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School me on Soloists! I played a couple today, and finally quot;get it.quot; The problem is, unless I score a hellacious deal, an SL1 or 2 is pretty much out of the question. What do you think of the SL3, or even a comparable Charvel.

Keep in mind, when I say quot;comparablequot; I'm not incredibly picky, and if the quality is there, MIJ is just as good as MIA for what I'm doing.

I had a blue one in the 80's, amp; u'r post just made me miss it.


Originally Posted by seafoamerI had a blue one in the 80's, amp; u'r post just made me miss it.

Sorry Now punch yourself in the face... I miss that

I have not played one, but the compound radius is irking me... Never did like those. But if it plays as well as people say (fastest necks ever, hellacious sustain, just all out great tone) I may have to get some anti-irk-of-compound-radius medicine......

I think I'm losing the game of life because of that =[

I like the Charvel Model series. The Model 4 verry similar to a Soloist of that era.

The SL3 is on par construction wise with the USA Select series, IIRC. Where they cut the cost is on the binding, MOP, rosewood fretboard, and trem. Swap out the trem for an OFR, and you have a *****in axe! They can be had on eBay for as low as 650 or so.

Also, DK-1's can be had for about 850 . Go try a couple, see if you like it.

Jb, They Sl-3's and SL4's are Outstanding!! The down sides to them are the licensed Floyd instead of the OFR, no neck binding, rosewood instead of ebony board, and the 3's and 4's dont have as nice of inlays. There may be a few other small things I am leaving out. I had a USA Jackson SL-2H and it was a nice Guitar (Damn nice actually) But, for some reason I am in love with my SL-4 and I no longer have that SL-2H.

In my mind the 3's and 4's are a Killer bang for the buck!!!!!

You can pick up a used SL-4 for around $400. Just go over the fret ends (their sharp), replace the R4 locking nut with a R3 and your good to go. The reason for replacing the locking nut is that the R4 has a wider spacing and both the low and high E seem to come off the fretboard. The R3 has a narrower string spacing. If you can find a early to mid 90's Japanese Professional series guitar, their a steal. Quality is as good as the US models, for a fraction of the cost. A buddy of mine has one and it's every bit as nice as a SL-2 I once owned. The Charvel Model series have a Fender type body, but with a Jackson neck. And is another good alternative.

The model 4 is indeed a Strat body but it's basswood, with a bolt on neck. Not much of a soloist.
The model 5 is a dual hum, 24 frets neck thru, maple neck and poplar wings. The 5a only has a single humbucker, the model six, which I highly advise has an HSS configuration with a midbooster, 24 frets and sharkies... I have a 4 and the neck is absolutely amazing.
All the model series guitars (and their successors the 'toothpaste' series, you may want want to look into the 650, or the 750 if you want a short scale) were made in Japan in the 80s. They have either a Jackson JT6 (pretty decent Floyd design in my opinion) or a Kahler flatmount (for the 1986 guitars)

Welcome to the machine, JB. You'll never be able to go back.

I've never played an MIJ model that I liked as much as mine, but I haven't been able to try all of them. You'll definitely want to switch out the trem to an OFR at some point. I think they're all right about the Charvels being just as good. I'm sure Zerberus will have some good info about them.

By the way, you could always sell that jumpsuit and the gloves and that would probably get you enough money to go ahead and get the MIA model. LOL.

When your talking soloists your talking the greatest guitar made. I would pay any price for these as they are worth it. You can find some good deals on the sl1's and 2's on ebay so I would definately try that before I would go the sl3 or 4 route.

the model .... umm 5 i believe. soloist shape, neck through, HH, floyd. dont remember if the floyd was recessed or no, but a white one was on ebay a couple of months ago and it went for around 3-350

Charvel Model 6, the guitar destined to become the soloist (although it does have a RW fingerboard)

A friend of mine had a pearl white model 6 some years back, it felt very close to my USA sl-1, if you could find one of those that would be your best bet, change p/u's and throw a FLoyd on there and you've got a nice axe.

The Floyds are not recessed.
And the JT6 is pretty good still. I have one, it's 17 years old and stays in tune perfectly fine, I have no troubles with it. It's my first guitar I almost just started playing too, but I knew my Floyd 101. It really isn't too hard to learn.

well, this charvel i got is around 15 years old. thefloyd is still the stock one and hold up perfectly. the guitar itself shows normal players wear and tear, but the floyd is in pristine condition. it's damn perfect. i went Vai on it today and it didnt drop out of tune for a bit

Thanks everybody, and a big old *BUMP*

Another question... do the necks on the SL3 amp; 4 feel the same (shape wise) as the SL1 amp; 2?


Originally Posted by DeadSkinSlayer3The SL3 is on par construction wise with the USA Select series, IIRC. Where they cut the cost is on the binding, MOP, rosewood fretboard, and trem. Swap out the trem for an OFR, and you have a *****in axe! They can be had on eBay for as low as 650 or so.

Also, DK-1's can be had for about 850 . Go try a couple, see if you like it.

1........your word stealer!


Originally Posted by JB_From_HellAnother question... do the necks on the SL3 amp; 4 feel the same (shape wise) as the SL1 amp; 2?

Not exactly...

The SL-3's don't have the edge of the neck rounded off like the American ones do, which IMO does result in a slight loss of comfort. Also, the necks on SL-3's seem to have a softer C shape than the MIA's to my hands. Both extremely playable, nonetheless.