JACKSON AMERICAN SERIES SOLOIST SL3
By Chris Gill
THE VERY FIRST time I saw a Jackson Soloist in a music store in the early Eighties I experienced a similar sensation to when I first encountered a Lamborghini in real life around the same time. All of my prior notions of what a familiar object could be, whether it was a guitar or car, were blown away by a new standard of sexy, aggressive styling and an almost fanatical devotion to speed. After holding the Jackson Soloist in my hands and playing a few licks, previous Fenders and Gibsons I played seemed like Chevys and Fords — functional and reliable perhaps, but lacking luxury and a distinct competitive edge.
Opening the case for the brand new Jackson American Series Soloist SL3, I was hit with a feeling of déjà vu. Before my eyes was a guitar that looked almost identical to the Jackson I discovered 40 years ago. However, even though shred-worthy guitar quality has improved dramatically since that time, I still felt a similar thrill when playing the new model. Made in the USA just like the original, the new American Series Soloist SL3 offers the same standards of quality as the original along with a few subtle upgrades that modern players will welcome.
FEATURES The Jackson American Series Soloist SL3 is made in Corona, California, only about 25 miles from where the original model was built. It features a graphite-reinforced three-piece maple neck-thru-body design with alder body wings. This design yields a sculpted heel-free transition between the neck and body, which, along with the deep treble bout cutaway provides unrestricted access to all 24 jumbo frets. Neck specs include a 25.5-inch scale length, 12-to-16-inch compound radius, 1.6875-inch nut width and unbound ebony fingerboard with Jackson’s signature inverted “sharkfin” mother-of-pearl inlays.
The main modern upgrades lie in the electronics and hardware. Instead of Jackson-brand pickups, the pickups come courtesy of Seymour Duncan and consist of a JB TB-4 bridge humbucker, Flat Strat SSL-6 RWQRP middle single-coil and Flat Strat SSL-6 neck single-coil. Instead of mini on/off switches for each pickup, a five-position blade pickup selector switch provides bridge/bridge outer coil and middle/neck and bridge inner coil/neck and middle/neck settings, while the master volume and master tone knobs remain true to the original design. A Floyd Rose 1500 Series double-locking tremolo is standard (the original usually had a Kahler or occasionally a Floyd); tuners are Gotoh MG-T Locking models; and all of the hardware has a matte black finish. Other upgrades include
