NGD: Jackson SDX Adrian Smith

[straycat]

When my maple board one comes in I will give it a good once over.
I have an old 70's DiMarzio super D (double creme) and one SDS-1 (creme) so need to find one more SDS-1 and I'll be set.
Have an RSguitarworks pot kit to put in it too.
I hope its a good one this time.
My trem claw screws didn't look bent just drilled too high in the cavity.
What size sustain block did yours have?

[polishbroadcast]

When my maple board one comes in I will give it a good once over.
I have an old 70's DiMarzio super D (double creme) and one SDS-1 (creme) so need to find one more SDS-1 and I'll be set.
Have an RSguitarworks pot kit to put in it too.
I hope its a good one this time.
My trem claw screws didn't look bent just drilled too high in the cavity.
What size sustain block did yours have?

Nice. Post pics when you complete the monster.
Not sure how trem blocks are measured, but it looks small and not-brass.

[straycat]

The block looks to short to me how about you?
My rosewood board one was just like that.
I have a 42 block and a 34
Any marking on it saying what mm it is?
My trem claw screws went in at a much steeper angle than yours.
My maple board one should be here any day.

[MarkThomas]

With my new SDX, I will definitely be taking out the claw that comes in these...I am surprised it holds the springs it is so flimsy. Also, I have the Floyd almost pegged to the body and the action is still a bit high...I see some shimming in my future.

[straycat]

The claw is narrower I did notice that.
Its an excellent mod platform and much cheaper that actually building a clone.

[~K~]

Hmmm ..a brass floyd block with a built in stop

[straycat]

My maple board SDX/AS just came in and plays great right out of the box.
No obvious issues so far. Fret ends are fine, frets just a little dingy from the boat ride over and the strings need changing.
Intonation is really close just had to crank the bass side of the floyd down thats it.
I'm happy with this one.
Trem block is zinc looks like and it is 34 mm.At least the claw screws are done right on this one.I was worried about that.
I have a 34 brass block and a 42 and it looks like a 42 would fit in the cavity so a block up grade is in order.

[polishbroadcast]

The block looks to short to me how about you?

Not sure. I've not owned a solid body before w/ a tremolo (archtops only). I could measure it. There are no markings.

Last night i put in a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound in the neck and it is VERY loud. The tone is pretty great though. GFS Floyd is coming friday w/ Power Rails.

[straycat]

I may swap the block out for a 37 brass block I have, I do like the noiseless singles in it pretty well and the bridge pick up is pretty good.
I will meter the bridge pick up tho'.
Going to start on it right now and put an RSguitarworks pot upgrade kit a PIO cap.If it sounds good I may leave the stock humbucker in it.

[straycat]

37mm brass block fits just fine no problem it should be an improvement over the 34mm zinc block.
RSguitarworks pot kit went in and stock knobs fit the 1/4 in pot shafts no mods needed to the pick guard they are drilled for the larger pot shafts. Vol pot is 557k super pot,tone is 494k and RS/modern 022 pio cap.
Had one tuner bushing broken and it fell off so had plenty of those around.Tuners were covered in some kind of oily sticky goo cleaned that off.
Tuners aren't the best so a good Japanese set will go on next string change.
The neck pick up screw was stripped so I installed a Fender pick up screw that was a little larger in diameter.Now the pick up can be adjusted.
Middle pick up had no adjustment screws and was topped out so installed the Fender rubber ones so there is some adjustment now.
Just trying to give everyone a heads up on whats good and bad about these guitars not bashing the product.
I got this with extensive mods in mind and expected little things like this to pop up.

[MarkThomas]

My SDX also has some minor finish issues (one ding/dimple and a rough edge), so the fit-n-finish isn't the greatest on these, but for south of $500, it is good.

Definitely not a guitar that can be taken from the box and plugged in. They do require some tweaking.

Mine will need to be shimmed as I am bottomed out with the Floyd and the action still isn't low enough.

[straycat]

No finish issues at all on mine I guess I got lucky.
Action on mine had room to go down its almost on the deck so I do have some up pull.
Brass block is a huge improvement BTW.It levels the pitch of the trem springs.
The trem springs are bent on this one too so I will swap those for better ones next string change.
They cut costs in the hardware we all expected this but they sure do play great for a cheap price.
Played mine for a few hours last night and abused the trem and it stayed in tune just fine.
Its starting to vibrate more so its settling in realizing its a guitar.
The singles are noiseless and not too bad sounding at all the pot upgrade kit helped a lot.
Bridge pick up is hot at 14k but not a very balanced pick up.I had to lower it quite a bit to find the sweet spot.

[UpTheIronsJim]

My finish was near perfect...the Action however needed tons of tweaking...
I changed out the hum (DiMarzio) Super Distortion...Brass block, fret dress
and well worth it!

[straycat]

My action was pretty close.I had to steel wool to get the crud off the frets but nice and shiny now.

[straycat]

Question anyone that has one of these do you find the E strings just a hair to close to the end of the board?
The little E is just a hair too close for my taste so I have another nut that has a narrower spacing.
The original nut is a BH 4.3 I put one marked BH 2.3 and the string spacing is much better.
A little gap on each side of the nut shelf but I can deal with that.