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Another darn n00b... ;)

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  • Another darn n00b... ;)

    Well, I have been lurking for a few days to get a feel for the board and I guess I better be polite and say "Hi!". I recently purchased my (used) ticket into here, which is a black RR3 (pre early 2006 model w/ DD pups). Great condition, just the requisite small chip on the long side of the V. Otherwise, it looked essentially unplayed. Judging from the setup, I could understand why. The neck had a back-bow to it, the Floyd was tipping forward and the action was cranked so low that playing it was nearly impossible. So at least the frets are like new!

    I would post a pic, but that will have to wait a few. I am in the middle of putting a real Floyd Rose Pro in it, and changing out the pups for the SD SH-2n Jazz and a SD TB-4 in the bridge (like the new RR3's). The Floyd is fitted, and I am now wiring in the pups, but the holdup is on the pup rings (replacing the black ones w/ chrome). I plan on painting it later this summer, but I am undecided between black w/ purple pearl and a bit of glass flake, or white with coral pearl and a bit of glass flake. I do all of my own work (so far), and I am pretty detail oriented. It has to be done right, and I research my projects thoroughly before starting them.

    One of the reasons I joined here was that I was chasing down info on installing a FR Pro in place of the JT-590LP, and a search led me to this forum. I never thought that there would be a forum dedicated to Jackson/Charvel guitars, and it is pretty cool to find one! I have been an avid Randy Rhoads fan since I saw him with Ozzy on the Diary of a Madman Tour, and I have always wanted a Jackson V. While some look down on bolt on necks, I prefer them (being the kind of 'take it apart' guy I am).

    Paint on the RR3 will wait as I am painting my Peavey Patriot first. I have had it for twenty years now, and it has earned a paint job and new pickguard. I recently added a SD TB-4 and SD SH-PG1n to it (with push pulls for variety, as I am the RR3), and I love the change! It was quite the step going from a short neck (w/ 23 frets) to the long neck, but I like the difference. When I got the RR3, I hated the Duncan Designed pups immediately. Muddy, low output and they just sounded horrible. The pickups led to the FR Pro, and I thought what the heck! It is almost done, and I can't wait to be able to play it.

    I am a married father of two (son & daughter), in my late 40's and we live on the south Oregon coast (just above the California border). I played in a band in the early 80's (local party band in Spokane), but I am pretty much a home jammer. My gear is racked and I have a Behringer FCB-1010 and a single Ibanez Super Metal pedal on the floor, with the output to a couple of 12" monitors (shopping for new speakers now). I have played guitar since I was 10, and I am more a rhythm player with some lead licks (I have crooked pinkies, and it affects my reach in some areas). My music influences are Black Sabbath, early & late Ozzy, Scorpions, Damn Yankees, The Babies/John Waite, Whitesnake, Allman Bros., Rush, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Motley Crue, but I like the 'soft' stuff too...

    When I get the RR3 together I will post pics of it as I am sure that there are others out there who my want to put a Floyd Rose Pro in it too. Despite what has been said, it fits quite easily, and I only had to do a little routing for throw (rear pocket depth + .15 inch) and one cut for clearance (high E side of rear pocket (.225 inch), but it was cut for symmetry. I could have got away with a .10 inch cut there, but since I plan on repainting it later this summer (I will fill the pocket to fit the FR Pro then) I decided to cut it that way. It looks pretty darn good, and it looks like it belongs in the guitar.

    Well, off to wire the SD's into the RR3, then the wait for the pup rings (should be here by Saturday!). Thanks for the forum, it is a goldmine of information and history.

    Doug

  • #2
    Welcome, noob!!

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    • #3
      Welcome, Doctor. Many of us wish to be 15 again when real life gets to be a bit much. Guitars are far more therapeutic and productive than drinking and gambling. Just a word of advice; never stand in front of a mirror with your RR3.

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      • #4
        Welcome! Can't wait to see the pics!

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        • #5
          HI

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          • #6
            "Quiet, numbskulls, I'm broadcasting!" -Moe Howard, "Micro-Phonies" (1945)

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            • #7
              lol ... funny pic

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              • #8
                heya Doc!
                Hail yesterday

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                • #9
                  Hey DrDoug....Welcome.

