Review : Jackson JS32 Rhoads - Pointy Guitars Are Fun!
As you will notice from my more recent reviews, I have been placing my focus on guitars that are what I define as affordable for new players, or for the people buying a guitar that can be played for years and even used for gigs if things come to that. I’m pretty frustrated with the “label tax” driving some guitars to $4,000 and over while including really lousy quality control and what I call components not worth the price being charged.
A guitar should be ideally good to go out of the box, but if not, you should be buying from a real guitar shop where they actually check the instruments fully and FIX any issues. Such a shop is The Arts Music Store, and I am very grateful to them for arranging the evaluation time for this guitar. Whether you buy from them in store or online, the same level of prep before release happens with every guitar. They do not sponsor me, they do not pay me, but I do shop there.
Jackson JS32 Rhoads
The guitar that I am reviewing this time is the Jackson JS32 Rhoads in black. Jackson is a division of Fender Musical Instrument Corporation. This Jackson retails for $619.99 CAD MAP. It is manufactured in China. It fits into that pointy aesthetic and while in theory you could use it for anything, the design and the sound is for hi gain, hard rock or metal type music.
Initial Impressions
It is definitely an FMIC product which means label first, everything else is secondary. Unlike the superb Squier Classic Vibe guitars coming out of China, this JS32 was not perfect coming out of the box. There is a real challenge for guitars shipped in containers overseas. The body is made of poplar, a widely available wood that is easy to work because it is very soft. This means that poplar is porous and can dent easily. It also means that it needs a hard finish to hold up, and pointy guitars are more prone than any to get whacked into stuff, because of the elongated points. The neck is maple and uses a truss rod plus carbon fibre reinforcing rods. This is a very good thing. The headstock is, of course, pointy and directs down and back. The headstock is a separate piece and is attached to the neck using the proven woodworking scarf joint. The fit and finish on the sample guitar is excellent. The back of the neck is a smooth satin and a quick rub down with some Jim Dunlop Platinum 65 Guitar Polish made it completely non-sticky. The finger board is made of Amaranth. Amaranth is better known as Purpleheart and is beautiful if properly finished, otherwise it looks a sickly greyish brown. The fingerboard on the JS32 was not nicely finished and may not have been finished at all other than a medium sanding. I would not be surprised given the very low price for this guitar. I was able to really improve it and will explain what I did in the section called tuneup. The frets are jumbos and there are 24 of them. Scale length is 25.5 inches so you can actually fret notes on the higher frets. I found the fret surfaces gritty and there was a lot of fret sprout beyond the white plastic binding. The nut is a Jackson, licensed from Floyd Rose and is plastic. I am not a fan of plastic, but it’s reasonable at this price point.
The paint is nicely done, and the only glue marks were where the nut was mounted, The guitar had been buffed and polished but did not have a final polish. It has a fairly heavy poly topcoat, which in this scenario is I think just fine. Poplar is not a resonant wood, so you are not losing anything by using the heavy poly finish, which will also help protect the guitar. The tuners are labeled Jackson, and are pretty decent. I undid the locking nut in order to properly stretch the factory strings which are .009 to .042 As with what I find on all FMIC guitars they are cheap nickel over steel, and as I always recommend, get your shop to put fresh strings on the guitar when you buy it. For the music that this guitar is most likely to be used for, I would propose Ernie Ball Mighty Slinky strings .0085 - 0.040 gauge. The fretwire is a softer metal so I wouldn’t use a harder string, particularly for a beginner player. You want a string that bends easily and that stretches in quickly to use with that Jackson licensed Floyd Rose Vibrato Floating Bridge. I found the factory install of the strings to be poorly done. Two were not fully locked in at the bridge and popped out in a whammy lift, and the A string was wound upside down on the post. Easy enough to fix, but it’s these little things that really put buyers off and why dealing with a really focused proper guitar shop is always best. Lots of places talk about 20 or 30 point checks, but between you and I, that really doesn’t mean much when all the checks have to be completed inside two minutes.
