A quick perusal of Jackson Guitars’ Pro Series lineup of instruments is like gazing into a showroom containing a fleet of the most elite, high-performance sports cars.
Car analogy notwithstanding, we can probably agree “Jackson Guitars” should be synonymous with “fast,” and thankfully, if dextrous celerity is what you’re after, the company’s appealing selection of body styles, pickups and bridges – whether it’s hardtail or locking tremolo – all provide the technical and sonic means to up your virtuosic game.
Even more encouraging is that Jackson Guitars regularly incorporates the latest cutting-edge hardware and electronics in their instruments, as evidenced by their Jackson Pro Series Dinky DK Modern EverTune 6, which includes the revolutionary EverTune F6 bridge and Fishman’s tremendous Fluence Open Core pickups.
If you’ve never test driven either of these innovations, the Jackson Pro Series Dinky DK Modern EverTune 6 is the perfect vehicle to explore them now.
Features
The DK Modern EverTune 6 cuts a clean, stark silhouette with its basswood Dinky body, arriving in a striking satin graphite finish that’s color-matched to its glaive-shaped AT-1 reverse headstock with white binding.
The three-piece maple/wenge-strip/maple bolt-on neck is graphite-reinforced and feels structurally rock solid, and the trimly contoured neck heel allows seamless access toward the upper registers.
Likewise, the comfortably slim neck profile combined with a thin satin finish fosters agile playability along the guitar’s 25.5–inch scale length and 12-16–inch compound radius bound ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets.
The neck also displays off-set pearloid dot inlays, white binding, glow-in-the-dark Luminlay side dots and a heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel for trouble-free neck relief adjustments. Gotoh locking tuners, a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut and Dunlop dual-locking strap buttons round out its premium appointments.
The superstars of the show are a pair of direct-mount Fishman Fluence Open Core PRF-COC humbucking pickups and the EverTune F6 bridge.
The charm of the Fishman Fluence active pickups is their sweeping dynamics, zero-noise and three distinct voices activated by the push/pull tone control (Voice 1, and Voice 2 combined with Voice 3) and selected via the five-way blade switch (Voice 1: vintage PAF bridge and neck in positions 1 and 5, with inner coil bridge, both inner coils, and neck inner coil in positions 2, 3 and 4; Voice 2: hot-rodded bridge and clear airy chime neck in positions 1 and 5, and Voice 3: single-coil tones in positions 2, 3 and 4).
Equally important, the EverTune F6 is a mechanical bridge system that balances string tension to keep your guitar consistently intonated and in tune as you bend strings, and under varying temperature and humidity changes.
Performance
While there are plenty of guitars outfitted with overwound pickups and double-locking tremolos, the DK Modern EverTune 6 is an entirely different flavor of “shred guitar”, having the factory-installed EverTune bridge as a standard option.
This mechanical marvel provides an ergonomic platform for elevating precise playing that requires accurate intonation at all times, and once you try it, you may never be able to live without it. It’s a stable and responsive bridge that can be set up to your playing style (the default factory setup is perfectly dialed-in), and keeps the guitar firmly in tune and your playing finely tuned, even when bending wildly.
The Open Core humbuckers are well-matched for this guitar, with a bevy of modern and classic tones at your fingertips. Voice 1 is, by far, the most recording-grade tone on the guitar, sounding evenly smooth, full and balanced throughout each blade position. Still, Voice 2 is undoubtedly my favorite – with an edgy, hot-rodded sizzle that’s wickedly fun for pick harmonic-squealing and fleet-fingered shredding.
Even at maximum crunch, Voice 2’s airy-neck tone stays warm and articulate, and dropping the blade into Voice 3’s single-coil territory brings out dynamic sparkle and spank without muddiness, even as you ease down the guitar’s volume control.
The DK Modern EverTune 6 proves that once you try its remarkable bridge and Open Core pickup combo, it may very well become your new steadfast six-string companion.
Specs
- PRICE: $1,599
- TYPE: 24-fret electric guitar
- BODY: Basswood
- NECK: Three-piece maple/wenge/maple (bolt-on)
- SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5”)
- FRETBOARD: Ebony, 12”-16” radius
- FRETS: 24, jumbo
- NUT: 42.86mm, Graph Tech TUSQ XL
- PICKUPS: 2x Fishman Flu-ence Open Core PRF-COC humbuckers
- CONTROLS: 1 x volume and 1 x tone (with push/pull function, 5-way blade selector switch
- HARDWARE: EverTune 6, Gotoh locking tuners,
- FINISH: Satin Graphite
- CONTACT: Jackson
