Jackson Soloist SLX DX Review – Affordable Shred Machine for Metalheads
- Barış Şahin
- Jul 25
- 10 min read
Jackson, the creator of the Superstrat concept, continues to deliver competitive designs in the mid to lower price segments. Perhaps the most significant of these moves are the alternatives based on their flagship Soloist design. The Soloist models from the early ’80s made a huge impact and became a classic. Now, Jackson offers a range from Custom Shop-level derivatives down to the X Series, catering to different customer needs. Some fundamental features remain consistent across the lineup: a neck-through construction, generally a locking tremolo, a fast neck profile, jumbo frets, and a uniquely designed, relatively small and lightweight body. Especially for the mid to lower segments, the neck-through design and compound Radius fretboard offers a serious advantage. So, the question is: does it deliver value for the price?
Open the Case…
The scene that greeted me when I opened the hard case can best be described as impressive. I must admit, if it had a matched headstock and came in Candy Apple Red, Ferrari Red, or even pink, I would’ve been way more blown away—no doubt about that. Jackson calls this color “Manalishi Green.” Still much better than Fenders “Sherwood Green” lol! I have two things to say about it. First, no photo I’ve seen so far does this finish real justice. I’d describe it as a dark, beautiful green version of Candy Apple Red. It has a metallic base coat with a green layer on top. In fact, the promo photos from 2022—the year this model was released—don’t look very appealing at all. As I write these lines, I haven’t had the chance to take proper photos of the guitar yet, but I’ll do my best to capture it properly.
Evaluation
Let’s read the desciption and the factory specs first;
“The SLX DX features a poplar body, through-body maple neck with graphite reinforcement and tilt-back scarf joint headstock. Hosting 24 jumbo frets, its 12"-16" fully bound compound radius laurel fingerboard curves more dramatically at the nut for easy chording and flattens out as it approaches the neck joint for low-action bends without fretting out. Duncan Designed alnico HB-103N neck and high-output ceramic HB-103B bridge humbucking pickups power this metal beast with an expansive voice loaded with crunchy, full-bodied tone ideal for brazen lead work or punchy rhythms runs. Tone is fully customizable with three-way blade switching and single volume and tone controls, while a Floyd Rose Special double-locking tremolo bridge system provides superior string stability and dynamic tremolo action.
Sleek and deadly with our signature pointed 6-in-line black headstock, the SLX DX is available in a variety of stage-worthy finishes including an all-new Manalish Green with black hardware, as well as Granite Crystal, Red Crystal or Rocket Red with black hardware and Satin Black with gold hardware.
Specifications
SERIES: X
BODY MATERIAL: Poplar
BODY FINISH: Gloss
NECK: Maple (Neck-Thru-Body w/ Graphite Reinforcement)
NECK FINISH: Gloss colour Matched
NECK PROFILE: Jackson Speed Neck, Thin "D"
FINGERBOARD: Laurel, 12"-16" Compound Radius (304.8 mm to 406.4 mm)
INLAYS: Pearloid Sharkfin
NUT MATERIAL: Floyd Rose Special Locking
NUT WIDTH: 1.6875" / 42.86 mm
FRETS: 24 Jumbo
NUT (Material/Width): Floyd Rose Special Locking, 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
POSITION INLAYS: Pearloid Sharkfin
TUNING MACHINES: Jackson Sealed Die-Cast
SCALE LENGTH: 25.5" (648 mm)
BRIDGE: Floyd Rose Special (Recessed)
PICKUPS:
Bridge: Duncan Designed HB-103B
Neck: Duncan Designed HB-103N
PICKUP SWITCHING: 3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge and Middle, Position 2. Bridge, Middle and Neck, Position 3. Neck
CONTROLS: Volume, Tone
HARDWARE FINISH: Black”
Parts, Parts, Parts…
The hardware on this guitar is all black—pickup rings, metal parts, etc. It’s something we’re used to seeing. Still, I can’t help but feel that using plastic components in green tones would have added a nice visual touch. For example, if the pickup rings were green—or even green transparent—it would’ve looked really elegant. The current setup isn’t bad by any means, just… some small details, you know? But the absence of a matching headstock is something I feel every time I look at the guitar—it’s definitely one of the biggest cosmetic shortcomings for me.
