Jackson MIJ is back: MJ Series

[v1nter]

Yup, i bought a used RR1 (made in 2008) a few years ago for around 1100€ (1300$) - no way i will ever see a deal like this again.

That said MiJ Jackson were always are on par with USA models or even better imo.

 

[Spicypickles]

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.

just sand that shit off and get a decal off the interwebs.

 

[zimbloth]

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

That could be true, i just know Fujigen WAS building them at some point, if not now.

 

[Avedas]

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.

Definitely looks nicer with the natural headstock. This picture was the inspiration for going with a natural headstock on my D6.

 

[Crumbling]

Dyna Gakki built the MJ series Charvel. But it might be an issue of the factory only being equipped to build bolt-on, like how Mexico only build Pro Dinky

 

[groverj3]

Yup, i bought a used RR1 (made in 2008) a few years ago for around 1100€ (1300$) - no way i will ever see a deal like this again.

That said MiJ Jackson were always are on par with USA models or even better imo.

Yeah, that's been my experience. In the past they differentiated the lines by features, but a well-set up MIJ Jackson plays essentially as well as a US-made one, all other things being equal. They started out with Duncan Designed pickups (later changed to real Duncans) and always came with Rosewood instead of Ebony fretboards. Also, no matching headstocks. Otherwise though, they are not really a step down in build quality.

 

[groverj3]

I remember when the Guitar Center in South Bend, IN (lol, talk about small market, no wonder they're broke) opened. I was in high school and they had 10-15 MIJ Pro Series Jacksons on the wall. Those things sold like hotcakes in the early 00s. Until recently you could get them dirt cheap on the used market. I'm talking, $250-$350 for a DK2, cheap. The MIJ neck throughs are basically impossible to find now and the Dinkys are selling for >$500, and up to $800 for Eerie Dess Swirl and the ever-popular DK2M.

Even the old X Series (pre-Indonesia, pre-India) were MIJ and are essentially the same level as the pro series. My first "real guitar" was an already-used DXMG in 2004. It had shit EMG-HZ pickups, but after an electronics overhaul, that's also as good as any DK2.

 

[groverj3]

Does it bother anyone else that everything has white binding now instead of cream-colored? Am I the only weirdo that thinks the cream/off-white binding looks better?

 

[wannabguitarist]

I remember when the Guitar Center in South Bend, IN (lol, talk about small market, no wonder they're broke) opened. I was in high school and they had 10-15 MIJ Pro Series Jacksons on the wall. Those things sold like hotcakes in the early 00s. Until recently you could get them dirt cheap on the used market. I'm talking, $250-$350 for a DK2, cheap. The MIJ neck throughs are basically impossible to find now and the Dinkys are selling for >$500, and up to $800 for Eerie Dess Swirl and the ever-popular DK2M.

Even the old X Series (pre-Indonesia, pre-India) were MIJ and are essentially the same level as the pro series. My first "real guitar" was an already-used DXMG in 2004. It had shit EMG-HZ pickups, but after an electronics overhaul, that's also as good as any DK2.

I miss those days . I paid under a grand (comfortably) in total for my DK2M, Fusion HH, and COW7. All fucking fantastic guitars that I couldn't replace without spending way more money now.

Does it bother anyone else that everything has white binding now instead of cream-colored? Am I the only weirdo that thinks the cream/off-white binding looks better?

Big fan of the white binding actually. That's one of the things that I didn't like visually about the older models

 

[Grindspine]

Nice to see the Gotoh hardware! I have played some great USA and Japanese Jacksons in the past. Hopefully these will meet the expectations!

 

[groverj3]

Nice to see the Gotoh hardware! I have played some great USA and Japanese Jacksons in the past. Hopefully these will meet the expectations!

It makes a lot of sense that they'd use the Gotoh bridges. Also made in Japan, and Jackson uses Gotoh hardware for almost every other part on their stuff anyway.

 

[mitou]

Does it bother anyone else that everything has white binding now instead of cream-colored? Am I the only weirdo that thinks the cream/off-white binding looks better?

I prefer white binding and I also prefer the white logo over the pearl one. Looks more 80s.

 

[olejason]

Yep white binding + white logo is what I want.

 

[Shoeless_jose]

Definitely looks nicer with the natural headstock. This picture was the inspiration for going with a natural headstock on my D6.

Definitely better natural. These will compete with the USA Nick Johnston Schecters

 

[sirbuh]

Welp - I guess its the year for the soloist.

 

[Sumsar]

Interesting to notice a couple of differences from the Pro series:
- 5-Piece Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple whereas my old DK7m has a one piece maple neck.
- 4 bolts instead of 3 bolts for the bolt ons.
- The neck attachedment looks very much like an Ibanez, so along with the neck this looks more like an ibanez than a Jackson

Also it still has Jackson's tuners, which in my experience is a bit too cheap, and don't work that well. I know this model has a locking nut, so not that big of an issue, but odd to see cheap tuners on a 2000 dollar guitar. Although in the text it does say "Gotoh sealed die-cast tuner", so maybe they just messed up with the images?

The RR hardtail model does have higher end tuners by the look of things at least:

 

[Crumbling]

Eh, its been the year of the superstrat for a couple of years now, they've been cutting a lot of the side models and replacing them with Soloist/Dinky in flashy 80s hair metal finishes.

 

[mitou]

Also it still has Jackson's tuners, which in my experience is a bit too cheap, and don't work that well. I know this model has a locking nut, so not that big of an issue, but odd to see cheap tuners on a 2000 dollar guitar. Although in the text it does say "Gotoh sealed die-cast tuner", so maybe they just messed up with the images?

Those are Jackson branded Gotohs like on the USA models

 

[xzacx]

Those are Jackson branded Gotohs like on the USA models

Was about to say the same thing. I’ve never heard of a single issue with these (other than the fact they have a Jackson sticker on them so people guess they’re some inferior OEM product that they still never had an actual issue with).

 

[groverj3]

Yeah, they just aren't putting locking tuners on the Floyded guitars, but Jacksons hardware is all Gotoh on these and the US-made stuff.