Review of the Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6]

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What is it?

The Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6 is the signature guitar of one of modern metal’s most underrated players. Andreu is often found in the shadow of the brothers Duplantier, thanks to Joe’s outspoken nature and commanding stage presence, and Mario’s incredible displays of virtuosity on the drums, but he’s no less important to the precision machine that is Gojira.

It’s no surprise then that as part of the rhythmic foundations of the band, his signature guitar is a very Spartan, metal guitar affair, prioritizing stability and simplicity. It’s a three-piece maple neck with a neck-through-body construction. The truss rod is assisted by graphite reinforcement, and it features 24 jumbo-sized stainless steel frets on an ebony fingerboard, with Luminlay side dots and inverted pearloid ghost fin inlays. It’s got a compound radius fretboard, which moves from 12 to 16 inches as you get further up the neck.

(Image credit: Future)

The reverse headstock features Jackson die-cast locking tuners, while an Evertune F6 bridge anchors the strings to the body at the opposite end. The body itself is two alder wings joined to the maple running through the center, coming in the classic Rhoads body shape with a white bevel on the gloss black body.

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humbucker with a three-position toggle switch that allows for three different voices: active, passive, and single coil tone. The guitar comes with a semi-rigid guitar case and a pair of Jackson straplocks to help keep it in place when on a guitar strap.

Launch price: $2,429.99 | £1,849.99 | €2,199

Made: Korea

Type: Six-string electric guitar

Body: Alder

Neck: 3-piece maple

Fingerboard: Ebony

Scale length: 25.5″ (648 mm)

Nut/width: Black plastic / 42.86mm

Frets: 24 frets, jumbo, stainless steel

Hardware: Jackson die-cast locking tuners, Evertune F6

String spacing at bridge: 50mm

Electrics: Fishman Fluence Open Core Modern OEM-MO6-ABB, master volume, 3-position toggle switch

Weight: 7.27lbs/3.3kg

Options: N/A

Left-handed options: No

Finishes: Black with white bevels

Cases: Jackson semi-rigid case included

Jackson

guitar case, it’s certainly a welcome addition.

Taking the guitar out of the case, I can immediately feel a decent bit of heft from it. It weighs in at 3.3kg on my scales, so not insurmountable, but there’s something about the balance of it that makes it feel a bit heavier than it actually is. Performing an up-close inspection of the aesthetics, I can’t see anything drastically out of place. It looks great, but the gloss-black finish tends to pick up every tiny bit of dirt and dust.

The lower horn on the Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6 electric guitar

(Image credit: Future)

There’s a little bit of paint bleed where the white bevels terminate near the neck, and the same where the nut and binding meet, but you’ve really got to zoom in to see these. I do spot a tiny circular dent in the fingerboard on the 23rd fret, which could be a tooling mark that wasn’t filled, or an alignment hole that wasn’t covered up when the fretboard was glued to the neck. It doesn’t affect the playability and is only visible close up, but I would expect better on a guitar costing well north of $2,000.

There’s nothing else out of place, though. The hardware is very well applied, and there’s an overall feeling of robustness about the guitar, thanks to its heft and the stable feel offered by the neck-thru construction. I don’t doubt at all that this guitar could survive the rigors of the road.

Playability

Close up of the Luminlay side dots on the Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6 electric guitar fretboard — (Image credit: Future)

Playability rating: ★★★★½

I’m faced with the inevitable issue of having to play in the classical position due to the body shape

Sitting down to play the Christian Andreu Rhoads, I’m faced with the inevitable issue of having to play in the classical position due to the body shape. While I’m sure many guitarists prefer this position, and with a footstool it’s objectively better ergonomically, sometimes you just want to pick up a guitar quickly and play, which isn’t possible here.

Out of the box, the Evertune bridge is not set up properly, so the guitar is out of tune. Due to its unique operation, it’s not just a simple case of turning the tuning machines either. I have to loosen the strings until they’re slack, then tighten until the pitch of the note stays the same despite the tuning machines being turned. Once this is done, it requires two more full turns, which puts it into ‘zone 2’. From here, I need to use the included hex key on the saddle to tune the guitar to correct pitch, which is D standard from the factory.

With the tuning set, I can set the bend sensitivity by tightening the tuners further, which means it will react quickly to bending and vibrato, or not at all. It’s definitely a unique feeling to be bending a string but hearing no change in pitch, and for the surgical rhythm playing Andreu is known for, this mode has some incredible benefits. Notes are always in tune, no matter how hard I press down on the strings, and it makes getting up and down the fretboard a lot easier, as I can press down hard without worrying about pushing the strings sharp.

