New Jackson American series guitars - Same crazy prices!

  • Thread starter Thread starter napalmdeath
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I was actively buying USA Selects circa’ 2000-2005 b/f taking a long break from guitar. History now shows that was a great time to have been buying Jacksons & I’m glad to have kept my no1 from that timeframe (USA Select SLATQH). Also now regret selling a few. .

I’m shocked to hear any comment suggesting a MIA SL2H is just ‘okay’. I’m surprised further there are complaints about Jackson USA's pricing on them considering today's MSRP seems to be pretty close to what it was in the early 2K’s. The variety of USA offerings is gone compared to the past but their base offering (SL2/SL3’s) that are still made in the US seem to be a pretty good value in 2025.

*edited to add: I’ve not played a ‘new' USA Jackson in quite a long time so take my comments fwiw. I’d love to play the Adrian Smith USA Jackson along with its MII counterpart, but can’t find them in stock near me anywhere.
 
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The MIA and American Select still feel exactly like American Jacksons always have. If I have any gripes at all it's the cheap electronics (aside from pups) that they use and I'm the guy that immediately pops in Switchraft, Sorensen(vintage), and Orange Drop caps because I know all too well the failure rate of the Chinese junk. My only gripe about Charvel is, I believe I mentioned, the surface mount Floyds. They're just uncomfortable for me, especially after having to get new titanium parts installed as well as a pretty large bone graft into my picking wrist.
 
With all the talk of “bringing manufacturing back” to the US, it would sure be great to see the USA Jackson shop swing back to their former business model of building the select series in all the cool finishes that were offered, in parallel with their custom builds. After first acquiring Jackson, it seemed like Fender was committed but now 20 yrs later here we are. I can’t help to imagine what Jackson USA would look like today if Dave Mustaine had been successful in his pursuit to buy the co. In 2003 you could basically buy anything out of their catalog for less than 2K.
 
101B /^/ said:
With all the talk of “bringing manufacturing back” to the US, it would sure be great to see the USA Jackson shop swing back to their former business model of building the select series in all the cool finishes that were offered, in parallel with their custom builds. After first acquiring Jackson, it seemed like Fender was committed but now 20 yrs later here we are. I can’t help to imagine what Jackson USA would look like today if Dave Mustaine had been successful in his pursuit to buy the co. In 2003 you could basically buy anything out of their catalog for less than 2K.
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All the way. I absolutely loved the swirls and ghost flames back in the day and own quite a few MIJ Pro Series Dinkies (every finish ever offered with few duplicates) to prove it. lol. I'd also like to see an updated Hot Rod Flames and Pile-O-Skulls, that doesn't look like it was painted by a first year art student. we have non dot matrix prints that are thinner than paper now and it's like Jackson is missing the chance to reign where it once did on the custom finishes. That shit may have been cheesy to some, but it sold a LOT of guitars. When I was in the Army and 90% of my income was disposable I bought every single MIJ Jackson in a crazy finish that I could get my hands on and now I'm hesitant to buy Jacksons unless they're USA guitars. Been burned by Indonesian and Korean Jacksons one too many times and then they move their PRO SERIES to CHINA?! That was a huge mistake.
 
I have been gassing for a lambo orange American series Jackson. I finally got to play one at GC this weekend. While I dug it, i liked the EII horizon they had better. Admitedly, i didn’t plug either guitar into an amp. They actually felt similar, but i dig the gloss on the EII more, and it just seemed like a better build and a more solid instrument. $2500 is too much for the Jackson
 
I typically go for used MIJ guitars, but I took the plunge on a new American Series Virtuoso and love it :dunno: I understand it's expensive, but all American made guitars are extremely expensive these days so I don't think it's fair to single out Jackson when there are plenty of brands with far more egregious pricing. For me, the super strat choice was between the Virtuoso and Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder which also seems incredible at a much lower price, but at the end of the day I wanted the wider fretboard of the Jackson and wasn't as crazy about the open pores on the Schecter's neck. If any of the MIM Charvels really spoke to me I also might've gone that direction, but unfortunately there aren't any I'm in love with
 
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