NGD for noob

[dustin1969]

Got my first Jackson today off the list O craig. Got lucky, 9/10 easy

[Mazz]

Congrats! that is a cool soloist

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Cool.

[dustin1969]

Thanks! btw, I'll eventually do another post asking for help, but has anyone ever seen a pickup selector positioned like on my charvel? I used to believe this was an 83 SD (because of the neck plate s/n), but now believe it's probably a mutt. I posted on another JC board asking for help ID'ing it, but got banned 2 days after putting up my post (???)

[DonP]

Never.

But things were custom back then, maybe someone ordered it that way?

I'm not the expert on old Charvels, but be prepared for request of a lot more pictures, of the back, neck cavity, etc. in order to figure out if it's a real Charvel.

[dustin1969]

man,... it is unbelievable how much this guitar continues to amaze me. I would imagine most of you guys are far too advanced to relate to me, I am not quite a level zero guitar player, but almost. I started playing 20 years ago, but then after 5 years of just really screwing around on guitar, no lessons, just learning riffs out of magazines, well, I started having back trouble. Pretty soon I couldn't even pick up my LP or charvel, and eventually I stopped playing altogether. I kept all of my equipment, knowing I'd want to start playing again eventually. Well, my back got better, but the desire wasn't there. So I put it off, only pulling them out every 6 months or so to scratch the occasional itch so to speak.
Anyway, recently I hired a guy for work and he plays, and that got me digging out my Charvel and letting him play it. All he has is a $150 off brand guitar so he was really loving it. I got home and for the next few days, tried to ease back into playing, but I just felt so uninspired. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my Charvel, it plays really well, and the EMG's sound soooo good, but it was almost too plainjane, I wasn't doing anything with it but playing a handful of basic riffs. Boring.
So, after a couple of weeks, I decided to take a gamble and look for a new guitar. The 2 guitars from my youth that I remember falling in love with were an Ibanez JEM and a Jackson. The JEM I had played at a friend's quite a few times and knew I loved it. The Jackson, well, the only Jackson I had ever played was in a guitar store in 94, all I remembered about it was it was a snakeskin strat and it was $1400, way out of my price range, but I played it in an amp room until they kicked me out at closing time! It was soooo easy to play! After a couple of weeks of research, I came to the conclusion that it probably was a soloist, and I decided that it wouldn't be that big a gamble buying a used one.... it appeared they were holding their value pretty well and as long as I got it cheap enough, I could sell it for roughly the same if it turned out to be a mistake. Well after 2 months of looking I finally found a 2001 SL2H on craigslist within driving distance for the right price. The guitar is perfect,not even the normal pick scratches, anyone not on this forum would swear it was a brand new 2010 model!
I tell you,.... I am basically almost having to start over, my posture isn't right, I'm gripping the neck wrong, my picking rythym is GONE (try playing something like Holy Wars 15 years after not playing, it's both laughable and sad at the same time!)...... But, relearning on a soloist..... man, it's sometimes beyond words! I mean, think back.... imagine you weren't learning to play smoke on the water or black dog or cliffs of dover on that crappy first guitar you had, you are learning to make those first difficult bends on something as nice and as easy to play as a Jackson Soloist! That's almost where I'm at, but I can appreciate how fine an instrument this is at the same time. So after having the guitar for 3 weeks, I can't say I have exactly the same desire that 20 year old had and practicing 8 hours a day, but I definitely have a fire lit in me, thanks to this absolutely perfect guitar.

[straycat]

Take the neck off the Charvel and see if the numbers match thats the only way to really know if its legit.There are work order numbers on the neck heel and neck pocket.

[jcm800x]

Cool story man, the Soloist (minus the knob placement) is my fav, well thought out design that still holds up all these years since it came out. Glad it got you going!

[Deathrider29]

Very Nice collection. Sorry to get off topic here but how do you like those EMG single coils in your Charvel?

[dustin1969]

Incredible clean sound from the neck/mid pickup, especially with the tone up. Very bright, bell like tones. almost sounds like an acoustic with a lot of bottom end to it. For a lead tone, too muddy. That guitar is for pure metal sound, no woman tones to be had from it. That's why I eventually got the strat. I'd had so many guitars over the first four years but was down to just the charvel, and at that time had a buddy with a stat and the LP pictured. When I'd go over to his trailer to play, when we'd try to play some Stevie or Cry of Love, I'd borrow his strat and he'd use the LP. After a while, I really got into how good the lead tones on a neck strat neck pickup could be, just basic warm tones. Before that, hell, it was pure screaming bridge sounds or nothing! Anyway, saw the 40th, always loved Eric Johnson's sunburst, and got an ok deal. 2 weeks later my friend with the strat was broke and wanting to sell his strat to me. So sorry, just bought one. After trying to loan him some money, he refused, and eventually sold me the LP for an obscenely small amount. I tried to let him "pawn' it to me, but he said he'd just rather sell it for what I got it for and be done with it, he couldn't see raising the money to pay me back anytime soon.
sorry, now I'm off topic. Love em for their clean sound, don't like them dirty.

[roodyrocker]

All three of your guitars look cool to me! Its always nice to hear that a Jackson inspires you to pick up the guitar and play! There is simply nothing like a Jackson and I'm glad your newly acquired Soloist inspires you that way

[MartinBarre]

Cool story and awesome guitars, particularly the Gibson and SL2H!