The inlays are pearloid, and honestly, I’m not a fan of that material. To me, it often feels like a shortcut to make something look cheaper or less refined. It’s not terrible here, but it’s not great either—it doesn’t really add anything special. As for the fingerboard wood, they’ve used laurel, and visually speaking, I personally have no issue with it. In some photos it looked very porous, but in reality, it’s not much different from the rosewood fingerboards on many of my late-2000s Ibanez guitars. In some pictures it also seemed very light in color, but the piece on my guitar is actually quite dark—definitely acceptable. Moreover, my laurel fingerboard has flames :)
The first thing I noticed when I picked up the guitar was how light it is. I’d say it's just a bit over 3 kg. It’s not the lightest guitar I own, but it’s definitely on the lighter side. The next thing I quickly noticed was a slight neck dive. The poplar body wings must be really light, because the maple neck tends to pull the guitar downward on the left side—nowhere near as extreme as on an SG, but still noticeable. On SGs, it can be a big enough issue to affect your strap choice (since the guitar tends to slide on smooth straps, hence leather or grippy straps work better, at least in my experience). On this guitar, though, it’s not that dramatic. Also, when you lift the guitar by holding it at the neck-body joint, it balances nicely and feels comfortable in hand.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I played a U.S.-made Soloist—it’s been quite a while. That said, back in the day, I did get to try a fair number of them, from very different production periods, too. I've never played any of the models from the “Pro” Series, and to be honest, I’ve never really been curious about them either. So I won’t be comparing this guitar to those models. As for the American-made counterparts, while I haven’t played one recently, I’ll try to draw some comparisons based on what I can still remember. But I’ll stay away from making any definitive judgments—simply because, as I’ve just explained, I’m no longer familiar with them firsthand.
My Neck, My Back…
In terms of neck profile, it’s a bit thinner and more “D”-shaped compared to the Soloists I played from the ’80s and early ’90s. From what I remember, those earlier Soloist necks had rounder shoulders and were slightly chunkier than the one on the SLX DX. If I compare the SLX DX neck to Ibanez Wizard profiles, this one is definitely thicker—I can confidently say that. Considering the original Wizard profile is about 17mm thick, this one feels closer to 20mm. I’ll be able to give an exact measurement with calipers once I remove the strings. As a general statement, Jackson necks fall into the “thin” category for sure. But they’re definitely not on the same level as the ultra-skinny Ibanez Wizard or Wizard II necks. I’d place the SLX DX neck somewhere in the “not thin, definitely not thick” category. It feels comfortable. The official spec calls it a “thin D,” but to my hands, the shoulders of the "D" aren’t very pronounced. It feels like something between a "C" and a "D" shape. Whether you rest your thumb over the neck or place it around the middle of the back, it feels quite natural. But if you’re used to the ultra-slim 17mm Wizard necks, this one might not meet your expectations.
Upper fret access is excellent—getting to the highest frets feels completely natural and effortless. Combined with the slim neck profile and deep cutaways, the entire fretboard is easy to navigate. In terms of playability, this guitar offers a remarkably comfortable and fluid playing experience. Yeah, i know i’ve just sounded like a commercial but it’s really cool lol
The frets are jumbo-sized, and all of them are properly seated and well-leveled. Thanks to the compound radius, bends can be performed smoothly and effortlessly, with no choking or loss of sustain.
Looking into the control cavity, I can confirm that the pots are Alpha-brand, there’s no treble bleed circuit, and the 3-way switch is one of those typical Far Eastern types.
The tremolo system on this guitar is a Floyd Rose Special. What can I say about it… It needs to be handled with care if you want it to last. It’s really important not to overtighten the hex screws or bolts, because these systems are made from relatively soft metal alloys. Even if you follow all the rules, the saddles can still wear down over time—sometimes just from the string tension alone. It would’ve been nice if it at least came with a steel sustain block. I think I’ll probably swap it out for a brass one I already have during the next string change. But to be fair, there’s no issue with it at the moment—it’s working just fine.
Tone Matters…
The essence tone (unplugged tone) of the guitar is almost neutral. mids are a bit pronounced but still can't be considered as nasal. Lows are present, highs are little bit crisp.
Natural sustain of that Jackson is really good. I mean, yeah, i know its contruction is neck thru so it is accepted to have a better sustain. But because of its tremolo unit, hi power pickups, relatively thin neck i woudn’t expect something that good. Yeah, the sustain is pretty good through the neck.
Now, let’s talk about the guitar’s electrified tone and pickups. Its equipped with Duncan Designed HB-103 set. I haven’t taken any direct measurements yet, but in theory, the neck pickup feels like a clone of the Seymour Duncan Jazz, and the bridge is modeled after the Duncan Distortion—both made overseas. If I’m not mistaken, the manufacturer is Artec, a massive Korean company with serious production capacity.
