Jackson DKMG [Published]
Burn
Regular
Just finished off two bottles of wine, a few beers and half a bottle of Jose Guarvo black tequila or some shit with a few mates, so this might not turn out as great as it should be. Bare with me though, I'll edit it if it's too fucked.
Note: This review has been made in the same format as reviews fromhttp://www.ultimate-guitar.com, however this is a 100% original review, and I am not affiliated with Ultimate Guitar in any way.
Features
The Jackson DKMG is a straight up metal guitar. Anything from Iron Maiden to Immortal, this guitar will handle it. It comes straight from the factory with EMG 81/85 active pickups, arguably the best pickups on the market for playing metal. Body is made of Alder wood and fretboard is made of Maple, but, personally, once you're playing over $800 for a guitar, the wood generally doesn't matter, and it really comes down to the guitarist playing it. The frets are apparently 'jumbo', but they just seem normal to me. Maybe if you're 5'5" and have tiny fingers, it might matter, but otherwise, don't worry about it. It comes fitted with a floyd rose bridge, which, I must say isn't for a beginner. If you're looking for a beginner's guitar, buy a basic tremolo bridge, or a tunomatic or string through body. Floyd roses stay in tune pretty much perfectly, but are a fucking pain in the arse to tune to different tunings. Pretty annoying if you generally play in Drop C or B like me, but I'll get into that later.
Sound
The sound of this guitar is awesome. The actice EMGs are great. I generally switch to the neck pickup whenplaying clean, and back to the bridge when playing distorted. The 81 in the neck has an awesome clean, crisp sound, great for heavy riffs or piercing solos. I generally play metalcore with this guitar, as I've tuned it down to Drop B, but I was playing in Standard E for a while, and I can switch to different tunings (with different gauge strings) and each tuning sounds great. The lowest I have gone with this guitar is Drop Ab, and even that was just for fun. If you want to play endlessly heavy shit in, say, Drop G or Gb, then buy a baritone guitar, or just put up with shit sound.
Action, Fit & Finish
This guitar was playable straight from the factory. I ordered mine from the USA, as Australian prices suck (almost double what I payed for it) and it came in the mail tuned perfectly to E standard, and easy to put into Drop D. The action is generally great in pretty much every tuning I've had it in (E Standard to Drop Ab and everything in between), and I have had no fret buzz at all. If you use the right gauge strings, you will have no problems with this guitar. The finish isn't as hard wearing as I'd generally like it to be, and scratches come up with a pale greeny/yellow colour. Treat it well though, and the finish will be fine. Mine has a few scratches around the sides and a bit of belt rash, but even after a few months of intense jamming and practicing, the finish is still holding up. Mine is Trans Red, but there a few different colours you can get.
Reliability and Durability
It's a Jackson licensed floyd rose (not even a real one), don't expect it to be reliable. If you gig with this as your only guitar, then you'll get what you're given if you break a string on stage. I would never gig or even jam with a floyd rose and no back up. Snap one string, and it'll throw your whole bridge outta whack, and take about 5 minutes (at the very, very least) to restring it.
Impression
Overall, this is an awesome guitar. I've played Jackson Soloists, Schecter Omen 6FR, a range of high end Ibanezes and a few Gibsons, and as far as I'm concerned, this guitar is better than all of them. It has a tight action, comes 100% playable from the factory and generally looks fucking awesome. If you play metal, have a go of this guitar. You won't be disappointed. Bravo, Jackson, bravo.
Note: This review has been made in the same format as reviews fromhttp://www.ultimate-guitar.com, however this is a 100% original review, and I am not affiliated with Ultimate Guitar in any way.
Features
The Jackson DKMG is a straight up metal guitar. Anything from Iron Maiden to Immortal, this guitar will handle it. It comes straight from the factory with EMG 81/85 active pickups, arguably the best pickups on the market for playing metal. Body is made of Alder wood and fretboard is made of Maple, but, personally, once you're playing over $800 for a guitar, the wood generally doesn't matter, and it really comes down to the guitarist playing it. The frets are apparently 'jumbo', but they just seem normal to me. Maybe if you're 5'5" and have tiny fingers, it might matter, but otherwise, don't worry about it. It comes fitted with a floyd rose bridge, which, I must say isn't for a beginner. If you're looking for a beginner's guitar, buy a basic tremolo bridge, or a tunomatic or string through body. Floyd roses stay in tune pretty much perfectly, but are a fucking pain in the arse to tune to different tunings. Pretty annoying if you generally play in Drop C or B like me, but I'll get into that later.
Sound
The sound of this guitar is awesome. The actice EMGs are great. I generally switch to the neck pickup whenplaying clean, and back to the bridge when playing distorted. The 81 in the neck has an awesome clean, crisp sound, great for heavy riffs or piercing solos. I generally play metalcore with this guitar, as I've tuned it down to Drop B, but I was playing in Standard E for a while, and I can switch to different tunings (with different gauge strings) and each tuning sounds great. The lowest I have gone with this guitar is Drop Ab, and even that was just for fun. If you want to play endlessly heavy shit in, say, Drop G or Gb, then buy a baritone guitar, or just put up with shit sound.
Action, Fit & Finish
This guitar was playable straight from the factory. I ordered mine from the USA, as Australian prices suck (almost double what I payed for it) and it came in the mail tuned perfectly to E standard, and easy to put into Drop D. The action is generally great in pretty much every tuning I've had it in (E Standard to Drop Ab and everything in between), and I have had no fret buzz at all. If you use the right gauge strings, you will have no problems with this guitar. The finish isn't as hard wearing as I'd generally like it to be, and scratches come up with a pale greeny/yellow colour. Treat it well though, and the finish will be fine. Mine has a few scratches around the sides and a bit of belt rash, but even after a few months of intense jamming and practicing, the finish is still holding up. Mine is Trans Red, but there a few different colours you can get.
Reliability and Durability
It's a Jackson licensed floyd rose (not even a real one), don't expect it to be reliable. If you gig with this as your only guitar, then you'll get what you're given if you break a string on stage. I would never gig or even jam with a floyd rose and no back up. Snap one string, and it'll throw your whole bridge outta whack, and take about 5 minutes (at the very, very least) to restring it.
Impression
Overall, this is an awesome guitar. I've played Jackson Soloists, Schecter Omen 6FR, a range of high end Ibanezes and a few Gibsons, and as far as I'm concerned, this guitar is better than all of them. It has a tight action, comes 100% playable from the factory and generally looks fucking awesome. If you play metal, have a go of this guitar. You won't be disappointed. Bravo, Jackson, bravo.
Comments
Those Floyd Rose bridges are a bitch when it comes to tuning and re-stringing, but they're brilliant for keeping your strings in tune, especially when completely mutating that tremolo arm or performing some wailing bends on the 18th fret
Overall I really enjoyed this review