Jackson Guitars Unveils American Series Soloist SL3
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The post Jackson Guitars Unveils American Series Soloist SL3 appeared first on Consequence.
Headbangers and guitar shredders the world over have good reason to rejoice, as Jackson Guitars has unveiled their latest model: the American Series Soloist SL3.
These new models are a major step forward for the guitar manufacturer since Jackson was acquired by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002 and returned its base of operations to Southern California.
Though the company has introduced many new models since then, including the Kelly Bird Bass and the Mark Morton Signature Dominion guitar, the new American Series Soloist is a complete return to American-made manufacturing for Jackson as each guitar will be made in its facility in Corona, California.
“When it comes to guitars — electric guitars, solid body guitars — made in America is still number one,” says Jon Romanowski, Jackson’s VP of Category Management. “To build instruments of this ilk, in an American facility, is the one thing that sets this brand apart from other hard rock and metal brands.”
The American Series Soloist SL3 continues the work that Jackson has done since its inception in 1978 to craft instruments that would withstand the pummeling playing of heavy rockers and the sleek moves of fleet-fingered soloists. The new instrument is a through neck maple guitar with wings made from alder and includes Seymour Duncan JB single coil flat Strat pickups. This, according to Romanowski, allows for a greater range of sounds for players.
“It has the right amount of punch, kick, grind, whatever you want to call it,” he says. “It’s either a glassy kind of treble-y tone or a glassy kind of warm tone and anything in between. You’ve got the full-on, high velocity, tear your head off type of tones and you’ve got more mellow stuff as well.”
The designers of this new Jackson model also took into consideration the reality that these instruments are going to get most of their use in concert settings. To that end, they included magnum locks at each tuning peg that will keep the strings held tight for quick replacements. And they’ve moved the nut to adjust the truss rod to the bottom of the guitar neck. Just pop the business end of an Allen wrench in there and you’re in business.
“This was definitely the result of interacting with artists and their techs,” says Romanowski. “It was like, ‘You guys are gonna figure out a quicker, better, faster way to do stuff on the fly, right?’ For techs, this is a dream come true. You can very quickly set this guitar.”
Catering to the needs of guitarists has long been a hallmark of Jackson’s work. The brand truly came to life in 1980 when Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist Randy Rhoads contracted Grover Jackson to custom build a guitar for him — a model that would soon be dubbed “The Concorde.” Its reputation and its replicas soon started spreading around the country, including to a guitar shop in New York City where Anthrax co-founder Scott Ian first took one for a spin.
“I was a huge Rhoads fan and a massive Ozzy fan, but I was like, ‘Holy shit, he has his own model?” Ian remembers, speaking at a recent Jackson Guitars media event attended by Heavy Consequence. “I didn’t even know that was a thing. I plugged it into a Marshall with a distortion pedal in front of it and started playing and it was like a sword in the stone moment for me. It wasn’t because I’m a shredder or anything but the tone and the feel, it made me feel like a 10 times better guitar player than I was.”
Ian says he spent the next few months socking away cash and selling off other guitars to be able to afford a Jackson Concorde. Fast forward a few years and that’s the axe that Ian is wielding on the back cover of Anthrax’s 1985 album Spreading The Disease, and has been featured on every album the band has recorded. And in 2017, Ian was invited to help create his own signature model Jackson, the USA Signature Scott Ian King V KVT. All of this only makes Ian more excited about the arrival of the American Series Soloist.
“I love the fact that Fender has so much confidence in the brand that they’re actually having a full on USA production model,” Ian says. “You don’t have to custom build it or buy the mid-price version. It’s so important for music and it’s so important for musicians. The whole thing just makes me happy.”
Ian is clearly not alone as promotional photos for the Jackson American Series Soloist features some heavy duty players with these guitars in hand, including Black Dahlia Murder’s Brandon Ellis, Alyssa Day of Mindscar, A Day To Remember’s Kevin Skaff, and Mark Heylmun of Suicide Silence.
To hear Romanowski tell it, it’s that kind of excitement that could help the company start to think even bigger. “I think this brand still has a lot of room to grow,” he says, “and I think this will allow us to do that. And give us perhaps some legitimacy and an extra push. That’s a really great feeling.”
See a pair of promotional videos for the American Series Soloist SL3, as well as some close-up images, below. The guitar is available in four finishes — Riviera Blue, Platinum Pearl, Black Gloss and Slime Green Satin — for the retail price of $2,599 each via Jackson Guitars or through Reverb.
Jackson Guitars Unveils American Series Soloist SL3
Robert Ham
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