RR1 - "Jackon Electronics" (imgs)

[Inearthed]

I am working on fixing up a 1993 RR1 that I purchased a while ago and I was just taking it completely apart and removing the electronics when I came across this little thing the only text I saw on it said "Jackson Electronics" (I looked for other threads but none of them had pictures...)

What is this? Is it a midboost or a gianboost? Or something? The pickups loaded in here (not sure if they're stock or anything) are labeled J80C (neck) and J90C (bridge) (they're labeled with a little piece of green paper on the back of each, obviously not stock...) if that helps at all. I play in a metal band and the clean tones are wonderful on this but the distorted stuff sounds really poor even with the boost (or whatever it is) off. So if someone could help me properly ID this little thing it would be much appreciated.

I'm thinking about putting a JB and Jazz in the same setup as my RR1T has ( but I'd have to buy the pickups new or deal with eBay [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] ), but a friend has an Invader and a Full Shred from his Warrior, so I'm thinking about buying them off of him and perhaps putting them in there... Any thoughts or suggestions for pickups?

Once I figure out what I'm going to do with the electronics, then the next step is getting a new bridge to replace this rusty one that is falling apart.

Yuck! Someone severely mistreated this Jackson!

[Inearthed]

Re: RR1 - "Jackon Electronics" (imgs)

Wow... How embarassing... First post and I misspell Jackson with "Jackon"... [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Brad]

Re: RR1 - "Jackon Electronics" (imgs)

I may be wrong, but those may very well be stock pickups. They are definitely Jackson pickups and that looks like a midboost that is on my Model 6 and 650XL. Someone with more knowledge than I will be here shortly to clarify.

[Chuckracer]

Re: RR1 - "Jackon Electronics" (imgs)

Hey, you didn't spell it "Jackoff"!
Could have been way worse!

[charvel750]

Re: RR1 - "Jackon Electronics" (imgs)

Those are indeed stock pickups. The trem looks good except for the intonation screws that hold the saddles down. You can buy a new set of those for about $3. Better yet, I'd remove the trem and soak it in oil for a few days, works wonders. I wouldn't change a thing on that guitar unless there's faulty parts. Funny you mention metal because that guitar is the ultimate metal axe, should rip with distortion. I have three of those early 90's USA Rhoads and they kick butt. I also recently sold my Sunset to Tmdiamond and he agreed. To each his own, but the Duncans just don't sound as good as the originals.

[Inearthed]

Re: RR1 - "Jackon Electronics" (imgs)

Okay. Thank you for your responses everyone.

Originally posted by charvel750:
Those are indeed stock pickups. The trem looks good except for the intonation screws that hold the saddles down. You can buy a new set of those for about $3. Better yet, I'd remove the trem and soak it in oil for a few days, works wonders. I wouldn't change a thing on that guitar unless there's faulty parts. Funny you mention metal because that guitar is the ultimate metal axe, should rip with distortion. I have three of those early 90's USA Rhoads and they kick butt. I also recently sold my Sunset to Tmdiamond and he agreed. To each his own, but the Duncans just don't sound as good as the originals.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hmm.. Interesting. Maybe I will fix up and replace the rusted out parts and then give the electronics a second chance since you mentioned that. The problem is that when I do any chords involving the 5th or 6th string, they don't have much of a bite to them, they just sort of sound very clunky and muddy. I don't mind the tone when I'm doing some lead work but when I am playing rhythm it sounds really weak to my ears (though I could be being a bit too picky and I'm just caught up in my current distorted tone to like anything else... Which is why I'm gonna put it all back together and see what happens)

As for fixing the trem up.. The locking blocks in some of the saddles are sort of sticky in the saddles and require a lot of force to get them undone or move them into a locking position to hold the strings in place. I took the trem completely out of the guitar after doing up this post and when I was removing the strings I had to use a pair of pliers to pull the string out of the locking block itself on the 2nd and 3rd strings.

You said to soak the trem in oil.. What type of oil? I'm assuming that I should take apart the entire thing and put only the pieces in.

[jackson1]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

Oil:
I'll second charvel750's oil suggestion. Take the trem off and take it apart completely. Find a small plastic container, put ALL the parts in there and spray/pour oil on it. I use very thin, teflon oil (called Tri-Flow on spray can) which is good for loosening rust and dirt among other things. Let it soak for a day or two and the oil will find its way into every corner and small invisible pits in the metal, thus preserving it. Then clean it thoroughly with some dry cloths and you're done. Change parts that's still rusty.

Locking blocks (String Holder Block):
They are often stuck in there because they are cracked by the force of the String Holder Locking Bolt. It can be hard to see, but look for tiny cracks in the buttom of the block. When they crack, they get widenend (sp?) and thus stuck in the Bridge Saddle. Replace them. Or it could simply be dirt and rust holding them in place.

/Henrik

[ March 19, 2004, 04:24 AM: Message edited by: jackson1 ]

[axeman81]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

I'm the first to admit I'm no ace on Jackson history...but if it's a RR1, how come it has a licensed floyd rose on it?

edit: always read the fine print..."made in Germany by Schaller"

- Rune.

