Jackson Soloist X Series EMG

[RacerX]

Damn, are you traveling by ox & cart?

Make sure you GTWGITS

[Deneb]

By mayflower :P what's, gtwgits?

I'm out of town, that's the hold up... I'm not too entirely thrilled with MF right now.

[Anders]

Haha, I've been away as well, so GTWGITS was new for me too...

"Get the whole guitar in the shot"

[Deneb]

Only finish flaw I can find.


Upper horn thickness is 3/4" Lower horn is around 1". (it starts smaller but gets larger almost immediately, like if I measured 1/8'' of an inch from the tip, looking down, it would already have gained in size).

It is lighter than both of my USA soloists (duh! they are SL2H and SL2HMAH).

For sake of "knowing" my 86 Charvel Model 5, and both of my SL2H's are 1-3/4" on the upper and lower horn for thickness.


A few things to say about this guitar. It plays much better than the SLS X MG. Also, both guitars are "SLS" guitars, BUT this one is "more super light" than the other. This is made of mahogany, and sounds great. But what I mean is, this one's "shape" is more of an SLS than the X series is. The X series is like...standard soloist light. Thinking back to the original guitar I received that was damaged, the thing had a poor fretboard. I know I wasn't as critical before, but when I looked at the rest of my guitars and compared it...it was definitely sub par. Had it not been damaged in shipping, I WOULD NOT HAVE KEPT IT.

I've been told by a local music store that they've had to send back three of the Indian made X series, as a result of twisted necks. Not to mention many others for poor craftsmanship.

However, THIS IS NOT AN X SERIES. From what I'm told, the only difference between this and the SLS3 is the inlays, and pickups, and 200 bucks.



Lastly, the binding job and the paint job on the X series weren't great. I could've delt with it, but I think my initial thoughts on it were clouded by the "ohhhhh ahhhhh" moment and I would've definitely been using MF's 45 day return policy.


BACK TO THIS GUITAR----

The paint is MUCH WHITER (I know the photos don't showcase it, but I didn't bother to color correct them. If you look in my room it's like a jade green...and there's an accent wall you don't see. All of that equals color cast). Even though both guitars are called "Snow White"...this is definitely MORE SNOW WHITE than the other. The other was more "snow white yellow".

Controls are much smoother, and even though I've not been a fan of EMG's in the past, I'm really surprised at how much I like them in this guitar. I'm going to attempt to edit the title of the post, so it reflects accurately about the model.

Lastly, I'm going to call musician's friend and complain yet again. I'm not pelased that this was left to sit on my front porch for as long as it did. I specifically asked to SIGN FOR MY PACKAGE!!!. When I brought it in, I let it sit in the box/case for several hours. Then I went and popped one, then two then all three latches on the case after the guitar warmed up to room temp. I'm also going to mention the only finish flaw I can find on this guitar. It's in a spot where no one will see, but I know it's there...and why not see if they give up anymore for this.

So let's talk about what the price was?

I paid $600 for the SLSXMG. Discounted to $510 with Newgear12 code. Damaged got me 10% off, and a $10 future credit. They had a mix up where they didn't ship mine and it went on back order. They offered to let me buy the next model up WHILE KEEPING THE 10% refund to me.
They discounted the price of the SLSMG to 679.10. I told them I wanted a free Jackson case (119.99) and free overnight shipping. They said no, so I said I'll wait. Called back next day and asked again. I got it. Called when this whole mixup went on with the tracking numbers. Received $25.00 back on my bill, so 654.10. Add the 10% that I got back on from the original, 603.10.

I think I did much better getting this guitar than the Indian made X series.

[toejam]

Nice deal! Looks great. If you like the EMGs, swap the 81 to the neck and 85 to the bridge one day and see if you don't like it better. The 85 always sounds better in the bridge to me.

[Deneb]

I took the control cavity off, and it's not the quick connects or I would've done it today. Perhaps in the near future I'll give that a try.

How's the 81 sound in the neck?

Oh for the finish flaw, they took another $68 off. It looks like the "flaw" is definitely that way from the factory, as it's clear coated and everything. It's one of those, you'll never see it things and it just got me money back

A+ for a company that wants to shove money back in your face.

[Axegrinder87]

The quick connect is on the back of the pickup itself.

[Deneb]

OHHHHHHH!!!

Thanks!

I'll take a look when I do the next string change.

[toejam]

The 81 is brighter and it usually can be a little brittle in the bridge, and I think it sounds a little clearer in the neck than the 85. Though, the 85 doesn't seem to get muddy in either position.