Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM vs Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7
Reasons to Get
Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM over Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7
Reasons to Get
Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 over USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM
Other Key Differences
Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM vs Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7
Shared Features
Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM vs Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7
Common Strengths
- Strap Lock
Common Weaknesses
- Neck-Through Build
- Weight Relief
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Expensive Wood
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Table of Contents
Price History Comparison
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Which One is Better Overall?
After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM is probably the better product overall with its final score of 75 compared to the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7's 73 score, although not by a lot.
The Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM wins when it comes to sound, build quality. On the other hand, the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 has the upper hand when it comes to playability, value for the money.
If you got small hands, you'll probably feel that the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 is easier to play.
Which One is Better for Beginners?
If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 is the better choice.
The Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 meets 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM meets only 4. 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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Comfortable neck
- Narrow nut
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
- Easy-to-use bridge
New Player Friendliness
Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7- Comfortable shape
- Locking tuners
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
- Easy-to-use bridge
Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.
Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM Overview
- From Jackson's 2020 Artist Signature series
- Adrian Smith Signature
- Made in United States
- 6 strings
- 25.5"'' scale
- 12" to 16" Fretboard Radius
- Alder body
- Quartersawn Maple neck
- Maple fretboard
- Bridge pickup: DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 (Humbucker/Passive)
- Middle pickup: Samarium Cobalt Noiseless (SCN) Single-Coil Strat (Single Coil/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Samarium Cobalt Noiseless (SCN) Single-Coil Strat (Single Coil/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
- 5-way Switch
- Floyd Rose Original Double-Locking Tremolo bridge
- Jackson Thin D Bolt-On neck
- 22 Jumbo frets
- Jackson Sealed Die-Cast tuners
- Weight between 8.25lbs (3.7kgs) and 8.35lbs (3.8kgs)
- Compare Specs >
Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 Overview
- From Jackson's 2021 Artist Signature series
- Misha Mansoor Signature
- Made in Indonesia
- 7 strings
- 26.5"'' scale
- 20" Fretboard Radius
- Basswood body
- Caramelized Maple neck
- Caramelized Maple fretboard
- Bridge pickup: Jackson Uncovered MM1 (Humbucker/Passive)
- Neck pickup: Jackson Uncovered MM1 (Humbucker/Passive)
- 1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs
- 5-way Switch
- Evertune F7 Model bridge
- Speed Bolt-On neck
- 24 Jumbo frets
- Jackson Sealed Die-Cast Locking tuners
- Weight between 8.35lbs (3.8kgs) and 8.8lbs (4kgs)
- Compare Specs >
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 Both
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.
Woods Used in the Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM
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.
Woods Used in the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7
Basswood is a lightweight type of wood that isn't as expensive as other popular choices for guitar building. It gives more power to the mid-range frequencies. Its color can vary from pale white to light brown. Find out more about Basswood.
Winner: Tie.
Pickup Configuration
The Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM has an HSS configuration while the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 has HH pickups.
HSS provides a great balance if you like to play with a lot of distortion, but also love to use clean tones. You'll get a lot of output at the bridge position, but you'll be able to play bright clean tones at the other positions.
On the other hand, 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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM has pickups from a more specialized brand than the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7. 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 Hard Rock and similar genres.
You can purchase similar pickups to the Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM'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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM.
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.
Only the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 comes with some kind of pickup modification: Multi-Voicing.
Multi-Voicing means the pickups come with multiple ''voices'', which means they can change the tone and gain by a simple switch or knob. Piezo, Fishman and similar are considered multi-voicing pickups.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7.
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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM compares to the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM is built in United States while the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 is made in Indonesia.
The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.
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: Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM
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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM has a Locking nut. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.
On the other hand, the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 comes with a Plastic nut. This is a low-quality nut that you might want to consider upgrading soon. Bone and TUSQ nuts are the best for guitars with a fixed or simple tremolo bridge.
Winner: Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM.
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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM's brige is a Floyd Rose. This is a double-locking bridge system that allows you to perform techniques like dive bombs and pinch harmonics. The locking nut allows your guitar to stay in tune even after the most intense tremolo usage. The disadvantage is that it takes more work to change the strings and set up everything correctly.
On the other hand, the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7's is a Evertune. It will keep your guitar in tune and intonated until the next string swap. If you really like extremely subtle vibratos, this might not be the bridge for you because you won't be able to perform them as well. However, the fact that you won't need to tune your guitar is a huge advantage that many people will gladly pay the extra price for.
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: Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7.
Tuners
The Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 has the best tuners of the two because they are 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.
Nevertheless, the Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM has a locking nut, so it should have even better tune stability and doesn't need locking tuners.
Winner: Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7.
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.
Both have a 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: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM
- Made in United States
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Tremolo
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Retainer Bar
- Strap Lock
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Expensive Woods
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7
- Locking Tuners
- Multi-Voicing Pickups
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- Luminescent Inlay
- Strap Lock
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- Made in Indonesia
- No Expensive Woods
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
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 Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 has the wider nut with 44.5mm (1.75'') vs 42.9mm (1.688''). This is a 1.6mm (0.062'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7, 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 Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 has the longest scale: 26.5". The Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM is only 25.5" long. This is a 1'' (25.4mm) 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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM and the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7 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 USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM 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.
Hand Size Comfortability
Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.
And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM favors large hands more than the Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7. But it's still more comfortable for people with small hands, as you can see in the score meter below.
Jackson USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM:
Jackson Pro Series Signature Misha Mansoor Juggernaut ET7:
Fret Size
Both have a Jumbo fret size. This is one of the tallest frets you can get. You won't feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. It will give you the best sustain and all types of chords will be easier to play. However, you can end up changing the pitch of your notes if you press too hard, which is something people used to feeling the fretboard do when trying Jumbo frets for the first time.
