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Hi there
...and thanks for starting to read my introductory post.
As I am typing this it is almost midnight in Germany. All the promises, the final track on Operation Mindcrime II is just playing in the background. I does not quite manage to take me back to the eighties, which would help to get this post going. I grab BÖCs Imaginos which works better.
I was never a serious guitar player or professional musician. Back in 1985 thru 87 I was a singer of an unknown metal band in Germany. That project was great fun but never really took off. I needed money. So after going crazy for about an entire year of practicing during the week, gigging and/or partying every weekend I quit in 87, went to university and got a job. Never touched a musical instrument since then.
Not until about 2 years ago anyway. I guess midlife crisis kicked in after 38 years of living on this planet. I wanted to rock again. I still had an older Hohner GT3 Steinberger copy which I bought from a friend a few years ago along with a Rockman and never played. I grabbed it out of its bag, tried to tune it and play. That did not work too well with the corroded strings. So I took it to the local music store to have it properly set up and get new strings. While being there I noticed a well used white Charvel import model with a licensed Floyd. Without thinking I bought the thing right there along with a smaller Marshall solid state amp. Hell, I really wanted to play asap.
After messing with the charvel for a few days I found that it held its tune really bad, even without using the tremolo arm. Frustrated I took it back to the shop. Frustrated because otherwise I liked it a lot.
The shop owner told me that he had some really nice guitars in stock that were not on display. Among them a USA Jackson built in 87 or 88, red firecrackle, JT-6 trem, signed by Grover, and never been played.
So I got my first USA Jackson in pristine condition. I played it a lot since then in my living room. I got carried away. The first week I played until my fingers bled. Some kind of therapy.
In the meantime the solid state Marshall was replaced by a JTM60 and I got a Boss GS-10. The combination gives me plenty of nice sounds, especially the GS-10. I might replace of the JTM60 in a while.
I also got a black Ovation Elite 1778T which I like a lot, although the neck needed a little getting used to because it is so different.
Recently I aquired a very used and abused USA Jackson with some kind of Freddy Kruger custom paint on ebay. That thing was in terrible shape and is probably the main reason for why I am here. The JT-6 bridge was all rusty. Lots of screws are missing as are most parts of the locking nut and the tremolo arm. The electronics did not work. When searching for info on replacement parts lucky me stumbled over jcfonline and all you fellas.
Right now I have ordered the most important parts at Dave's www.fretsonthenet.net and wait for delivery.
In the meantime I took the Freddy apart completely, except for the tuners, removed the rust from the bridge, oiled it, polished the body, cleaned and oiled the neck, got a new volume pot, resoldered the electronics and restrung it with 0.09-0.42 strings instead of the 0.10-0.46 it came with. Being still pretty clueless when it comes to setup and intonation (never dared to touch the firecrackle with my inexperienced hands) I only setup the bridge and the action, which worked quite well. Even without the locking nut it already holds tune pretty good. The action is great. Already lower than on the firecrackle, no fret-buzz, and it almost plays by itself (which most people see as an advantage over me playing it). I will try some preliminary intonation in a few days.
It was (and is) a very rewarding experience to fix this very nice guitar. Yes, I am already in love with the Freddy.
I took some pictures tonight. So here are my four babies:
... and this is the Freddy after stage one, still missing some parts and some work, but cranking out some wicked screams already:
To wrap this post up: I guess I am a recreational guitar player rather than a collector. At least for now. For my bank account's sake I hope this purchasing of 80's USA Jacksons does not turn into a habit. After reading some scary posts here on this forum I am slightly concerned.
Cheers
Mike
Edit: fixed some typos
...and thanks for starting to read my introductory post.
As I am typing this it is almost midnight in Germany. All the promises, the final track on Operation Mindcrime II is just playing in the background. I does not quite manage to take me back to the eighties, which would help to get this post going. I grab BÖCs Imaginos which works better.
I was never a serious guitar player or professional musician. Back in 1985 thru 87 I was a singer of an unknown metal band in Germany. That project was great fun but never really took off. I needed money. So after going crazy for about an entire year of practicing during the week, gigging and/or partying every weekend I quit in 87, went to university and got a job. Never touched a musical instrument since then.
Not until about 2 years ago anyway. I guess midlife crisis kicked in after 38 years of living on this planet. I wanted to rock again. I still had an older Hohner GT3 Steinberger copy which I bought from a friend a few years ago along with a Rockman and never played. I grabbed it out of its bag, tried to tune it and play. That did not work too well with the corroded strings. So I took it to the local music store to have it properly set up and get new strings. While being there I noticed a well used white Charvel import model with a licensed Floyd. Without thinking I bought the thing right there along with a smaller Marshall solid state amp. Hell, I really wanted to play asap.
After messing with the charvel for a few days I found that it held its tune really bad, even without using the tremolo arm. Frustrated I took it back to the shop. Frustrated because otherwise I liked it a lot.
The shop owner told me that he had some really nice guitars in stock that were not on display. Among them a USA Jackson built in 87 or 88, red firecrackle, JT-6 trem, signed by Grover, and never been played.
So I got my first USA Jackson in pristine condition. I played it a lot since then in my living room. I got carried away. The first week I played until my fingers bled. Some kind of therapy.
In the meantime the solid state Marshall was replaced by a JTM60 and I got a Boss GS-10. The combination gives me plenty of nice sounds, especially the GS-10. I might replace of the JTM60 in a while.
I also got a black Ovation Elite 1778T which I like a lot, although the neck needed a little getting used to because it is so different.
Recently I aquired a very used and abused USA Jackson with some kind of Freddy Kruger custom paint on ebay. That thing was in terrible shape and is probably the main reason for why I am here. The JT-6 bridge was all rusty. Lots of screws are missing as are most parts of the locking nut and the tremolo arm. The electronics did not work. When searching for info on replacement parts lucky me stumbled over jcfonline and all you fellas.
Right now I have ordered the most important parts at Dave's www.fretsonthenet.net and wait for delivery.
In the meantime I took the Freddy apart completely, except for the tuners, removed the rust from the bridge, oiled it, polished the body, cleaned and oiled the neck, got a new volume pot, resoldered the electronics and restrung it with 0.09-0.42 strings instead of the 0.10-0.46 it came with. Being still pretty clueless when it comes to setup and intonation (never dared to touch the firecrackle with my inexperienced hands) I only setup the bridge and the action, which worked quite well. Even without the locking nut it already holds tune pretty good. The action is great. Already lower than on the firecrackle, no fret-buzz, and it almost plays by itself (which most people see as an advantage over me playing it). I will try some preliminary intonation in a few days.
It was (and is) a very rewarding experience to fix this very nice guitar. Yes, I am already in love with the Freddy.
I took some pictures tonight. So here are my four babies:
... and this is the Freddy after stage one, still missing some parts and some work, but cranking out some wicked screams already:
To wrap this post up: I guess I am a recreational guitar player rather than a collector. At least for now. For my bank account's sake I hope this purchasing of 80's USA Jacksons does not turn into a habit. After reading some scary posts here on this forum I am slightly concerned.
Cheers
Mike
Edit: fixed some typos
well...I am a newbie too..Welcome aboard! Dave (Budman68) from fretsonthenet is a member here and will fix you right up from what I have seen and heard. He is the Man!!!
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