DK2S Dinky Review

Alder body (with flame maple veneer on trans finishes) with bolt-on maple neck and compound radius rosewood fingerboard. Features Seymour Duncan humbucking (bridge), single-coil (middle) and Sustainiac Driver (neck) pickups, Jackson low-profile double-locking tremolo and black hardware.

Features:	9.5
Sound:	9.7
Action:	9.3
Reliability:	9.3
Impression:	9.2
Overall rating:	9.4
Users rating:	9.5
Comments:	28

Featured review by: unregistered, on may 15, 2008

Features: Alder body (with flame maple veneer on trans finishes) with bolt-on maple neck and compound radius rosewood fingerboard. Features Seymour Duncan humbucking (bridge), single-coil (middle) and Sustainiac Driver (neck) pickups, Jackson low-profile double-locking tremolo and black hardware. This guitar is suited for very fast picking and the neck gives an easy and comfortable hand movement, I made myself home the first second I held the guitar in my hands! // 10

Sound: Well I mostly play blues, grunge & metal, and I tell you this guitar just fits everything perfectly! It has a really smooth and heavy sound when distorted (using my DigiTech DF-7). The distortions sometimes are hard to control and then it becomes less smoother, but it's probably coming from the pedal and not from the guitar itself.
The Sustainiac feature is amazing, it gives an infinite sound for any sound you make (as long as you hold it) and it fits all kind of music! The only problem is that when you accidently tap strings uncarefully it makes the tap souns sustained and than it's really bugging the ear, but you'll learn how to avoid it after a few hours of playing. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The finish is an eye-melting Amber Burst! It really rocks and makes you want to play it every time you look at it! The action is just great and fits me perfectly (mostly for Ultra-fast metal). It did have a few flaws on the body, but that's because I got out of a 1-year exhibition for a big sale, and the flaws are almost unnoticable! // 9

Reliability & Durability: I've never played in a gig, but this guitar will most definitely fit great on stage, thanks to the awesome looks and sounds of it. The hardware looks like it wont have any problems in the future, though the whole idea of changing the battery for the Sustainiac feature kinds of makes me mad. The finish doesn't look like it will wear off easily though, it's really solid! // 9

Impression: As I said above, I mostly play blues and metal (mainly metal) and it just fits perfectly, couldn't ask for more! Overall, I have been playing for almost 3 years, and by far this is the best guitar I've every played, and it's going to be a REALLY long while until I get a new guitar, and that one will probably be some really high-leveled because this one is almost the top! If it would get stolen I'd definitely buy it again, unless I had no money. The guitar is full of love and you can't stare at it for more than 5 seconds without wanting to jump on it and start playing it for hours, and the Sustainiac feature opens more opportunities for different kinds of solos. // 10

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: killingmoon45, on september 11, 2006

Purchased from: Curly's music

Features: Alder body (with flame maple veneer on trans finishes) with bolt-on maple neck and compound radius rosewood fingerboard. Features Seymour Duncan humbucking (bridge), single-coil (middle) and Sustainiac Driver (neck) pickups, Jackson low-profile double-locking tremolo and black hardware. // 9

Sound: This is an amazing guitar, it's full of power and tone thanks to the Seymour Duncan pickups. I can get any sounds from ac/dc to napalm death just using the bridge pu and altering the volume. I play thorugh a Voz V847 - Line 6 uber metal - Boss DD-3 - Peavey valve King 212 Combo. on clean I use the middle and the neck pickup becasue they are more full than the humbucker which is surprising. the sustain pickup is fantastic I gigged the other week and the drummer went to the toilet in the middle of a solo and I was able to hold the note until then which was cool. it sustains either the note you r playing or a mix of that note and its upper harmonic, it also sustains the upper harmonic on its own. if you like dime bag darrel and his screams then forget his sig guitar get this, because the harmonic sustains for ever you can get far more dramatic effects and they always work never fail. The sustaner is also a neck pickup and it's very good I would say it's kinda like the Seymour Duncan 59 in sound and response it's great for lead work. I have try other jacksons out and this by far is the best because of the sustainer. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action was great straigth from the shop but I had to ajust the G string it was a little high for me. The finish looks errie it's see thru black. The guitar is very comfortalbe to paly it's srat style shape with similar contours. The jumbo frets make it a joy to play. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Even tho it is alder it's is stil quite solid and I would gig and have gigged without backup. All hardware is top quality as this guitar was mde in japan unlike other jacksons. The floyd rose is amazing an is as solid as the Ibanez edge pros. I don't forsee any problems with this guitar although as with many guitars the input jack couls come loose quite easily. // 10

Impression: I've bin playing for 5 years now and I have a Gibson SG Standard and a Epiphone Les Paul Custom with stevie stevens rebel yeah pickups by bare knukle pickups and I have an Ibanez JS1000. I really love the Jackson because it reminds me of the '80s hair metal guitars with ther pointey headstocks very cool look. // 9

overall: 9.2

Reviewed by: Pr0gNut, on december 15, 2008

Price paid: $ 759

Purchased from: Bobs Music

Features: Lets see here.MIJ with an alder body and maple neck with a RW board.24 jumbo frets with Shark tooth inlays.Sustainer system in the neck with a duncan JB in the bridge and a duncan single coil in the middle.Licensed FR trem.Flame maple top dyed a deep red with a gloss finish.Set up with a master volume and tone and a intensity control for the sustainer system along with an on/off Switch for the sustainer and a mode selector for it. // 10

Sound: You can get a lot of sounds out of this thing thanks to the pick up array.The JB is good for power and distorted tones and the neck pickup, when played passively, has a nice warm soling tone.The middle pup is ok for cleans, but they're not great.I'll be replacing the JB with a duncan distortion or invader but that's just personal preference.I tune the guitar low and the jb gets kinda muddy, but for Standard and drop d tunings it kicks ass. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Uhm flawless as far as I can tell, the finish looks amazing, the deep red color I got on the flame maple top still catches my eye when I walk by it.The action was good from the factory, all I did was raise the pups a bit and switched the strings to my preference. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Very well built for the price, the floyd can be a bit dodgy though.I've had some minor tuning issues with it but that's to be expected, nothing major at all. Everything is still solid after almost a year of abuse.I'm pretty sure it can take whatever you throw at it, I've used it Live and didn't have any thing go wrong with it. // 9

Impression: For the money, It's a sweet guitar, and a few upgrades can make it even better.The few minor issues I've had with it aside, it's still one of my two main guitars and matches well with my Ibanez radius. For metal/hard rock this is one of the better guitars in it's price range for sure. Good job Jackon. // 9

overall: 9.4

Reviewed by: Mazzakazza, on january 19, 2008

Price paid: $ 915

Purchased from: Manson's, Exeter

Features: // 9

Sound: This guitar is very versatile. I am playing it through a Roland Cube 60 amp, and with it's wide variety of tone and sound, this guitar delivers well. It is not noisy at all, except when the sustainiac is on, which can screech or continue humming if you're not careful. This can be irritating, and the guitar also loses volume drastically when the sustainiac is switched off, but does regain quickly. It will play anything from extreme metal, to soft acoustic, and pairs well with the rectifier and acoustic models on my amp. The Floyd Rose gives you the ability to do insane dive-bombs, especially when coupled with the sustainiac. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action was perfect. I have not had to alter it from factory set-up at all. The pickups were also completely fine, and the body and neck are solid. There is a slight crackle when the pickup selector is moved, but it's nothing awful. The finish still looks great, though it does seem to collect (visible) dirt and grease quite a lot more than my other guitars. // 9

Reliability & Durability: This guitar has one hell of a solid body. I have only put one small dent in it, and I play pretty roughly. It's not too heavy, not too light, just right. The hardware still impresses me The strap buttons seemed pretty good, but to, I've replaced them with Straploks anyway. It's dependable, I've not had a problem with it, at all. // 10

Impression: I convinced myself before going out to purchase my new guitar, that it'd be an RG1570. In the shop, I tried out quite a few in the rg and sa series, and then the shopkeeper brought this one over. It blew the others out of the water, and completely changed my mind. £500 later, I walked out the shop with it, and I don't regret it a single bit. This axe is just a great piece of kit, and I would definitely buy it again if it got lost/stolen. The only trouble I have with it, is the amount of 9V batteries I get through to power the sustainiac. It plays a huge range of styles well, from acoustic strumming to neoclassical shred. It can sound brutal for heavy metal, or calm. It takes to all effects well, apart from my Dunlop Crybaby wah, the two don't get along well, and the effect from the pedal tends to get lost, unlike when I play with my Strat through the same amp. It's a shame. The few negatives I can pick out from this guitar are hugely outweighed by the positives. I recommend it highly, and it can be found at very reasonable prices, commonly. // 9

overall: 10

Reviewed by: stonyman65, on september 23, 2006

Purchased from: Sadeal Music

Features: My DK2S was made in 2005 in Japan. It has 24 Medium Jumbo frets on a Jackson Compound radius (12"-14") rosewood fretboard. Solid alder body with AA maple top with Transparent blue finish. super Strat body shape with bolt on maple neck with contoured neck heel. Jackson low profile floyed rose tremelo, standard Jackson chrome tuners. H/S/S pickup config with a Duncan Designed JB in the bridge and stacked singles in the neck and middle. standard 5-way switch, one volume, one tone, gain control. My model is the 2005 model without the sustanic Drive pickup, mine only has an active gain boost. // 10

Sound: This suits my stlye perfectly, I play hard rock and metal most of the time and this guitar is perfect for bands like Megadeth and Pantera. The Duncan Designed pickups sound seprizingly good but real duncans are better. The active gain boost is a god-send when your trying to get those high-pitched harmonics in the middle of a Pantera song. It can cover all the bases but this baby is more suited for shredding. Using it with a Carvin MTS3212 and a Boss ME50 this thing sounds amazing. I can get rich Strat neck tones from the stacked singlecoils without the hum and pure loud, distorted mayhem from the bridge pickup. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: This thing is amazing. I got a free setup from the shops tech (thanks Norm) everything was perfect. The action was so low I couldn't belive it would play without fret buzz but it plays every fret flawlessly with no buzz or anything. The trem is solid and stays in tune extremly well for a aluminum based trem. No problenms what-so-ever. I even got a free trem tool with it. // 10

Reliability & Durability: It stays in tune no matter what I do to it. the hardware is military grade stuff and after playing this thing for hours a day for 2 months, I've only had to re-tune this guitar once and I do some crazy whammy stuff too. It can take some really heavy dimebag darrel divebombs and play with yngwie-esqe speed. it's perfect! // 10

Impression: I love this guitar period. If it where stolen I would probably go insane. I thought Jacksons where okay, and only the US made soloists where worth the cash but I played this Jackson for 2 minuets and I knew this was a keeper. I compared it to my other guitars and this thing out plays and sounds better and stays in tune better than my Jem and highly modified US Stratocaster. The finish is amazing and this is perfect for any type of music but doesn't really Shine until it is used with a high gain amp and is used to shred. The only thing I wish it had was officail Seymour Duncan pickups instead of the Duncan Designed ones. But even those are great, I'm gonna take out the Bridge JB and put a Dimebucker in it when I get the chance. For the price and quality, this thing is like no other. If your looking for a high end guitar with a locking tremelo for a low price, check these babies out. You'll thank me later. // 10

overall: 8.6

Reviewed by: Osiris_uk, on march 27, 2008

Features: Beautiful paint job, a red kinda swirl thing. Definetly has the look of a Super Strat. It's a licensed Floyd which kinda sucks because the real ones are way better. Jumbo Frets. It was made in Japan and it has a 5 way, with s-s-h pickup arrangement. Not sure on what the woods are. // 9

Sound: I just got this guitar after my Ibanez RG6 piezo broke down (don't ask how, I'll just get pissed off so I went to Samash and found this guitar on sale for $578. The sound is amazing! I play mostly progressive metal, and I love John Petrucci (a.k.a. GOD)'s tone. So I run this bad boy through my Boss GT-8 into a Marshall Zakk Wylde micro stack and boy does this baby burn! The JB in the bridge is the perfect pickup for anyone. I've played all types of guitars with various pickups and I gotta hand it to mr. duncan as he definitly knows how to make a great pickup. The sound is crisp, clear, and can be modified to any sound based on amp settings whether you desire scorching metal or old school rock 'n' roll or even clean sounds this baby can hold it's own. I use the single coils exclusively for cleans as they react the best with the acoustic simulator on the GT-8. Seriously I can get a piezo sound or even an actual acoustic sound with these pickups! Since it's an alder body it's got a nice fat bottom end and really screaming highs. The sound is naturally bright but can be adjusted via the Jb as I explained earlier can make the guitar sound like anything. Overall I think this is the greatest sounding guitar in the price range. Of course, nothing beats an american made Jackson but this thing will definitly satisfy your needs regardless. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: Had to adjust the action, as it was a little high for me. The volume knob is a bit shakey but that dosent even matter cause it dosent affect the sound. Overall it's almost flawless. Nice fit and finish, the headstock just flows in over the neck, shark inlays nice done once, my guitar fell on the ground, but ther was nothing on it. Very nice and strong guitar. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is not something I would go axe slashing with, as it WILL fall apart due to the lightweight alder body. But other than that, it should withstand all gigs. This guitar is something that if taken care of properly, could last a couple of generations aside from once in a while tune-ups (not even a joke). Overall built very well and will last you a long time. I would only get a backup for different tunings but that's it. // 8

Impression: I have been playing a little over a year and a half, but I practice over 6 hours a day so my skill is (as I've been told) at the 10 year mark. Other than this I have no other guitars, I use this one exclusively, and only because I cannot picture myself playing any guitar for practicing or gigs. Overall fantastic value. If you truly appreciate music then buy this guitar now. You will not be disappointed. // 8

Comments

[a1sauce]

This guy knows exactly what he's talking about. I bought this guitar about a year ago and it's one of the best guitars I've ever played. If your looking for a high quality guitar thats not over 1000 dollars then I highly recommend this guitar!

