- Sharp Kelly design at a very affordable price
- Excellent playability
- Superb craftsmanship for the price
- This edgy design may push back a lot players even though the ergonomics is killer!
- No gigbag, so you have to buy seperately
Hello there, welcome back to another excellent guitar review article. This time, we will be looking at an aggressive-looking, shred/metal machine, the Jackson JS32 Kelly FR! If you are a fan of thrash metal, you have probably seen a “Kelly” body guitar in the hands of thrash metal masters such as Megadeth.
Table of Contents
Jackson Kelly Series Guitars
Did you know that the Kelly model is a heavily modified version of the Gibson Explorer series? Kelly’s design has been around since the early ’80s and was popularised by Megadeth’s Marty Friedman. It was designed and named after Bradford Kelly, the guitarist of the band “Heaven” in the early ’80s. Jackson Kelly models have a classic pointy Jackson headstock, and they look edgy and pointy in every sense.
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In this review, I will be talking about the Jackson Kelly models, which definitely promise to give you the classic Jackson tone without busting your bank. During my service in the musical instruments industry, I have played dozens of Jackson models as well as a lot of Kelly models with different options.
As you can see, I have already released a review article on the Jackson JS32T Kelly electric guitar, which has a hard-tail bridge. The only difference between them is that the Jackson JS32 Kelly w/FR has a Floyd Rose Licensed Jackson Double-Locking Tremolo on it. It also comes in Snow White and Ferrari Red colour options. The one we had back in the day was a Gloss Black colour. If you check out the official Jackson Guitars website, they don’t have a gloss black option anymore. Only Snow White and Ferrari Red, both satin. Let’s hear the guitar first, and then we continue. 
Sound Demo (no talking)
In another review that I did for the Jackson JS11 Dinky model, I mentioned that Jackson Guitars changed the body wood on the Dinky models from basswood to poplar. When I checked their website for Kelly models, I see the same change for the Kelly series too. But the ones you are hearing on this page all have a basswood body. 
Even though this body type is not for everyone, I remember having sold dozens of them in a month, which was really surprising. So when we had more time, I decided to record the full video of another Kelly that we just sold. Let’s hear it in more detail, but this time recorded with a Marshall JVM205C valve amp + Shure SM57 microphone. As you can hear, even on the clean channel of a valve amp, it tends to break up a bit because of Jackson’s high-output pickups, which make this guitar a natural-born metal axe! 
Tech Specs
| Jackson JS32 Kelly FR | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Construction | Bolt-on |
| Body | Poplar or Basswood* |
| Fretboard | Rosewood |
| Nut Width | 42.86mm |
| Neck | Maple Neck |
| Radius | 304.8mm to 406.4mm Compound Radius |
| Frets | 24 Jumbo Frets |
| Pickups | 2 Jackson High Output Humbucker |
| Bridge | Floyd Rose Licenced Jackson Double-Locking Tremolo |
| Tuners | Jackson Sealed Die-Cast |
| Finishes | Snow White, Ferrari Red |
As I mentioned in my Jackson JS11 Dinky review, the build quality, details, and even packaging at this price range are impossible to have with many other competitors. I literally played dozens of Jackson Kelly models in a month and never bumped into a problematic one. You will have a compound neck profile, which gives you much better playability across the neck and a great resonant and aggressive-sounding guitar.
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So if both guitars are identical apart from their bridge system, would they sound the same? I don’t think so, but you can always decide for yourself. Since Floyd Rose tremolo bridge systems have their own mass added to the guitar, it will definitely change the sound. Imagine a huge chunk of metal as the basis of the bridge, and springs will add a different tonality to the instrument.
Check out my Jackson JS32T with Hard Tail bridge review here
Is it better or worse? Not really. It’s up to one’s ears. If you like the sound of it, it means it’s good for you. Other than that, both guitars have the same playability. As you have heard or seen in my review videos, I try to play lots of bits of music from different styles, and I should warn you that Jacksons come with quite high-output pickups. I suggest you have a look for different options if you only want to play with cleanish and a bit overdriven tones.
Pricing & Availability
As mentioned in the article, not all colour options are available anymore. But Jackson still manufactures Ferrari Red and Snow White finishes with Floyd Rose tremolo bridges. You may easily supply these via Thomann, possibly for the best competitive price in the whole EU region.
Check out the Jackson JS32 Kelly FR on Thomann here
Although options are almost non-existent on the used market, you may also check out Reverb. Especially if you want to grab one of these from a specific era, Reverb is the best place. But don’t expect to find dozens of used JS32s, as people tend to keep these for themselves. 🙂
Check out the Jackson JS32 Kelly FR on Reverb here
Last but not least, you may also want to check out Amazon. Surprisingly, Amazon lists tons of Jackson guitars! 🙂
Check out the Jackson JS32 Kelly FR on Amazon here
I hope you have enjoyed this brief article. Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
