Jackson American Series

[Viginez]

Got my Am SL3 today. Initial impression is off the charts playability, few small tooling marks on the fretboard (visible only against strong light) and the nut is very very slightly more on the bass side. Is this common? When I play the guitar I don't notice it and strings seem to be in line.

the trem route could be off centre too, or the trem/trem posts
personally i would send it back

 

[marke]

the trem route could be off centre too, or the trem/trem posts
personally i would send it back

Trem side is fine, and strings match bridge hum poles, but tuning stability wise.. I've had better floyds. Not bad, not great.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

I've returned guitars for less and kept guitars with worse.

 

[Dr. Caligari]

Yeah the trem being off does almost nothing for the first few frets but shows up more fret 12 and up. Should always be checked though.

If the strings even line up over the pole pieces I would be quite happy haha. Seems pretty impressive... for a Jackson.

 

[ClownShoes]

Why do people keep making excuses for Jackson

 

[Dr. Caligari]

Why do people keep making excuses for Jackson

I think for me it's more about adjusting expectations than making excuses.

Like if I buy a Jackson I expect it to be a complete piece of shit so then if it's just a little bit shit I'd be like I'LL TAKE IT.

(I wouldn't buy a Jackson but IF I did.)

 

[Edika]

Not sure if you can relax the screws a bit and move the nut towards the treble side and retighten. If not you can return it of course for another

 

[narad]

I would not return that.

 

[RevelGTR]

If you look close enough there are no flawless guitars - if the guitar plays, sounds, and looks great you should keep it.

When I was 19 I had a Fender Johnny Marr Jaguar that was absolutely magical. I played it every day, recorded an EP with it, the whole nine yards. Then I noticed the drunken side dots. I literally sold my beloved Jag purely because of the fucked up side dots

I did get another one though, and it actually had straight side dots! It kinda sucked otherwise though, it was 10oz heavier and not nearly as bright and resonant. It didn’t last long.

 

[xzacx]

This issue is the type of thing that makes me just wonder what we're doing here exactly. If you're buying production line instruments as collectors pieces, sure, I guess I can see a small case for returning it. And there's nothing wrong with that—no judgement from me—people can buy whatever they want for whatever reason they want it. But if you're buying it to play/record/use, I can't imagine returning it with you having said you "haven't played a guitar that feels better to play." Maybe I'm just a lot less picky than some when it comes to these things, if something plays as it should. I have guitars I've owned for years and never examined this closely.

 

[Viginez]

we could maybe examine it better if we had the whole fretboard pictured
i doubt that gap could be corrected only be moving the nut a bit

 

[cardinal]

The issue isn't the gap really but the alignment over the frets: the low E is rather close to where the fret starts to bevel and might slip over the edge too easily.

I agree that there really are no truly flawless guitars. There's always something wrong. I laugh that no one hates guitars more than I do despite me having a house full of them.

 

[marke]

we could maybe examine it better if we had the whole fretboard pictured
i doubt that gap could be corrected only be moving the nut a bit

Sorry, but it is almost impossible to photograph as there is no light around here and the guitar is black. But maybe you can see that the pickup pole pieces align on the humbucker (not a big indicator of anything, but they do.) but on the neck pickup they start to misalign. Again not an issue itself, but hints that the nut is not installed correclty. From the 2nd picture it is pretty obvious. The nut is slightly narrow so there is space on both sides, but less on the E side, and quite a bit on the e side.

This issue is the type of thing that makes me just wonder what we're doing here exactly. If you're buying production line instruments as collectors pieces, sure, I guess I can see a small case for returning it. And there's nothing wrong with that—no judgement from me—people can buy whatever they want for whatever reason they want it. But if you're buying it to play/record/use, I can't imagine returning it with you having said you "haven't played a guitar that feels better to play." Maybe I'm just a lot less picky than some when it comes to these things, if something plays as it should. I have guitars I've owned for years and never examined this closely.

It is for playing, not for collecting.

The issue isn't the gap really but the alignment over the frets: the low E is rather close to where the fret starts to bevel and might slip over the edge too easily.

I agree that there really are no truly flawless guitars. There's always something wrong. I laugh that no one hates guitars more than I do despite me having a house full of them.

It doesn't slip during playing. I think E looks to be closer to the edge in many guitars as it is thicker Not this much tho.

 

[cardinal]

If you really love everything about it other than this and it's not causing any playability problems, I'd keep it.

The strings look centered over the 24th fret, which means the bridge is corrected placed and is a much bigger deal IMHO. This is the first thing I look at in pictures when I'm thinking of buying a guitar. It's amazing how often the alignment is terrible.

 

[RevelGTR]

Strongly considering pulling the trigger one of these, anyone else have experiences positive or negative?

 

[kmanick]

that alignment looks ok to me, if the high E string is coming over the inside edge of the neck pickup "E" string magnet you should be fine.
I've lost count of how many Jacksons I walked away from for that issue alone.
I was at the Axe Palace this week and spoke to Victor, he said the QC on these is steps up better than anything he's seen from Jackson for a while
they have a green one in now but they've already moved a bunch of them.

 

[marke]

that alignment looks ok to me, if the high E string is coming over the inside edge of the neck pickup "E" string magnet you should be fine.
I've lost count of how many Jacksons I walked away from for that issue alone.
I was at the Axe Palace this week and spoke to Victor, he said the QC on these is steps up better than anything he's seen from Jackson for a while
they have a green one in now but they've already moved a bunch of them.

Well, there are quite a few things that are good with the guitar. No doubt about that. It just wasn't the perfect specimen I hope it would be. Still pondering what to do..
I guess I'm gonna try and see if loosening/retightening the nut does something.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

Well, there are quite a few things that are good with the guitar. No doubt about that. It just wasn't the perfect specimen I hope it would be. Still pondering what to do..
I guess I'm gonna try and see if loosening/retightening the nut does something.

If the nut is still bothering you to the point you haven't decided to keep the guitar with all of the other positives, return it.

This seems like it's going to be one of those issues that you always come back to. A "you can't unsee it" type of deal.

 

[NexusMT]

Strongly considering pulling the trigger one of these, anyone else have experiences positive or negative?

I'm in the same boat, did you actually got the an AM Solist SL3 ?

The guitar is mostly convincing except the Floyd Rose 1500, which for a guitar of this price i would expect better.

 

[RevelGTR]

I'm in the same boat, did you actually got the an AM Solist SL3 ?

The guitar is mostly convincing except the Floyd Rose 1500, which for a guitar of this price i would expect better.

I didn’t! I’d still like to get one someday though. From people who’ve actually played them I’ve heard all positive feedback.