Hello there, welcome back to another excellent guitar review article. This time, we will be looking at an aggressive-looking, shred/metal machine, Jackson JS32 Kelly! 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 popularized by actually Marty Friedman of Megadeth.
It was designed and named after Bradford Kelly, the guitarist of the band “Heaven” in the early ’80s. Jackson Kelly models have classic pointy Jackson headstock as well as it looks edgy and pointy in all terms.
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. Thomann's 70th Anniversary Offers
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 Jackson JS32 Kelly w/FR has a Floyd Rose Licenced Jackson Double-Locking Tremolo on it. And also it 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.
Jackson JS32 Kelly with Floyd Rose Review & 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 Marshall JVM205C valve amp + Shure SM57 microphone. Check out the best guitar pickup company, Seymour Duncan here!
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!
Jackson JS32 Kelly with FR 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, Satin Black, Ferrari Red |
As I mentioned in my Jackson JS11 Dinky review, the build quality, details and even packaging at this price range is impossible to have with many other competitors. I literally had 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. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
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. 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 exact 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. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
But if you are after aggressive sounds and want to have a Floyd Rose equipped metal machine, grab yourself a Jackson JS32 Kelly Floyd Rose today from the best musical instruments store on this planet, Thomann!
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!
Osman Cenan Çiğil – cigilovic.com
Post your comments and feedback here
By submitting a comment, you accept that you will be automatically included in the newsletter. You can always opt out in case you are not interested in the content updates.Check out the best used gear website!
