Review: Jackson Pro Plus XT Monarkh SC T6 Baritone

Varied and extended range tunings are becoming more and more common, and with them are extended range guitars. Beyond a few semitones, traditional guitar scale lengths of 25.5” struggle with tuning down, enter the baritone guitar, and a stellar example is the Pro Plus XT Monarkh SC T6 Baritone. The Monarkh is the single-cut offering from Jackson, wielded by the likes of Marty Friedman! The Pro Plus XT is available in a Satin Black finish which, coupled with an ebony fingerboard and black hardware, makes for a very metal leaning aesthetic. With a 27” scale length and dual Seymour Duncan humbuckers, this Monarkh is ready for anything.

Baritone guitars

From the factory, the Jackson Pro Plus XT Monarkh SC T6 Baritone arrives with nickel plated .013-.062 strings, designed for tunings like A Standard, B Standard and beyond. The 27” scale length allows for better tension at lower tunings, and more accurate intonation via the Jackson Tune-O-Matic style adjustable bridge with anchored tailpiece, and Jackson-brand locking tuners at the other end. A Graph Tech TUSQ nut retains clarity of the lower notes, harnessing the tonality of a bone nut without the impact on the environment. Dual Seymour Duncan pickups on board are a Nazgûl in the bridge and Sentient in the neck position, the Nazgûl being designed specifically for dropped and low tunings, while the Sentient offers previously unknown articulation in the neck position, coupled with all the warmth and mass that a neck pickup offers! To keep things simple, the Pro Plus XT Monarkh SC T6 Baritone features a master volume control, three position switcher and an arcade-style kill-switch for stuttering and extreme tremolo effects.

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The aforementioned ebony fretboard is paired with a three-piece maple neck set into a Nyatoh body, the neck being reinforced by graphite. This provides a bolstered tonality while retaining strength at a comfortable weight.

In the hands this Monarkh is something special. While it can be played more conventionally at lower tunings, the resonance and big sound, even acoustically, inspires something special.

I found myself leaning to lower string focused riffs, playing something not unlike a bassline, but adding the higher strings for melody and clarity. Simply put, it brings out new sounds, at least to me! Feeling the rumble of the lower strings is both inspiring and fresh, even before the guitar is amplified.

The Nazgûl offers something special, with deep, subby lows and unparalleled clarity, the low end feeling controlled and refined, all the while more massive than I’ve ever heard from a guitar. There’s definition to it all, the forward-sounding mids and crisp highs both improving the definition of notes while doing away with harshness, and playing further up the strings and fretboard begins to sound like a more ‘conventional’ guitar while retaining the impact and weight of the lower bass strings. Switching to the Sentient offers a more subdued sound, partly due to the position of the pickup and the response of the design itself.

In Seymour Duncan’s own words, the Sentient fits sonically between their ‘59 and Jazz, and in the Pro Plus XT Monarkh SC T6 Baritone it shines. There’s note definition and a clear delineation between the bridge and neck sounds, offering a wider tonal palette, especially when fretting at the lower frets on the lower strings. It’s not a bass and it’s not a guitar, it’s something else entirely.

The 27” scale length of this Jackson intimidated me, but the feel of the compound radius fretboard (that flattens out as you get higher up the fretboard) is comfortable, familiar and above all: accessible. The radius begins at 12” around the nut, being a conventionally modern radius as opposed to tighter, more rounded necks of a vintage Fender, flattening out to 16” higher up, with better access to higher frets with your thumb flat against the neck, all of this being aided the curved and shaped horn that further allows access to frets beyond the 15th fret or so! The frets themselves, jumbo stainless steel and no less, are comfortable, well-sized and offer great feel to an already stellar guitar.

The Jackson Pro Plus XT Monarkh SC T6 Baritone is both new, refreshing and familiar all at once. The extended range that the 27” scale length allows offering clarity in both feel and sonics, aided by the .062 gauge strings that the guitar come stock with. The Seymour Duncan humbuckers are designed and tuned for lower tunings, offering rich bottom end and clarity in the mids and highs, perfect for both bassy cleaning playing and all-out high gain downpicking.

Simple controls and perfectly matched hardware make for a monster of a guitar, tuning and intonation aided by the Tune-O-Matic bridge, TUSQ nut and locking tuners; all of which are finished in the blackest black to match the ebony fretboard, satin black finish and black black Sharkfin inlays that litter the 22 jumbo stainless steel frets. If you’re looking into a baritone guitar, the Pro Plus XT Monarkh is a great introduction both sonically and physically, and if you’re not looking into baritones… then you should be.

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