The Weigh-Up: Jackson Pro Plus Dinky MDK HT7 MS (Gear Review)

The centrepiece to Jackson’s new 2023 Pro Plus series, the MDK HT7 MS sees the iconic Dinky model brought screaming into the modern age. Clearly designed with the contemporary player in mind, Jackson’s latest seven-string instrument not only boasts extreme playability, it also features an array of high-end specs from some of the industry leaders.

Throw in the multi-scale fan-fret system and you’ve got a red-hot axe born to riff hard and shred mercilessly.

The Dinky model, commercially introduced in 1986 as an alternative to Jackson’s equally iconic Rhoads V, has long served as an updated take on the classic double cutaway shape. It’s newest incarnation in the Pro Plus series sees the long running model’s extreme playability combined with the best that the 2020’s guitar-world has to offer – most notably, the multi-scale length, helping keep the tension for low tunings, whilst also maximising ergonomic movement for the fretting hand.

There’s no shortage of impressive features and specs that come standard on the Jackson Pro Plus Dinky MDK HT7 MS. Fishman Fluence Modern pickups, Hipshot bridge, Gotoh locking tuners, Graph Tech nut, Luminlay side dots – no expense has been spared. Aside from string gauge preferences, there’s literally nothing further the modern player could ask for – this thing is literally ready to crush straight from the box.

The fanned-frets/multi-scale length will potentially be the biggest talking point on the Jackson Dinky MDK HT7 MS, however the radius and curve of the neck of the instrument is as comfortable and ergonomic as this style of guitar gets – the fan flattening at the 7th fret is the most ideal design for shape of the human hand. Combined with the high horned, double cutaway shape – and an excellent further-recessed neck carve – hitting all 24 frets across the seven strings is a breeze. The benefits to the guitar’s intonation thanks to the extended scale is immense – with drop G/F/E tunings being the norm in a fair amount of modern heavy music, the MDK HT7 MS is begging to get tuned low.

One of the marquee attractions of this new Jackson guitar is the addition of the Fishman Fluence Modern pickups. As the hottest pickup company in the world, the Modern’s patented two-voice system lives up to all the hype. Giving the player access to both the active and passive humbucker sound, the push pull tone-knob and three-blade switch gives you six different, highly usable tones.

Voice 1 on the bridge is perfect for modern heavy music – not overly compressed, with excellent articulation and clarity, whilst it’s second Voice delivers a classic passive pickup sound, less focused and a little looser sounding, ideal for classic rock and rawer metal styles. The neck pickup is tremendous for cleans and leads, with Voice 2 moving into single-coil territory, delivering a smooth tone that soars during solos.

The MDK HT7 MS’s basswood body is light with great resonance and sustain, whilst the bolt-on maple/wenge neck with ebony fretboard is ridiculously easy to fly around. The tuning is rock solid thanks to the unbeatable combination of Gotoh locking tuners, Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut and the very sleek Hipshot fixed bridge – seriously, you forget the bridge is there, it’s that smooth of your picking palm.

The best advertisement for the new Jackson Pro Plus Dinky MDK HT7 MS is that it leaves no excuses for the player – you will be playing to the peak of your abilities on this instrument. Though a Korean-made model, the QC is flawless, making this a straight-from-the-box weapon. The MDK HT7 MS has players of metalcore, deathcore, djent written all over it – yet it’s tonally diverse and immensely playable that it can comfortably dish out a plethora of sounds and styles. The negatives? Well, the bright ‘orange crush’ finish may not be to everyone’s taste; but that’s it – the only real room for growth is perhaps the addition of an eight string sibling to the line in the future. But for now, the Jackson Pro Plus Dinky MDK HT7 MS may hold the claim for 2023’s finest seven string guitar.

Learn more about the Dinky MDK HT7 MS – and the entire Jackson Pro Plus – visit here.

Reviewed by Andrew Kapper @andrew_kapper

Specs:

• 25.5”-27″ multi-scale length
• Basswood Dinky® body
• Bolt-on three-piece maple/wenge/maple neck with graphite reinforcement and satin finish on the back
• 12˝-16˝ compound radius bound ebony fingerboard
• 24 jumbo stainless steel frets and offset pearloid dot inlays
• Luminlay® side dots
• Graph Tech® TUSQ® XL nut
• Jackson® locking strap pins
• Active Fishman® Fluence® Modern PRF-MH8 humbucking bridge and neck pickups
• Three-way blade switch, single volume control and single tone control with push/pull voice activation to switch between voice 1 and voice 2
• Hipshot® 7 fixed bridge
• Gotoh® locking tuners
• Gigbag included