Sup!
I must say that I love Jackson, but they piss me off a bit too. They make great guitars and I have OWNED three and loved them. I sold the Jackson's for LTD's then sold them for Ibanez Prestige's (all of which I will indefinitely keep and I have five of them bitches).
"Trashed, you ass, I love Jackson, what is wrong?!?!"
"Compound radius fretboard's." I say, waiting to be bitched out...
The logic is fantastic, but not quite so ergonomic in practice. For those of you who are new or don't know much about guitars, the fretboard is curved convexly and compensated for by the saddles being different heights. THAT is why your saddles are different heights and not flat. The radius is the measurement of how curved the fretboard is.
Fretboard radii can be from 7.25" to 20", both of which I don't care for. My Fender '52' Reissue Tele is 7.25 (original spec) is NOT the funnest guitar to do crazy bends and leads on. You fret out and it stops the note if you bend too far. 20" is way too flat. Cords suck and it's awkward.
What does Jackson do? They have a compound radius. IF I AM correct at the moment it is 12"-20" from nut to the end of the fretboard. Here are some things that you all may not think of. If you are on the first fret its curvy, but how often do you play on the first fret as opposed to other frets? The 24th fret is like flat OMG. I will hit the 24th fret regularly but it doesn't get as much action as say the 12th fret. Two extremes. So between two points is the middle, so it is kind of an average? Yes. I would dare to say between the 7th to 15th fret which could be a hot spot for playing is not a whole lot of different and that is what have I noticed.
Where is the folly? Strings are only a straight line with tension applied. That is physics. So ACTION and string HEIGHT can NEVER be as low as a 12" radius or a 14" radius. Why? Strings are closer to the frets in different spots. It can't EVER be that low.
Is it a big deal?
Not as big of a deal as I am making out of it. Jackson makes some nice guitars (most people have no qualms with that, nor I). I have owned a DKMG, a DKMGT, and a DK2 [all Made in Japan (mij)]. I dig them, and loved them, and had no major adverse reactions to the compound radius fretboard. There are A LOT of brands doing this. Suhr does this more gracefully on their fine axes. When I played a Suhr Modern, it was royally glorious in every way (Trashed wants). Fender has been doing it too.
Is it wrong? NO.
Is it wrong? NO.
/Trashed is out.
