JCF-YCE Specs

[neptoess]

Hi guys,
Searched quite a bit, and can’t really find a solid spec list for either JCF-01 (the black Rhoads) or JCF-02 (the red Double Rhoads)

I’ll try to rattle off what I think I know of JCF-02
Three piece maple neck (no scarf joint)
Poplar wings
Ebony board
Jumbo frets
Binding over fret ends
80s style logo (looks undersized, maybe 80%?)
Ferrari red urethane finish
4 degree neck angle
Non-recessed Floyd Rose
V/V/T controls
No clue on pickups, standard or speed neck, etc.

[toejam]

The JCF-01 was a white Rhoads. It had a beefy, Les Paul type of neck. Here's one that was on Reverb. https://reverb.com/item/4130169-jack...ion-2002-ivory

[neptoess]

Interesting. You said the neck is beefy, but that spec sheet says .860” - .950”. Doesn’t seem too thick, probably closer to what Gibson might call a “medium” C. How thick are Rhoads necks normally? Aren’t Rhoads and Soloists the thickest factory neck profile?

EDIT: Found this, quite useful. Apparently the JCF-01 neck is substantially thicker than other Jackson necks https://www.jcfonline.com/forum/equi...pecs#post62406

Any clue what JCF-02's neck profile was?

[toejam]

I owned a 2000 and 2004 RR1T, and those necks were .790 - .850.

I had Mark Morton Dominion when they first came out, and the neck was .910-.950. So I guess they're not real round and thick like an old Les Paul, but still a bit beefy, comfortable.

[pianoguyy]

I think many of us have played variants that are all over the place. One definitive answer isn't going to happen.

But I have always considered Rhoads to have the big neck (which I attribute to Randy playing a Les Paul). With the Soloist/Dinky having a thin one.


*and since I have no measurements, I am going by feel - what it feels like in my hand. Therefore it is possible that a neck shape can feel larger even though it could be smaller in actual size.

[toejam]

EDIT: Found this, quite useful. Apparently the JCF-01 neck is substantially thicker than other Jackson necks https://www.jcfonline.com/forum/equi...pecs#post62406

Any clue what JCF-02's neck profile was?

I had a friend who owned a JCF-01, and I do remember the neck being round and fat, not all that fat, but it's been a long time.

And the JCF-02 was thinner, but I have no clue as to the neck profile.

[neptoess]

I do apologize for the confusion. It probably stems from the fact that Gibson's thinnest neck they use on production guitars (the "SlimTaper") is still thicker than the Rhoads / Soloist neck. I have played some serious baseball bat necks, some pencil thin ones, and everything in between. An older Pro series RR24 (with single EMG81) I played certainly had a C-shaped neck (same as most Gibsons), but it was noticeably thinner than any Gibson I've ever played. It was still quite comfortable for me though. A newer RR24 Crackle I played is listed as having a "speed neck". This one feels more like a D-shape to me, a la the Ibanez Wizard. I did not find this neck particularly comfortable.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have an Eric Johnson strat, which has a soft V profile, and is .860" to .960". I find this neck really comfortable, but the V profile is what's contributing to that (there's very little shoulder / cheek to the neck). I played one of the American Original 50s strats, which also has a soft V, but measures .920" to 1.000". That was uncomfortably thick.

I think the takeaway is that I tend to like C and V necks, don't much care for D necks, and have yet to play a C or V neck that is too thin for my comfort, but have stumbled upon some that are too thick. Also, somewhat anecdotal, I do tend to notice that every guitar I've personally played that resonates really well has a thicker neck. My strat sounds downright beautiful unplugged. Sorry for the novel lol.

[sully]

Hi guys,
Searched quite a bit, and can’t really find a solid spec list for either JCF-01 (the black Rhoads) or JCF-02 (the red Double Rhoads)

I’ll try to rattle off what I think I know of JCF-02
Three piece maple neck (no scarf joint)
Poplar wings
Ebony board
Jumbo frets
Binding over fret ends
80s style logo (looks undersized, maybe 80%?)
Ferrari red urethane finish
4 degree neck angle
Non-recessed Floyd Rose
V/V/T controls
No clue on pickups, standard or speed neck, etc.

I've got a JCF-01 and JCF-02 sitting right next to me, and while I'm going to do a video about the history of them, I can fill in some gaps. You've got it mostly correct on JCF-02; the neck angle is 2, not 4 (4 is a steeeeeeeeeep angle), poplar wings for all of them except my old original (which was #1 of the series and had alder wings. I caught that as part of the process of organizing the run). Pickups are Duncan Distortion/Jazz, and it's got a speed neck. Oddly enough, the neck shape and thickness is exactly the same as my 1992 Rhoads Tribute (commonly referred to as the LTD because of the serial number). The logo is smaller, but it's not the 80% size; that became a sticking point with Jackson for some reason. They said something along the lines of "we'll use what we're currently using for KVs " or something to that extent; it's been almost 20 years now.

