NAMM 2011: Jackson Chris Broderick Signature Soloist
Here it is: the new Jackson Chris Broderick (Megadeth) Custom Shop signature Soloist model. Oooh. I’m a sucker for 7-strings and aggressive superstrats and this has got to be one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. You’ve just got to see this guitar in person.
Chris says of the axe:
“I love it. It’s great. You can just feel the balance, the way it sits. It doesn’t want to drop at all on its neck. It’s awesome. When I look at the fretboard radius, I know it’s a 12-inch. I love that. I love the curve of a fretboard radius. The quilted maple lining is awesome. Even the way they’ve beveled it from the top into the neck. It almost looks seamless; as seamless as you could possible make it. It’s beautiful. Killer. Can’t wait to play it.”
5 Responses to NAMM 2011: Jackson Chris Broderick Signature Soloist
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Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), guitarworld.com, Tone Deaf, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
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Hmmmm, sounds like there are compromises in some areas and benefits in others from what I can tell:
- Ibanez wouldn’t give Chris ebony fretboards and only died rosewood ones black (a cheap and bad compromise, one I would find insulting if I was at Chris’ level)
- Neck through guitars are unstable. My flatmate has owned a Carvin seven string neck through and esp horizon neck through, both ended up getting sold because they warp (that is just my flatmate alone). Kiko Louiero did the same and stopped using his ESP neck throughs because with all the travelling they just got messed up with the change in atmospherics. (Chris will find this out in no time I am certain)
- The Jackson signature model uses a regular floyd, the Ibanez’s that Chris was using had ZR trems with ball bearings (an item he professed was his most favourite tremolo EVER and a better technology than knife edges).
- The Jackson has added maple binding all around the body and neck. The more glue and extra pieces on a guitar = bad for resonance and sustain. Personally I think it is tacky on this guitar, they should have just left it to natural binding on the body and no more. (it has me wonder if this sig model has a maple veneer and not a proper cap, hence the binding hides the illusion…..)
- The Jackson has a finished neck. Like with the glue, more paint = less resonance and less sound from the wood of the instrument
- I can see where the shape on the new guitar is supposed to be contemporary, but I just don’t get that classic vibe. I think the Ibanez was much more elegant looking and the paint job looked less plastic, more natural.
- With the sheer amount of maple on this guitar from the neck going through and the top (depending on whether it is a veneer or not) this could be a painfully bright guitar. On a neck through guitar, mahogany wings do not do much at all when contributing to the sound, especially if it has a decent maple top covering the whole thing too…….
- A neck through guitar won’t be able to have a thin wizard profile neck or similar sort of low setup that a bolt on Ibanez would. (we are talking about MEGA low action and ease of playing)
Summary:
Ibanez – Better paint finish, tremolo, neck profile, construction (in regards to a balanced tone) and no unnecessary accoutrements. +5 However they (as a company) didn’t give Chris creative freedom on designing a signature guitar (Wes Borland left for the same reason) and didn’t give him something as simple as an ebony fretboard. -2
Jackson – The exact opposite………..
Great points. I might add that even Vai doesn’t get ebony fretboards with Ibanez now.
so you’ve obviously played his Jackson sig and can come to the conclusion that the neck profile is not as good on his CUSTOM SHOP SIGANTURE, as it is on his Ibanez. It’s the custom shop, they can make whatever neck shape they want. Any it’s not glued on binding. It’s called implied binding, they tape around the edge of the guitar then spray the color and then remove the tape. So the Natural binding you see is actually the maple cap on the guitar, not taped on maple binding. It is glued on to the neck, but do you really think that a little sliver of maple on an ebony fretboard on a maple neck is going to make that much difference. Also, just so you know, every guitar has finish on the neck, Gibson, Fender, ESP, Schecter, every company. And I would highly doubt that you or anyone else could tell the difference between a guitar with a finished neck, and an unfinished one. Also, why would a neck through guitar not be able to get really low action? Whether it’s a bolt on, set neck , or neck through has no difference on the ability to get low action and a thin neck. Very few of your point are valid, the one I will agree with is the trem. He liked the ZR better, obviously he thinks he’ll like the new LoPro OFR they are making for him.
Summary:
The amount of finish on a guitar makes very little difference in tone, especially after youre sending through how many effects, and then a high gain amp with reverb and overdrive. It has a full maple cap, not a veneer. It’s a $2,500 USA Jackson. I highly doubt they would skimp on the maple cap, but then create a whole new bridge for the guy. +50000000000
I agree that the amount of finish doesn’t make much difference once you pile on the effects, but it does make a big difference to the way the string energy is transferred through the wood – especially when you consider those Ibanez finishes that are about 4mm thick (I know, I’ve accidentally chipped more than a few – oops). Essentially the vibrations hit that brick wall and bounce back into the body, interrupting the vibration pattern and reducing things like sustain, dynamics and high end. A thin finish, especially an old-school nitrocellulose one, reduces that problem a great deal, and oil-finished guitars even moreso.
But yeah, once you crank up the gain and effects, you’ll lose a lot of that subtlety.