Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 vs Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged

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Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7

Playability

80

Sound

85

Build

82

Value

67

Score

82

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Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged

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Playability

75

Sound

72

Build

74

Value

59

Score

74

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Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 Prices

• New from $4,499.99 >>
• Used from $3,299 >>

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Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged Prices

• New from $6,514.94 >>
• New from $6,999 >>
• New from $6,999 >>
• New from $6,999 >>

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Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 vs Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged: Which One is Better?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 is probably the better product overall with its final score of 82 compared to the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged's 74 score, although not by a lot.

The Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 wins when it comes to sound, playability, build quality, value for the money. This means that it wins over the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged in every aspect.

However, there's still a reason to choose the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged instead. If you got small hands, you'll probably feel that the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged is easier to play.

Which Guitar is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged is the better choice.

The Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 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.

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing a guitar, 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.

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar 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 Guitars

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.

Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.

Woods Used in the Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7

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.

Woods Used in the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged

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.

Winner: Tie.

Pickup Configuration

Both guitars have an HH pickup configuration. 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

Both guitars come with very good pickups from at least one of the specialized brands in the market. With pickups like these, you probably won't need an upgrade anytime soon.

However, the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged has a slight sound quality advantage when taking into account other factors like the type of pickups, magnet, position, etc.

Both guitars 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: Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged.

Versatility Comparison

Some guitars offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both guitars compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

Both guitars are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.

Only the Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Split, Killswitch.

Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.

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.

Here's the diagram comparing all the pickup combinations you can get with both guitars:

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 USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the guitar. 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 Chris Broderick Soloist 7 compares to the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged.

Country of Origin Comparison

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both guitars in this comparison where made in United States.

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.

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 guitar 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 Chris Broderick Soloist 7 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 Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged comes with a Nylon nut. It used to be one of the highest quality materials for nuts (and still is), but it's rare to find nowadays because it's hard to work with. It's a very resistant material with very low friction, so it will keep the guitar in tune and will last for a long time

Winner: Tie.

Fret Material

Most guitar fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most guitars end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive guitars come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of these guitars 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 Chris Broderick Soloist 7'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 Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged's 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.

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 USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7.

Tuners

The Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 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 the guitar 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 Chris Broderick Soloist 7 has a locking nut, so it should have even better tune stability and doesn't need locking tuners.

Winner: Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7.

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 USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 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 Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged comes with Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.

Winner: Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Final Build Quality Scores

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare the playability of both guitars. Bear in mind that the guitar will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test a guitar before buying it. 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 guitar for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar is 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 we're comparing guitars. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width Comparison

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 has the wider nut with 47.6mm (1.875'') vs 43mm (1.693''). This is a 4.6mm (0.182'') difference

This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.

Scale Length Comparison

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 USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 has the longest scale: 25.5". The Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged is only 24.75" long. This is a 0.75'' (19.1mm) 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 Comparison

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.

In this case, both guitars have different neck shapes:

The Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 has a D type of 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.

The Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged, on the other hand, has a C neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

Fretboard Radius Comparison

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.

Both the Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 and the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged have the same fretboard radius of 12". This is the radius used in most Gibson guitars. It gives you a good balance for playing chords without muting, but also good comfortability for playing single notes and bending.

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 Chris Broderick Soloist 7 favors large hands more than the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged.

Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7:

Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged:

Fret Size Comparison

The Jackson USA Signature Chris Broderick Soloist 7 has Jumbo frets, which should be taller than the Gibson 1964 Trini Lopez Standard Ebony Ultra Light Aged'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.

Final Playability Scores