Jackson American Series Soloist SL2MG HT – the perfect guitar for modern metal players?
£2,149/$2,499.99, jacksonguitars.com
I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to review Jackson’s reintroduced American series back in 2022, and I’ve checked out the second fruit of the new Corona, California production line, the Virtuoso, a year or so later.
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Both guitars left me with the distinct impression that the project – overseen by Senior Master Builder Mike Shannon, one of Grover Jackson’s original employees – seemed to know exactly what modern technical guitarists wanted from a US-made instrument.
This impression is further enhanced by the introduction of a a pair of new Soloist models earlier this year – including this very instrument that seems tailor made for modern metal players who don’t necessarily feel the need to wobble…
Jackson American Series Soloist SL2MG HT. Image: Adam Gasson
Is the American Series Soloist SL2MG HT just a regular Soloist with a hardtail?
Well, yes and no – you’d be forgiven for being so reductive, because the headline change is the removal of the default Soloish Floyd Rose vibrato for a hardtail, but that’s not all… We also have a new HH configuration sporting the classic metal combination of EMG 81/85s, along with an accompanying battery compartment located at the rear. True metalheads will bear testament to there being no substitute in terms of sheer output than battery-powered active pickups, and the 81/85 combination is the most famous of all.
The rest of the specs are identical to the Floyd Rose version. A slim ‘D’ shaped ‘Speed neck’ with impeccably rolled fingerboard edges, neck-through-construction, an ebony fretboard, and locking tuners.
The hardtail and EMG pickup on the American Series Soloist SL2MG HT. Image: Adam Gasson
What difference does a hardtail really make?
It’s a significant one in a variety of ways. As a trem player for most of my teenage years, at the tender age of 25 I bought a hardtail Telecaster thinking that the only difference/advantage would be the ability to perform country-style double stop bends without the non-stretched strings being affecting by the bend (caused by the trem being pulled upwards when bending a string).
However, after a while I realised that there is a significant difference between a hardtail and trem, that isn’t defined just by the ability to warble a string. There is also a lighter tension on a hardtail because you don’t have floating trem fighting against you, so bending strings feels significantly easier. If a looser tension is preferable, then hardtails are worth exploring.
What’s more, the Soloist’s vaunted neck-through construction is something that should interest all shredders. Jackson describes its construction as “seamlessly extending three pieces of maple wood used for the neck through the entire length of the body” and this is accompanied by a sleek chamfering around the lower heal.
This delicate sculpting coupled with lack of heel easily makes it one of the most comfortable guitars to play at the higher end of the neck. The modern technical player certainly likes to explore the entire length of the fretboard and the unencumbered access to each and every fret provides all the encouragement you’ll need.
The American Series Soloist SL2MG HT fretboard. Image: Adam Gasson
Do EMG pickups actually sound good?
It’s been a while since I experienced the classic combination of 81/85s, a pairing still favoured by contemporary metal players everywhere. The tired cliche from non-metal players is that active pickups lack character and other such wooly terms, so to put that to the test I first decide to audition the Soloist’s sound through a clean Fender Deluxe Reverb.
I say clean… whilst the setting was clean for any other of our guitars, it certainly isn’t the case with a bridge EMG 81 at full volume! It is outrageously loud and breaking the amp up into distortion – what a surprise! As silly as an experiment as it was, it still served as a reminder that active EMGs are a completely different beast even compared to the most high-output passive pickups – you cannot simply swap them into your rig and expect the same results.
That being said, once I roll back the volume to about halfway, the sound cleans up nicely, and in each of the guitar’s three positions you enjoy a strident and appealing clarity when arpeggiating chords – something that is further emphasised by the bright ebony fretboard.
But of course, if you’re investing in an EMG-loaded guitar, it’s probably not to play clean through a Deluxe Reverb, so it’s high time I load up a Diezel VH4 model on my Axe-FX 3. Instantly, I’m taken aback by the sheer power on tap here – a few palm-muted chords sonically transporting me to the world of ’80s thrash in an instant.
There is almost unrivalled focused mid-range sound produced by the EMGs, and I was curious as to what the specific frequency read-out would be. With this in mind I load up the FabFilter EQ plug-in, and the graphic illustrates that there is no dip anywhere in the mid-range frequences and zero extraneous high or low frequencies. None.
This is what makes EMGs so beloved by guitarists who favour precision and power – there’s no flub and no superfluous frequencies here. The sound just screams Hetfield and I cannot recall the last time a passive high-output pickup provided me with this sheer clarity of grunt and power.
The perfect balance of volume across each of the three pickup settings is also noteworthy, and when engaging the neck pickup for lead work, I’m pleasantly surprised to find that it performs with the same kind of clarity as the bridge. There’s none of the soupy saturated mess you’d expect with a high-gain neck passive pickup – each note rings true and the separation, even on distorted chord work, is impressive.
The American Series Soloist SL2MG HT headstock. Image: Adam Gasson
Is the Jackson American Series Soloist SL2MG HT worth buying?
If absence makes the heart grow fonder, that’s certainly the case with the EMG 81/85s. It’s been a good many years since I’ve had the pleasure, and I must admit I’d forgotten just how unparalleled they are in terms of power and distorted clarity. If power metal is your bag, then there is simply no substitute, because they drive the amp to a focused mid-rich distortion that no other passive pickup is quite capable of.
But a guitar’s sound is the sum of its parts and the wonderfully crafted neck-thru design provides extra sustain, and the ebony board a little extra brightness. The slim ‘D’ neck with its covertly supporting shoulders will be a dream carve for many shredders, and the jumbo stainless-steel frets provide such a slick surface and that travel up and down the fretboard is lightning fast.
The question is, I suppose, why you’d spend the extra lolly for a USA-made Jackson when the Indonesian-made models are pretty excellent, all told. But the truth is that there’s a finesse to the construction and an overall attention to detail on this guitar that you just don’t find on cheaper instruments, and if you want the best – this is it.
Like this? Try these
When you’re talking about premium guitars tailored for metal you’re probably thinking about brands like ESP, and the E-II Horizon NT-II (£2,249) is a serious guitar. If you want something a little less overtly in the metal realm, Fender’s Jim Root Stratocaster (£1,889) brings the EMG recipe to the Big F. Finally, what is a round-up of metal guitars without Ibanez’s Prestige range? The RG5121ET-PRT (£2,085) is a pointy metal monster, and features Fishman’s popular Fluence active pickups.
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