First off all congratulations on the new PC1 !!!

Probably one of the finest guitars that Jackson makes hands down!

The sustainer units have not had a well received history and many are indeed prone to dying. Actual replacement parts are VERY hard to come by though on a few rare occasions do pop up for sale on ebay or reverb.

Having owned at least 6-8 PC1's in the last 20 years, well over half of mine ended up DOA after a while. Sometimes it's a simply fix like the battery box or the super thin and flimsy wires they used, while other times the PC board is fried and then you are totally as they say "shit outta luck".

An important trick is to have the sustainer set up or "tweaked" correctly with the two small internal trim pots. Maxing out either or both pots will result in an annoying high pitched squeal and greatly reduce the lifespan of the PC board. I believe there is a "sticky" on this forum concerning the proper adjustment of those pots.

As a side note given the amount of DOA PC1's I am saddened and somewhat shocked that there is no 3rd part aftermarket supplier for those parts. I would have hoped that by now some Far East company could have offered a direct replacment.

Both Jackson and Floyd Rose, the OEM supplier do not offer any aftermarket support nor parts once the warranty has expired. Some older revisions are not a"direct drop in" given the size of some pots as well as the tiny PC mounted switches.

It can be done mind you by a good tech!

Worst case scenario, if the sustainer dies, you can throw a regular single coil in the neck position, and still have an absolute beast of a guitar.

The newer boards are the same size as the older ones. The dimensions haven't changed.
The new boards are no longer made by Floyd Rose.
They farmed it out to a company called Duryee Knots LLC.
They changed some of the board level components. But it's still a Rev C board design.
I've seen a few that have been so poorly installed that I've asked the owners of they did any mods.
Jackson's QA on the wiring job is utter shit. Most boards sent to me are not actually dead, they were poorly wired up and not setup correctly.

Hey guys!

Well she arrived yesterday morning and I have been unable to wipe the smile off my face. I have wanted a USA made Jackson since 1986, but other things ALWAYS got in the way. Not this time! I want to thank you all for your replies I feel much better about my purchase now. Normally I research everything for weeks but not this. I just had to have it! :-) Thanks again to all of you for your help!

Scott

Pics!

I also have a PC-1, the only USA guitar I own now, and I love it. I love having the Sustainer but, being in the UK, I have even less chance of fixing it should it ever die. So I'll just stick a Duncan Hot Rails in there when it does. The guitar is too good to worry about the sustainer dying!

Interesting that they outsourced the units to Duryee Knots LLC.

Any chance that they are more proactive in regards to selling parts or repairing older boards and sustainer units?

Hey Viktor. Doubt it.
The latest board I had to diagnose came out of PC archtop.
They soldered on wire extensions for the toggles since the board can't sit flush in such a thick body.
Those extensions would short depending on the angle the board was stuffed into the body.
Someday Jackson may actually hire someone who can solder better than my six year old daughter.

The sustainiac last any longer? Or whatever that one is that fernandes uses? Going to guess it's not a direct drop in in any case.

Amazing the very top of the line Jackson has an unwaranteed component with a bad track record as a major "gee wiz" selling factor. That they refuse to stand behind the device tells you all you need to know.

Eh, maybe not amazing. More like embarrassing.

I know what you mean Rick as my CS PC Archtop has the same setup and installed backwards too!

What is the chance that this new supplier will sell to Joe Public so that we can all get the countless older PC1's up and running again?

I haven't looked them up yet, but I bet they have some exclusivity agreement with Floyd Rose and FMIC.
I'll have to upload some reference pics of the newer boards.
It's a Rev C layout, but they changed a few of the key components.
You'll see what I mean when I upload the pics.

What is really annoying is that I ordered a new intensity pot from the OEM supplier in Canada and lo and behold it is a larger size pot that will not fit in my 97 Chlorine without using the Dremel to shave away some of the wood.

Not inclined to do that just yet so its rotting away in its case for the last two years.....eventually...

Yeah, the mini pots are hard to find. I haven't found any new source in almost 8 years and my old source doesn't carry them anymore.
It's the inside, so Dremel away. Guitars are meant to be played.

Best thing that ever happened to my PC-1 was when the sustainer died. I was bummed for a little while, but I finally took out the driver and installed a regular single coil. Once I took all the weird circuitry the guitar totally came alive!!!!!

Yeah... that's the one downside to the sustainer board,
Even when it's off, all the pickups are still routed through it.
So it does "color" the sound of the pickups.
I love the way the Super 3 sounds in a guitar without a sustainer. I liked it before, but once I heard it in a regular setup, I was even more impressed.