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25K views 50 replies 36 participants last post by  danhan1113 
#1 ·
Which is the better bang for the buck? a made in japan DK-2 jackson goes for $400 and the RG 350dx goes for $360 and is made in korea?
are the jacksons a better sounding,built guitar?
 
#3 ·
Funny, one of my brothers just bought one of each (and an Ibanez ProLine). The Jackson had a reverse headstock, cost him about 200 on evilbay and is a fairly nice instrument, given the price. The Ibanez is a J470, has a really nice case, but a broken truss rod. If we could have fixed the neck warp in the Ibanez it would have been close. given the circumstances, the Jackson is the keeper. The Ibanez was made by Cort in Korea, the Jackson in Japan.
If you are looking for the best available for the cash, I'd go with an old Proline, or an RG-550 myself. You could get a nice one of either and maybe two pedals for $400.

jim
 
#4 ·
Re: made in japan jackson imports vs made in korea ibanez RG

randyvanmalmsteen said:
Which is the better bang for the buck? a made in japan DK-2 jackson goes for $400 and the RG 350dx goes for $360 and is made in korea?
are the jacksons a better sounding,built guitar?
The DK2 is the better guitar of the 2 without a doubt.
The Duncan Designed pickup in the Jackson are way beter than the PSND pickups in the Ibanez.

ilia
 
#6 ·
My advice is to try out every make in your price range,I've played some lovely guitars,And they all have one thing in common...Not 1 was an Ibanez,don't slag me off just yet,i have 3 great ibanez axe's,I also have 1 fantastic gibson,1extremly sweet Charvel and the most amazing sounding patrick eggle.

Don't limit yourself to 1 singular make,in an ideal world,1 guitar would do everything,But it doesnt,hence the differant brands available

Rob
 
#7 ·
Re: made in japan jackson imports vs made in korea ibanez RG

dex said:
randyvanmalmsteen said:
Which is the better bang for the buck? a made in japan DK-2 jackson goes for $400 and the RG 350dx goes for $360 and is made in korea?
are the jacksons a better sounding,built guitar?
The DK2 is the better guitar of the 2 without a doubt.
The Duncan Designed pickup in the Jackson are way beter than the PSND pickups in the Ibanez.

ilia
Its true that the Powersound pickups are not spectacular, but the "Duncan designed" Jackson pickups are pretty uninspiring also. I tried a DK2 last week, and i quite liked it, although the neck was completley alien to me.

i would say they are both pretty similar. Although after owning to Korean made Ibanez guitars, i wouldnt get another. Japanese all the way

:)
 
#8 ·
For that price range I would probably get the Jackson. The pickups on both are unspectacular, as are the floyds. And what it comes down to is which is easiest to upgrade the trems on, and which you like better feel wise. Remember, Ibanez has the All Access Neck Joint. While I believe the jackson has the hideous brick. :roll: I really wish more companies would come up with something better than the block heel. But I digress.

Do you like the Wizard and AANJ enough to justify getting the Ibanez over the Jackson? Do you like the Duncans and the JT5?? Floyd enough to justify getting the Jackson over the Ibanez?

Your decision. Ibanez doesnt get a very clear lead until maybe the 4xx series, and definitely the 5xx. But the 3xx you might as well toss a coin.
 
#9 ·
I've used both korean Ibanez's and japanese Jacksons. I'd say Jacksons beat Korean Ibanezs if you think long term. Japanese Jacksons are 10 times better built instruments and 10 times more durable :)

Moreover if I'm going to play a long gig (I mean 15+ songs) I simply won't trust a Korean made Ibanez but A Dk-2, Dkmg, Dxmg or a higher Japanese Jackson will be a good choice..
 
#15 ·
I have both and my DKMG is by far a nicer guitar than my Ibanez. I threw some real Duncans in it and to be honest, I can't tell the difference between it and the USA jacksons I've played, aside from the rosewood fretboard. The neck is much nicer and the fit and function are amazing.

That being said, I've pretty much swapped out everything on my Ibanez S-series guitar... I put in duncans and took out the center SC. I bought an original Floyd rose to swap for the TRS, and I'm actually going to build a new body, as the one it has sucks. All the little screws strip out like it's made of particle board not mahogany, and the finish blows. I'm going to scrap everything but the neck from the original guitar and make a new body.

