Jackson Soloist “Speed Neck” profile

[RedPlated]

Can’t find much info about these. I’m looking at a CS Soloist that has all the specs I prefer, but has a Speed Neck profile. I don’t like super thin necks. But I’m not super picky either. I can play a .900” LP neck just as easily as an ESP “thin U.” Those are probably the two most contrasting sizes I own at the moment.

Can anyone comment on the feel of the speed necks in relation to other profiles? Is it a huge difference to a regular Jackson “C” shape?

I’m hesitant to make the move on this Soloist with the fear that I may not like the neck. But I also don’t want to pass it up if it’s not really a big deal.

 

[napalmdeath]

It's deceiving, calling it a "speed neck", as it's definitely not thin, by any means. It's a rounded profile, and has a bit more beef to it than one might think.

I've owned 3 SL2's. If you don't like thin, you'll be pleased. Absolutely beefier than an ESP thin U.

 

[RedPlated]

It's deceiving, calling it a "speed neck", as it's definitely not thin, by any means. It's a rounded profile, and has a bit more beef to it than one might think.

I've owned 3 SL2's. If you don't like thin, you'll be pleased. Absolutely beefier than an ESP thin U.

Wow, that’s fantastic info. Thanks man.

 

[Exo-metal]

The shape is more of a D profile and it's not super thinned out. Snag it, you can always sell if it's that nice.

 

[napalmdeath]

The shape is more of a D profile and it's not super thinned out. Snag it, you can always sell if it's that nice.

Yep, D is how I'd describe it. The compound radius feels nice too, as you get up the neck. I love the SL2's, but strangely enough, I prefer a finished neck. I wish they'd do that on Pro Series, (aside from the MIC Crackle finishes). I refuse to buy Chinese guitars.

 

[the4thlast1]

I'm correcting what I said about the speed neck because it was several years ago I had that Jackson. I remember now the dealer made a mistake and it actually had a dinky neck carve which is the thinnest the custom shop offers. Speed neck is between that and the soloist carve so it's not extremely thin but also not chunky at all... It's. 775 at the 3rd fret. The speed neck does not come standard on soloists unless requested on a custom build for an upcharge.

 

[napalmdeath]

Yes D shape and very thin. I had a USA Dinky with the speed neck profile. Its pretty different from Soloist necks which do not come with the speed profile unless you have the custom shop do it as a request/ up charge. It felt good but the guitar had a thin tone along with the thin neck. I started to wonder if a thicker neck would have been more beneficial to fatten up the sound. I guess with the right body wood/density it could be a great tone match. So many variables !

It's not thin, at all. Absolutely not.

 

[thenine]

I did not believe the speed neck profile is standard on soloists. So just b/c you’ve owned a soloist doesn’t mean you’ve had a speed neck.

 

[2prog4u]

My understanding is that the SL1 has the speed neck profile. The SL2H does not, unless requested. I don't think either KV2, the RR1, or the WR1 has the speed neck either. I'm not sure about the DK1...

 

[the4thlast1]

Yes D shape and very thin. I had a USA Dinky with the speed neck profile. Its pretty different from Soloist necks which do not come with the speed profile unless you have the custom shop do it as a request/ up charge. It felt good but the guitar had a thin tone along with the thin neck. I started to wonder if a thicker neck would have been more beneficial to fatten up the sound. I guess with the right body wood/density it could be a great tone match. So many variables !

It's not thin, at all. Absolutely not.

I corrected what I said because I forgot I had a dinky profile neck. There was a mistake on the order form of the guitar. Speed neck is still thinner than soloist though. Are you sure you had speed neck ? , just saying because only way to get a speed neck now is on a masterbuild . As far as I know it was never a stock carve on a soloist. I'm not claiming to be a Jackson expert though so don't go wiggin out or anything lol. I could be wrong.

 

[RedPlated]

This Soloist I'm looking at was a special request Custom Shop Speed Neck option through CMC guitars. Apparently, as stated above, they are usually only available on Masterbuilds. I think CMC orders enough Custom Shops that they are able to get options others can't.

