Jackson JS32Q Dinky Arch Top review

Floyd Rose-equipped budget shredder

  • £274
  • €275
  • $399
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The pickups aren't going to set your world alight, but they're enough to get you started

MusicRadar Verdict

Equip this beast with a set of Seymour Duncans or DiMarzios and you'll have a serious electric that's anything but budget.

Pros

  • +

    Solid build. Good value for money. One of the best Floyd Rose-equipped options in its price range.

Cons

  • -

    High tension Floyd Rose setup.

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Scram jazz cats: this is no conventional archtop. Rather, Jackson's use of the term signifies that the JS32Q's top is curved, rather than flat like the recently-reviewed JS12's.

"Add in the quilt maple top and white fingerboard/headstock binding, and it's one classy shredder indeed"

The JF32Q is kitted out with classic Jackson touches, too, including sharkfin inlays and a double-locking Floyd Rose licensed vibrato. Add in the quilt maple top and white fingerboard/headstock binding, and it's one classy shredder indeed.

Playability-wise, there's not a huge amount of difference between this and the JS12: it has a similarly scratchy fingerboard feel that needs playing out, although that extra £120 does bag you a compound radius fretboard, starting at 305mm (12 inches) and flattening out to 406mm (16 inches) at the top of the fretboard - it's a subtle taper, but it does make those wide upper-fret bends that tiny bit easier.

Elsewhere, our review model's double-locking Floyd Rose vibrato is set up with an unusually high tension, requiring some serious welly to divebomb to its limits.

That said, there are no issues whatsoever with tuning stability, and at this price, that makes Jackson's licensed Floyd Rose one of the most reliable systems we've played.

Again, the pickups aren't going to set your world alight, but they're enough to get you started while you save for an aftermarket set, with sufficient output to deliver heavy tones of any persuasion.

Michael Brown
Michael Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.