FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Custom Jackson Guitar

Question:
I've been attending quite a few shows featuring heavy metal band lately and I've noticed a lot of the guitarists in those bands play Jackson guitars. Is this because: (a)Jacksons are the best guitars for metal (b)Jackson pays a lot of guitarist to use their guitars. How good are Jackson's anyway. How well do they compare to Gibsons, for instance. If you could chose between playing a Jackson or a Gibson, which would you prefer(that is if money wasn't an object)?

Answer:
I think Jacksons may be used in metal more often due to the thinner necks, maybe the pickups are voiced better for metal, and possibly the body style is easier to handle for lead guitar theatrics......I know you use explorers, ever try to lift that thing up in the air to play super fast leads? However, if money was no object, I'd be buying a custom explorer from a little guitar shop in California that just happens to handle a LOT of Jackson's custom shop work, at least as far as the finishes go. They also make necks for their USA built series quite often, you can go in and see stacks of necks laying around with the Jackson logo on them. Jacksons can be quite a pleasure to play speedy stuff on due to the thin, shallow C shaped necks that are often found on these guitars, and the low action. However, not every Jackson neck is the same (they can vary noticeably betwixt models), and I have played on some of the Jackson necks that did not comfortably fit my hand (the shape was too blocky and the curve on the bass side didn't fit my thumb well). I should note that I also like the slightly longer length (fender scale) better than the standard Gibson scale, as I am of above average size (6'3), and this gives me a little more room for sweeps and the like in the upper registers of the neck. As a side-note, they actually made a 27 scale inch model for Brian Buckethead Carroll, which is around the scale of a baritone, if you have ever played one. And, on the upper end models, they use pretty good quality woods. Now, one qualm that is often had with Jackson guitars is that the electronics can be unreliable. There have been cases of Jacksons failing at the wrong times (is there a right time?). There was a show with the aforementioned endorser (although it appears that he no longer endorses them) where his guitar's electronics stopped working, and it seems as though it was not the first time, by his disgust. This doesn't happen with every guitar, of course, but one might expect a little better work on a custom built artist's endorsement guitar.