Yesterday, i have a few measurements through a very short pedal patch cable. Just to have some idea and here they are;
HB-103 Bridge
Magnet – Ceramic
Measured DCR: 16.77 K Ohm (Series)
Inductance @100Hz: 6.50 H (Series)
Output: Moderate/High
Gauss: 330G screws, 360G slug (measured at top center of D&G pole pieces)
Ambient Measurement Temperature: 32oC
And
HB-103 Neck
Magnet – Alnico 5
Measured DCR: 7.64 K Ohm (Series)
Inductance @100Hz: 3.80 H (Series)
Output: Moderate
Gauss: 330G screws, 350G slug (measured at top center of D&G pole pieces)
Ambient Measurement Temperature: 32oC
Considering that the measurements were taken via a patch cable, I can roughly estimate that the direct inductance value for the HB-103B would be about 15% higher—somewhere around 7.475H. For the neck pickup, my prediction for the real inductance is approximately 4.180H. Of course, if I ever remove them one day, I’ll take more accurate measurements and perhaps even write a dedicated review on this set. That could actually be quite useful, since we often see these pickups or their variants on guitars of this kind. And yet, there seems to be virtually no real technical information about them online—only highly subjective user impressions, usually filled with bias...
The last thing I’d like to note about the pickups concerns their magnetic flux density. Based on catalog information, the neck pickup is supposed to use an Alnico 5 magnet, while the bridge one uses ceramic. However, in my measurements, both pickups showed nearly identical Gauss readings—which honestly surprised me. If the neck is indeed Alnico 5, then this is within expectations, but I would have anticipated a slightly higher reading from the ceramic-loaded bridge. Assuming the catalog spec is correct, we might deduce that the bridge pickup uses a relatively thin ceramic magnet—similar to what we find in the Duncan Custom. So, it seems the biggest difference between this one and the real Seymour Duncan Distortion may lie in the size of the ceramic magnet inside. Of course, these are observations made without removing the pickups, so they may not be 100% accurate—but I’d say my guesses are probably close.
So, how do they sound? Well, I got this guitar through a trade, and before I even plugged it in, I was already thinking about what pickups I might swap in. But once I played it, all of those questions disappeared. I was honestly surprised at how much I liked these pickups. The guitar was tuned to D when I first got it, and I remembered how the Duncan Distortion sounded overly bright in standard tuning years ago. But in this lower tuning? It sounded fantastic—tight, aggressive, and great for rhythm work. After I got home, I tuned it up half a step, and it still held up beautifully.
The HB-103 neck pickup is also a solid performer—very articulate, and not overly bright. Years ago, I had a heavily modded HB-101n, which is a Duncan ’59 neck clone, and I remember it being quite good—maybe even a bit better than the HB-103n to be honest. Anyway, the bridge pickup is ferocious, powerful, and incredibly chuggy. The neck is clear, without being too glassy.
That said, the lack of push/pull functionality, coil-splitting, or even a 5-way switch does limit the guitar’s versatility. I get it—this guitar is designed as a straight-up metal flame thrower, but even in heavy genres, a couple of small options like that could go a long way in making it more flexible. Also, a simple treble bleed mod—like the 331pF cap Ibanez uses on their volume pots—would’ve been a smart touch from the factory.
One more thing I noticed: I usually like Alpha pots and have used them in many of my own guitars. They’re great value-for-money components. But I have to say, I’m not a big fan of the pots taper on these. I find it a bit hard to control the volume or tone precisely. I’m starting to wonder if they might be linear rather than log-tapered…
So, who is this guitar really for? Polka players? Definitely not :) It’s obvious that metalheads will get the most out of this instrument. That said, players who are into heavier rock styles, those who play in lower tunings, and fans of extreme metal in all its subgenres will also likely appreciate what this guitar offers. With a bit of tonal support—say from pedals or amp settings—even prog rock/metal and fusion players might find something here that suits their needs.
Conclusion
So, what do we have here? A neck-through, Floyd-equipped, metal-ready beast that won’t empty your wallet or your soul. Sure, it’s not perfect—no coil-splitting, no treble bleed, no hi quality tremolo, and yeah, we’re still mourning the missing matching headstock elegancy. But none of that takes away from the fact that this guitar delivers serious playability, punchy tone, and enough attitude to make your neighbor question their life choices. Whether you're into crushing riffs, screaming leads, or just want a fast neck to noodle endlessly on—you’ll likely find a reliable partner in the SLX DX. And hey, if you're still thinking about swapping pickups or adding upgrades... welcome to the club. That’s why your tone friend “Tone Journey” is here for ;)
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