Whats better - Ibanez or Jackson?

[I_am_the_smartest]

I was looking at new guitars and was looking at both of these brands. I dunnno which ones better b/c lot of people say both are good. like which generally one has better neck or better pickups etc.also if there's a better company than these two, please tell me. (except Gibson b/c those are damn expensive)

[canuck7]

hey man,
Jacksons are good guitars, but i would recommend Ibanez for anyone. they make consistently great guitars and they probably have the best necks on any guitars i've ever played. the pickups and all the other stuff is great too. they always get fantastic reviews in GuitarPlayer which has very rigorous testing standards. you can play fast and you can play well on Ibanez. go for it.

[GregoryB]

From my personal experience, I'd say Jackson. I recently bought an Ibanez JS-100, and I had to take it back because it was of poor worksmanship. Apparantly Ibanez just puts a bunch of cheap parts on the guitar, write Joe Satriani's name on it and sell it for $600. I returned the Ibanez and bought a Jackson DKMG, and I'm infinitely more happy with the Jackson (and I'm sure it can shred just as fast as an Ibanez). But then again, I've got a friend who owns one of the Ibanez RG series and he's more than happy with it. Just go to guitar center and play em all. Go with whichever feels most natural to you, be it a Jackson, Ibanez, or even a Fender.

[SLY]

I'm a Jackson guy myself... And I love them bec the magic of their necks, they're extremely fast & comfortable on any model... I've played many models with many neck dimensions and they were always great, even on cheaper models (not those $150 guitars, Jackson doesn't make a lot of these anyway)...

And compared to most of Ibanez guitars I've played, Jackson stock pickups are significantly better Ibanez stocks.

Anyway, if you are buying an Ibanez, just make sure it's not less than an RG ... Any lower model is just going to be a nice beginner guitar.

[Bailey]

Sly is right. Jackson stock pickups are better than Ibanez stocks. But Ibanez RG... are more comfortable for both hands than any Jackson model. I have Ibanez RG and i am well contented with them. You must go on Rock center and try more guit´s and decide whitch one is the right for you.

[PlanetDeep]

Well, I own a Ibanez RG7-420 but I'm gonna exchange it for a Schecter C-7+. The Schecter guitar beats every guitar I've ever played on, even the 6-strings amaze me with their playability. The only prob with Schecter here in Sweden (as with every guitarbrand) is that it's so expensive. The least expensive Schecter guitar costs about 8000 SEK ($800).

If you really wanna choose between Jackson and Ibanez... I say go for Jackson. I love their guitars. I own one myself.

[trendkillah]

It depends on what models you have in mind. Some Ibanez models are better than some Jacksons, and vice versa.

[aiwass]

They're both mass produced, over-priced guitars. The only manufacturer that makes good quality guitars in Asia is Yamaha. Their Taiwanese sh*t is cheap, and it's better than most American stuff. The bass player in my band has a John Myung 6 string that costs less than $1000, and in terms of build quality and consistency it beats any higher priced Ibanez, Fender, you name it. If i were you, though, I would check ou some brands that aren't found in the window of every Guitar Center store. Parker guitars burn. Get a hold of a Nitefly. It's about the same price as an Ibanez.

[PonyOne]

All of the people I've ever met who have played Parkers were the most dedicated, obsessed guitarists. I've played Parkers before and they are among the best hard rock instruments ever made, IMHO. They're comfortable, lightweight (but stronger than any Gibson or Fender) and have unbelievable action. But since they're made of such untraditional materials as carbon fiber, graphite, and resonant foam composite most guitarists shun them. Too bad.

The only Ibanez I've ever liked playing was the RG, I like the feel of the body and the Wizard 2 neck radius is great for speed, but I've never liked the construction of their guitars or the sound that comes out of them w/o new pickups.

Jacksons are nice guitars, after the $350 range. The sub-$350 guitars are, as someone said, "nice beginner guitars." I played an Explorer-like bodied US Jackson once that had a really cool dark blue to light blue sunburst paintjob and anodized silver hardware with DiMarzio's, and it was a true metal king. For what it was, the $600 price tag wasn't that bad. But I'd go into a guitar store and just annoy the hell out of the staff for an hour or two trying out all the guitars in stock and just see what sounds good.

[I_am_the_smartest]

hey, so what exactly sets a "nice beginner guitar" apart from a more advanced semi-pro guitar then?

[Azrael]

any cheap fender or squier is a "nice" beginer guitar if you refer to someone who never played a gutiar before - for the beginning all that counts is the price, becaus if 3 months leter you feel like "guitar is not realy my cup of tea" then you might be realy pissed when having a brand new $1500 guitar at home.

Other than that i can only say that i am extremely impressed my ibanez. my bandmate has a jackson and it is by FAR not as good as my new Ibanez RG7-420bp. but that can vary even within the series - you will see that if you take two identical giutars that there can be a huge differences - i´ve seen that already - i´ve also seen $3000 guitars that sounded like crap and played horribly and on the other hand some $200 guitars were amazing.

Anyway - the best gutiar i´ve ever layed hands on was a Parker Fly - this instrument beats the others by far - there is nothing compared to the feeling when playing a parker. sadly they are damn expensive.

[aiwass]

My bandmate got a brand new Parker Fly Classic from Music123.com for $2064. That's 35% off the list price, and it wasn't on sale.

[PonyOne]

Classics cost an arm and a leg; when compared to a Gibson of comparable price, I'd take the Fly. The Nitefly is way cheaper, you van find them for around 600-800, and cheaper still is the P38, at about 500-700. The Nitefly has a bolt on neck but it's still basswood with a micron-thin layer of carbon composite over it, and it feels 90% like a Classic, whereas the P38 is more or less a more comfortable, better-sounding superstrat-type guitar that uses a more traditional construction.

[bobtheguitarist]

I think the old Ibanez guitars are amazing but the newer ones are pretty poor qualiity.

[janir123]

If you want a really good guitar I'd say you should look for a used USA Hamer. Suitable models (shredders) would be
Californian, Centaura or Chapparel. Their quality is amazing!!!! And you wouldn't belive how cheap they are these days. You should be able to get one for $500 or with a little luck maybe even cheaper. They're all handmade....
BUT don't mix them with the Slammer series!!!! Make sure it's an USA model. Check the eBay. I have a USA Hamer Phantom myself and I can't say a bad word about it. I also have a '91 Ibanez RG770DX which is a killer guitar too so if you want to choose between the two you mentioned I would say Ibanez. Just make sure it's one of the older ones and that it's japanese and not korean.

[PonyOne]

Another low/mid-range contender to an Ibanez or Jackson would be an ESP. I don't give a crap what people say about them, I like them. I played a bolt-neck EX100 that sounded purely beautiful and had wonderful action, and don't even get me started on the F series bodied guitars, especially the F200/300.

Addendum to earlier post.... I didn't mean RG when I said RG. I saw a pic the other day in a catalog and was like "wait a second..." The RG's I've played weren't terrible but they didn't jump out at me as being really super nice. I meant the S models, I think the one I played that blew me away was an S370.