Jackson SLAT3-7 vs J-Custom ?

[Emperoff]

I put phase 1 blackouts in my Jr. V 7 after I sold my Hornet pro 725 so I didn't really get to A/B them side by side. I would say, purely off of memory, that the EMG does the straight clean from the neck with "ethereal chorus" type sound slightly better than the Duncan, but not so much that it warrants routing the cavities out. I think that they both do high gain very well, though just slightly different, but that the duncans handle the "in between" tones slightly better due to the less sterile feel. Say if you were using an overdriven AC30 type sound, you could get away with using the duncans if you eq'd right-even though they wouldn't be recommended over good passives, but IMO the EMGs just never sound at all right with that type of preset/rig (whatever).

The EMG707TW in single coil mode is awesome. Wish Duncan offered a Blackout like that so I coul justify swapping them...

 

[eaeolian]

If i were gonna spend about 2 grand on a guitar, i'd get a basic custom instead of the ibanez. If i were gonna spend around a grand, i'd get the SLAT.

QFT. For the price difference, the fit & finish on the J-Custom will probably be better, and the wood might be slightly better. Both are made in Japan. Is the J-Custom $800 better? Probably not, IMO, although everyone around here will tell you I'm no Ibanez fanboi. (At least it's not basswood. )

You guys are making too much out of the mahogany/maple vs. alder/maple argument - the bolt-on joint has at least as much to do with tone.