I have J1598 which is early 86 (48 J serials in) and that has binding nibs..

I had a 88 soloist (J4815) and it had the binding going over the fret ends......FUCK I miss that soloist (seafoam green w/matching headstock)

This guitar had me wondering since it did not have binding-over-frets:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jackson-1985...vip=true&rt=nc

I think that one must have been messed with bigtime refinished, binding-over-frets removed and refretted.

I just got a killer 1985 Kelly that has the full works with the binding-over-frets. Actually, I have several 1985's, all with binding-over-frets. My 1986 J24xx Soloist below however does not have the binding nibs. So I guess the change must have happened in mid-1986.

I have a fairly late 86 Dimas soloist - J2375 - which has binding nibs.

Is the "Made in USA" under the Jackson logo or to the right of it ?

That narrows it down to between J2375 and J2489.

Or maybe some customers still spec'd them..

Occasionally but that would be fairly rare. 87Jackson's 88 Seafoam Soloist would be quite rare with the binding nibs.

Didn't the shop move from San Dimas to Ontario in the later part of 1986? Maybe that's the key.

I have J2365 and it has binding over nibs.
Also J4820 and it's an 88 and it has binding over nibs.

Anything after mid-1986 or so that has the binding nibs was specifically ordered that way, whereas it was a standard feature during the San Dimas era.

The changeover was partly to save time in a shop that was backed up with orders, and I'd also guess partly because Jackson switched to the ginormous fret wire we know them for today sometime in '86. The nibs probably aren't as easy to do on those frets. San Dimas-era Soloists and Kellys with the nibs had low-wide frets more like you'd see on a Gibson, though not as small as on the Rhoads.

The fret nibs were standard on the Shannon Soloists, well after 86.

that soloist is SWEET. 2352 frets OVER binding.

Yeah, but that was a limited-time throwback model. AFAIK, it's the only other time they offered those as a standard feature on a model, unless the new reissue Soloists have them too.

RR1642 has binding over frets.