Show Full Spec Comparison
| Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone | Sterling Richardson7 | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Jackson | Sterling |
| Year: | 2024 | 2021 |
| Configuration: | HH | HH |
| Strings: | 6 | 7 |
| Made in: | Indonesia | Indonesia |
| Series: | Pro Plus | Artist |
| Colors: | Black | Natural Burst, Red Burst Satin |
| Left-Handed Version: | No | No |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Solid Body | Solid Body |
| Body Material: | Nyatoh | Alder |
| Bridge: | Jackson HT6 String-Through-Body Hardtail | Modern Tremolo |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Neck-Through | Bolt-On |
| Tuners: | Jackson Sealed Die-Cast Locking | Locking |
| Fretboard: | Ebony | Rosewood |
| Neck Material: | 3-piece Maple | Roasted Maple |
| Decoration: | Black Sharkfin | Dot Markers |
| Scale Size: | 27" | 25.5" |
| Shape: | Jackson Standard | Jason Richardson |
| Thickness: | 1st Fret: 0.79'' (20.1mm) - 12th Fret: 0.85'' (21.6mm) | 1st Fret: - 12th Fret: |
| Frets: | 24 Jumbo Nickel Silver | 24 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver |
| Fretboard Radius: | 12" to 16" | 16" |
| Nut: | Ivory Tusq | Compensated |
| Nut Width: | 42.9mm (1.688'') | 49.5mm (1.95'') |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | Seymour Duncan Nazgul (Humbucker / Passive) | Sterling Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Middle Pickup: | ||
| Neck Pickup: | Seymour Duncan Sentient (Humbucker / Passive) | Sterling Humbucker (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Switch: | 3 Way | 3 Way |
| Knobs: | Speed | Dome |
| Pickup Mods: | Killswitch | Coil Tap, Boost |
| Volume Controls: | 1 | 1 |
| Tone Controls: | 0 | 1 |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | Yes | No |
| Hardware Color: | Black | Black |
Show Diagrams Comparison
Reasons to Get
Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone over Sterling Richardson7
Reasons to Get
Sterling Richardson7 over Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone
Other Key Differences
Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone vs Sterling Richardson7
Shared Features
Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone vs Sterling Richardson7
Common Strengths
- Locking Tuners
- High-Quality Nut
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Weight Relief
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Sterling Richardson7 favors large hands more than the Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone.
Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone:
Sterling Richardson7:
Beginner Friendliness
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Sterling Richardson7 meets only 5. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
New Player Friendliness
Sterling Richardson7- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in the Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.
Nyatoh has been replacing Mahogany for guitar building. It's fairly hard, durable, more sustentable and common than Mahogany. Find out more about Nyatoh.
Woods Used in the Sterling Richardson7
Roasted Maple is just maple without a finish. It's technically cheaper than regular maple, but it doesn't have any extra disadvantages because of this. The color is darker, and it's lighter weight and very stable even when there's a lot of humidity.
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.
Winner: Tie.
Pickup Configuration
Both pickup configurations are HH. Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
Pickups Quality
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone has pickups from a more specialized brand than the Sterling Richardson7. Its pickups should simply give you a better, fuller sound, although it all depends on what type of music you're going to play. We recommend these pickups for Heavy Metal and similar genres.
You can purchase similar pickups to the Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone's and use them on any guitar:
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.
Both give you different pickup mod options.
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone offers Killswitch.
A Killswitch lets you disengage the pickups instantly. It can be useful when playing live, and it allows you to create some cool sound effects by using the switch rapidly.
On the other hand, the Sterling Richardson7 comes with the following: Coil Tap, Boost.
Coil Tap is similar to Coil Split but it works a bit differently. Instead of completely cancelling one of the coils of the humbucker, it only cuts part of the output once activated. Some people believe this gives the split pickups a more real single-coil sound.
A Boost will give your pickups more output, similar to an active pickup. It's great if you like to use a lot of output for heavy genres, but also like to use a cleaner tone often.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Sterling Richardson7.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone compares to the Sterling Richardson7.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Indonesia.
Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone has a Ivory Tusq nut. Ivory used to be considered the best material for guitar nuts due to its beauty, durability, and the rich harmonics and sustain you could get from a guitar with it. However, the way to obtain it is simply unethical. Enter TUSQ ivory nuts, which are made synthetically to imitate ivory. Technically, it's better than ivory because it is consistent piece-to-piece, while natural materials can vary a lot, even if they're made from the same.
On the other hand, the Sterling Richardson7 comes with a Compensated nut. Each hole where the string sits at the nut is cut at a different distance from the bridge, which compensates for the different amount of tension that each string is subject to. This fixes most intonation issues across the fretboard, so it gives great tuning stability.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone's brige is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
On the other hand, the Sterling Richardson7's is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
They both have locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.
Winner: Tie.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone has a Neck-Through neck joint. This neck is a lot more resistant and lets builders give the neck joint a more comfortable shape for soloing at the upper frets. The disadvantage is that they're more expensive and that if you damage your neck, you can't simply replace it like with bolt-on necks.
On the other hand, the Sterling Richardson7 comes with Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
Winner: Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone
- Locking Tuners
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Neck-Through Build
- Killswitch Pickups
- Luminescent Inlay
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Strap Lock
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- Made in Indonesia
- No Weight Relief
- No Tremolo
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
Sterling Richardson7
- Locking Tuners
- Expensive Wood
- Compensated Nut
- Coil Tap, Boost Pickups
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- Made in Indonesia
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Sterling Richardson7 has the wider nut with 49.5mm (1.95'') vs 42.9mm (1.688''). This is a 6.6mm (0.262'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Sterling Richardson7, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone has the longest scale: 27". The Sterling Richardson7 is only 25.5" long. This is a 1.5'' (38.1mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
Both the Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone and the Sterling Richardson7 have a D-shaped neck. This is a thin and flat neck that is made for playing fast. If you prefer a neck that doesn't get in your way when soloing, this is the shape you should use. Guitarists that prefer to have a bit more grip won't like this type of neck.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone is the only one with a compound radius. This is a huge win because it will give you the best of both worlds: a more curved radius in the first few frets for chords, and flatter as you come closer to the body for soloing.
Fret Size
The Jackson Pro Plus XT Soloist SLAT HT6 Baritone has Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Sterling Richardson7's Medium Jumbo frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.
