ordering ESP's or anything like that. Just saying as a person who has essentially "jumped ship" to ESP and has had a less-than-satisfactory experience I would say be very wary as they have the same issues that Jackson has had for years.

Lastly, just wanted to comment on the 3-piece vs. scarf joint neck. Personally, all the Jackson's I have ever owned have had scarf joints and I have never had ANY issues with them at all. Gigged with some of them for a number of years and no hassles. I could see wanting/preferring the added strength of a 3-piece neck if you're touring or prone to bashing your headstock into things, but it would seem if you're reasonably careful handling your gear you shouldn't have any problems with a scarf joint either.

Sorry for the long winded 1st post, but I wanted to share.

[AK47]

Regarding ESP and glow in the dark stuff I found out that like on my neck thru Ouija its Tritium based which means its radioactive. If you look at the Ouija guitars that were sold in the USA they were painted white instead of glow in the dark beacuse of import restrictions. I bet that was the case with your sidemarkers.

[Brian]

Regarding ESP and glow in the dark stuff I found out that like on my neck thru Ouija its Tritium based which means its radioactive. If you look at the Ouija guitars that were sold in the USA they were painted white instead of glow in the dark beacuse of import restrictions. I bet that was the case with your sidemarkers.

Nah. Like I said, they did DOTS, not TRIANGLES like I requested.

The dots glow in the dark, but they're the wrong shape.

[AK47]

Nah. Like I said, they did DOTS, not TRIANGLES like I requested.

The dots glow in the dark, but they're the wrong shape.

Well thats cool at least they glow in the dark. Do they glow all the time or do you have to have them in the light for a while to charge them up before they glow?

I am really curious if its phosforus based glow in the dark or if they gave you the good radioactive stuff.

The radioactive stuff glows all the time.

[Brian]

Well thats cool at least they glow in the dark. Do they glow all the time or do you have to have them in the light for a while to charge them up before they glow?

I am really curious if its phosforus based glow in the dark or if they gave you the good radioactive stuff.

The radioactive stuff glows all the time.

LOL, have to have it in the light a bit for it to give off any real glow. Which is probably good. I don't really need a radioactive guitar .