Jackson RR3 Professional (1997) or RR3 (1998?)

[Locke]

Hi everyone,
I'm just a newbie to the Jackson world and I have to decide which guitar buy between those two (they cost the same). Anyone knows which one is the best in terms of quality/price? The problem is that I only have a couple of photos and a serial to identify the second RR3! Help me!

Jackson RR3 Professional (serial:600037)
(can be found in the Jackson's 1997 catalog)

http://s220.photobucket.com/user/hah...?sort=3&page=1 (just an example)

Body: poplar
Neck: maple, bolt-on
Fingerboard: rosewood
Bridge: JT-580LP
Neck pickup: DD103N
Bridge pickup: DD103B



Jackson RR3 (PRO?) (serial:9825352)

http://img4.mercatinomusicale.com/p_z/45/50/4025045_1425056752.jpg

It has genuine Seymour Duncan pickups, a licensed Floyd Rose (maybe JT580-LP), two volume and one tone controls.

[Mudlark]

Tough call. The Professional is a '96 and may show 20 years of wear. The black RR3 (yes it's part of the Pro series) has a serial indicating '07-'08, so the fret wear etc. may be minimal.
The '90s Professionals have a great reputation, but the newer 2000-2011 Pro models were also made in Japan with quality.
I'd have to try them both and make my decision.

[Newc]

I'd go with the newer one for the better pickups and possibly less fretwear and hopefully better overall condition. The Duncan Designed pickups were hit-or-miss in terms of quality (Asian-made official Duncan copies), but the real Duncans are real Duncans.

The '96 won't be of superior build quality to the '07, if that's what you're thinking. 1994/5 was when they started scaling back the quality of the Japan-made models, and by '96, they were scaled below even the Charvel Model series of 10 years prior.

[pianoguyy]

You also have to take the color into consideration. Do you want a purple V?

From a price standpoint, unless you live in a faraway country that rarely gets any Jackson gutars...
I would go for the Professional and, as stated above, make sure that it didn't show 20 years of wear. In my locale, multiple used RR3's are available everyday of the year. There are so many, that they don't sell unless you have them priced very cheap.
So, either the '96 is cheap, or the '08 is expensive.

[warlok]

And if it's part of the equation, the flame maple on the professional is probable not a maple top. "Gravure" or "Photo Flame"..