Here's an example of a non-Masterbuild with a Speed Neck through CMC:

http://www.cmcguitars.com/jackson-usa-custom-shop-sl2h-speed-neck-soloist-quicksilver/

That description says:

Speed Neck - .775" @ 3rd

Standard Soloist - .790" @ 3rd

 

[sytharnia1560]

Man I kind of wished I knew what any of this means.. I have a customshop Jackson that has an awesome neck on it (I would call it a D thin neck) but I can't relate it to anything as Jackson seem to be all over the place (maybe the USA ones are similar to each other?). I have found my 2009 Charvel san dimas has the exact same feel as my custom shop Jackson but the binding on the Jackson makes the neck wider, and the made in "" have the same feel but the "shoulders" vary ... either way they are great

 

[napalmdeath]

Yes D shape and very thin. I had a USA Dinky with the speed neck profile. Its pretty different from Soloist necks which do not come with the speed profile unless you have the custom shop do it as a request/ up charge. It felt good but the guitar had a thin tone along with the thin neck. I started to wonder if a thicker neck would have been more beneficial to fatten up the sound. I guess with the right body wood/density it could be a great tone match. So many variables !

It's not thin, at all. Absolutely not.

I corrected what I said because I forgot I had a dinky profile neck. There was a mistake on the order form of the guitar. Speed neck is still thinner than soloist though. Are you sure you had speed neck ? , just saying because only way to get a speed neck now is on a masterbuild . As far as I know it was never a stock carve on a soloist. I'm not claiming to be a Jackson expert though so don't go wiggin out or anything lol. I could be wrong.

I'm not so sure, now.... I could have sworn the Pro Series SL2, (Indonesian), was a Speed Neck profile, as I know I saw a Jackson product video where the Product Manager stated as such. There's no mention of it online on their page, however.

I owned 3 SL2 Pro Series Soloists, (again, Indonesian), and those necks were not thin in the least. D shape, yes. It must be their "standard" Soloist neck, which I can't find much info on.

Aren't the MIM Pro Mod Charvels supposed to be "speed neck"?? They're description is "modified" C.

 

[the4thlast1]

Yes D shape and very thin. I had a USA Dinky with the speed neck profile. Its pretty different from Soloist necks which do not come with the speed profile unless you have the custom shop do it as a request/ up charge. It felt good but the guitar had a thin tone along with the thin neck. I started to wonder if a thicker neck would have been more beneficial to fatten up the sound. I guess with the right body wood/density it could be a great tone match. So many variables !

It's not thin, at all. Absolutely not.

I corrected what I said because I forgot I had a dinky profile neck. There was a mistake on the order form of the guitar. Speed neck is still thinner than soloist though. Are you sure you had speed neck ? , just saying because only way to get a speed neck now is on a masterbuild . As far as I know it was never a stock carve on a soloist. I'm not claiming to be a Jackson expert though so don't go wiggin out or anything lol. I could be wrong.

I'm not so sure, now.... I could have sworn the Pro Series SL2, (Indonesian), was a Speed Neck profile, as I know I saw a Jackson product video where the Product Manager stated as such. There's no mention of it online on their page, however.

I owned 3 SL2 Pro Series Soloists, (again, Indonesian), and those necks were not thin in the least. D shape, yes. It must be their "standard" Soloist neck, which I can't find much info on.

Aren't the MIM Pro Mod Charvels supposed to be "speed neck"?? They're description is "modified" C.

I don't know how much of it is all marketing lingo when it comes to the import versions. All I know is that the USA custom shop has a few different carves that they offer and if you look online you can find the exact measurements for them. I would imagine that with the custom shop you will get what you ask for but with the mass produced versions the names for the carves might not mean as much.

I know that the dinky carve is the thinnest and next up from there is the speed neck. Both are thinner than the standard soloist carve.

 

[Racerxrated]

I've had 4 soloists; a 90 SL1 Psycho Swirl and now an 88 Silverburst student with a Floyd...both of these USAs have thinner profiles than say my 08 USA Charvel. By just a bit. By contrast I've had 2 MIJ SL3s; both were much beefier like a 59 LP profile. I've had 3 80s USA bolt on Dinkys and they were thinner than the soloists by a good bit. Almost Wizard thin but not quite.

