Not as described...

[Schadenfreude]

OK, so earlier I hit the button on this auction.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JACKSON-KV...p2047675.l2557

I know its not what they're claiming it to be. Looking through the catalogues I had it pegged as a KV2 (japanese version) as found in the 96 & 97 catalogues on the jackson site. Dots, 22 frets, unlogo`d pups, jt580 with that particular control layout. I hit the BIN on that asumption. Now I'm having doubts.

Looking through the serial # thread am I reading it right that anything with a 6 digit serial starting with a 6 is japanese professional made in/around 1996 or, is the 6 only for No series instruments built that year.

Yeah its very beat up but for $120 its a fixer upper and player and I`d probably play it alot more than I do my sl2h which tbh I don't like taking out the case for fear of knocks.

Can anyone set my mind at rest, KV2 or mutt?

Thanks for any replies.

[toejam]

Welcome to the forum. I don't know much about serials, but that should be a '96 since they were only made for a year or two. Anything that says Professional on the headstock is Japanese. That does look like the original version of the KV2. Nice score!

[Force]

Even in that state, it's a great price. As long as the neck is good, a refin would solve the cosmetic issue. Well done.

[Mudlark]

Yep, that's a '96 serial.

[Newc]

You may be able to swap the neck for a '96 RR3 if you prefer fins, though it would not have binding. Still, better than dots.

[Schadenfreude]

Thanks for the replies, looking forward to seeing it when it finally lands to check out the condition. I`ve actually been looking at new necks with fins on Evilbay and seen a handful of rr3 necks on there. I was also considering maybe removing the board and replacing it with an ebony board with fins. I presume theres places will knock these up for a fee and given the price of a full replacement neck it might not be so much more to do. Opinions on feasability or cost?

[Newc]

Removing a fretboard is not something one just does. There's an old old thread where our very own Budman (Dave at FretsOnTheNet.com) did such a procedure to a Model 5, and while it came out nice, he's an engineer.

I think the KE3 necks were also 22 frets, but had binding. Maybe the KEX10D? However those don't grow on trees like RR3 necks.

An older Charvel Model series neck may also fit, assuming you can find one with binding, and don't mind the Charvel script logo. I'm thinking 375 or 475 Deluxe or Exotic?

The Dream Score IMO would be an older Dinky USA neck, as I believe those had 22 frets.

Then there are the DR-2 or RR-2 necks, but then you only get a blank ebony board with no inlays, and also no binding IIRC.

[Schadenfreude]

It was Budmans model 5 thread made me consider it tbh, that guitar was beautiful!!!

Im hoping that there's people out there that could do a board replacement as a service, remove old board, inlay and fret then re-attach. Thats something I need to research. At a quick glance there are custom inlay people that look like they use clean new boards and show them fitted to finished guitars, and as you said replacing a fretboard isnt something one just does. Seeing people like Sully making entire guitars and making boards and attaching them himself gives me some kind of hope. I'm thinking worst case I might need to remove the old board myself, Budmans thread will be invaluable for the process of removal, it doesn't look too hard and the only specialist tool needed is a steam iron.

I am keen to try and save and reuse the neck if possible, but I guess if worst comes to the worst and I did fuck it up, well there's those rr3 necks available. For the price I paid I don't mind spending a little extra to get a good end result.