Soloist Pro no sharkfin inlays or pickup rings

[walshula]

Here is a USA SL2 They dont have any inlays, black binding on neck not headstock, and has the 580lp trem and not a OFR, This one came with chrome hardware but i swapped it all to USA spec black parts.

[Mudlark]

Oh yeah, totally forgot those. 1996 and 97 catalogues. There was an SL2S in the '97 catalogue that offered sharkfins.
Interesting they used the JT580LP.

[Administrator]

Also just noticed the Soloist's Pros have a "hand-rubbed oil finish" on the neck instead of a painted neck.

What I'd like is the Jackson Soloist SL2H except in a high end import. Maybe Jackson will end up getting their act together. I could understand them doing these things on a cheap import of something, but don't understand them screwing around with their high end imports.

[Mudlark]

A 2011 Japanese Soloist Elite would be my quest if in the market for a used Pro Soloist. My understanding is they had a real Floyd and stainless steel frets. Almost never see them offered.

[Administrator]

A 2011 Japanese Soloist Elite would be my quest if in the market for a used Pro Soloist. My understanding is they had a real Floyd and stainless steel frets. Almost never see them offered.

Do you have a link to a page with the specs and/or pics?

[wrldeatr7]

I don't see anything cheap about the import Pros. Inlays are a personal preference, but it's not like you're looking at them while you're playing. The pickup rings may coverup the giant holes but don't offer the sustain of direct-mount pickups. The oil finished neck is actually pretty nice, and people who play live sometimes prefer a neck that doesn't get all wet and sweaty. The guitar that you're looking for obviously is a USA Soloist. Maybe you can get a good deal on a used one.

In some ways Jackson has to distinguish their imports from their US models. If the guitars were identical but the only difference is price and country of origin, people may conclude that it's no worth forking over more than twice the money for a US guitar if the imports are top notch. I believe stuff like this has happened before.

[Mudlark]

Here's an old thread with a supposed email from Fender listing the specs. I'm not sure if the Floyd is Original or the 1000 series Original (FRT01000 Tremolo).
Also, I asked the owner of an Elite recently if the frets were stainless and he couldn't be sure.
http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/130...V-Elite!/page4

[Administrator]

Here's an old thread with a supposed email from Fender listing the specs. I'm not sure if the Floyd is Original or the 1000 series Original (FRT01000 Tremolo).
Also, I asked the owner of an Elite recently if the frets were stainless and he couldn't be sure.
http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/130...V-Elite!/page4

Is the "Elite" series as mentioned in the specs on that page the top of the line import Jackson had at the time?

I may look around for one of those.

[Administrator]

I don't see anything cheap about the import Pros. Inlays are a personal preference, but it's not like you're looking at them while you're playing. The pickup rings may coverup the giant holes but don't offer the sustain of direct-mount pickups. The oil finished neck is actually pretty nice, and people who play live sometimes prefer a neck that doesn't get all wet and sweaty. The guitar that you're looking for obviously is a USA Soloist. Maybe you can get a good deal on a used one.

In some ways Jackson has to distinguish their imports from their US models. If the guitars were identical but the only difference is price and country of origin, people may conclude that it's no worth forking over more than twice the money for a US guitar if the imports are top notch. I believe stuff like this has happened before.

Well that's how Jackson had been doing it for years apparently until I guess the last couple of years. For the most part the imports are similar to the USA models except they are made overseas with usually cheaper hardware. That's the way most guitar companies handle the imports.

Though I did play a USA Soloist in the used section of a guitar store years ago. It was one of the signature Soloists. I didn't like it at all. Very hard to play. Was a while back, but I seem to recall the Floyd Rose felt sunk down into the body way too much and made it real difficult to pick.

I used to have a handmade ESP guitar, similar to the soloist. And I didn't like it at all, main issue I remember was the arm cut being at a sharp angle compared to a smooth taper. Got rid of it, and later on played the high end LTD import of that guitar, and that guitar played pretty good, also had a nice smooth arm cut.

I've played oiled neck guitars before and don't like it. Though I can see why people would like it. But I like being able to anchor my thumb while playing.

[Mudlark]

Those were the crème of the crop, though they were only made for a matter of months before the Japanese factory shut down.
Good luck finding one.
[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

[Iceberg794]

How do the elites compare to the soloist pro from the very early 90's?

I have a 91 soloist pro that feels and looks just as good as my usa's

[Administrator]

Those were the crème of the crop, though they were only made for a matter of months before the Japanese factory shut down. Good luck finding one.

That's a shame because the Elite looks like what I was looking for. A dual humbucker Soloist USA select in a high version import.

Also, aren't guitar nowadays like the Soloist USA Select all made by computer/automated CNC machine anyways? i.e. put the wood in and hit the button. Seems like you can get close to the same quality as a USA Select if the foreign country is using the same program/machine to cut out the wood as what the guy in the USA is doing.

It's been a while since I looked into it, but seem to recall reading an article about how even the "handmade" guitars are currently for the most part just computer cut compared to back in the day.

[wrldeatr7]

Sure, and that's how they're made in the US and Indonesia. But there's a lot that still needs to be done by hand: sanding, painting, polishing, binding, glueing parts together, fretwork, hardware installation, final QC. And that's where attention to detail and care come into play.

[Guitar_crazy_dude]

Was looking around at getting a new Jackson Soloist. As my Dinky is pretty worn with worn frets. So looked at the Soloist Pro line as that looks to be the top of the line import. And noticed on those they don't have sharkfin inlays or pickup rings on the humbuckers. Both of those are a no go for me.

Since Jackson started the new Soloist Pro line, has it always been like that? Or maybe in a year or so they'll go with sharkfin inlays and humbucker rings like a normal Soloist?

I too am not a big fan of the "Direct mounted pickups(without pickup rings)Why Jackson started doing this,I wish i knew why,probably to cut down costs of putting them on guitars(saves them $10.00)I have one of the new jackson Dinky pro in the yellow bengal tiger scheme(1 of 125 produced),and i agree i prefer the shark fin inlays over dots,but the neck is awesome,super thin,and non painted.
It may be a cost cutting measure that Jackson has taken to make more profit off of each guitar.I remember when Jacksons used to come with Chrome hardware,now all the hardware is Black,which makes me very dissapointed cause i have to spend at least $120.00 in new parts to convert all the hardware back to chrome.Black hardware is much cheaper in cost compared to chrome,and i think that's why Jackson and ESP,Charvell do this with all their guitars,except for the USA models which mostly come equipped with Chrome hardware.

[toejam]

I don't know about cost cutting, but Jackson had plenty of guitars in the early to mid '90s that had direct-mounted pickups and offset dot inlays.