Jackson JS1 "Dinky" Electric Guitar

My First "Cheap" Guitar Project

I picked up this JS1 off eBay for a C note, since it was used and needed a little TLC. I think it was produced in the late 90’s. I had it shipped to my office; my first introduction to this little black beauty was a loud “BOOM” behind me and our mailroom guy tapping me on the shoulder to tell me that my “lamp” had arrived…nice. I was sure there was going to be issues with this guitar, but since it was packaged so well, it was all good.

Once I got the JS1 home and out of the box, the first thing I noticed is how absolutely macho the guitar looks! The reverse headstock makes it look as imposing as its big brothers, the JS20 and JS30. Despite the “Dinky” moniker, this is a full-sized guitar that has a Stratocaster body with a 22 fret rosewood neck. It features two Jackson standard humbuckers with a 3-way selector, along with a single volume and tone control.

This guitar apparently belonged to an everyday player; the numerous ding and scratches tell me that this was a working mans weapon of choice. The location of the scratches indicated that the guitar had been either dropped or scraped against something concrete or asphalt. I removed the guitar stings, added a little tung oil to the neck since it looked like it was drying out. I also took some paint and touched up the headstock and body so the dings and scratches wouldn’t be as noticeable. I strung it up with a set of Dean Markley Blue Steel 10's; I also went to my local guitar store and got another button for the selector switch. Ordering a back cover plate for the selector switch this week. No whammy bar on this one, but fine with me, since I don't generally use one. I thought about blocking the tremolo, but the 5 springs keep it in place, so no worries there.

Despite all the wear and tear, this cheap guitar sounds AWESOME! I have read other reviews that indicated that the pickups should be upgraded, but the sound I am getting out of it is just fine, coming out of my Roland Cube 30. I have played it both clean and severely overdriven (Metallica, Megadeth tunes), and love the sounds I am getting. Make no mistake, this is truly a metal rocker; just the looks make it difficult for me to play blues or surf on this thing (I got other cheap guitars for that stuff; stay tuned). Since I didn’t hear buzzing at any frets, I am reasonably sure that the neck is straight and true. This guitar is heavier than I thought it would be; this no doubt helps the awesome sustain.

Even used, you can see the care that was taken in producing the guitar; fit and finish of the neck is not too bad; my only criticism is the jumbo frets could have been a little more finished on the edges. All in all, this is a fine instrument for the price (Approx. $200 retail) and would be a fine addition to anyone's cheap (but not "cheap") guitar arsenal.

03/25/08 - UPDATE: Over the weekend, I was in contact with a dude on eBay that sells the selector switch backplate for Jacksons, but he didn't have the one for my cheap guitar in stock. I went ahead and did the next best thing: I went to my Home Depot and bought a 12x12 sheet of 1/8 clear ABS Plexiglas. I then traced a template for the backplate and cut to fit (trial and error). Since Plexiglas is darn near impossible to cut without the right tools, I scored the sheet in a straight lines with an Exacto-type blade and snapped off pieces until I got it down to just the right sized triangle. i then sanded it down to the proper shape from there. I put the nearly finished piece over the opening and marked the screw holes; from there it was a simple matter to drill the holes and attach the backplate. Check out the finished product below: