Reviewed by:
Nirvana101, on july 25, 2006
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 513.5
Purchased from: eBay
Features: Similar to the Marty Friedman Signature Model, this US-made Kelly has the same radical Kelly styling, the same maple neck-thru design, bound ebony fingerboard with sharkfin inlay, and a poplar body for lighter weight. One difference is that the Jackson KE2 guitar has a Seymour Duncan SH-2 humbucker, in addition to the TB-4, and it has an Original Floyd Rose tremolo. Includes hardshell case ($169 value). // 8
Sound: I play mostly metal, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer etc. and this guitar is excellent for it. I use a Vox pathfinder amp with a Boss metalzone pedal and the sound I get out of it is great. It could use new pickups. The Jackson ones aren't that great, but if you throw a pair of Seymour Duncans on this badboy it sounds incredible. This guitar can get you a huge variety of sounds from Def Leppard to In Flames. Depending on what settings you put your amp too, you could get a brilliant clean sound to a low heavy sound like Slipknot. Stock it comes with Jackson Pickups so I'm only going to give it an 8 because it still sounds good but the Seymour Duncans would give it a 10. // 8
Action, Fit & Finish: Since I didn't buy the guitar new, I can't say how well it was built, but since I bought it, it has been in excellent condition. The action is about a 1 mm from the fretboard so you can shred lightning fast solos with ease. Everything on the guitar was set up perfectly, no loose hardware or anything. The fretboard had some wear from playing but thats about it. // 10
Reliability & Durability: This guitar is excellent for live playing. It won't go out of tune and if you want, you can swing it around your back since the buttons are solid on it. The only thing I don't like about it is the licensed floyd rose, if you use it enough your guitar comes horribly out of tune so I'm looking into getting an original floyd rose or a kahler. I'd use this guitar at a gig without a backup, it's a solid axe and unless your a ferocious player, your not going to hurt it at all. // 9
Impression: For the style of music I play (metal), this guitar is perfect. I've been playing it for about 9 months now and it kills every other guitar I've played (except for a few $5000 guitars I've played in the music shop). I love the fast neck and low action this guitar has and especially the look. I only wish it had new humbuckers and a better tremelo system on it. Those are the only things that need to be changed over time. If I lost this guitar, I probably would buy it again but after I bought a different guitar, because I love trying out new brands and styles. // 9
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