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Hello to the JC Forum, I am a long time lurker since I sold all my cool Charvel and Jackson guitars back in the late 80's to mid 90's to finance other music adventures . I had an early serial # RR I wish I had kept, black with gold pinstripes... sigh. I also had a 1987 San Dimas Jackson custom shop strat (which I custom ordered, with my own art designs). I also had a 85 San Dimas Charvel rising sun with a Kahler (broke the neck).
Enough history, here is what I came to post here today.
So I found this Jackson (Ontario) guitar in a local pawn shop, it was really... really nasty and dirty. Covered in grime, with strings at least 10 years old. lots of smoke yellowing everywhere. The shop had no idea what it was or how rare these are. Price was too good to pass up so I bought it, brought it home and did a disassembly and did a gentile but deep cleaning and polish. Fret dress and setup.
It plays like a dream, low action. very resonant. Wish I had the bar for the trem to see how it handles some sonic abuse. Love the pickup combo, this thing really was built to do metal or rock... can't stop rocking out since I put it back together and set it up.
What I saw when it was apart:
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Under the springs it is dated 8-28-89 and the work order # matches the # on the neck stamp (it's also in the truss rod cavity)
The pickups are J-90c, J-100 in the middle, and an Dimarzio HS-3 in the neck
It appears I was the first one to take this guitar apart, nothing was modified from what I can see
It has a Charvel badged tremolo. Made in germany by Shaller. Very heavy and in excellent shape.
What is missing:
-----------
It's missing the trem bar, the trus rod cover (and screws), and the back trem cover screws are not original.
Questions for the forum experts:
------------
1. Do you think the HS-3 is original? The route would never fit the deep Jackson J-200, it barely fits the HS3. Did they not use Jackson pickup covers if the pickups were custom ordered?
2. Why no "made in USA" on the headstock under the "n", the finish is not tampered with... and the stamp and work order matches to the body. Did they leave the "made in usa" off some necks?
3. How rare is this neck, I see lots of 24 fret maple boards with black sharkfins, but never the bolt on strat necks?
4. What kind of screws were used for the back trem plate, I plan to fill the holes and use the proper small recessed screws (they seem like humbucker mounting ring screws - can anyone confirm)?
5. Any ideas for a case that would snug fit this beauty, I broke an 85 Charvel neck at the nut once.
6. The break angle is pretty steep at the neck body connection due to a pretty thick shim. Does it need to be that angled? My gut feeling is it's the factory shim, any reason I shouldn't change it out to lower the bridge and pickups?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
Enough history, here is what I came to post here today.
So I found this Jackson (Ontario) guitar in a local pawn shop, it was really... really nasty and dirty. Covered in grime, with strings at least 10 years old. lots of smoke yellowing everywhere. The shop had no idea what it was or how rare these are. Price was too good to pass up so I bought it, brought it home and did a disassembly and did a gentile but deep cleaning and polish. Fret dress and setup.
It plays like a dream, low action. very resonant. Wish I had the bar for the trem to see how it handles some sonic abuse. Love the pickup combo, this thing really was built to do metal or rock... can't stop rocking out since I put it back together and set it up.
What I saw when it was apart:
----------
Under the springs it is dated 8-28-89 and the work order # matches the # on the neck stamp (it's also in the truss rod cavity)
The pickups are J-90c, J-100 in the middle, and an Dimarzio HS-3 in the neck
It appears I was the first one to take this guitar apart, nothing was modified from what I can see
It has a Charvel badged tremolo. Made in germany by Shaller. Very heavy and in excellent shape.
What is missing:
-----------
It's missing the trem bar, the trus rod cover (and screws), and the back trem cover screws are not original.
Questions for the forum experts:
------------
1. Do you think the HS-3 is original? The route would never fit the deep Jackson J-200, it barely fits the HS3. Did they not use Jackson pickup covers if the pickups were custom ordered?
2. Why no "made in USA" on the headstock under the "n", the finish is not tampered with... and the stamp and work order matches to the body. Did they leave the "made in usa" off some necks?
3. How rare is this neck, I see lots of 24 fret maple boards with black sharkfins, but never the bolt on strat necks?
4. What kind of screws were used for the back trem plate, I plan to fill the holes and use the proper small recessed screws (they seem like humbucker mounting ring screws - can anyone confirm)?
5. Any ideas for a case that would snug fit this beauty, I broke an 85 Charvel neck at the nut once.
6. The break angle is pretty steep at the neck body connection due to a pretty thick shim. Does it need to be that angled? My gut feeling is it's the factory shim, any reason I shouldn't change it out to lower the bridge and pickups?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
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