Brandon Ellis Jackson Sig?

[Mike_R]

Now that the pro series sig is announced, I have a few thoughts:
1: I haven't seen the neck joint
2: Don't know how I feel about poplar
3: Ill probably swap the PATB (if its a standard 1 or 2 model)
4: I have to have this!
I hope to get a good one - I have a MII Soloist that is outstanding, and one that is OK.

 

[groverj3]

Has Jackson always maintained production capabilities in Japan? If not, who's building the MJ series there?

No, their Japanese factory shut down around 2011 (give or take a few years). I would assume that these and the new MIJ Charvels are at the Fender Japan factory.

 

[maliciousteve]

Now that the pro series sig is announced, I have a few thoughts:
1: I haven't seen the neck joint
2: Don't know how I feel about poplar
3: Ill probably swap the PATB (if its a standard 1 or 2 model)
4: I have to have this!
I hope to get a good one - I have a MII Soloist that is outstanding, and one that is OK.

1. Looks like a typical neck thru Kelly joint which is fairly comfortable
2. The Soloist I owned was made of Poplar and sounded great. Even Friedman used Poplar for his KE1
3. EMG 57 for me
4. Me too!

 

[Spicypickles]

The one he uses in his actual guitar is a crazy 8, a custom shop model with alnico 8 magnet with the parallel axis poles. I chatted with him on Instagram about it as I was looking into the PATB at the time and he mentioned his was different.

I wonder why they aren’t using that model for his sig, if it is in fact just a magnet swap.

 

[Mathemagician]

Guys. We got an Ebony fretboard crackle Kelly with reverse headstock....what do we do? Like, did we win the game? It even has shark fins. Like, what do we even complain about? Lmao.

The one he uses in his actual guitar is a crazy 8, a custom shop model with alnico 8 magnet with the parallel axis poles. I chatted with him on Instagram about it as I was looking into the PATB at the time and he mentioned his was different.

I wonder why they aren’t using that model for his sig, if it is in fact just a magnet swap.

$$$$

 

[maliciousteve]

Guys. We got an Ebony fretboard crackle Kelly with reverse headstock....what do we do? Like, did we win the game? It even has shark fins. Like, what do we even complain about? Lmao.




$$$$

"omg if it had 8 strings, an evertune, was soloist shaped and was a Daemoness for under $200 I'd be all over it"

 

[Crumbling]

Not the Ellis signature, this is probably still Indo. Was replying to the comment about new offerings in general. The MJ series is separate from the artist signatures. It's up on the website now.

Ellis Signature is 100% China. All the crackles and swirls are made there. I bet the new Camo and Cracked Mirror finishes are there as well

Has Jackson always maintained production capabilities in Japan? If not, who's building the MJ series there?

(Probably) Dyna Gakki, they build for Fender Japan, and is currently making the MJ Series Charvels. From the late 80s til 2012, it was Chushin Gakki, who basically was Jackson Japan in itself and not just a contracted production line.

 

[Mike_R]

1. Looks like a typical neck thru Kelly joint which is fairly comfortable
2. The Soloist I owned was made of Poplar and sounded great. Even Friedman used Poplar for his KE1
3. EMG 57 for me
4. Me too!

That helps! I was hoping for the same carve they have on the Jeff Loomis signatures (both the USA and MII Pro series), but after looking at the picture of the back it doesn't look too bad.
The crackle isn't quite as tasty as the one on Brandon's custom shop, but still looks great!

The one he uses in his actual guitar is a crazy 8, a custom shop model with alnico 8 magnet with the parallel axis poles. I chatted with him on Instagram about it as I was looking into the PATB at the time and he mentioned his was different.

I wonder why they aren’t using that model for his sig, if it is in fact just a magnet swap.

From the description, it sounds like this is a PATB1, which would be what was used on Nightbringers. Verminous was a PATB2, and the Crazy 8 he uses now I thought is a PATB2 with a magnet swap. I am not sure why I thought the Parallel Axis Distortion model was wound different than the PATB original, but for some reason I thought it was.

