Jackson Professional series??

[pro-fusion]

That's a nice Soloist Pro. I'd definitely hit that for $700--that's about what I paid for my yellow one. The bulk of these I've seen were made in 1990, based on the serial numbers. That seems to have been far and away the highest year of production, with far fewer being made during '92-95.

[Defiance]

I emailed the guy who currently owns it and he confirms it being made in '90. He also said it belonged to his late dad, who was a professional musician.
I think I'll probably go for it, for now.
Couple of issues tho: he sent some more pics and the frets look a bit worn in, so it probably needs a fretjob. Also, the binding looks yellowish. Any idea why and how to fix it?

[rjohnstone]

Given it's age, a fret job is probably needed. Not too bad, just make sure you have a pro do it.
As for the binding, that's pretty normal for it to yellow over time.
You could have it redone, but that can get pretty expensive.

[Sanctuary]

It's not the binding that yellows, it's the clear-coat.

[toejam]

Professional Series guitars were made in Japan from about 1992-1996. Each model has three variants, Std, XL, and Pro.

There were more variants than that, and some were not ever featured in catalogs. For example, my Dinky HX which was made in 1994, and only about 100 were made.

[AussieTerry84]

u said the frets look worn in, how can u tell and what do u look for? cause i got no idea how to know if the frets r worn on a guitar

[Defiance]

u said the frets look worn in, how can u tell and what do u look for? cause i got no idea how to know if the frets r worn on a guitar

It seemed that way from the pictures i recieved via mail.
I'll resize them and post 'em... they're pretty huge
And worn frets, well basically I noticed it while playing. Uneven frets, bends that seemed to get stuck...

So this could probably be just the pic, then again the guitar is pretty old and its owner was a professional musician (altho being a pro in my country isn't really that big lol)

Here's the pic:


If I buy it, I'm gonna get it checked by a decent luthier. Maybe even give it another color.

Oh and thanks for the help guys! I'll be sure to check here more often (and GAS for a kelly...)

[rjohnstone]

The frets do look pretty worn in that pic.

[pro-fusion]

The frets are definitely worn, but I'd say you could get at least one more leveling/recrowning done on those frets, though they will be a bit lower afterward. You'd want to have a good tech do that, though.

With that amount of fret wear, I wouldn't pay $700 for it here in the USA, but I know that Jacksons routinely sell for a lot more in other countries.

[[email protected]]

Jackson Professional Series

The Jackson Professional Series was made only in Japan from 90-95 and are still today the top pick of metal professionals. Unlike their counter-parts the USA models they came with active pickups and are Identified by a 6 digit S/N beginning with a J. The first digit represents the year i.e 0 = 90 5 = 95. The 90-92 models have no engraving on the truss rod cover. 93-95 have Rhoads Pro engraved on the truss rod cover. The 94-95 models are really hard to locate. I have a mint 94' in black which I purchased new in 95. I'm currently trying to locate owners of other 94-95 models. Does anyone here know of anyone with such a beast?

JS

[rjohnstone]

The Jackson Professional Series was made only in Japan from 90-95

Nope... they were made up until 1998. That was the year the "Professional" logo was dropped from the headstock.
The "good ones" were made up until 93/94 time frame, but that depends on who you ask.
And only the neck thru guitars had J serials. The rest had 6 digit serials on the neck plate.
And last, the pickups were all passive. (i.e. no battery required for them to operate)
They had a JE-1200 mid boost in a few models.

[Sanctuary]

The Jackson Professional Series was made only in Japan from 90-95 and are still today the top pick of metal professionals. Unlike their counter-parts the USA models they came with active pickups and are Identified by a 6 digit S/N beginning with a J. The first digit represents the year i.e 0 = 90 5 = 95. The 90-92 models have no engraving on the truss rod cover. 93-95 have Rhoads Pro engraved on the truss rod cover. The 94-95 models are really hard to locate. I have a mint 94' in black which I purchased new in 95. I'm currently trying to locate owners of other 94-95 models. Does anyone here know of anyone with such a beast?

JS

Hmmm. I have a '92 Rhoads STD and that definitely has the model engraved on the truss rod cover. I also have a '95 Rhoads Pro. See below (and yes, I've modded it):

[GTP]

The Jackson Professional Series was made only in Japan from 90-95 and are still today the top pick of metal professionals. Unlike their counter-parts the USA models they came with active pickups and are Identified by a 6 digit S/N beginning with a J. The first digit represents the year i.e 0 = 90 5 = 95. The 90-92 models have no engraving on the truss rod cover. 93-95 have Rhoads Pro engraved on the truss rod cover. The 94-95 models are really hard to locate. I have a mint 94' in black which I purchased new in 95. I'm currently trying to locate owners of other 94-95 models. Does anyone here know of anyone with such a beast?

JS

Ok, main things were allready corrected by Mr Johnstone, but with this logic, for example, -94 Soloist Pro will have Rhoads Pro engraved in TRC??? Dude, I think you are a bit confused here... :think:

[Defiance]

The frets are definitely worn, but I'd say you could get at least one more leveling/recrowning done on those frets, though they will be a bit lower afterward. You'd want to have a good tech do that, though.

With that amount of fret wear, I wouldn't pay $700 for it here in the USA, but I know that Jacksons routinely sell for a lot more in other countries.

Mailed the owner, he said the frets were fine. He plays guitar too, so it's not like he doesn't know anything about it.
But I'm gonna try to convince him to lower the price a little, because the frets will still probably need treatment. Other than that, there's really nothing wrong with the guitar at first sight so I probably won't get a serious price cut.

[straycat]

I think just a fret level and re-crown is all you need There lots of meat still there looking at the pics.
The pros kick ass.
Don't worry about the binding yellowing thats just the clear coat and a guitar of that age is normal and looks cool as hell.