Best Jackson Guitar for Metal (our top pick)
Jackson Pro Series
Jackson focuses on metal and hard rock with most of their guitars, with the Pro Series at the center of the pack in terms of how it balances price and quality. Particularly for lead metal styles, it's our favorite option from this brand with Seymour Duncan pickups, a Floyd Rose bridge, and a heavy tone profile that also gives you really sweet-sounding high notes.
Finding the best Jackson guitar for metal - for you - will depend mostly on your budget, because nearly all Jackson guitars are heavily focused on metal and hard rock. We'd advise most people to focus on the Pro Series, which is on the upper-quality tier of the brand, but still a manageable price point. It's a good fit for intermediate to advanced players.
Many of the guitars we like and wanted to recommend were going to be cost-prohibitive to most people.
Even the DK2 isn't particularly cheap.
But it does have the following features that we really like for the metal style:
- Built for high speed playing styles
- Warm with some nice brightness on the higher register
- Seymour Duncan humbuckers
- Floyd Rose bridge
- Unique design/aesthetics
The one caveat would be if you're interested in more of a rhythm-focused guitar. If that's the case, we'd probably recommend deviating from the Jackson brand entirely. They're very focused on speed and lead guitar styles in the metal and hard rock genres. Check PRS for more rhythm-focused guitars with a modern rock style lean.
Read more: Best PRS SE guitar
The Pro Series version of the Dinky (the DK2) is our top recommendation for metal and lead styles within this brand
More Jackson guitars we like for metal
This table has the DK2 and some other Jackson guitars that we recommend for the metal style. Use the compare buttons to see all these guitars side by side, or add more via the search option below the table.
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Guitar | Name | Rate | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dinky DK2 | n/a | |
 | Pro Series Jeff Loomis | n/a | |
 | X Series Soloist | n/a | |
 | Pro Series Soloist | n/a |
Compare More Electric Guitars
If you want to compare more electric guitars than what is already in the above table, use this search box to find more in our database and add them to the comparison tab that shows up at the bottom of this page.
Selection Methodology
One of the first things we do when making recommendations is weed out brands that we don't trust or don't have much experience with. You've already done that by narrowing your scope down to Jackson.
Good choice.
From there, we look at which guitars we have experience with, either first hand, or by other musicians we've known and spoken with. Paired with thorough research, we're then able to make a more confident recommendation.
All our recommendations are made by real guitar players who know the market inside and out.
We then look for a value "sweet spot" where we get the lowest possible price with the highest possible quality.
This is going to be the most ideal option for the largest number of people.
All of this is done by real guitar players and musicians. We never use third party marketing services, article farms, or AI to write any of our content. Our recommendations are based on real life experience, thorough research, and first-hand accounts.
Price Guide for the Dinky DK2
This section shows live pricing for the DK2, though we did not include the other recommendations from the above table.
Prices updated Mon, October 02nd, 2023.
Features of the Pro Series and DK2
We've mentioned some of the features we like in the DK2, but here's a full list that's easier to read.
Pros
- Very good balance of warmth and brightness
- Neck feels fast and easy to get fingers around
- Seymour Duncan humbuckers (59 and JB) and a Floyd Rose bridge system
- An ideal fit for lead metal
- Decent pricing compared to other high-end Jackson guitars
Cons
- Not a good fit for rhythm
- On the expensive side of the overall electric guitar market
Questions and Conclusion
If you have questions about one of the Jackson guitars we mentioned in this article, feel free to get in touch with us. You can use the comments section below for a quicker answer.
Specific questions about the DK2 are obviously fine there as well.
Thanks again for supporting Guitar Chalk and all of our work.
FAQ
Jackson is definitely one of the best. We'd also recommend ESP LTD, Schecter, PRS, and Ibanez. Keep in mind there are always guitars within other brands that are good for metal.
Yes. The Jackson Dinky JS22 and JS32 are the two cheapest versions of the Dinky available.
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