Jackson MIJ is back: MJ Series

[mitou]

I guess it's a niche market. People who are too poor to afford an USA model go with the Pro Series or whatever and people who have the cheddar go for USA models. Shame because these look like solid guitars.

USA is custom shop now. If you want a new premium Jackson and don't want to wait 18 months, this is what you get.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I like the black Soloist, but kinda expensive. Guess you can get a used USA in mint condition for the same price.

Those are quickly evaporating.

Now you're looking at something between 10 and 20 years old. Condition is variable.

 

[jaxadam]

Well I see my next guitar.

 

[olejason]

I like the black Soloist, but kinda expensive. Guess you can get a used USA in mint condition for the same price.

You'd be surprised. I've been looking for a bare bones USA SL2 for a few months and they're pretty hard to find. When they do come up they sell pretty much immediately. This is what I'm looking for, you'd think it would be super common right? https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/jackson-usa-soloist-sl2h-black-2001-1128588

 

[Swarth]

I hope this series takes off in hopes that would allow them to create more models and options. I would be very interested in grabbing a MIJ RR if it came with the Floyd

 

[Fierce_Swe]

No stainless steel frets......

 

[Matt08642]

I dig the Misha (because I like daphne blue strats) and of course I love the black soloist. But is the gotoh the better choice for the trem instead of an actual floyd? Maybe I'm wrong but I always thought those type of pivot blades on the low E side are inferior, no?

Gotoh makes the edge?

I guess I was wrong. The reason I was asking is I was always lead to believe that the knife style fulcrum point on the lo trs (as an example) was inferior in design to the slotted fulcrum point on the edge and that this causes premature wear and thus tuning issues. (see below). Anyway at $2500 USD it seems like they could manage a real FR for that price point but if it is not a worse product then I stand corrected on what I always believed

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The low E edge being squared off was a patent/licensing thing IIRC, same with the old licensed FR designs being a gross trapezoidal shape:

I think I recall Ibanez got around this by designing the edge/lopro/edge pro to still be trapezoidal in shape to satisfy the licensing requirements, but also have a taper that makes it look better (IMO). It also seems like they satisfied the "One of the knife edges on your licensed Floyd Rose needs to be flat" part of the agreement by making the knife edge itself flat, and then adding metal around it that is not part of the knife edge for symmetry.

So associating these features with bad trems is because most of the trems that were licensed and designed under these guidelines were bad (Shitty materials), but the design itself is not inherently flawed or worse than the OFR.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

The low E edge being squared off was a patent/licensing thing IIRC, same with the old licensed FR designs being a gross trapezoidal shape:

View attachment 88891

I think I recall Ibanez got around this by designing the edge/lopro/edge pro to still be trapezoidal in shape to satisfy the licensing requirements, but also have a taper that makes it look better (IMO). It also seems like they satisfied the "One of the knife edges on your licensed Floyd Rose needs to be flat" part of the agreement by making the knife edge itself flat, and then adding metal around it that is not part of the knife edge for symmetry.

View attachment 88889

So associating these features with bad trems is because most of the trems that were licensed and designed under these guidelines were bad (Shitty materials), but the design itself is not inherently flawed or worse than the OFR.

Keep in mind, Ibanez designed the Edge models to install in thier own guitars, while Floyds were meant to be "one size fits most", which is why there was one curved edge to keep the bridge in place, and one flat to be able to slot into multiple post spacings.

 

[groverj3]

You'd be surprised. I've been looking for a bare bones USA SL2 for a few months and they're pretty hard to find. When they do come up they sell pretty much immediately. This is what I'm looking for, you'd think it would be super common right? https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/jackson-usa-soloist-sl2h-black-2001-1128588

Once upon a time, 10 years ago, they were.

 

[LCW]

The blue burst burl dinky and the misha strat are definitely on my radar. Just picked up a Wildcard MiK Soloist, so I'm very very intrigued by the Japan models since this Wildcard is one of the best built guitars I've owned.

 

[zimbloth]

Really interested in hearing more about the build quality on these. They’re more than EIIs which will price them out. I think it’s a good idea, but at Jackson select pricing or more, I’d like to see more about it.

you likely know the build quality. Fujigen, the same company who makes Ibanez Prestige, FGN, Fender Japan, etc is building these. They'll be good!

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Aged, yellowed "white" pickups and a white as fuck pickguard.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

For me the thing that kills the Misha Strat is the headstock. This is one of the few times a matching headstock makes the guitar look cheap.

Misha's OG looked SO much better with the bare wood headstock and lighter roasted maple.

 

[Hoss632]

That Misha signature model is just about as perfect a guitar as I've seen. I have a squier strat at home that I'm likely turning into a project and wanted to do a H/S/S with BKP in there.

 

[mitou]

Ya know what, I really like the Misha sig now that I've spent some time looking at it. I bet that thing looks cool as hell IRL.

What's weird though is that the description on the Jackson site says it's got a flame maple fingerboard. Looks like regular maple to me.

 

[gnoll]

you likely know the build quality. Fujigen, the same company who makes Ibanez Prestige, FGN, Fender Japan, etc is building these. They'll be good!

Fujigen? I thought Dyna Gakki built the Japanese Fender guitars these days.

 

[MrWulf]

No 7

 

[pahulkster]

Not really sure why an RR5 is $2700 now. Must be the locking tuners.

 

[ClownShoes]

MIJ import models rock, only this time the price reflects the quality.

But is the gotoh the better choice for the trem instead of an actual floyd? Maybe I'm wrong but I always thought those type of pivot blades on the low E side are inferior, no?

German made floyds, schaller and gotoh are of the same quality. The flat blade on the Gotoh just allows for more compatibility for post spacing if you are retrofitting to something with odd spacing.

Well, when Peavey was still making USA-made Floyd-loaded guitars, their Peavey-branded bridges were just rebadged Gotohs i believe.

Peavey used Ping tremolos which aren't easy to find OEM, the only place that I've seen sell them is Guitar Fetish. They are good quality too if you're looking to save $$.

 

[ClownShoes]

Those are quickly evaporating.

Now you're looking at something between 10 and 20 years old. Condition is variable.

Yep, snap up any reasonably priced used USA Jacksons because they will only go up from here.