A number of people say that pointy guitars cannot be played easily sitting down. For me, I found the JS32 very easy to play sitting, however I wanted to play it standing and that meant putting on a good strap. The guitar is definitely neck heavy, so you will want a strap that is suede on the inside or the headstock is going to be diving to the floor all the time. This is not a flaw, it’s the nature of maple necks on lightweight bodies. I had a Levy’s plain leather strap that did the job, although I did have to increase the strap button slots in length because the factory strap buttons are oversized. Because the neck end is on the back of the guitar, traditional strap locks will be poking the player someplace uncomfortable so a good strap with a rubber locking washer is recommended.
The volume and tone pots were smooth without being noisy. Volume rolloff does kill the treble more than I might like, but for the music this guitar is built for, that volume pot is not likely to get a lot of use. Same for the tone pot. The bridge and whammy assembly which is licensed from Floyd Rose is decent, although in my opinion the metal for the string locking screws is a bit soft, and the threads are gritty. Take them out on the next string change, wipe them with beeswax and problem solved. The whammy arm is a push in screw down style and I was very impressed considering the low price of the guitar that there was no lash in the arm at all and the bridge assembly returned to tune properly. I did do a minor Floyd setup on the bridge, which is something I always do, but again, a solid guitar shop will do that before you leave with your guitar. I always ask for eval units right out of the box, before anyone has addressed any issues. You should ALWAYS ask the shop to go over the guitar fully before you take it home, even if it means you need to wait a day or so.
The pickups are Jackson high output humbuckers. For my play tests I used a Bogner Mini into a PRS Stealth 2x12 cabinet and for the first set of sample recordings, I went direct into my Spark Mini, which acted as the interface to Logic Pro. I used one of my own presets on the Spark, and I will detail it below, but for amp nerds, i used the Spark version of the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. Loud is more better. Really loud is really more better.
Tuneup Work
I expect to have to do some tuneup work at any time on any new guitar, even if it is just a string change. This is where I reiterate that if you buy from a guitar shop that really cares about its customers, you will not see the issues that I addressed, and to be clear I specifically required that the eval instrument had not been inspected by the shop. It’s in their nature, so I actually had to ask Ryan not to do so.
First off, I found that the output jack in the mounting plate was loose. This can be a real pain, but fortunately I have a tool specifically for this, or more accurately an imperial tool and a metric tool because while the jacks are all ¼”, the nuts to hold them are not consistent. Took about 30 seconds.
The pots and switching was smooth, needing no adjustment.
Two of the strings were not mounted properly in the bridge and popped out. So I released them at the headstock, trimmed the bent end at the bridge and reinserted them. I then found that the bolts that hold the strings in place were not fully tightened and that is also when I noted that they are gritty and made of soft metal, so using the proper Allen wrench is critical. One comes with the guitar. On a string change, I would back off the bolts completely, rub the threads with beeswax using a lint free swab and then install the strings.
When restringing, I use a tool designed to hold the bridge plate level with the top, built specifically for Floyd Rose bridges. I got mine from Solo Guitars and recommend one for every Floyd Rose style bridge owner. Yes it is just a padded plastic wedge, but it works a charm and makes restringing easy. Note that if you change gauge of strings, you will likely need to pop the spring cover and adjust the claw to level out the bridge plate.
The pickups look cheap, but sound just fine. I found them a tiny bit low for my preference and raised them up one turn on each end.
I did slacken off the strings in order to work on the fretboard. The neck was perfectly straight, the way I prefer, but the frets were gritty and there was some very serious fret sprout, in a couple of cases sharp enough to cut you. I have been working on guitars for a long time so after getting permission to do a bit of work, I used some fret end files in a fixed block to file back the protrustions and then flipped the block to put a bevel on the ends. If it were my guitar, I would have them used my Stewmac fret end file and finished them completely to my liking, however, the block did a fine job, mostly because I have done about a hundred necks with one, and while not a custom shop finish, the fret ends are now completely playable. I also used a set of fret erasers of 180grit, 400 grit and 1000 grit to remove the grit without removing important material followed by a buff with #0000 steel wool. As I found the fretboard a bit grungy and knew I wanted to prep it, I buffed both the wood and the frets. This was more than enough to address the grit issues. If I was looking for a real Custom Shop job, I would have sanded the fretboard with 800 grit, then 2000 grit just to level out the pore edges a bit, because Amaranth has large pores and the wood had contracted since build. I notice these things, but most players will not, so take my work in context. I then used Jim Dunlop fretboard cleaner and prep to remove any built up gunk. Finally I used Taylor’s excellent fretboard conditioner. It’s a nice thick liquid and I rubbed it into the board with my fingers and let it sit for twenty minutes before buffing off the excess. The ugly brown grey was gone and the fretboard is now a nice deep brown with a slight purple tinge.