 
#21 ·
The Jackson's neck are not that chunkie, it's not like a Fender Strat or an LP. It's almost like the wizardII neck that's all.
That's funny, I found a Fender Mex Strat more comfortable than the Jackson. I was quite surprised. I can't quite put my finger on what was causing me to dislike the Jackson neck, I mean the guitar was well built and all, but the Fender seemed to be so much better.
 
#22 ·
I got used to playing my late 80's Les Paul and a custom shop ESP which were my main guitars for several years. Alas I sold them to pay for college (Paid for two terms tuition!) and now play the Jackson and Ibanez.

Both the Gibson and the ESP had necks that were much more like my Jackson than my Ibanez. I guess it's what you get used to.

My Washburn N4 had an absolutely awesome neck but was lost between LAX and Honolulu international... Some baggage handler is probably playing it as we speak...
 
#26 ·
MIJ Ibanez > MIJ Jackson is not necessarily true in all cases. A recent DK2M had better playability and finish than my week-old RG1570 and the original Duncans beat the cr@p out of the stock RG pups. Too bad I had to return the DK2M due to trem issues, which I was going to swap out for an OFR but no stock of DK2M's atm in UK so picked the RG instead.
 
#29 ·
Fair enough. Each to their own. I have a 1570 and compared it to DK2's and a RR5 when I bought it, but I liked the Ibanez more. I understand your point though, and totally agree about the Duncans v's stock Ibanez pickups, as I changed mine, but I just love that Wizard neck. :)

I should have also said that I was comparing the current quality. The late 80's and early 90's Jacksons and Charvels from Japan were great guitars, but then again, the Ibanez lineup was pretty good too. :)

In the end I think the best thing to do is ignore the name on the headstock and just play as many guitars as possible, and then hope that the one you like best isn't too expensive. :)

Rock on!
 
#27 ·
ive always thought neck quality off the bat for jacksons is excellent

i had a js30rr i put evo in it and a jb and 1 meg p/p and 500k .022 setup with full shielding, and i loved it, i sold my other two reall randy rhoades guitars becasue i couldnt find the feel difference, and i swore the js30rr(cheapo) played better and i loved it..and i hate the stupid graphics on the reall rr, along with the lame control cavity cover

and ibanez's a great even in the low level, but i think jacksons are reaaaly nice just elcheapo, to custom shop
 
#28 ·
Any 90's era MIJ Jackson will trump any Ibanez cept the higher end one's. The early Jackson's were on par with their USA counterparts in quality.

Don't get me wrong I love my Ibanez's and I love my Jackson. But the build quality of 80's-early 90's when Grover was still there are second to none.

Anything after Fender bought them out unless you are willing to way over spend for the custom shop stuff is not anywhere close in quality to the 80's-early 90's.
 
#32 ·
since I have a jackson DK2S, now I can make some comments.

Japanese jackson VS korean Ibanez..? which one is better.

Japanese jackson, say DK2 S like mine , features:
- licensed floyd
- original duncan pups
- alder body
- bound rosewood fingerboard, bound headstock

Funny thing about this jackson :
1. I don't see any significant high quality like Japanese guitar does. It looks like korean to me, only it has a sticker 'made in japan' , that anyone can put the sticker on it.
2. look at the binding quality, very low standard compared to any Ibanez japan binding quality.
3. the first time I got my hands on the DK2S, i feel like holding a korean made RG 270 DX.

So, before anyone can proof me that the DK2-S is true made in japan, I will only believe it as korean or china-made with 'made in japan' sticker on it.

quality wise.? not any different than any earlier korean made Ibanez RG 270 DX, RG 370 DX), but I trust latest korean made Ibanez is better in craftmanship.
 
#33 ·
So, before anyone can proof me that the DK2-S is true made in japan, I will only believe it as korean or china-made with 'made in japan' sticker on it.
They are made in Japan. What country it comes from doesn't actually matter. Some of the worst guitars you can find are USA made.

Ibanez's highest end guitars are made in Japan because they are a Japanese company, the same is true with ESP, Caparison, etc.

Jackson is an American company, and they generally only make mid-range guitars in Japan, like Fender.

The Jackson DK2 is a $600 guitar (base price for the model, you can pay more for some features, but that is what the guitar itself really costs), and you are comparing it to MIJ Ibanez, the cheapest of which is around $750-$800, with most of them being substantially more than that.
 
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