Jackson Dinky Minion JS1X - Black Reviews

I had a Purple one, until my GF's grandson just had to have it, lol! That's ok tho, I'll be getting a Blue-Burst RR Minion one next time they're back in stock. At this price-point if I have to fix a few things, no problemo, it's all part of having a Guitar Hobby for me!

This guitar is a great first electric for younger kids. Got it for my son (8) as he's outgrown the cheap acoustic Grandma got him a few years ago. My son had his heart set on a Dakota Red mini strat but we decided to play this, an Ibanez Gio and the strat. The Jackson won hands down. I feel this is a guitar that he will be able to grow with much better than the others. Why, you ask?

I've been playing for over 30 years and took it for a 20 minute "test drive" and that guitar just plays well. It's a Jackson so you already know it's going to play fast and it does. The neck's shape and finish make it comfortable and easy to get around (couldn't say the same for the Ibanez), and the tone from the humbuckers sound just fine. It is a little heavy but that's ok because I was getting some nice sustain. I had a lot of fun rockin' this guitar out. With the shorter scale length, I was able to fly through 4-octave arpeggios and a low action made for some easier traversing of the fretboard.

Other reviews for this guitar are extremely over critical. This is not a PRS or MusicMan Majesty, this is a kids guitar designed to be good enough to keep kids interested without mom and dad dropping a ton of cash. Keep that in context and you're picking a winner.

Love this guitar. The only real drawback is the nut which needs some adjustment. This type of headstock has a sharp string angle to the right. I highly recommend wrapping the lower 5 strings counterclockwise to help the strings sit securely in the adjusted slots. The first thing you MUST do when you get this is remove the 9-42 gauge strings as they are WAY too light a tension for this scale length and are impossible to keep and play in tune. Replace them with 10-46 gauge to get perfect string tension. This gives the exact same slinky tension as 9 gauge strings on a regular 24.75 scale Les Paul (about 80lbs) solving all tuning and intonation problems that came with the 9 gauge strings. Super comfortable for my small hands. Scale length is exactly as if you placed a capo on the 2nd fret of a Stratocaster. After those small changes I completely fell in love with this guitar and can't put it down! I love it so much that I'm going to go ahead and install a Kahler tremolo and locking nut on it which cost 3 times what the guitar did! I wish Jackson made a stock model at this scale with a Floyd Rose.

Very good at this price point. Better than others I tried. This is not a $700 guitar.

I've had a passing curiosity with shortscale guitars for a while now, and since my little sister's birthday was coming up and with her wanting to play guitar, we decided to give it a try. I am reasonably impressed with the quality of the body and neck, the tuners, nut, and electronics much less so. It comes strung with 9's, which were far too light for the scale, so I restrung it with 11's, which feel significantly better, though I did have to widen the low E nut slot a touch. Playability is nothing amazing, but it's workable. It was set up pretty well from the factory, so I didn't have to do much of anything to get it playing well, though it has pretty bad fret buzz all down the neck, which I couldn't get rid of. Tuning stability was all over the place right out of the box, but with a little graphite and the heavier strings, it did get significantly better. The pickups are muddy, and are pretty inarticulate, though that's to be expected at this price point. Since it's for a 10 year old, who might not even stick with guitar, it's definitely going to work for our purposes. If you're looking for a beginner guitar for a small kid, it's definitely worth a look, but if you're a beginner, I'd say steer clear, check out Squier's classic vibe range if you've got a bit of extra money.

