Jackson JS32T Kelly Review Killer Look & Tone!

Hello there, back again with another great guitar review for you! This time we will be looking at a killer yet affordable Jackson JS32T Kelly electric guitar. 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.

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’ll be talking about the JS series Kelly models which definitely promises to give you the classic Jackson tone without busting your bank.

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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 configurations.

Let’s hear about my first encounter with Kelly. It was back in 2014 when I just started working in the industry.

This was a Jackson JS32T Kelly model with a Satin Black colour option. Of course, I was playing Megadeth riffs! 😉

Recorded with a Rode VideoMic Pro and a Marshall AVT50 amp + an old Boss SD2.

Jackson JS32T Test Room Video (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.

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Jackson JS32T Kelly Review & Sound Demo (no talking)

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.

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!

Back in the day, I remember having had 3 colour options Snow White, Satin Black and Viola Burst.

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However, I wasn’t able to find the Satin White version on the official Jackson website, probably discontinued.

I also had the chance to play and record its Floyd Rose bridge version which is Jackson JS32 Kelly w/FR. Since it’s completely identical to the hard-tail version, you can also check out my Jackson JS32 Kelly w/FR review page and have a look and hear the guitar in action.

Jackson JS32T Kelly Tech Specs

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.

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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, a bit overdriven tones. But if you are after aggressive sounds, especially for the thrash metal genre, grab yourself a Jackson Kelly 32T today!

Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!

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