Identifying an elusive Jackson

[pauloselhombre]

Hey folks,

I was recommended this forum by a guy from Fender UK because I'm having trouble identifying a Jackson guitar I bought second hand in about 1997/1998 (ish).

The guitar in question is the typical superstrat shape, with a purple sort-of-tigerstripe finish. It has Jackson humbuckers at the bridge and neck, and a Jackson single coil in the middle position. The fretboard has pearl sharkfin inlays and the headstock is reversed. It uses a Jackson Floyd Rose licensed double locking trem and has a bolt on neck.

It's been suggested that it could be a DK2 or a DR of some sort, but I haven't been able to find any info on a model in either series that has the same pickup configuration as mine.

I don't play much metal anymore, and although it's a great guitar I think it needs to go to someone who will get better use of it than me, so I'm selling it on. As you can tell, this is a hard thing to do with no idea of model or value.

If anyone recognises the model and has any idea of the current value I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks all,
Paul

P.S- While I don't have any pictures online to post on here, I can happily email them if anyone thinks it could help.

[Brooke]

Need much more detail..

[dg]

Email me the pics & I'll post 'em. I'm PMing you with my email address now. Also, if you don't have a pic of the neckplate, tell us the serial # (x out the last couple of digits if you want to) and what address (if any) is on the plate.

[Sunbane]

I think I know what it is. Since you're in Europe, I'm guessing it's a DR-X, a model that was only sold in Europe and AU/NZ during the late 90's. It does not exist in any official catalogues as far as I know, and there are no records of how many were made. The only official source of its model name are the stamps in the neck pocket; You will find the model name there, along with the production date.

The DR-X is one of the few Jackson models that came in H-S-H pickup config, and it did have a reverse headstock (DR = Dinky Reverse). I think the finish you're trying to describe is Transparent Purple - one of the finishes that the DR-X came in. It was made in Japan, and had three sister models; The AT-X, the RR-X and the KE-X.

As for resale value...not the best. I'd rate it below the DK-2, since the DK-2 has better pickups and a bound neck. I used to own an RR-X, and if the pickups in your guitar are anything like the stock pups in mine, they are utter junk.

Here are the data I've been able to dig up on it.

Jackson DR-X
------------
Country of manufacture: Japan (serial should start with "9" and be followed by 6 other digits).
Production years: Unknown.

Construction: Bolt-on neck.
Body Style: Dinky.
Body Wood: Unknown (probably Poplar).

Neck Wood: Maple.
Neck Profile: N/A
Scale length: 25.5" (650mm).
Fretboard: Rosewood.
Frets: 24 jumbo frets.
Inlays: Reverse Sharkfins (synthetic).
Headstock: Reverse Jackson pointy.

Bridge: JT580LP Licensed Low Profile Floyd, fully recessed.
Hardware Color: Black.
Machine Heads: Gotoh Custom, encapsuled, Jackson label. Ratio: 15:1.
Nut: Licensed Floyd Rose Locking Nut.

Pickup configuration: H-S-H.
Pickups: Jackson brand, model unkown.
Controls: 1 volume, 1 tone, 5-way blade switch.
Knobs: Unknown (plastic top hat, or metal dome knob).

Confirmed finishes: Transparent Blue, Transparent Purple, Transparent Red.
Unconfirmed finishes: Metallic Black, Metallic Blue, Metallic Red, Trans Green.

Weight: N/A.
Retail price: N/A.

[pauloselhombre]

Wow, that was really quick. Thanks dg, I'll get the requested info to you once I get the guitar back from servicing. That said, I think you've nailed it Sunbane. That sounds pretty much exactly right. Yeah, the pickups sounded great when I got it, but it was my second guitar after a budget unknown piece of junk that I learned on so anything would've sounded amazing D Now they just seem a bit fuzzy, but still good for that old school metallica sound.

I have no idea how much these cost new, as mine was about £400 second hand(around $800 I think, but I'm not sure).

Thanks for all the info, that was some pretty quick research, especially considering how little luck I'd had finding any info up till now.

[dg]

Found this pic of a DR-X:

[RacerX]

NextinLine has one also.

[nhspike]

Very illuminating Sun!

Sounded like my PS-4 for a second... based on the pickups... but you certainly shed some serious light on things didn't you?

Very cool.

Wow.

[Newc]

I was gonna say DR3, as it was H-S-H and had a reversed head (or was that the DR5?).

And yeah, the "sort-of-tigerstripe" sounds like the fotoflame.