jackson dinky

im thinking about getting the jackson dinky(japan). i want to know, what is the real differnce,besides price, in the japan and usa? the one for like $600 im thinking of getting. does anyone know anything abotu how much a new paint job costs? i duno if i would want white.

I'm afraid I cant really tell you...anyone seen Akira?lets wait for Sean to sort this one out.

well first of all japanese may use sythetic wood since they have that kind of technology..this is somethig you want if u want sustain(how long notes go)..it can be ridiculosu though....string stuff that you dont want to hear comes in and you hve to be advanced at mutting other stings while playing..



thats the main point pretty much...they may not use floyd rose either and have differnt pickups..but wood is the main difference

Some of it is the inherrent snobbery of the guitar world. There's a pecking order where USA made guitars are the most expensive, then Japanese, then Korean, then Chinese (with the others somewhere in the middle). The quality scale matches the cost scale for the most part.

That said, the body will be made out of more pieces of cheaper wood - maybe cedro instead of alder. If it has a figured top, it will be a thin veneer of maple rather than a big chunk which will effect the tone (but you might prefer!). They will use cheaper pickups which won't have the same tonal response. They will probably use an 'own brand' bridge rather than a proper floyd rose or whatever.

Getting a guitar painted professionally would cost about £250 here in the UK, which would be about $500 I guess - you might get it cheaper but the long and short of my advice there would be not to bother buying a guitar you already know you don't like the finish on.

The USA guitar will kick the Japanese one's ass in all respects - if it didn't, Jackson couldn't sell it for 3 times the price, or whatever it is. The quality of finish / fretting / binding and all that sort of stuff is likely to be higher on the US made guitars...

Go play every guitar in your price range until you fall in love with one. Doesn't matter what it is or where it came from...

Originally Posted by: ren
the long and short of my advice there would be not to bother buying a guitar you already know you don't like the finish on.

The USA guitar will kick the Japanese one's ass in all respects - if it didn't, Jackson couldn't sell it for 3 times the price, or whatever it is. The quality of finish / fretting / binding and all that sort of stuff is likely to be higher on the US made guitars...

Go play every guitar in your price range until you fall in love with one. Doesn't matter what it is or where it came from...

The first part of that post is about the best advice... Don't buy a guitar if you don't already like it... By the time you put money into it to make it how you want it to be... You could afford a guitar that's in a price range twice as much as it originally was....

The second part of that post is all based on 4 decades of myths... The ongoing myth is that American made anything is better than foreign made anything... Not so. With Strats it's Mexico verse America... Sure... The American guitar is made with more care... and sometimes better components... But a 700 dollar American Standard strat is NOT better than a Deluxe Strat that is made in Mexico.... It's basically a myth that has been created by the american pride... Americans want to own products made in America... Therefor resale values go up for American products... creating a higher value for the said product... Look at Harley Davidson motorcycles for example.... The technology hasn't changed in 30 years... yet they still sell for 20,000 dollars... becasue it's the perception that they're the best becasue they're made in the US.... not hardly... Suzuki, Honda, and Yamaha make plenty good enough cruisers for a quarter of the price...

With that said... Most brand names have rigourous quality control programs that keep the quality of the guitar in accordance with what's expected of the name... Paul Reed Smith wouldn't put it's name on the Korean-made guitars if they weren't up to snuff with what expected of the name... it would be bad for the brand name... Same with Jackson, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, and so forth.... The best advice is still to play the guitar... see how it sounds. Do some research into seeing what the specific specs are for the guitar. I'm not very versed in the Jackson/Ibanez type guitars... But I've seen plenty of Dinky's in guitar shops and such... Generally they have original Floyd Rose's... Jackson makes good guitars no matter where the factory is located... I'm pretty sure a Dinky isn't made of any cheap plywood either... Most likely a Non-choice cut of alder or poplar.... I'm not certain but those are the basic tone woods for strat style guitars... But yeah... research the guitar... A good place to look is either musiciansfriend.com or the jackson website... Good luck.