 

[napalmdeath]

Yes D shape and very thin. I had a USA Dinky with the speed neck profile. Its pretty different from Soloist necks which do not come with the speed profile unless you have the custom shop do it as a request/ up charge. It felt good but the guitar had a thin tone along with the thin neck. I started to wonder if a thicker neck would have been more beneficial to fatten up the sound. I guess with the right body wood/density it could be a great tone match. So many variables !

It's not thin, at all. Absolutely not.

I corrected what I said because I forgot I had a dinky profile neck. There was a mistake on the order form of the guitar. Speed neck is still thinner than soloist though. Are you sure you had speed neck ? , just saying because only way to get a speed neck now is on a masterbuild . As far as I know it was never a stock carve on a soloist. I'm not claiming to be a Jackson expert though so don't go wiggin out or anything lol. I could be wrong.

I'm not so sure, now.... I could have sworn the Pro Series SL2, (Indonesian), was a Speed Neck profile, as I know I saw a Jackson product video where the Product Manager stated as such. There's no mention of it online on their page, however.

I owned 3 SL2 Pro Series Soloists, (again, Indonesian), and those necks were not thin in the least. D shape, yes. It must be their "standard" Soloist neck, which I can't find much info on.

Aren't the MIM Pro Mod Charvels supposed to be "speed neck"?? They're description is "modified" C.

I don't know how much of it is all marketing lingo when it comes to the import versions. All I know is that the USA custom shop has a few different carves that they offer and if you look online you can find the exact measurements for them. I would imagine that with the custom shop you will get what you ask for but with the mass produced versions the names for the carves might not mean as much.

I know that the dinky carve is the thinnest and next up from there is the speed neck. Both are thinner than the standard soloist carve.

Yeah, the only mention I see of Speed Neck profiles on USA's are Masterbuilt option.

So, my claims really aren't accurate, and only apply to the imports. The SL2 was definitely rounded, and the DK2 was as well, but somewhat flatter. Neither are Wizard thin, or as thin as my ESP Elite M-II. That, is borderline too thin, for my tastes..

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

+1 to what everyone posted above.

The "Speed Neck" is thicker, fuller, more rounded, D profile neck. Not like the regular thin Soloist neck around on the SL1/SL2H. I believe this was the Dave Mustaine signature neck profile when he was an endorsed artists as most of his Jackson Sigs had the "Speed Neck" profile.

It's nice, but a departure from what many are used to when playing SL1s, SL2Hs, or DK1s.

 

[Exo-metal]

The Wizard is correct as I have exclusively owned King Vs. 6 now, 17 total and that's not a bad thing

 

[Clig Herdunkachuk]

Know this topic is a little stale, but can answer the question so here we go.

There are 4 stock neck carves used on USA Jacksons:

• Standard - .790” @ 3rd, .850” @ 12th
• Speed - .775” @ 3rd, .835” @ 12th
• Dinky - .750” @ 3rd, .810 @ 12th
• Kelly - .775” @3rd, .850” @ 12th

All USA Soloists (SL1, SL2, etc) and Rhoads Vs get the standard neck carve by default.

The King V and the Warrior get the Speed neck carve by default.

The USA Dinky gets the Dinky neck carve.

The Kelly gets the Kelly neck carve by default.

A custom select order can change the neck carve to one of the other neck carves. Since the speed neck is a stock neck carve it does not require a Masterbuilt order. There is merely a small upcharge.

You can also order a Custom Select Soloist with a Dinky neck carve. I have a Soloist being built right now with a Dinky neck carve.

I do not know if you can alter the Dinky neck profile due to it being a bolt on. I have changed the neck carve on Custom Select Soloist and Rhoads orders.

IME, Jackson necks are all on the thinner side. Not as thin as an Ibanez Wizard neck, but thinner than a Les Paul. I have guitars with the standard, speed, and dinky necks. The Dinky neck is my personal favorite.

 

[BrandonTMX]

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