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Download Example 1
Jackson Vol. & Tone 8, Neck/mix/Bridge pups; Egnater Rebel 20 "Smooth Clean" setting;
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Download Example 2
Jackson, Vol. & Tone 9 - Neck/mix/Bridge pickups; Egnater Rebel 20 "Searing Lead" setting
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Download Example 3
Jackson Vol. & Tone 10, Bridge pup; Egnater Rebel 20 "Searing Lead" setting
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| Recorded in Sound Studio on a MacBook Pro using Digidesign MBox (SM57; MXL990).
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First impressions count for a lot. I’m not the
kind of person who judges a guitar solely
by looks, but I’m of the opinion that guitars
should look fun to play and motivate you
to pick them up. When I opened the case
from Jackson’s Custom Shop, I was motivated
as hell.
In this hot rod issue of Premier Guitar, we’ve
spent a lot of time talking about the history of
this type of guitar, and looking at some modern
touches you can add to your current setup.
Jackson—one of the first companies to work
with hot rod guitars—sent us a new Soloist
model from their Custom Shop, and this seems
like the perfect issue to review it.
If You Come, They Will Build It
When viewing the Custom Shop’s spec form
on their website, the first thing that jumps off
the page is the sheer variety of options. Nearly
anything you can think of is available. Want
a neck-thru seven string Rhoads made out of
koa? How about a bolt-on mahogany Kelly?
Those options are in just the first section. After
that, you get into the neck, parts, electronics
and finish. An important note: if it is on the
website (and, in some cases, even if it isn’t), you
can build it. I do wish there was an interactive
way to view the models after picking the parts;
I could see myself spending even more time
poking through the menus than I already have.
It would also be nice to see more from the
fruits of my digital labor than a spec form, so I
can visualize exactly what I’m getting.
The guitar sent for review wasn’t of my own
design, but any trepidation about someone
else’s choices was gone the moment I opened
the case. The first thing that jumped out was the
sheer “metal” look of the guitar. It’s got a silver
and black iridescent paint job, and the sharkfin
inlays are partially colored red to look dipped in
blood—definitely a clever touch. The Jackson
logo on the reverse headstock has been bloodied
up, too (even cooler). According to Jackson,
this guitar is one of nine similar models, each
based around the neck design. Right off the bat,
I was struck by the quality of the design. The
entire body is painted with a swirl that converges
underneath the bridge pickup. It helps draw
attention to the center of the guitar, a very tasteful
touch. It came with a 24-fret neck-through
setup and a Floyd Rose tremolo. Just below the
24th fret, the serial number is stamped into the
fretboard, yet another subtle detail. The Soloist
model, being a superstrat, allows easy high-fret
access, letting you take full advantage of every
one of the frets. That’s all done by scooping
away a good deal of wood where neck meets
body. And let me also say, the frets on this guitar
are “jumbo” in the same way that Yao Ming is
“tall.” They’re huge—a fact that is enhanced by
the contours where the neck meets the body.
Another custom touch was the addition of
a bright red kill switch, located next to the
control knobs. I never hit it accidentally while
playing, and the location is perfect—just
below the bridge pickup. It’s not just a sound
effect, either. It can help you cut off a chord
into total silence when you need that, while
preserving economy of motion. The hardware
on this guitar was all “just right.” The controls
have just the right amount of stiffness: you
won’t really budge them by accident, and
when you move them intentionally, there’s
enough resistance to make them trackable.
The same goes for the tremolo arm: it stays
put it until you move it again.
Playing the Jackson
When first picked up, the guitar has a very
solid feel to it. It’s not as heavy as some
vintage Les Pauls, but at over eight and a
half pounds, it’s got some heft. Part of that
solid feeling comes from the neck-through
design and the alder wings attached to the
maple neck. The neck has a nice feel to it; it’s
nowhere near as thin as the Wizard neck on
my Ibanez, but it plays nearly as fast. Some
of that speed comes from the finish on the
back of the neck, in addition to the fantastic
construction of the guitar. With a 1-11/16" nut
width (2-1/4" at the 12th fret) it’s got a nice,
wide neck, even for a superstrat.
The setup of this guitar is nearly flawless. The
intonation is spot-on, and the Floyd Rose
allows the bar to be pulled up without any
string buzz—on open strings, at least; fretting a
string and pulling the bar up all the way (raising
the pitch up to two and a half steps) does introduce
some buzz on the wound strings. I tried
some Vai-style divebombs, and was relieved to
find the guitar still in tune. After five repeated
divebombs, I had to dial in the G string a bit on
the fine tuners, but if you don’t over-abuse the
whammy bar, you’ll be fine.