Stealth?

[MartinBarre]

I just won an old Stealth on ebay. I think it's probably an EX model, but the guy says there's nothing on the truss cover and I don't know anything about these models other than the little I found on here before I bid on it (£83 BTW!)

Is this an EX model and, if yes, I presume it's a basswood body. I have an old Duncan Invader I can put in it, will that sound good in basswood d'ye think? And are the stock pickups crap?

There's no trem arm, but I'm hoping the one from my JDR-94 will fit it.

[Fender]

Looks sorta like an Ibanez S series. What sounds good in basswood bodies are pick-ups like DiMarzio Super Distortion, Paf Pro, Tone Zone etc

[MartinBarre]

Yeah, I know a lot of the DiMarzio pups are designed for basswood bodies guys like Satch use. I have this Invader sitting here though so I'll give it a go.
I don't hold out much hope for the neck pickup, I think that'll have to be swapped for a Hot Rails at some point.

[jackson1]

For confirmation, you could go here and search for... say 'stealth'..... : http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/db.php

[MartinBarre]

Thanks for that link, that's cool. I had checked the catalog scans before I bid on the guitar so I was fairly sure what I was getting was a basswood guitar.

Looking at the differences between the Stealth EX and the JDR-94 it looks like the trem arm from my JDR-94 won't fit this.
The one off my SL3 or KE3 might, if it does I'll get another one off ebay.

[Inazone]

You should have no problem getting good tones from an Invader in a basswood body. I have one in a basswood JDX-94 Concept, and it sounds awesome.

[MartinBarre]

Thanks Inazone. I'm gonna give the stock humbucker a chance but I don't hold out much hope for it.
The guitar arrived at my grans house today, I'll pick it up and get to work on it on Thursday, can't wait!

[jdr94]

Thanks for that link, that's cool. I had checked the catalog scans before I bid on the guitar so I was fairly sure what I was getting was a basswood guitar.

Looking at the differences between the Stealth EX and the JDR-94 it looks like the trem arm from my JDR-94 won't fit this.
The one off my SL3 or KE3 might, if it does I'll get another one off ebay.

the jdr came with a jt500, while the stealth came with a jt580. depending on which 580 it may have a block that the arm screws into unlike the jdr which is a screwed in bushing. i think the bar on the jt580 is a lil thinner. nice score. i have a stealth ex body in the same color, but mines a lil chipped up. i love the feel of the body i may put a neck on it again since i got all the parts to make it complete.

[MartinBarre]

The guitar arrived today. The seller had said it was a "project" but all it needed was the trem springs tightened - he had them loose so the bridge was sitting at a silly angle. I tightened them up, tuned it and it's fine.
It's not perfect in terms of the paintwork, there's one pretty major chip right out of the finish but it's on the rear and I'm not anal about that anyway. The frets are perfect, it's as if no one PLAYED this guitar, just tossed it in and out of a cupboard occasionally.
How old do you guys think this would be? I'm thinking they didn't start making these till 92.

The trem arms from my JT580LPs won't fit this thing, so does anyone know where I can source a trem arm for this?
I'm gonna clean up the fretboard and put a little linseed oil on the neck, then clean all the rust off the screws and stuff tomorrow then I'll put up some pictures of it.

[MartinBarre]

I just had a look under the bridge pickup to check exactly what it is since there's no Jackson logo on it. It's a J90C - I've done a little looking around the net and these are, apparently, excellent rock/metal pickups so I'll leave it in there for a while rather than just putting the Invader in.

There's a couple of J90C's on ebay for about a hundred quid, so maybe I'll sell it! Ha ha, who the hell pays these prices FFS?! The entire guitar cost me less than that!

[MartinBarre]

Okay, I'm a tad confused.
The trem arm from my JDR-94 fits this perfectly. The JDR is supposed to have a JT500, while the Stealth EX had a JT580. So how come the bar fits? The bar is just a bar, it has no collar, just a normal screw in bar, like a Fender strat type bar.
Looking at the pictures of the trems here

http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/TremoloInfoProject.htm#jt580

I'm pretty certain neither guitar has a JT500. Looks like both have an old JT580 but with a screw in bar? It's a Takeuchi BTW, just took it off.

Oh yeah, and it seems the Stealth EX came with a J75 humbucker, whereas I have a J90C in this?

[jdr94]

hmmm. now that you mention it, i think when you first got that jdr i said somethin about it having a jt580. is it possible you got a ps4 with a jdr truss cover? i dont see that being a high possibility so maybe they were made with both...idk

[MartinBarre]

hmmm. now that you mention it, i think when you first got that jdr i said somethin about it having a jt580. is it possible you got a ps4 with a jdr truss cover? i dont see that being a high possibility so maybe they were made with both...idk

The JDR-94 says "Concept" on the headstock though.

[StealthPro]

Looks like an Stealth XL in "Candy apple red" to me, with the rosewood fingerboard and no MoP-Jackson-Logo.

//Edit: Omg, no i was just a bit confused because of the J90C, but the XL had a J92C i think and was only available in transparent finishes.
But wasn't the EX-Model only sold with a J75 in the bridge position?

[MartinBarre]

Looks like an Stealth XL in "Candy apple red" to me, with the rosewood fingerboard and no MoP-Jackson-Logo.

//Edit: Omg, no i was just a bit confused because of the J90C, but the XL had a J92C i think and was only available in transparent finishes.
But wasn't the EX-Model only sold with a J75 in the bridge position?

Yeah, according to that link from earlier. I'm a bit confused myself.

Last night I cleaned the fretboard and put some linseed oil on it, cleaned some of the rust off the screws and pickups, glued in the rear strap button which was falling out, cleaned the switch and pots (crackling), and used some red nail varnish on any dings (there's one pretty big chip right out the paint through to the wood, about the size of a coin). The nail varnish worked great - you can see it if you look closely, but it certainly tidied it up.
The guitar looks and plays fantastic, I think I got a real bargain with this at only £83 (about $120?)