I then relaid the strings in place and tuned them up. I took a tip from my associate Will at The Arts Music Store and left the locking nut plates loose while stretching the strings. I use a Stewmac String Stretcha because it’s easy on my fingers and I am less likely to yank too hard and break strings. My process is tune to pitch. stretch, retune and restretch and do this 3-4 times. I do it more often if the guitar has an aggressive whammy capability as this Jackson does. After a final tune to pitch, I set the locking nut plates in place and tightened them, then retuned using the micro tuners on the bridge. This is not uncommon with some locking nuts where applying the lock sends the strings sharp. I did no work on the nut in this case to address this and at worst they went sharp by only 5-6 cents, hardly an issue. One note for bridges with micro tuners, when you restring, turn the micro tuners so they are only about halfway down. You want the ability to microtone flat and sharp. When I received the guitar, the micro tuners were nearly at the bottom.
There was nothing to do at the tuners, they were mounted nicely and properly tightened.
Specs
Jackson is not very detailed in their specification sheets, not much unlike their parent FMIC. I’m including screen captures from the web site for your information.
I did put the guitar on the scale and found it weighed in at 7.8 pounds with the whammy installed. For such a small bodied guitar, that strikes me as heavy. As poplar is a light wood, I put this down to the neck and the vibrato system. I always recommend looking for a lighter weight instrument, particularly for folks starting out, or those who will be playing standing for an extended period.
Playing and Recording Samples
I did not know what to expect from this guitar but believed that if I was going to do a useful review, I should use amps and effects like those a metal or hard rock fan would use. I first played it direct through my Bogner mini into a PRS Stealth 2x12. The little Bogner is 30 watts and gets pretty loud. The PRS cabinet is very efficient and I was able to get air moving pretty aggressively. I did add a little bit of reverb from a TC Electronic Hall of Fame Mini because I rarely find a time where reverb is not a good thing. Plugging in again after the minor tuneup, I did what I expect most players would want to do and cranked it. Loud is a really glorious thing. Leaving the volume down and just raising the Gain on the Bogner produced a really rich tone, that I would say was stronger in the bass than the mids and highs, but by engaging the switches on the Bogner, I was able to bring these back while leaving the tone stack at noon on the amp.
Then I moved to do some quick recording and used my Spark Mini as both the amp and the interface to my old MacBook Pro that is running Logic Pro. I have to say that using a Spark as an interface is so easy, I cannot imagine why any Spark user would not do so.
I have a custom preset that I built for the Spark that is based on the Spark Treadplate amp which is modelled on the Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier. The chain in my custom preset is as follows;
Noise Gate
Sustainer - based on the Boss CS-3 Compressor
Boost - based on the MXR Micro Amp
Amp - based on the Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
EQ - based on the MXR M109
Digital Delay - off for most of the samples, based on the Boss DD-3
Reverb - based on my favourite physical reverb, the EMT-140 plate
I chose Spark effects that are based on generally available and inexpensive pedals, although I admittedly went rare and high end on the reverb choice, because I love that Plate Reverb so much.
In the image above, you can see the full audio chain set up in the Spark App. The delay is visible above the plate image and you can see that it is disabled in this scenario.
The recorded first recorded sample is the JS32 into the Spark Mini using the layout above. No other processing was done in Logic Pro, I simply took the file and exported it as MP3, without any mastering done. Thus it is indicative of what any player could get out of this guitar and Spark setup.
As I am working on a deeper review of my current favourite starter amp that can get loud and has a large speaker, the BOSS Katana 50 Mk II, I also plugged the Jackson directly to the Katana and fed Logic Pro from the Katana’s USB control after getting a sound that I liked with BOSS Tone Studio, an app that runs on your computer to give fine control of the amp, that is much simpler than using the Katana physical knobs.
I’m including a screenshot of the Katana settings for this sample for your information. This is from the BOSS Tone Studio application.