 

[SandyRavage]

Chrondo confirmed Japanese stuff is all Fujigen which is phenomenal news.

This is first import Jackson I’ve seen in a minute that I really wanted to snag.

 

[groverj3]

Chrondo confirmed Japanese stuff is all Fujigen which is phenomenal news.

This is first import Jackson I’ve seen in a minute that I really wanted to snag.

Jacksons and Ibanez made at the same factory. Dogs and cats living together. Complete and utter CHAOS.

 

[Flappydoodle]

So we reckon this is made in China? Bummer

 

[Crumbling]

So we reckon this is made in China? Bummer

Pretty likely yea, all the swirls and crackles released so far as China. Not necessarily a bad thing though, I haven't seen or heard any bad things about the guitars out of that factory, and given that those finishes used to be a 200-400 dollars upcharge on the USA/Japanese models it makes sense to make them in China for cheaper and keep them in the price bracket.

 

[Robslalaina]

2. The Soloist I owned was made of Poplar and sounded great. Even Friedman used Poplar for his KE1

Maybe I'm wrong but isn't poplar a bit of a porous wood by nature? My concern is that at this pricepoint they're not using higher grade, less porous poplar, which might prove problematic in the long run. I owned a basswood MIK LTD from the late 90s that the previous owner fitted with a metal plate above the floyd studs because the holes had widened because of string tension. Without the plate the posts would lean forward and impact tuning stability. I've been paying attention to body wood species more since then.

 

[Crumbling]

Poplar is a pretty standard Jackson wood even going back to the 90s (and I believe 80s custom shop as well). Didn't transition to Alder until the early 2000s

 

[SandyRavage]

Past two Chinese guitars I’ve purchased both were pretty incredible quality for the money. I think a lot has to do with who your ordering from and final setup.

Mine came from sweet water and drum city guitar land and were both flawless out of the box. As long as your not ordering from guitar center your probably gonna get a pretty decent guitar for the money.

Just my 2cents.

 

[Robslalaina]

Crumbling You're right, and again I don't have any concern about it in higher-end guitars where I assume they're using wood that has dried for longer, etc.

Here's a chart I just found for anyone curious about the... hardness of their favourite wood. Obviously I wouldn't decide to buy a guitar or not on this basis but it's still kind of interesting.

 

[xzacx]

Pretty likely yea, all the swirls and crackles released so far as China. Not necessarily a bad thing though, I haven't seen or heard any bad things about the guitars out of that factory, and given that those finishes used to be a 200-400 dollars upcharge on the USA/Japanese models it makes sense to make them in China for cheaper and keep them in the price bracket.

I randomly played one of the recent rainbow crackle Soloists at a Sam Ash a little while back and thought it was the nicest import Jackson I'd ever touched. Everything about it felt good, and I've been buying Custom Shops since the late 90s, so I'm very biased against anything else. But I was legitimately impressed—couldn't believe how nice it was.

 

[olejason]

Surprising they're being made at Fujigen and not Fender Japan. Maybe the Fender shop isn't set up to do neck-thru and set necks?

 

[Mike_R]

Pre-ordered mine from Sweetwater today- this checks a whole lot of boxes for me.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

That helps! I was hoping for the same carve they have on the Jeff Loomis signatures (both the USA and MII Pro series), but after looking at the picture of the back it doesn't look too bad.
The crackle isn't quite as tasty as the one on Brandon's custom shop, but still looks great!



From the description, it sounds like this is a PATB1, which would be what was used on Nightbringers. Verminous was a PATB2, and the Crazy 8 he uses now I thought is a PATB2 with a magnet swap. I am not sure why I thought the Parallel Axis Distortion model was wound different than the PATB original, but for some reason I thought it was.

PAD is very different from the PATB. PAD is much thicker and sludgier sounding.