My Jackson Kelly Star KSXT

[alessandroarzilli]

Hello everyone,
I would like to share with you all my Kelly Star KSXT made in Japan (?) in 2001, according to the archived catalogues.
I've been on the hunt for one for a looong time, but luckily I found one completely disassembled at a local online sale.
I repainted it the best I coudl and this is the final result, hope you like the video.
P.S. Sometimes life gets lucky and I've also bought a KS2, will be sharing with you all very soong something about it.
https://youtu.be/QEBEjVNDfMk

[Sunbane]

Looks great!
It's also good to see someone talk about Jackson guitars that actually has a clue. Good job!

[Number Of The Priest]

It's also good to see someone talk about Jackson guitars that actually has a clue.

And to shine a spotlight on a lesser-known model too.

€100! Another great score, and well done with the restoration as always! I remember a previous video where you mentioned you were looking for a Kelly Star and I'm glad you found one!

If I only watched the first few seconds of the video, I would have assumed it was the factory blue finish and not have realized you repainted it an entirely new blue. Looks great!

Your locknut pressure pads are installed 90-degrees incorrectly, but that is a quick fix. I am not sure if your other videos I watched previously had the pads installed that way.

In the chapter of the video where you warn people against the 9xxxxxx Chushin Gakki serial numbers not corresponding to the date of manufacture (thank you for that important public service message), I instantly recognized the photo at 6:08 as my 2009 KE3 with a 98xxxxx serial number!

[JJ119]

That is a Beautiful guitar, alessandroarzilli !!

[alessandroarzilli]

Thank you very much, friends. However, I have some discordant news about this KSXT hehe, one good and one bad.
The good one is that, thanks to this great Forum, I finally noticed that the bridge on this guitar is a JT580 and not a JT580 LP, since the locking screws stick out of the bridge itself. No problem, as I already bought and received an used (but still in good conditions) Jackson chrome bridge JT580LP as a replacement, will definitely work fine.
The bad news is that I stupidly put two big dents into the side of the guitar's body, near the tone knob and just above the neck pickup, they're very visible, so....I'm thinking of re-re-re-refinishing this one, but this time in RED.
I'll keep you informed, and thank you very very much everyone for the great help, this forum is PURE GOLD.

[wilkinsi]

Yikes.. I hate it when I dent one of my guitars, especially when it hits the floor.

[Razor]

I always enjoy your videos. Looking forward to seeing if it changes colors now.

[alessandroarzilli]

Thank you my friends. I just bought new spray cans and sand paper, luckily I won't need to go down to touch the bare wood this time, I?ll just need to sand everything smooth 100-240-320-400, apply some primer paint, sand it again with 400 and maybe 600, apply a beautiful RED TRAFFIC finish (2350 C Pantone if you're interested), sand again 800 - 1000 - 1500 - 2000 - 2500 - 3000 ....and buff
And finally I'll put a trembucker Custom 5 TB-14 in it, it's going to be cool, I found it for 30$ used so....couldn't let it go!
Stay tuned hehe

[DonP]

Cool. I have a flame blue KS2. I've loaded it with EMG's but may go back to passives. I have a TB-14 in a AT Pro and like it.

Love to see how it turns out. What brand of paint are you using? That red sort of reminds me of a Cardinal red, maybe a shade darker. Maybe a Dakota red?

[alessandroarzilli]

...

Wow, I'm going to add a Custom 5 trembucker to ny KSXT, too! Love that pickup, as much as the TB-4!
I?m using Arexons spray cans, they're mid priced here in Italy, not too much, not too cheap. I'm using their products both for the first white primer, the paint and final clear coat (or transparent gloss like they call it here hehe).
I've just started today disassembling and removing everything from the body, polished the frets with some Baroque fret erasers 180 - 400 - 1000 (worked wonderfully considered the simplicity of the product), and just started sanding roughly the back of the KSXT with 100 grit sandpaper.
I've faced an issue, though: probably due to my lack of experience, as soon as I scrape through the old clear and paint layers, I've noticed that there's some crackling effects on the primer I put.
This could mean a lot of things, probably though I've just not waited enough for the body to fully dry before spraying more coats on (I can vividly remember seeing white drops on the floor, so maybe that's it).
Let's see what happens, unfortunately I was in a hurry today, so no pictures of videos, but tomorrow I'm definitely going to record the process.
The plan is too go on tomorrow as much as I can with 100 grit sandpaper and then wood filler.....and then this time i'll wait for it to dry

[DonP]

When I was younger I would paint my guitar over and over until I got it right. This was my first guitar, it was a pearl white Aria Pro II RS Classic with three single coils and a v-trem. I was young and dumb and didn't know three weak singles weren't going to cut it for metal. It's had a ton of body work and paint, but now it rocks and still sounds great. A Screamin Demon in the bridge.

Good luck. I don't have the drive to take on painting jobs like I used to. A lot easier just buying bengals (I have 3 besides this one).

The flash makes this look odd. The colors are more mild in real life.

[alessandroarzilli]

Wow beautiful Bengal! Here's today's job, I discovered that it was the black layer that crackled and ruined everything.
Definitely a redo https://ibb.co/cx7kfsH
https://ibb.co/GVLtPDf

[DonP]

You know, a firecrackle Kelly Star would be awesome.

Sorry about having to redo it. I think it took me 4 or five times to get my Bengal right. That flash really makes it look crappy. It's much better in real life.

[alessandroarzilli]

I finally found some time to sand the body 100-180-240-320-400 and applied some white primer spray paint.
tHe weather isn't the best for painting, I'll have to wait at least one week for the paint to completely dry, than go on sanding 400 again and apply red paint
Here's a picture of the progress
https://ibb.co/HCvZFdg

[DonP]

Cool. Stick with it.