Jackson JS32T Kelly – Exotic Flavor In The Beginner Segment

Body And Neck:
Electronics:
Hardware:
Sound:
Value:

• Check Price

Everyone tends to associate the beginner guitar segment with bare bones, boring looking guitars. Sadly, they aren't too far from the truth. In what appears to be a never-ending sea of same guitars under different logos, it’s great to see something new. Jackson JS32T Kelly is one of the best beginner guitars out there, and one of the most exotic looking ones as well. If you are on a tight budget but you still insist on having something relatively unique, this Jackson is a perfect fit for you.

Body And Neck

One thing that is apparent straight away is that you're not looking at another modified Super Strat or simply Strat body. No, Jackson went with their Kelly body shape, and it's enough to turn heads of many beginner guitar players. Tonewood of choice is basswood, which fairly common in this price range. The neck is a maple piece that features a very fast profile, designed specifically for shredding and fast riffs. Its rosewood fretboard comes with Jackson's standard Shark Fin inlays, and feels great under the fingers.

Hardware

Here's where Jackson made another great decision. Instead of installing some sort of cheap tremolo bridge, they've decided to keep things simple and reliable. That means a Tune-o-Matic bridge with a string-through body design implemented behind it. On the other end of the business, you got a set of standard die cast tuning machines, which work pretty decently. Hardware will easily keep up with you so long as you don't push the guitar too hard. In that case, you are looking at frequent tuning adjustments.

Electronics

If there's one attribute you want a beginner set of humbuckers to have, it's loads of output. The definition isn't all that important as the target audience these guitars are aimed at are just beginning to develop their ears in terms of guitar tone. Two Jackson High Output humbuckers are therefore more than good enough for the occasion. Pups are wired to a simple set of controls consisting of a single volume, single tone knob and a pickup select switch.

Sound

When it comes to sound, you are dealing with a pretty decent beginner guitar. As we've mentioned before, there's plenty of output to work with, and the range of those pickups isn't bad either. Sure, you won't get the refined type of tone necessary for more serious work, but for practicing guitar at home, this setup is great. As a matter of fact, you could probably use this Jackson long after you've sharpened your skills.

Conclusion

While it definitely looks better than most of the beginner segment of the market, Jackson JS32T Kelly's value comes from the sum of its components. They've managed to put together one seriously capable guitar that will easily give its competition a run for its money. If you need something exotic in your life, and you're just starting to learn guitar, do yourself a favor and check this ax out.

For more info about the JS32T Kelly, click here.
For more beginner electric guitars, click here.