m0rtis said:
I've heard that Jacksons between 400-500$ really suck...
and I am planning to buy a jackson( 400-500$) but if that's true, I have to look for something else..
For ex: what can you say about
this guitar ?
Yeah, you have good reason to be concerned. Especially the Performer models and the X-series seem to be a mixed bunch, since they are built in different places. Look at this image for instance:
Notice the difference in the spacing between the 12th fret dots on the two guitars? These were built in different factories, to different quality standards. I'm guessing the lower one was built in Japan (good quality), while the upper one was built in either Korea or India (beware!). Although a lot of the Indian guitars were decent, I have heard a few horror stories about misaligned pickup routes, bad fret jobs, etc.
Common to almost all Jackson imports, are crappy to half-decent (depending on model) bridges and pickups. If you get hold of a Japanese-built Jackson, it will be a good instrument once you replace the pickups. The trem will be okay, but if you use it a lot it will go bad after a while. Some people actually like these trems, but they are made of cheap metal, and it's easy to strip the screws if you're not careful. I hate the trems on the imports, so I'd recommend you to look for a guitar with a tune-o-matic style bridge and string-through tailpiece. There are less things to go wrong with those. I replaced the trem in my Jackson with a Schaller Floyd, and it made a huge difference to its playability - at least in my hands.
There is some good news however, and that is that Fender (who now own Jackson) are working hard to improve quality, which hopefully means that the low-line Jacksons will become more consistant quality-wise. I have yet to see a bad review about the JS30 series (made in India) for instance, but those are rather new on the market, so I guess we'll see more about them in due time. The X series has had a rather bad rep, but there are also quite a few people who are happy with theirs.
If at all possible, try before you buy. Keep in mind though, that very few guitars you find in a shop come with a good setup (unless they are high $ items). You'll find ones with horrible neck bow and strings a mile above the fretboard. In most cases, all they need is some neck and bridge adjustment. And new pickups. =P
'bane