                  Your story sounds similar to mine.....40's, 2 kids, Basement "Jammer"..etc. Trying to re-live my youth too. Sounds like we have similar intersets in bands too. Spent many a day back in the 80's seeing every metal band that came through my town. I have the same guitar as you too. Right down to the color, changed p/u's (Duncan Distortion/Jazz), chrome rings, even the same "chip" on the wing! Don't be so fast in painting it, it looks really good in black. Do what I plan on doing......keep the RR3 stock and just get ANOTHER ONE!!!!! (Ahhhh...GAS sometimes can be good!) Anyway, heres mine..........(before the p/u change)



                  Take care and have fun here!!!
                  Guitars:
                  Charvel: USA Pro Mod Slime Green
                  1988 Model 2,
                  Jackson: Dinky HSS 'Blue/Orange Flame'
                  RR3
                  Gibson: 1978 Les Paul Spl Dbl Cut
                  1992 LP Studio 'Lite'
                  2005 SG Special

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                  • #10
                    Welcome Dr!
                    I was reading your post and I can definitely relate. I started playing when I was 10 (although I'm only 27 now), my main influences are Ozzy, Megadeth, original Metallica, Motley Crue, Sabbath etc...and I'm pretty much a home jammer now too. I'm definitely more of a rhythem player also and my last band ended shortly after I graduated and started the full time working career thing.

                    - Joel
                    RIP Donny Swanstrom...JCF bro
                    RIP Dime

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                    • #11
                      Hi Doug, welcome to the forum.
                      Good luck modding your RR3, I'd love to see pics of the tremolo swap, especially of your routing adventures.
                      Henrik
                      AUDIOZONE.DK - a guitar site for the Jackson and Charvel fan

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                      • #12
                        routing, hmmmmmm........... gives me DYI fever, ........where's that damn dremel.
                        "slappy, slappy" bill sings, happily, as he dick slaps random people on the streets of Cleveland.

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                        • #13
                          Welcome!

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                          • #14
                            Welcome noob

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                            • #15
                              Thanks for the welcome! I am glad to see that I am not the only bedroom (well, actually living room) player that hangs out here. Well, no pickup rings today either...

                              I got the rings on eBay, and the guy has a high, all positive feedback that has comments like 'Fast Ship' and 'Great Service'. Well, I finally got a notice on Tuesday that the rings were shipping out. The guy lives about 350 miles from me, and it only took until two weeks after I won the auction for him to ship. A camel could have got them here faster, maybe even a cow just randomly feeding on the grass strip along the side of the road. Grrrr....

                              On the Floyd Rose Pro, everything I have read says that the change is either impossible or that major routing is necessary. Well, I don't know what
                              'major' routing is, but it took me less than an hour to do it with my Dremel. And I was being very careful and took my time. JT Riboloff at Floyd Rose even said I would have to fill the pocket and re-rout it. I took the Pro dimensional rout diagrams, and making a diagram of the RR3's rout for the JT, I compared measurements going off the high E stud insert as my reference point. Everything I saw showed that it would be easy to do.

                              JT advised me to get a Pro with a 35 mm inertia block (actually, it is 35.5 mm) and a R8 nut, which I did. The R8 is almost exactly identical to the Jackson nut, but it is cut for a 10 inch radius. I am going to install it and test since no cutting is needed, I am thinking that a 10 inch nut on a 12 inch neck might work out ok. If I don't like it, I can dechrome it, cut it for the 12 inch radius, then send it out and get it rechromed.

                              Either way, it fits nicely and it was not hard to do. I even used the Dremel to touch up the stud insert holes to fit the ones that came with the Pro. I coated them with wood glue and used a C-clamp to press them home. They went in smoothly and there was no crack, so that worked nicely! I like the look of the Pro, and I hope it works as good as it looks.

                              I do have to critique the Pro a bit though. The base was given too much voltage when it was chromed (whitish/opaque looking chrome on a corner), but the light has to be just so to see it. One of the saddle blocks has 'nickel out' (industry term for no chrome in a draw, I used to work in a plating shop), which I may ask them to replace as it is quite visible. The chrome on the plate has belt marks in it, and you can see grinding marks on the sides of the saddles. I used to handle the tanks and run the plating line in a chrome shop, and I know how to critique chrome. One day, I may send it out and have it done right but it will do for now. Polishing and a rechrome would really wake this thing up as nothing flashes like a show chrome job.

                              Well, back to waiting for my parts... Thanks for the welcome!

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