Good To Go Kit
When getting started or even upgrading, there is often more to the success than just the guitar, so I have decided to include a Good To Go recommendation kit. For this guitar, here’s my kit list.
Jackson JS32 Rhoads
Spark Amp OR BOSS Katana 50 Mk II - if the player does not have an amp, or is not happy with what they have. Buyers will encounter people who want to go on at length about tubes vs solid state. You can safely ignore all of that stuff. There are differences, but with good amps, the differences are subtle and the cost of a tube amp will be MUCH higher than a solid state amp and it will have fewer built in features.
High quality guitar cable - 20ft or less. Good cables last and are quiet. Cheap cables are a horror show. Consult your sales professional for their recommendation but I like cables from Pig Hog, Ernie Ball, Digiflex and D’Addario. Avoid coiled cables, they look cool to some but are noise factories.
Gig Bag - Hard cases are terrific until you actually want to take them anywhere. Unless you are in a band on the road, in which case a regular hard case won’t do the job, a well padded gig bag is ideal. In my experience, the Profile or house name bags are better built with more functionality than the guitar maker’s bag. Many guitars these days do not include a gig bag. Make sure that there are pockets for your tuner, any tools that came with the guitar, like the truss rod wrench, space for the whammy if the guitar has it, and a set of spare strings, and a string winder / trimmer. Do not that finding a gig bag for a pointy guitar is going to be a bit of work.
Guitar Stand - Hercules make the best stands but you can often get a house brand that will hold the guitar when it is not in its case and you are not holding it. Note that the stand you choose for the JS32 must grip the guitar at the headstock.
Guitar Strap - Every guitar needs a strap and every player, even sitting should use a strap. Gravity always works and a strap will save your guitar at some point. Lots of choices. Avoid fabric straps where the edges are sharp which hurts, Seat belt material is cheap, but the edges can be rough. I recommend real leather that has suede on the inside, which helps rein in instruments that are neck heavy. I do not like the fake leather or “vegan” straps as they are hot and sticky vinyl and develop an “interesting” aroma. My favourite straps come from Walker and Williams, but Levy’s and D’Addario do some decent products, although I find that they can be overpriced in my opinion.
Tuner - No guitar is complete without a tuner that goes with it all the time. Pedal tuners are great, but every player needs an in case tuner, and the Snark tuners are hard to beat. I prefer the cheaper models that take clock batteries as for the difference in price to the rechargeable unit, you can order a sheet of batteries from Amazon, or you may find a card of them in the shop from D’Addario priced very low.
String Changing Tool - The D’Addario tools are great. One tool has a string winder, a string cutter and a bridge pin puller. Every guitarist needs this as every guitarist should learn to change his or her own strings. It’s not hard, and that quality guitar shop might even offer a free session on how to do string changes efficiently that you can attend live. Also, there will be about a zillion YouTube videos on the subject.
Floyd Rose Block - Changing strings on Floyd Rose style bridges is to be honest, a serious pain in the butt. I heartily recommend getting a Shredneck TremBlock from Solo Guitars at this link
Wrap Up
I said that I am not a seriously hard rock or metal player, so if the riffs are not to snuff, that’s all on me. I do own the Gibson weird triumvirate of Flying V, Explorer and Moderne, but all are stoptails and to be candid my early 80s V is much more a joy to play than my 2017 V. The Jackson is a lightweight guitar but needs the right strap so the headstock doesn’t race to the ground. The output jack is conveniently placed for play even when sitting, and that V is well cut for me as I tend to play with the headstock higher up, more like a classical guitar. Frankly, it’s a blast to play and for the price, I think it is a decent value. However, the out of the box readiness is not as good as similarly priced Ibanez guitars, so if a pointy guitar is your thing, be sure to buy from a guitar store that REALLY checks the guitars before you leave and will make them the best that they can. I heartily recommend The Arts Music Store. They ship Canada wide. If you are in the US, please reach out to James Ridings at Sweetwater. This is a guitar that I would personally never buy online, the quality control out of the factory just isn’t there. The Jackson JS32 is certainly not high end, however, the point (pun intended) is that it is very playable, really fun, and when used with the right amp, sounds awesome.
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