Jackson Monarkh SC JS22 - Satin Black Reviews

I must've gotten lucky but the one I received was ready to play except for needing tuned, and the action raised a bit due to fret buzz. Other than that, great guitar in this price range. Also a shoutout to Lawson, he was my sales rep and he checked in on me, chatted a bit about music. Overall a cool guy, and I've had a great first experience here at sweetwater!

I picked this up as my first guitar and honestly can't be happier with it. Solid construction and feels good in the hands.

The shape of the headstock keeps strings in alignment better than "classic" designs. That helps this stay in tune, even with aggressive bends.

The graphite reinforced neck has been stable during the two years I've owned it. Once it's adjusted and set up, it stays that way.

The pickups are more than adequate. They actually sound good clean, have low noise like a humbucker should and have plenty of juice to drive the front-end of any decent amp.

Simple volume and tone controls are easy to use, and the knobs are in convenient positions.

All the hardware works properly and is solid.

All these design features make this guitar punch WAY above its price point. It's a bargain.

I ordered this guitar from another vendor in "open box" condition and struck gold. Just came here to say this is an awesome guitar - it handles gain and distortion well and on the flipside you can get some very nice clean tones out of it too.

The only thing about this guitar is that the pickups are quite muddy when playing with distortion - but a little mud never hurt anyone!

Currently saving to get some seymour duncan pickups (JB bridge, '59 neck) as they are the pickups used in the pro series model.

Too long didn't read version: 10/10 would buy again, but if I bought again I would get it from sweetwater because they're great.

Never thought of an LP as a shredder guitar but wow was I wrong this guitar has changed my mind, Jackson did made another amazing guitar for my collection. Thank you Candace and Sweetwater.

I sold a $2,000 Gibson SG Modern I ended up hating.

I modded up this guitar with Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbuckers, a Bone Nut, and Schaller Locking Tuners.

But man, I couldn't be happier with this Jackson.
With the Bone Nut and Schaller Locking Tuners it stays in tune all the time like a champ.
Even the 3rd string. (G-String)

Part of the reason I bought this guitar was for the headstock placement of the tuners keeping the strings completely straight.

And with the Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbuckers, love the tone all day.
D'addario strings, and I'm good to go.

Way more practical and fun to play than my $2,000 Gibson was.
So much lighter in weight too.
I actually stand up to play now!
This Jackson is like a feather hanging on your waist.

Great guitar for anyone, especially modded up.
If you can only afford one modification first, do the locking tuners.
I heard the stock tuners are garbage.

Although, I spent a lot more on it. (Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded Humbuckers, Bone Nut, Locking Tuners)

Not even waiting to give it five stars.

I saw this guitar and thought I would grab it up because I wanted to try something a little different. To be safe I bought this one as a budget tester… it blew me away. I love the shape of this one because of how comfortable it sits while playing. What really got my attention on this though, was the compound radial neck. I play a lot of metal, and when I'm practicing, this is my go to.

After five years with this guitar, I've had zero problems. The graphite reinforced neck is the greatest feature because it provides stability. Once the instrument is set up to your liking, it STAYS that way.

Pickups sound good; medium output humbuckers are always a good versatile choice.

Lubricating the nut and wrapping strings over the tailpiece improves tuning stability.

Tuners are OK as is, but that would be the one thing I'd swap first to make this inexpensive guitar even better.

I like these so much, I might buy another one!

I put the JS22 Monarkh up there with my Les Paul, SG, PRS, and Tele Professional. I don't see this as an 'Entry Level' guitar -except only for the price. The sound is clear as a bell. The neck is super comfortable (and "fast"). I suggest a Sweetwater setup with a Bone Nut, then you're all set. I never get tired of this guitar!!! I love Augustine Electric Guitar Strings Nickel Plated Steel (.010 - .046) on this guitar.

Good quality for price. Nice practice guitar as I get back into playing.

The Jackson SC JS22 is a solid guitar. The fretwork is very good and the neck is nicely finished. I am a hobbyist so I play sitting down, so I really appreciate the forearm contour and the belly cut. It is very comfortable. The pickups are perfect for playing high gain stuff. Thanks to Matthew K. for the great service.

This is my second guitar, coming from the Ibanez grg131dx, available here on sweetwater as well, This Jackson arrived with no dings or blemishes and a much better setup than the ibanez did (from amazon). Very good action right out of the box, very good playability. Needed minor neck adjustment, but was already perfectly intonated. Pretty amazing customer service, shout out to Mr. Blair who called to make sure the guitar arrived in good condition.

Amazing sound and playability, just a bit more awkward to hold compared to a strat.

The guitar itself is good for entry level and up. The guitar feels great and sounds good. After checking over everything and test playing the frets were well crowned and polished and now sharp edges. There were 2 small scratches in the finish but it being a dating black guitar, sharpie covered it and not noticeable. Pickups will get you by for entry level but I swapped out to Seymour Duncan JB Jazz set. The stock tuners have a lot of play in them and can sometimes be a pain to get precise. I swapped those out with ratio locking tuners from graphtech. I could have bought a guitar with all this stuff already installed but where's the fun? I get to put what I want into the guitar. And in the long run it's cheaper.

While I know this guitar is a "cheap" guitar, I had reasonable expectations, some of which were met and others not. The good points: (1) it plays well, (2) the action was great, as was the neck, (3) the intonation was spot-on, and (4) the fit and finish were fine. The bad points: (1) the tuner nuts needed tightened, (2) the tuner button screws needed tightened, (3) the fret wires were very rough, and, worst of all , (4) after a few days of minimal use, the neck pickup worked intermittently and then finally quit. As for the rough frets, I removed the strings and polished all fret wires. For the neck pickup, I traced an open circuit in the pickup itself (after disassembling it). What I found, and fixed, was a broken ground wire that was soldered to the back plate but had broken loose. I correctly soldered it back on and all is fine. Again, I know this is a bottom-of-the-line instrument, but I expected a bit better quality.

This guitar feels great, don't get me wrong. I love the way it looks and the QC was excellent out of the box. I gave this guitar 2 stars because it WILL NOT stay in tune. The fact that the tuners are so far away from the nut makes the tuning stability terrible. I was really disappointed and after a little while I was forced to return it. For $ I think you can at least get a guitar that will stay in tune.