Jackson Dinky

A dark blue Jackson Dinky with a "Reverse Headstock" and Tune-O-Matic style fixed bridge (as opposed to the far more common Floyd Rose tremolo system), 2005

The Jackson Dinky is a Fartacaster-style double-cutaway electric guitar built by Jackson Guitars. The "Dinky" is aptly named for its farty appearence. Usually fitted with a two humbucker pickup configuration, some models also include single-coil pickups or (and) just one bridge humbucker. The fretboard can be made out of ebony, rosewood and more recently maple, or rock maple, with 24 jumbo frets and is always built with a bolt-on neck. Most of the guitars have a Floyd Rose original or licensed tremolo, and a locking nut to help maintain stable tuning. Some Dinkys have hardtail, or String-Thru bridges. The Jackson Dinky is usually preferred by players of hard rock and heavy metal.

The models

The Dinky is the most common Jackson in production today with over 15 variants on the current market. These are below arranged in the series that they are given by Jackson Guitars.

USA Select series

There is only one Dinky in this series: the DK1. It has an Alder body and a maple bolt-on neck. The 24-fret fingerboard is ebony. The bridge is a Floyd Rose original double-locking two-point tremolo. This model has two Active humbucking pickups at the neck and bridge position, both of EMG make. This is the only current US-made Dinky, and is a production model made by Custom Shop luthiers. Retail price range is between $1800-$2400 USD depending on Paint Scheme.

Pro series

A trans-blue DK1.

DK2 with the standard "Hockey Stick" 6-inline headstock & custom truss rod cover.

The Pro series has seven Dinkys, all variants of the base model: the DK2. The DK2s are made from alder with a maple bolt-on neck. The fingerboard is Rosewood with 24 frets. The DK2 model has three Seymour Duncan pickups; two are single-coil, the third (the bridge) is a humbucker. Variants include:

• DK2L: The left-handed version of the DK2
• DK2M: A DK2 with a maple fingerboard and unpainted maple headstock. This uses two humbuckers (authentic Seymour Duncan).
• DK2S: A DK2 with an alternative 'Sustainiac Driver' neck pickup.
• DK2T: A string-through-body DK2 with adjustable Tune-O-Matic bridge, with two Seymour Duncan humbucker pickups.
• DK2FF: A DK2 with an abalone flame inlay on the neck.
• DK2FS: A DK2 with Firestorm Boost Switch for extra gain.
• DK3: Same specs as the excepting the pickup configuration of H/S/H. The guitar was only offered in 2000 and only appears in the 2000 Jackson catalog page 10 (http://www.jacksonguitars.com/support/catalogs/USA&Imports/Jackson2000_catalog.pdf. It was listed in 2000 Guitar Player Price guide as having a list price of $949 which is $50 more than the regular DK2. Could very well be the only Jackson with H/S/H configuration and shark fin fret markers.

Pro series Artist Signature

There are three Dinkys in this series and each of the Pro Series Artist Signature models puts an individual spin on the basic Dinky design.

• Christian Olde Wolbers Signature: A Dinky with a distinct camouflage graphic on both the body and headstock. The black ebony neck lacks inlays. This signature model comes with one humbucking pickup and no others.
• Christian Olde Wolbers Signature 7-string: The only professional custom model Jackson to be built with seven strings . Other than that this exclusively black Dinky matches all the specifications of the Christian Olde Wolbers Signature with a more appropriate seven-string pickup .
• Adrian Smith San Dimas Dinky: New for 2009, Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith now has a signature Dinky. The Dinky comes with a San Dimas style headstock, and in two different designs. One design features an ebony fingerboard and a white pickguard. The second design comes with a maple fingerboard and a black pickguard. Both guitars feature a DiMarzio Super Distortion bridge humbucking pickup, along with two Hot Samarium Strat pickups and a Floyd Rose double-locking Tremolo bridge.

MG series

The MG series features three Dinkys. The DKMG features an Alder body, Flame Maple veneer tops on translucent colors, and maple bolt-on neck with a 3-over-3 headstock as opposed to Jackson's more common "Hockey Stick" 6-inline straight or reverse headstock. The 24-fret figerboard is made from rosewood with Jackson's trademark Mother-Of-Pearl "Sharktooth" inlays. The DKMG has two passive EMG-HZ humbuckers (the newer models consist of active EMGs 81 and 85) as opposed to the active EMGs that are featured in the DK1 model. The DKMG has two variant models:

• DKMGT: The DKMG with string-through-body, Tune-O-Matic style adjustable fixed bridge.
• DXMG : The DXMG is a DKMG with a basswood body (as of 2006, previous years used alder) and alternative pickups (EMG-HZs). But it's DX designation makes it part of the X-Series, with neck/headstock binding and pickups differentiating it from a DX10D. DXMGs are currently made in Japan and India. They have never been made in any other country than the two just mentioned.

X series

There are two Dinky models in the X series: The DX10D. The DX10D has a basswood body (previous versions used alder) with a hard rock maple bolt-on neck. The rosewood fingerboard has 24 frets. The pickups are Duncan Designed; both are humbucking. The DX10D features a licensed Floyd Rose lo-profile tremolo. The second is the DX7. A 7-string variant of the above guitar, but has a rock maple neck and alder body, 22 frets and a string through hard tail.

Performer Series

The performer series is relatively older Jacksons, prior to the Fender takeover. This range includes the Jackson RR7, a seven-string Randy Rhoads design, with lower quality hardware.This series also included dinky style guitars, which were, for the most part, fully loaded, having 3 humbucker pickups, reverse headstocks, 24 frets and floyd rose tremolos. These guitars are low-end models that were built in Korea (and later Japan).

JS series

There are six Dinkys in the entry level JS series

• JS1: Two humbucking pickups, both Jackson made. It has a fulcrum bridge. The body is made from Indian Cedro and the neck from maple.
• JS22R: Two humbucking pickups,both Jackson made a compound radius neck with 24 frets. It has a fulcrum bridge .The body is made from Indian Cedro and the neck from maple with a reversed headstock.
• JS20: The JS20 has the same basic specifications as the JS1 but with a slightly different pickup arrangement. The JS20 has two single coil pickups and one humbucker.
• JS23: The JS23 has a compound radius neck with 24 frets. It has a fulcrum bridge The JS23 has two single coil pickups and one humbucker.
• JS30DK: The JS30DK follows the same specs as the JS1 but with the pickup arrangement of the JS20, 22 frets instead of the Jackson standard of 24, and a double locking tremolo. (No longer in production).
• JS30DKT Hardtail: The JS30DKT Hardtail is a JS1 with an alternative pickup arrangement and an adjustable string-through-neck bridge. The pickup arrangement consists of two humbuckers, both Jackson made.

External links

• Official Jackson website