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Hi all,
I have what I _think_ is an older ('88, perhaps) Jackson/Charvel 3DR guitar, though I've seem them referred to as Predators as well. Over the years, I've lost the plates for the locking nut and need either replacements or a new nut that will work (images below as well).
I had ordered some new one's from Stewmac a couple of years ago or more and they were too large and I had no choice but to grind them down to get them to work, but they are still too sharp and it's a bit too rigged looking. I don't care as long as it works, but this can cut the high E string.
The weird thing is, this is a Jackson licensed Floyd Rose double locking tremolo system, but with a Kahler nut I've never seen anywhere else--must have been from overstocks/old parts from their Kahler days a year or more previous to this model and being moved to Japan, or something for them to use both.
This was new and original this way from the music store--no one swapped out anything (I mean, I later put in better pickups and a 3-way selector and toggle for different reasons, but the rest is stock as new regarding hardware). It's a good locking nut, but I lost the plates and some screws and need to fix this to play it more (I hate having it just sit there, it plays and sounds good).
I got a new original Floyd Rose locking nut (R4) from Wayne and Michael Charvel the other day, which they did me a favor by getting (they aren't a parts place--I just needed a new one for my Wayne guitar). Anyway, while the correct spacing and width, it's just far too high and I'd have to grind this down for a long time and risk wasting time if I screw it up.
The plates are smaller than the usual Floyd nuts and the entire locking nut itself is too high on all the one's I can order now. I have no idea where to get these and I've scoured the Internet for parts and found nothing. Below are pictures to illustrate the uncommon nature of it. I've only seen this on other 3DR's and only a few of them. The images make the guitar look rusty and in poor shape, but a camera with a flash only 2 or 3 inches away sure make things stand out. :-)
You can see in the images how it's set up, feeds the strings in through the top of the locking nut (which I think is a pretty good design), the size of the clamp plates (as I put a regular (gold colored) clamp plate next to the two smaller one's I ground down a few years ago, so you can see why these are difficult to find). These images are in the 300KB to 450KB range, by the way, so it might take a few seconds to load.
http://chatbase.com/guitar1.jpg
http://chatbase.com/guitar2.jpg
http://chatbase.com/guitar3.jpg
http://chatbase.com/guitar4.jpg
This is actually a pretty good system for a locking nut, except how difficult it is to find parts for it. I did check the Floyd nut I mentioned earlier and the screw holes didn't exactly line up perfectly, which is another potential problem--it lines up perfectly for this nut. In fact, even the little plastic shim under the nut (which is very, very thin) is fitted perfectly for this neck and is just right for low action and any lower will create buzzing and dead frets.
So, I'd like to find a replacement nut w/ the clamp plates, or just some clamp plates, or, of course, a compatible locking nut that doesn't require grinding or heavy modification. I also don't want to end up getting something yet again, that will actually not end up working (it's a waste of time and I hate waiting to find out something doesn't work--hey, who does?). Otherwise, I'll have to get back to grinding and guessing (which sucks, because I have no old one to go off of).
I noticed a lot of these 3DR's have an actual nut and then the locking behind it, while this one is the whole unit (not unusual, other than the other locking nuts are too high). Also, if it matters, the serial is 3121xx. Any suggestions or information would be appreciated. I'm just looking for a solution, because this guitar has just been sitting around because it'll go out of tune too easily, or it'll highly likely slip out of tune on the B and high E strings, or I risk cutting them at the nut with this current, nasty work around. Thanks a lot.
I have what I _think_ is an older ('88, perhaps) Jackson/Charvel 3DR guitar, though I've seem them referred to as Predators as well. Over the years, I've lost the plates for the locking nut and need either replacements or a new nut that will work (images below as well).
I had ordered some new one's from Stewmac a couple of years ago or more and they were too large and I had no choice but to grind them down to get them to work, but they are still too sharp and it's a bit too rigged looking. I don't care as long as it works, but this can cut the high E string.
The weird thing is, this is a Jackson licensed Floyd Rose double locking tremolo system, but with a Kahler nut I've never seen anywhere else--must have been from overstocks/old parts from their Kahler days a year or more previous to this model and being moved to Japan, or something for them to use both.
This was new and original this way from the music store--no one swapped out anything (I mean, I later put in better pickups and a 3-way selector and toggle for different reasons, but the rest is stock as new regarding hardware). It's a good locking nut, but I lost the plates and some screws and need to fix this to play it more (I hate having it just sit there, it plays and sounds good).
I got a new original Floyd Rose locking nut (R4) from Wayne and Michael Charvel the other day, which they did me a favor by getting (they aren't a parts place--I just needed a new one for my Wayne guitar). Anyway, while the correct spacing and width, it's just far too high and I'd have to grind this down for a long time and risk wasting time if I screw it up.
The plates are smaller than the usual Floyd nuts and the entire locking nut itself is too high on all the one's I can order now. I have no idea where to get these and I've scoured the Internet for parts and found nothing. Below are pictures to illustrate the uncommon nature of it. I've only seen this on other 3DR's and only a few of them. The images make the guitar look rusty and in poor shape, but a camera with a flash only 2 or 3 inches away sure make things stand out. :-)
You can see in the images how it's set up, feeds the strings in through the top of the locking nut (which I think is a pretty good design), the size of the clamp plates (as I put a regular (gold colored) clamp plate next to the two smaller one's I ground down a few years ago, so you can see why these are difficult to find). These images are in the 300KB to 450KB range, by the way, so it might take a few seconds to load.
http://chatbase.com/guitar1.jpg
http://chatbase.com/guitar2.jpg
http://chatbase.com/guitar3.jpg
http://chatbase.com/guitar4.jpg
This is actually a pretty good system for a locking nut, except how difficult it is to find parts for it. I did check the Floyd nut I mentioned earlier and the screw holes didn't exactly line up perfectly, which is another potential problem--it lines up perfectly for this nut. In fact, even the little plastic shim under the nut (which is very, very thin) is fitted perfectly for this neck and is just right for low action and any lower will create buzzing and dead frets.
So, I'd like to find a replacement nut w/ the clamp plates, or just some clamp plates, or, of course, a compatible locking nut that doesn't require grinding or heavy modification. I also don't want to end up getting something yet again, that will actually not end up working (it's a waste of time and I hate waiting to find out something doesn't work--hey, who does?). Otherwise, I'll have to get back to grinding and guessing (which sucks, because I have no old one to go off of).
I noticed a lot of these 3DR's have an actual nut and then the locking behind it, while this one is the whole unit (not unusual, other than the other locking nuts are too high). Also, if it matters, the serial is 3121xx. Any suggestions or information would be appreciated. I'm just looking for a solution, because this guitar has just been sitting around because it'll go out of tune too easily, or it'll highly likely slip out of tune on the B and high E strings, or I risk cutting them at the nut with this current, nasty work around. Thanks a lot.
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