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Close up of the front of the Evertune bridge on the Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6 electric guitar — (Image credit: Future)

tremolo picking. It comes with a 10-52 set of strings, which is nice and chunky, and with my finger on the 1st fret, the action measures at 1mm at the 12th fret on the low E string.

I find myself subconsciously trying to add vibrato to certain notes, and it’s not working, which takes a bit of getting used to. You can set the bridge up so that you can bend certain strings and not others, so I opt to set the two low strings to stay stationary in pitch, while bending and vibrato is possible on the four higher-pitched strings. It’s a pretty amazing feature, and I can see why so many metal guitar players are using Evertune bridges at the moment.

The neck profile isn’t declared on the Jackson site, but to my hand it feels like a slim ‘D’. It’s very slinky and encourages fast and technical playing, with the body shape offering superb upper fret access. The jumbo frets give you plenty to bend against, which means it requires less effort to hit those full tone and beyond acrobatics. It does take some getting used to with the Evertune set in bending mode however, because it doesn’t respond in exactly the same way that a typical hardtail or tremolo bridge would.

audio interface and load up the Gojira Neural DSP plugin to put it through its paces. My first impression is that the humbucker is incredibly high output. Even with the gain of my input set to zero, it’s still hitting well above 0dBFS, which is so hot it makes the plugin sound way too saturated.

It’s an impressive amount of gain even with nothing in front of it, so I bring in an SSL E Channel Strip to roll back the input, which makes things a lot more controlled. Using one of the default rhythm presets on the plugin, with the active pickup voice (toggle switch towards the neck), it’s that archetypal modern metal sound: loads of attack, plenty in the high mids, and a tight, controlled low end. It’s the kind of sound that makes you want to keep chugging the low E string for hours.

Close up of the master volume and toggle switch on the Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6 electric guitar

(Image credit: Future)

It sounds really sweet when I play the intro of ‘Flying Whales’ with plenty of reverb and delay

With the toggle switch in the middle position, I get voice 2, which is the passive humbucker tone. It’s pretty similar to my ear, though, slightly less gain, a touch more midrange, and less low end. It’s slightly dynamic here versus the more compressed tone of the active voice, but the differences between the first two voices aren’t exactly night and day, and I naturally want to play heavy riffs and fast leads in this position as well.

Moving to toggle position 3 is the single coil emulation. It’s still pretty hot by all accounts, hitting just shy of 0dbFS on my interface with my plugin trim off, but it’s a much thinner, brighter tone. With the right amp EQ, I can get it pretty single-coil-ish, and it sounds really sweet when I play the intro of ‘Flying Whales’ with plenty of reverb and delay. It won’t fool any single coil purists, but for the mainly metalhead who wants to play the occasional clean passage, it does the job.

Verdict

A Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6 lying on a white, distressed floor with a guitar cable trailed nearby — (Image credit: Future)

It’s not a surprise that, as the signature model from a guitarist of one of the heaviest bands on earth, the Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads is not the most subtle of guitars. For chugging precision-engineered riffs, searing shred leads, and generally getting heavy, it’s a brilliant bit of kit. The Evertune bridge is a marvel for technical and precise playing, and the neck offers phenomenal playability.

V-shaped guitars are just naturally unwieldy

I can’t imagine anyone other than dedicated metalheads and Gojira megafans finding loads to love here though, especially considering the price. Although the pickup surprised me with its capabilities, it still leans very much towards metal and rock tones. I also find V-shaped guitars are just naturally unwieldy, difficult to play sitting down, and basically impossible to put on a stand or just lean against something without the fear of it falling over

Guitar World verdict: If you want to get heavy and look like a proper metalhead while doing so, the Jackson Pro Plus Series Signature Christian Andreu Rhoads RR24 EVTN6 certainly ticks both of those boxes. It’s a great guitar for live players with a solid build, and the Evertune bridge means it can also be a proper studio weapon, provided you like playing standing up. It’s not a surprise to find a pretty one-dimensional instrument in terms of tones, but then you should be able to tell that just by looking at it.

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Ratings scorecard
Test	Results	Score
Build quality	Overall solid, but a few small QC niggles	★★★★☆
Playability	Perfect for technical riffing and shred leads	★★★★½
Sounds	Ideal for modern metal tones, but limited elsewhere	★★★★☆
Overall	A good guitar for dedicated metalheads and Gojira fans	★★★★☆