I went for the burnt cherry finish as I needed a guitar that had a "slightly" conservative look due to the broad musical styles I play.

To be honest I was not really thrilled with the pictures of this finish online so had my fingers firmly crossed when I opened the case.

The guitar looked incredible, not the "orangey" color pictured online, but a beautiful fire red stain burst over a burnt orange - the depth of flaming on the cap when catching the sunlight makes the finish Burn like fire. The Jackson logo and inlays were highly figured mother of pearl which set off the aesthetics beautifully.

The neck needed adjustment twice (as we live in the mountains about 4500 feet up in the Arizona Air ( y-know - right next to the sun)- so, no surprise there, but this guitar has acclimated well and has since needed no further setup.

The action is beautiful and there is lots of room on the fretboard for 80's style Gary Moore string bends. Very stable tuning after the strings have stretched. The Original Floyd Rose is Highly responsive for both subtle and exaggerated note inflections.

The neck profile is different to the SL3 I own - in fact - comparing the SL1 and the SL3 side-by-side there really is no comparison between the two. These are completely different guitars.

Being a Les Paul Fan, The tone is what was most important to me and I was Ecstatic with the sound of this SL1. Timbre and tone; I was expecting a slightly better sounding guitar than the SL3 - what I got was Les Paul type timbre and tone which is EXACTLY what I was searching for but never expected to find.

Sustain? You Bet. And all you will ever need, Bright shimmering highs, soulful mids and well defined lows. Excellent note definition on Every Single Note on the neck (this is very rare) excellent harmonic response, this guitar is an all around champ for everything I play.

Quickly playing between a Les Paul Custom to a Jackson SL3 your hand hovers off the back of the neck - as the neck on the SL3 is So thin and wide. The Neck on the SL1 is chunkier with a better feel in the hand if you are used to playing a Les Paul (which I am).

The switching, tone and volume controls are very tight and responsive, very high end electronics - quality all the way here.

Overall the SL1 is almost perfect. I say Almost as I am incredibly hard to please and this guitar has come as close to a perfect 5 as I have ever found.

Well Done Jackson. A Beautiful and Real "Instrument" at a reasonable price.

For those without a bottomless guitar budget - you are not alone - I spent years saving for this guitar and I begrudge Jackson not a single penny - Well worth the financial sacrifice.

Guitars I own: Hamer Californian, Jackson SL3, Jackson Fusion Standard. Jackson DKMG, Les Paul Custom, LTD EC 1000, Ibanez RGT 42DXFM, Charvel Model 4, Charvel Model 7..... For my needs - The SL1 is a better "all round" guitar than any of these...

Rest in Peace Les Paul. Thanks for your lifetime contribution to our dreams.

I've had this guitar for roughly 3 years now. By far the most versatile and well built guitar that I have ever played. I own this guitar and a Dinky DK2M and if you are trying to decide if there really is more playability in that $1000 difference, believe me, there is. If you have the cash and are looking for the best guitar on the market. this is it

Just received this guitar today in the burnt cherry finish. Beautiful guitar, action is fantastic, the neck is lightning fast, great tones out of all pickup configurations, creamy tones from neck pickup and 80's metal tones from bridge only complaint is volume knob too close to pickups, I have big hands anyway.I'll get used to it. I highly recommend this axe. Buy it you'll fall in love with it!!!!

After nine years, and many other models being presented to try, the usa soloist still remains my main axe. She can do it all, and she simply refuses to fall out of tune... period... BUY IT!!!

this guitar is the most comfortable guitar to play. its light fast and the heeless construction helps alot. this guitar blows my friends $2500 gibson out of the water. you get sick harmonics and you can get shimmering almost acoustic like tones i wouldnt trade it for anything