[ March 19, 2004, 03:51 PM: Message edited by: Rune The Axeman ]

[Inearthed]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

Again everyone, thanks for your help.

Originally posted by jackson1:
Oil:
I'll second charvel750's oil suggestion. Take the trem off and take it apart completely. Find a small plastic container, put ALL the parts in there and spray/pour oil on it. I use very thin, teflon oil (called Tri-Flow on spray can) which is good for loosening rust and dirt among other things. Let it soak for a day or two and the oil will find its way into every corner and small invisible pits in the metal, thus preserving it. Then clean it thoroughly with some dry cloths and you're done. Change parts that's still rusty.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hey Henrik. Thanks for your post.... Is this the stuff you were talking about?

http://www.triflowlubricants.com/Sup...r_aerosol.html

http://www.triflowlubricants.com/Sup...rior_drip.html

I found another "Tri-Flow" product while browsing around on the internet and it did the same thing but had a completely different bottle and was for use on car engines. Just confirming so I don't do something to royally screw up my floyd even further.

[jackson1]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

Yeah, looks like the spray can i got. Same brand and all. You don't have to be so picky about choosing the oil. Almost any oil will do, but the thin teflon based oils are superb. Don't expect it to remove 'grave rust' though... heh, i don't know the english term for deeeeep rust, but the danish expression translates into grave rust.

The tremolo needs this oil-job every once in a while - depends on how much you play and if your sweat is full of acid.

The weak points of your specific tremolo (Schaller FR II) is the base plate, which is made of soft POS metal, which means that the saddle bolt threadings will strip quite easily if overtightenend. Also the knife edges are not as durable as the ones on the Original Floyd Rose or the OFR Pro. But no need to replace it if it works.

/Henrik

[Inearthed]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

Originally posted by jackson1:
Yeah, looks like the spray can i got. Same brand and all. You don't have to be so picky about choosing the oil. Almost any oil will do, but the thin teflon based oils are superb. Don't expect it to remove 'grave rust' though... heh, i don't know the english term for deeeeep rust, but the danish expression translates into grave rust.

The tremolo needs this oil-job every once in a while - depends on how much you play and if your sweat is full of acid.

The weak points of your specific tremolo (Schaller FR II) is the base plate, which is made of soft POS metal, which means that the saddle bolt threadings will strip quite easily if overtightenend. Also the knife edges are not as durable as the ones on the Original Floyd Rose or the OFR Pro. But no need to replace it if it works.

/Henrik

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks Henrik. The base plate of the floyd is in pretty good condition, its just that the rust on the floyd's parts and the dirt on 'em is what needs fixing.. I'll keep everyone posted as to what happens. I'm gonna go to the store and pick up the oil today and then probably let the soaking begin and put everything back together on Tuesday and see what would need replacing.

[Inearthed]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

I just removed the parts from the Teflon oil and cleaned them off, the rust pretty much went right into the oil and a lot of the other stuff just pretty much rubbed right off... It worked REALLY well. I was explaining the process to my mother and showing her all the pieces before I soaked them (she was interested for some reason, I think she thought I was huffing the spray and she went into concerned parent mode even though I'm old enough to drink) and I just showed the result and she thought at first I had ordered all new parts, there was that big of a difference. The pieces look black / slightly faded now, as opposed to rust. I will do another post in a few days with the results of what I did.. I figure some people might be interested in seeing the before and after.

[jackson1]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

Good job! I just remembered something - the six saddles has three different heights and need to sit where they belong. They can't be shifted around. Some saddles are marked with dots hammered into the metal in the buttom, so you are able to tell them apart. Give us a wink if this is a problem.

/Henrik

[Inearthed]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

I picked up some locking blocks today (some of the others were damaged / cracked) so the trem portion of the schaller is done. I just need to get the proper locking nut parts (one of them is chrome and it looks really silly plus the heads of the screws that lock them in place are rusted / damaged to the point where they are very difficult to tighten and remove). Then the final step is getting some more screws to hold down the control plate and pickup mounting rings (they were completely rusted over and I had to use a pair of pliers on some of them because the heads were rusted to the point of falling apart as I was unscrewing them). With this complete I'm putting everything back together and going to try out the pickups.

Originally posted by jackson1:
Good job! I just remembered something - the six saddles has three different heights and need to sit where they belong. They can't be shifted around. Some saddles are marked with dots hammered into the metal in the buttom, so you are able to tell them apart. Give us a wink if this is a problem.

/Henrik

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't really understand what you're saying.. But that might be because I'm really tired from having been out with some friends for a friend's 21st birthday.

Do you mean that there are 3 different types of saddle on the bridge? Or do you mean that there are 3 different saddle height settings (to my knowledge with these you can't really have any height setting). Maybe I'm just confusing myself... Do you have a picture to clarify? I'm going to sleep now because I'm really tired.

[Sunbane]

Re: RR1 - &quot;Jackon Electronics&quot; (imgs)

Originally posted by Inearthed:
Do you mean that there are 3 different types of saddle on the bridge?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, that's exactly it. The middle two are the tallest, and the both E string saddles are the lowest ones.