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Jackson Dinky DK2S
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Pro Series Dinky with Sustainiac driver built in
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Searched Jackson Dinky DK2S in Reviews
MIJ Dinky with a built-in Sustainer 
| Sound |
I caught the Sustainer bug after seeing Steve Vai wringing incredible sounds out of his modified Ibanez Jem. The DK2S with its built-in Sustainiac seemed like a great way of getting those sounds without having to hack up one of my other guitars and, having never owned a Jackson, I was interested to see how it stacked up against my Ibanez guitars.
Unplugged (always a good way of hearing the true character of an electric guitar) the Dinky sounds bigger and warmer than you would expect, given the amount of wood that's been removed for a floating trem, huge control cavity for the Sustainiac PCB and battery compartment.
Jacksons are all about rock and metal and the Dinky is no different. The DK2S has a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker at the bridge, STK-1 stacked single coil in the middle and Sustainiac driver in the neck position. The JB has a big, high output sound but it's never harsh or trebly. That's ideal in the guitar as the Sustainer isn't all that great when you just use it as a pickup - it's loud but it has a very flat, lifeless tone to it.
One thing to note if you're used to Ibanez RG wiring, positions 2 and 4 on the 5-way switch don't do any coil splitting so there are no thin Strat sounds available from this guitar as standard. Not a great loss but it does affect the versatility of the Dinky to some extent.
Activating the Sustainiac (via one of two mini toggles) automatically switches to the bridge humbucker, regardless of the position of the 5-way. The second mini-toggle selects the Sustainiac mode :
- Fundamental mode sustains the note you play
- Harmonic mode pushes the note you play into its 2-octave harmonic and sustains that harmonic. The first time you play a lick then engage the Sustainiac in this setting, to be rewarded with perfect feedback, will make you grin for about 5 minutes.
- Blend mode (which is where I tend to leave it) blends an octave harmonic with the fundamental note. Depending on the note you're holding, you might get the fundamental coming through more strongly and you might get the harmonic. This "random" feel gives a great, natural sound to the Sustainiac effect and works well with open, melodic passages.
The third control knob on the guitar is the Sustainiac level control. I tend to leave this set around halfway so that the sustain effect adds to the music rather than overpowering it.
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| Action, Fit, & Finish |
The fit, finish and setup of this thing was incredible - I couldn't find fault with it out of the box (literally out of the box, my local music shop ordered it in for me and unpacked it while I was standing there.
The trademark Jackson sharkfin inlays are perfectly set without any visible filler and the binding around the neck and headstock is seamless. All that it needed was a half-turn tweak to drop the action to my preference and it felt great to play from the off, like a brand new but nicely worn-in instrument.
The neck isn't the thinnest out there but neither does it feel like it dropped off a Les Paul. To me, it feels very similar to a Wizard II, but with a slightly more rounded profile. Very comfortable, very fast. The rosewood fingerboard had quite a polished feel to it, adding to the played-in feel of the instrument.
The licenced Floyd Rose bridge works fine and returns to pitch just fine from either direction. The arm sits higher from the body of the guitar than an Ibanez arm, which takes a bit of adjustment if you swap quickly from one to the other. Feel-wise, an original Edge feels smoother but this feels lighter and smoother than an Edge Pro. The only downside is the arm locking collar, which works loose over time and leaves the arm rattling around in its holder. Sound familiar?
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| Reliability & Durability |
12 months on, trem arm locking collar aside, the Dinky is going strong and looks as good as the day it was new. The finish seems very resilient to knocks. One good thing to note, the Sustainiac battery lasts for months, even with regular use.
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| Customer Support |
I've never had to deal with Jackson.
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| Liked about it |
- It's a reasonably priced, alder-bodied, 24 fret superstrat with a built-in Sustainiac. What's not to like?
- Great playing neck
- Did I mention the Sustainiac? Hours of fun.
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| Didn't like |
- Relatively limited tonal palette
- Trem arm locking collar needs regular tweaks to keep things running smooth
- No maple neck option
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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internal use: spec98 spec486
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