JCF 01 specs are:

3 pc Maple neck through with no scarf joint or body veneers (we wanted to see the seams)
Alder wings
Logo was provided by the admins to Jackson and is based on the Mark St. John yellow strathead that was owned by Rob Witte. This was done because all we had to go from was a black and white photo from NAMM 1983, and we couldn't really get a great look at the logo, so Rob had them made. I don't know if it was a case of sending an illustrator file/pdf, etc
Gotoh SG-38 tuners with the 45 degree screw mount. We couldn't get the 90 degree leg which would have also been correct for the time, nor could we get crown head buttons (they didn't exist at then. Of course all of that changed after the FMIC buyout)
Phenolic nut
Reverse MOP sharks
Ebony board (12-16 compound radius, which probably would have been incorrect - the original was most likely a straight 12; the compound stuff didn't come until a little later)
Dunlop 6230 frets (tall and skinny)
Duncan Distortion/Jazz pickups - black/white zebra (which was incorrect; they should have been black and cream, but that's another story). Pickups were installed upside down because the color pattern didn't match the photo (oops)
Old school brass TOM (referred to as PCS style at the time of the order)
Vol/toggle/tone
Ivory paint
Urethane clear
Brass plates

And yeah, the neck is FAT. 850-960 may not seem like a baseball bat to you (it's in line with LP thickness). A neck's thickness is only part of the neck feel; how the back shape fills the hand is the other part. It's a very full C.

Sully

[neptoess]

Thanks so much Sully! I have the opportunity to pick up both a JCF-01 and JCF-02. Weirdly enough, my initial thought was that I’d much prefer the -02 to the -01, but now I think the opposite might be true.

Also good callout on the compound radius thing. I’ve seen some early 80s Jackson catalogs that only mention 16” radius, and could never pin down whether compound radius was there from the beginning or not.

[YetAnotherOne]

Thanks so much Sully! I have the opportunity to pick up both a JCF-01 and JCF-02.

Had. Unless you've found another set. The ones I had listed on TGP I handed to Sully the other day in scenic Okmulgee, OK.

[neptoess]

Had. Unless you've found another set. The ones I had listed on TGP I handed to Sully the other day in scenic Okmulgee, OK.

I haven’t found another set. Congrats on the sale. They definitely went to a good home

[Number Of The Priest]

the neck angle is 2, not 4 (4 is a steeeeeeeeeep angle)

The "4-degree neck angle" has been on my mind for some time, ever since I learned of some Stew-Mac customers using the 1-degree neck pocket shim (https://www.stewmac.com/tonewoods/sh...ms-for-guitar/) discovered that even 1-degree was a LOT.

I don't know if the "4-degree neck angle" vocabulary is used outside of the Jackson/Charvel world. For example, do TOM-bridge Gibson users describe the neck angle as 4 degrees? Or is it just a Jackson/Charvel "shortcut vocabulary" to signify an angled neck pocket for some of the non-recessed Floyds that are mounted very high relative to the body?

I want to stop using it, but it reminds me of how Leo Fender inaccurately coined his vibrato bridge a "tremolo" and it stuck. We're just in that habit, even though we may know better.

[neptoess]

I have one of those 1 degree StewMac shims in an Ibanez RG. Works great. The base plate of the trem still doesn’t sit above the top.

4 degrees is Gibson territory for sure though. I personally love that feel, but it’s also what I learned on. I believe the Shannon Soloists also used 4 degree neck angle, and the bridges end up sitting pretty high off the body as a result.

As for terminology, no neck angle / straight vs angled seems to be the only distinction anyone cares about. Generally speaking, unless you have a tune o matic, or a non-recessed Floyd, you can get away without a neck angle.

[Number Of The Priest]

I have been a Shannon Soloist owner since 2004 and have repeatedly regurgitated the "4-degree neck angle" terminology ever since, without ever fact-checking or verifying myself. If it turns out to be the incorrect number, I apologize for my part played in perpetuating an error. However, I have no means to measure the neck angle. I'm not certain a protractor (memories of grade school) would have a fine enough resolution to measure it.

Either way, I love angled necks!

[sully]

Funny, the 4 degree thing isn't something I've heard until this post, but I've also been busy with other pursuits. Les Pauls have them because of the way they do carved tops, but even on my '71 Trella model (also a carved top). I don't need anything more than 3.5. Generally speaking, a 2 degree is all you need for most TOM bridges, and non recessed Floyds, but there are some other considerations when determining the necessary angle.