Having found it impossible to get acceptable intonation with my new Jackson Dinky Minion JS1X, I replaced the awful tuners and terrible plastic nut with Grover 406C6 Mini locking tuners and Graph Tech PT-6225-00 Black Tusq slotted 1 5/8" Nut, both available from Sweetwater. For those thinking about replacing these parts, the Grovers are a direct swap. Everything fits perfectly. Even the tiny screw holes in the back of the headstock are in the right place for these Grovers. As to the Tusq nut, it was a bit larger than the stock plastic unit, so I had a bit of sanding to do to get the fit right. I deepened the string slots a bit for the high E, B, and G string using string-sized abrasive cord from StewMac, as the Tusq nut is just a tad high on that end, and the string bend was affecting intonation at the first and second fret. I also adjusted the truss rod more than I had previously, and went through hours of intonating after setting the strings' radius at the saddles. NOW, after the additional expenditure and a lot of work, the Jackson Dinky Minion has reasonable intonation, not perfect, but chords sound pretty close, there are no dead sounding strings now, and it holds tune better. I think it may be improved more with a zero-fret nut, and I may try that in future. So, my original review and opinion of the Jackson Dinky Minion JS1X still stands, it's a cheapster not ready to leave the factory, but upgrading to the Grover Mini tuners and a replacement nut (tuners and tusq nut parts identified above), and with adjustments of the truss rod and saddles, one can make this a lot more acceptable. If you already have one of these and can't get it intonated, try what I did. It will make a significant difference. Note, do NOT get any tuners larger than the Grover minis because there is no room for them. The Grover minis are the way to go. Following final fitment, a tiny bit of gel superglue on the bottom of the nut will be necessary to prevent string tension from pushing the nut out of the slot. One can use a capo as a clamp.
You might want to get a string tree for the high E and B strings.

At first glance, the Jackson Dinky Minion JS1X (the Strat style model - there is also a V style model) would seem to be one heck of a good buy, if one is looking for a very short scale electric guitar at a very low price. It's oddly hefty (do they use petrified wood?), has a deep, smooth finish, and is an attractive toy guitar. But, there's the Fly in the Mayo! This thing is built like a toy guitar. The micro-tuners are rubbish, with more slip and slush than a wet and icy sidewalk. The nut was literally without string slots, just tiny pinch divots, and the strings feel weird in the chording hand. The saddles are abysmal, haven't enough intonation adjustment (screws run out of thread), and one saddle seems to numb or deaden the High E string, but that could be from the awful nut (I changed strings, hoping some of the complaints would be resolved, or minimized, but that didn't help.) The neck appears to have been made from smooth scrap lumber or firewood. Oh! I almost forgot to mention that the guitar does not like sitting in your lap, and would benefit from some sort of friction material placed along the side and back of the lower bout. That fine, deep finish is slick! There are a lot of aggravating aspects to this guitar, but the real joy killer is horrid intonation. You can THINK you have it intonated between open strings and the 12th fret, or a first fret capo and the 13th fret, as Jackson recommends, but chord up the neck and you'll find yourself adjusting, quite literally, for days. So far, I'm not satisfied. A truss rod tweak helped a bit, but after adjusting for every "off-sounding" and "off-reading" note in any particular chord, one eventually questions whether the fret slots were placed correctly. On the plus side, the frets are quite smooth and well-manicured at the edge of the fret board, and the action is acceptable. I'll try new tuners, a new nut and new saddles if I can find any to fit. The pickups and controls work well enough, and the price is low for a guitar, even if high for a toy. So then, if you're looking for a very short scale, good looking electric guitar for a not so nice friend that deserves a practical joke, this Jackson model is the guitar to buy, especially if that friend has a keen sense of accurate pitch, and you want to drive that friend insane! As usual, Sweetwater double boxed this wall ornament, and it arrived both safe and timely. I guess this model wasn't pricey enough to have been inspected seriously, because it should never have left the factory. However, it will allow you to learn whether you can tolerate the close fit of such a short-scaled guitar. If you try this guitar and find it difficult to play, that high-dollar, even shorter-scale Rickenbacker 325 may not work for you. BTW, the Jackson Dinky Deluxe (haha!) gigbag fits, has two pockets, one usable and the other suitable for a chewable antacid. Padding is minimal, but acceptable if you don't drop the guitar or knock it over.