Jackson Monarkh SC JS22 - Snow White Reviews

I've been eyeing this guitar for a few months now. I was finally able to get it and let me tell you it was love at first strum. The overall tone and neck shape is what I've been wanting. I'm forever a Jackson player now.

Ignore the headstock in these pictures, it does not look that bad in real life. The headstock is slightly angled back so these pictures do not do it justice. Look up some online reviews and you'll get a better idea of what the actual guitar looks like. I was super hesitant to pull the trigger on this guitar due to the pictures alone but I'm glad I purchased it. I've really liked playing Jackson guitars, especially this Monarkh. The neck is smooth and not bulky like other guitars I tried out and I didn't have any sharp fret ends. Its comfortable in the lap when playing and has been sounding great coming out of my Boss Katana MKII 50. I have not done a set-up on this guitar yet so this review is simply on it out of the box. Overall, great guitar for the price and would be an excellent option for a beginner.

I been playing for a very long time and I have several high end guitars. I wanted an inexpensive guitar to leave in a stand next to the couch to grab when I only had a second to play. This guitar plays very good and the neck feels excellent. You cannot go wrong buying this one. Sweetwater is a pleasure to buy your gear from as well. I look forward to the next purchase.

everyboby was right! this guitar is sweet. a welcomed change from my guitar of 35 plus years(guild x-79) the neck is incredable. this thing makes me want to play it. nice job with packing , arrived in good shape . plays well right out of the box. thank you mike from sweetwater, good job-nice guy too! I want to buy another one now!

If it weren't for my lack of authority and experience on the subject, I would say this is the best sub single-cut on the market. I was searching for a guitar with a 24.75 inch scale length that wouldn't need a setup or any modding done out of the box, and Jackson delivered. It plays great, and sounds good as well. Very happy with my purchase.

I will be splitting my review into sections, here we go.

LOOKS: When I saw the stock photos, I was concerned on whether or not I would be getting an ugly guitar, and I must say. It looks much better in person than it looks in Jackson's, Sweetwater's, and Amazon's photos. The photos barely show any of the very comfortable body contours, and make the cut look smaller and wimpier than it does in person. Definitely not for traditional Les Paul player though. The Gloss white finish is good looking. The gloss black hardware is also good looking. It has plastic binding which makes it look more premium than its price range.

PLAYABILITY: The 12 to 16 inch radius makes it very comfortable for both leads and rhythm playing. A full 12 inch radius would feel cramped at the higher frets (especailly considering the scale length), while a full 16 inch radius would feel too flat in the lower positions. This is a good solution. It has Jumbo frets which feel nice for bending (although I wonder why they would put 9 gauge strings stock on this considering the shorter scale length). The binding feels nice to rub my hand against, and in combination with the satin finish neck and the other stuff I mentioned makes for a very good feeling neck. The Tune-o-matic bridge feels fine but coming from a user of strat syle bridges it feels a bit awkward compared to a fender 6 saddle. The neck cutaway is pretty sizable and is leagues better than anything fender/squier is doing, it makes getting to the highest fret easy. Surprised they didnt put 24 frets on this guitar considering Jackson's target audience.

SOUND: They sound good. They are clear with just about any amount of gain. neck pickup is preferable for clean, while the bridge pickup is better for distorted. The pickups are very treble boosted, and oddly low scooped. They sound good for thrash and punk, and if you want to have very deep lows you can always turn up your bass knob on your amp or add a boost in the form of a overdrive pedal or otherwise. The pickups are the last thing that would need replacing on this guitar in my opinion.

QUALITY CONTROL: It has really tiny mini tuners that are Jackson branded. They suck. They are jumpy and keep tune a good amount of the time but not all the time. The worst offender is by far the G string. It always seems to jump between being sharp and flat while I'm tuning it and it takes a while to find the sweet spot. Not sure if this is because of the 3 a side headstock, or if I just got a bad G tuner from the tuner bin in the factory, but the g string gives me the most trouble by far. The nut in plastic but it does the job well enough, if you are a stickler for these things I would replace it with your nut of choice. The stock strings came so perfectly strung and intonated I'm almost afraid to touch them, they are very well put on there. The guitar came with a small ding in the plastic binding but it doesnt make any difference playablility wise. There is a small paint chip in the neck pocket but you woudnt notice it unless you were looking for it. The fingerboard is a little dry but its probabaly because of shipping. Nothing a but of Lemon oil wouldn't fix. The pots feel really premium and stiff (in a good way) and smooth. The switch makes a really satisfying clicking noise and is also stiff in a good way. The guitar seems properly grounded and sheilded but I havent taken a look inside yet. No loud buzzing or clicking. The guitar arrived intonated. The strap buttons are huge and I had a really hard time getting fender rubber strap locks on there (this is a plus).


Overall its a good guitar. I enjoy playing it. It baffles me as to why the different finish options are 100 dollars more expensive tho. Would recommend. Ignore the potato quality of my provided images and videos. Its all I have. Also ignore that crappy tone in the provided video as I was still messing with the knobs and fx on my amp. It sounds great.