[xxZeroxx]

I played this guitar at my local music store and it was honestly the best guitar i have ever played.

[xion665]

xxZeroxx wrote:

I played this guitar at my local music store and it was honestly the best guitar i have ever played.

Thats because Jackson guitars are the shiznit. I own a soloist and it was well worth every single cent. Its my baby and i recommend anyone with any love of guitar to at least play a jackson.

[duhandyul]

Just bought one, it is SICK. Distrotion sounds great.
Only problem is wen im not playing, the strings are resonating like mad which is getting annoying!

[pownna]

I bought my dk2s 1 month ago and i fell in love wuth it....Its so awsome...the sound is great .everything is perfect on this guitar...specialy the sustainer pick up..

[ibanez87]

can this thing do AC/DC?

[Hanger 17]

how does the bolt-on go? does it hinder your playing and is it contoured or not? and what do those two switches do?

[Hanger 17]

duhandyul :
Just bought one, it is SICK. Distrotion sounds great.
Only problem is wen im not playing, the strings are resonating like mad which is getting annoying!

Is that when you have the sustanic pickup selected or just in general?

[Hanger 17]

I just got one more question: with the see-through black is the hardware silver or is it still black?

[erithlon]

the hardware is black, Hanger 17 :P

Look: http://www.onlinestagegear.com/brand/Jackson/PRO/DK2S-TBLK.j pg

[erithlon]

I think I'll buy this guitar...

[Steel8909]

What's the price on this guitar? I can't seem to find it, all what I'm seeing are the prices for the Dk2M. Or are they the same?

[wurzel1981]

Just ordered one...can't wait!!!

[wurzel1981]

its arrived and it is the best guitar i've played in a long time. Better in my opinion than my friends custom 24. The sustainiac rocks, as does the bridge pickup. The associated electronics are waay cool and its so much fun to tinker with. my next guitar is definately going to be another jackson, they've converted me!!

[Mazzakazza]

I got one for Xmas. It's absolutely awesome. Brutal.

[PBDoo]

I have just ordered one of these. Surprisingly hard to get in the UK, found out there is one amber sunburst coming into the cournty in April! And hopefully its going to be mine! Will let you know what I think after it arrives.

[08L1V10N]

It makes really weird sounds when playing acoustic (not amplified I mean) The strings are resonating or something

[pig god 121]

i play allot of classic rock would this be the thing for me

[08L1V10N]

^ It will suit it definitely

[Asseladden]

I'm gonna buy it tomorrow!

[Pr0gNut]

08L1V10N wrote:

It makes really weird sounds when playing acoustic (not amplified I mean) The strings are resonating or something

You most likely have the sustainer system turned on,which is making your strings resonate since uhm,that what it does(Ebow built into the guitar basically).

Ive owned this thing for 6 months now and I love it.The tone on the neck pup is awesome,I actually use it more than the JB in the bridge since its similar in output but has a warm/smoother tone,great for solos.The bridge pup has good power for chords and riffing and the middle pick up can get passable cleans.All and all its a great guitar for a budget musician price.

[ibrahimasood]

im gonna maybe order this for my 18th bday.

[$k!llz]

how much in canadian does this cost at a guitr shop, and how long will it sustain untill the battery dies, and are the pickups active,

[$k!llz]

Just Bought one for $1100. i have to waitfor it to get here cause they orderd it in for me because they didnt have it in stock. cant wait!!

[$k!llz]

$k!llz wrote:

how much in canadian does this cost at a guitr shop, and how long will it sustain untill the battery dies, and are the pickups active,

There passive, and the siongle coils are stacked humbuckers.

[Fear3001]

would it be possible to install a emg 85 as the bridge and a emg sa in the middle but keep the sustainiac

[FearOfTheDuck]

Man, i'm hopefully getting this for my 18th. Its so nice! And its going to be nice having a floyd rose so i can go a bit more crazy whilst soloing! Yum

[Snake™]

They don't sell it in Sunburst anymore.