Guitar / pickup ID help needed please

[YetAnotherOne]

Hi all,

I'd appreciate your help in ID'ing this guitar and the pickups it contains:



It's a USA bolt-on serial number 000257. I know it's a 1990 and a member of the "USA Bolt-on" family but I'd appreciate info on what the model might be.

But the real reason I posted is the pickups. The sound is, well, hideous. Thin, shrill, ultra-low output, it's just all-around bad. I'm assuming that a previous owner did a hack job on the wiring (multiple wire splices and one pot that can't be seen due to the massive glob of solder that almost completely covers its base were the tipoffs). I'm going to strip it down and rewire it properly and I'd sincerely appreciate some opinions on what the pickups in there are supposed to sound like so I can determine whether I should bother with them or just skip it and replace them.

The humbucker is definitely a Jackson JB-50 BC. Any thoughts on what this should sound like.

The single coils aren't marked with a manufacturer's name that I can see but they both have white paper stickers bearing "1R" and are each stamped with the inscription "SD 2 85". Again, any thoughts on what these might be or what they should sound like would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[LRGman]

Re: Guitar / pickup ID help needed please

It's is a USA fusion with the "don't smoke" graphic. Cool axe. I have a fusion and I took the pickups out and put EMG's in it.

They are supposed to be wired for a parametric preamp. Kind of a wah type effect. There would be a volume with a little circut board on it.A 9-volt and then the tone controls the effect. This is what was explained to me. Mine didn't have it and sounded like ass, so I can't tell you what it is supposed to sound like. I am sure someone else here can inform you better.

As you may or may not know it is a Les Paul scale guitar.

[ April 01, 2003, 02:13 AM: Message edited by: LRGman ]

[charvel750]

Re: Guitar / pickup ID help needed please

Yes, USA Jackson Fusion. Cool graphic too! I have found that for the most part any Jackson pickups WITHOUT the active circuit do not sound well. That guitar originally had a circuit and the lack of it leaves the pickups hurting for tone. The J-50BC is a low output vintage humbucker measuring at 8-10 K ohms resistance. But with the JE-1500 circuit it's a sonic flame thrower. The original single coils were the J-200 models, which were epoxy covered stacked humbuckers. Fairly high output, they were wound at 12 K ohms resistance. The pickups in it now appear to be Seymour Duncan single coils, vintage flat models perhaps. They are a low output single coil but should provide good tone. Active EMG's might be a good way to go now as has been said.

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: Guitar / pickup ID help needed please

Thanks for the info guys, I appreciate the help. It is missing the preamp and the previous owner had mixed an EMG 25k pot and a standard 500k pot. I didn't bother to diagram it but that would make for one oddball filter. At any rate, saying it sounds like ass would be generous in the extreme.

LRGMan - Yeah, I *love* the neck, if it weren't for that I wouldn't have kept it. Plays a lot like my Nightswans, probably a bit better. Do you happen to know if all of the Fusion necks are short-scale, thin profile, with medium frets or were options available on this model?

[ April 03, 2003, 02:49 PM: Message edited by: YetAnotherOne ]

[toejam]

Re: Guitar / pickup ID help needed please

Originally posted by YetAnotherOne:
Do you happen to know if all of the Fusion necks are short-scale, thin profile, with medium frets or were options available on this model?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">All Fusions are short scale (24.75"). The model basically got its name from being a "Fusion" of the Les Paul scale length with a Strat-type body.

[Ricey]

Re: Guitar / pickup ID help needed please

I bought a used 1990 USA Fusion that had a Duncan Distortion Bridge, original Jackson J-200 Middle and a Duncan JB Jr Neck. The guitar did not sound very good, so I bought a set of Jackson Model 6 PUPS on E-Bay. These are the same PUPS as found on a USA Fusion (J-50BC, J-200, J-200). Included with the Model 6 PUPS was the active mid-boost found normally found on a Model 6 or USA Fusion of that era (Late 80's - early 90's) so I had that installed too. This, of course, is not the same as the active wah-wah circuit normally found on a stock Fusion. Also, the PUP cover for the J-50BC did not fit in the route on the Fusion (I guess the model 6's had bigger PUP covers-go figure) so I had to have the PUP installed without a PUP cover. This was no big deal, because removing the covers on these PUPs is a popular modification anyway. The guitar sound great now. I can get about any sound I want. I can get a medium output "Classic Rock" Tone or a heavy tone by dialing in the mid boost. Finally, I found that the guy who has installed the Duncans had used totally wrong pot values, so maybe that is your problem as well. I like the sound of Duncans, but they did not sound good in myh guitar, so maybe it was the pots.

Good Luck,
Rick

[Ricey]

Re: Guitar / pickup ID help needed please

I should have mentioned that the switch between the two knobs should activate the active wah-wah circuit. Once the switch is activated, the "tone" knob controls the wah sweep. In my guitar, I removed the switch and replaced it with a master tone knob. The original wah sweep knob now controls my active mid boost circuit. I am not an electrician, but the J-50BC normally used both a 50K tone and volume pot, so if the previous owner substituted these out for 250K tone and volume pots for the SC PUPS currently in your guitar, then the J-50BC probably won't sound like it did stock. Also, the two SC PUPS in your guitar would normally use 250K pots, so if the 50K's are still in there, the SC's might not sound right.