Fair, although it's not a total myth... some guitars from elsewhere are good. I don't do well keeping my Ibanez fetish a secret, and they are almost all Japanese (one US custom) and no complaints on finish or performance. There is a very obvious difference in quality between the Japanese and Korean factory output though.

I guess I should have also added that if you had 2 US (or 2 mexican) strats, one of them might be terrible while the other is amazing. Like I said, buy based on what you like, but keep your eyes peeled for shoddy workmanship regardless of the guitar's place of birth.

Another fine example.... Gibson QA is pretty terrible - seen how much 'B' stock they have out there? US made, fairly expensive, and not great in all cases.

In a blind 'Pepsi Challenge' test with (for instance) a US strat and a Korean one, I bet you can tell which is which without too much investigating... If you can only run to the korean one though, don't torture yourself.. :D

Originally Posted by: ren
I guess I should have also added that if you had 2 US (or 2 mexican) strats, one of them might be terrible while the other is amazing. Like I said, buy based on what you like, but keep your eyes peeled for shoddy workmanship regardless of the guitar's place of birth.

Another fine example.... Gibson QA is pretty terrible - seen how much 'B' stock they have out there? US made, fairly expensive, and not great in all cases.

In a blind 'Pepsi Challenge' test with (for instance) a US strat and a Korean one, I bet you can tell which is which without too much investigating... If you can only run to the korean one though, don't torture yourself.. :D

Ren makes all good points there... The moral of the story that I was trying to get across... and I think that Ren is trying to convey as well... is: Don't base your opinion about a guitar souly on where it's manufactured... I think we were both trying to get at the same point we were just coming from two different places.

I was going to mention the notoriously bad Gibson quality control... but since I'm a known Fender man... I didn't want the Gibson people feeling that I was taking a cheap shot... I notice that Ren used "fairly expensive' to desribe Gibsons guitars... They're grossly overpriced and terribly expensive... That's pretty much the whole truth...

And if you were putting a Korean strat against an American strat... You'd be putting a Squire against a USA Fender... Which isn't a fair comparison at all... Squire are the only TRUE Fender licensed guitars that are made outside Mexico and the US... I would almost gaurantee that if you put an American Standard guitar that costs 800 dollars... in the hands of a beginning player... and blind folded them... They couldn't tell the difference between the 800 dollar US Standard and a 600 dollar Mexican Deluxe... So that kind of helps to illustrate the point that me and Ren are getting at... base the purchase on what feels good to you.. and what you specifically want in a guitar.

I Have a DXMG DINKY upgraded with and emg 81/60
no regrets

except stock pups a bit too dark

Originally Posted by: aschlemanRen makes all good points there... The moral of the story that I was trying to get across... and I think that Ren is trying to convey as well... is: Don't base your opinion about a guitar souly on where it's manufactured... I think we were both trying to get at the same point we were just coming from two different places.

I was going to mention the notoriously bad Gibson quality control... but since I'm a known Fender man... I didn't want the Gibson people feeling that I was taking a cheap shot... I notice that Ren used "fairly expensive' to desribe Gibsons guitars... They're grossly overpriced and terribly expensive... That's pretty much the whole truth...

And if you were putting a Korean strat against an American strat... You'd be putting a Squire against a USA Fender... Which isn't a fair comparison at all... Squire are the only TRUE Fender licensed guitars that are made outside Mexico and the US... I would almost gaurantee that if you put an American Standard guitar that costs 800 dollars... in the hands of a beginning player... and blind folded them... They couldn't tell the difference between the 800 dollar US Standard and a 600 dollar Mexican Deluxe... So that kind of helps to illustrate the point that me and Ren are getting at... base the purchase on what feels good to you.. and what you specifically want in a guitar.

I bet Betsy would change your mind. Though she only cost me $80 so I'd say that's unfair.

I have a Mexican strat that blows the nuts of my USA made one !!