So I will compare this to the guitar with my others.
ESP Alexi 600 (2006 era) $1,000 NEW
Jackson RR3 Errie Dess Swirl (late 90s-00s era) $750 NEW
Schecter Diamond series C6 (2012ish) $250 NEW
First the Jackson RRx24
PROs
Looks sick, thru neck is nice, price point is "okay"
CONs
Neck - Oh man, the binding and inlays. Ugly. I didnt really notice until I changed the strings in the first week. Just all sorts of swirl marks and scoring of the inlay and binding materials. 7th Fret marker inlay was raised up out of the fretboard. Fixed it myself because if I cant trust Jackson to get my a guitar in decent shape, what are the odds they do it right the 2nd time? Frets themselves are alright, most look pretty uniform, I dunno if the guy who quality controlled it slipped a bent string or something because the 15th fret has some string damage/flat spot upon delivery. Also fixed it myself. This hasent been an issue on ANY of my other guitars NEW.
Electronics - minor complaint, none of the 3 knobs feel a like. They all have noticeable different resistance in turning them, not sure if its a feature or QC issue.
Pickups - mediocre from what I expected. New Duracell 9v, height adjustments, tone knob adjustments, nothing seems to make them nice to me. The PASSIVE HZ H4 EMGs in the Alexi spank these BlackOuts. the Active pickups just feel so sterile and bland. Killed the dynamics of the playing comparatively. My Schecters factory pickups feel more dynamic and responsive than the blackouts. The Black out NECK pickup is actually halfway decent, but goes unused by me.
OVERALL - I regret the purchase. I wont return it. I will just modify it into the guitar it should have been. Ie The HZ H4 single bridge pickup, de-solder everything but the volume knob. Buy an actual FR 1000 bridge for it. Spend some time actually taking care of that embarrassing fret board.
I have no idea who at Jackson designs these things, but it feels like they are so out of touch with the identity of their instruments. There is a reason all the big names left Jackson for ESP. This is one reason why. I love the body style of these guitars, but I have learned my lesson yet again. If its not a custom or 1500$+ built Jackson, its not worth owning.
My Schecter is a more fun guitar to play than the Jackson, which is so Ironic because I tested it against a Jackson of the same price range back in the day. Hated the Jackson, decided to wait a bit longer for them to get their crap together as a company. Decided to give them another chance and regret it. What I was hoping was going to be my new workhorse guitar became a "for looks onstage".
IF you are trying to decide of a Jackson vs ESP. Go the ESP route, better build quality and consistency over the past 20 years. There is a reason Alexi, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, etc, etc, etc moved to ESP about 20 years ago.
