What is the deal with Jackson necks?

[wrldeatr7]

Looking at the pics of actual Jacksons on the Sweetwater site over the years I started noticing something odd. Something wasn't right compared to other brands. The distance of the first string to the edge of the fretboard was closer than that of other guitars. So I decided to take some measurements.

Height of the neck at 24th fret.
For reference- 2014 BC RIch NJ Warlock:58.9mm
2011 Jackson Pro (Japan): 58.7
2014 Jackson Pro (Indonesia): 56.8mm *this is a "refurbished - no defects found" model made by Wildwood, of that final lot that was later removed from the market. And it sure had a defect, namely that the first string was barely inside the fretboard.
2020 Jackson JS32 (China): 56.6mm
2022 Jackson X (Indonesia- Cort): 56.6mm

I measured a recent US Jackson from a friend a while back, it was somewhere in the 58s.

Looks like some FMIC beancounter figured they can save millions by making import necks 2mm smaller. Frankly, if I were one of those vibratoing lead players, I'd rather have more space before the first string slips off the fret. But doesn't look like it bothers anyone out there.

[Zedder]

Do you mean width of the fretboard on 24th fret?

[Newc]

If it bothers you, get one of those old Dinky Reverses from the 90s, that usually came in Black or Concrete. Necks on those are wide like the Lynch LTD/ESPee. Frankly I found them unplayable due to their excessive width, but the strings were well inside the fretboard.

[Razor]

If it bothers you, get one of those old Dinky Reverses from the 90s, that usually came in Black or Concrete. Necks on those are wide like the Lynch LTD/ESPee. Frankly I found them unplayable due to their excessive width, but the strings were well inside the fretboard.

Yep. Thin and wide. Just couldn't get comfortable and make myself like them.

[wrldeatr7]

Do you mean width of the fretboard on 24th fret?

The distance from the one end (past the first string) of the of the 24th fret to the other end (past the 6th string).

[decadence5423]

I think what you are seeing is just variances in the width due to it being wood. I have three USA models from 96, 2005, and 2010 and they measured from 57 to 57.5. What you could be seeing in the pictures is that the bridge was not drilled centered pushing one string closer towards the edge of the fretboard. This happens more than you would think. I bought a Chinese SL3 a few years ago and had to send it back because the bridge wasn't drilled centered and the bottom E string would flop off near the 24th fret. It wasn't reasonably fixable being a neck thru so it went back. I'm not going to crap on the foreign manufacturers for this, I've seen USA soloists with this same problem.

[wrldeatr7]

What you could be seeing in the pictures is that the bridge was not drilled centered pushing one string closer towards the edge of the fretboard. This happens more than you would think. I bought a Chinese SL3 a few years ago and had to send it back because the bridge wasn't drilled centered and the bottom E string would flop off near the 24th fret. It wasn't reasonably fixable being a neck thru so it went back. I'm not going to crap on the foreign manufacturers for this, I've seen USA soloists with this same problem.

There's that, too. I've seen it several times. And that issue of misaligning the bridge gets exacerbated when there isn't enough neck to cover the defect, which makes it even dumber that they choose these smaller dimensions. The Asian factories aren't exactly doing high precision work (with what FMIC pays them) so FMIC would be better off giving them some extra room so to speak.

[john.w.lawson]

Talking

dinky revser.jpg