New *93 dinky*, not sure if salvageable :(

[iosappsrock]

Hey guys, new to the forum and coming out of lurk mode.

I just purchased a Jackson 1993 Dinky Reverse. Online purchase, arrived today, and I've already put in about 6 hours of work just deep cleaning and restringing it.

It sounds amazing, the tone and sustain are just music to my ears. However it's got a laundry list of problems.

First up is the trem. It's just wrecked. No saving it. Cracked saddles, and it looks like it's been jacked with badly by someone who didn't know what they were doing. I believe it's a JT-590 trem. Question is, will this fit as a replacement with no extra routing and no new holes drilled?


Aside from that, the frets are pretty damn bad. Probably needs a full fret leveling job. I really want to save this guitar. If I can just drop a new trem in it, that'd give me a lot of hope that it's worth saving.

Any input? Thanks guys.

EDIT: We did ladies and gents. This baby is now playing and sounding like the beast of a guitar it deserved to be. Some photos, because that's what you really want.

[toejam]

Welcome to the forum. If your trem is a JT-590, it's made by Schaller, so yes, the Schaller from Stew-Mac will be a direct replacement.

[iosappsrock]

Welcome to the forum. If your trem is a JT-590, it's made by Schaller, so yes, the Schaller from Stew-Mac will be a direct replacement.

Thanks for the reply man. I've ordered the new trem, as well as new pots and knobs as the current ones are pretty banged up and scratchy.

I guess I'm gonna try to save this one.

[kamanda]

New trem and electronics will most likely bring this thing back alive!

[iosappsrock]

New trem and electronics will most likely bring this thing back alive!

That's what I'm hoping man! Parts arrive this weekend but I don't have off work till Tuesday. Hopefully I can pop everything in, and have some nice photos for you guys. This will be a work in progress. Eventually I'm gonna throw some Seymour Duncans in it. As my wallet allows lol!

Side note, anyone know the best way to buff/polish out minor surface scuffs from a guitar?

[elrrek]

I have 2 Dinky Rev's from around 92-94 and I love them. It will be well worth putting the work into this guitar I believe

[iosappsrock]

Just a quick update. Parts came in today. FedEx woke me up early (nightshifter) so I figured I'd get cracking on replacing the schaller floyd. Process went smooth, I even saved the strings on it since they're only two days old lol. Almost alal the fret buzz is gone now save on area on the D string neart the 19th fret. I think it's just one bad fret there that's really worn down. Hopefully sometime soon I can bring it in for a fret level.

But hey, it's at least playable now!

Another question for you all: How do you think Black Winters would sound in this guitar for some heavy metal riffing? That's what I'm leaning towards as far as new pups go. The current ones are wayyy to vintage/low output for me.

And finally, a photo for you folks.Sorry for the terrible quality. I'm upload some nice ones when it's done, and my room is clean.

[Axewielder]

Badass! The J85 is hardly a "vintage/low" output pickup though, they are like 14 kOhms and can riff all day long.

[iosappsrock]

Badass! The J85 is hardly a "vintage/low" output pickup though, they are like 14 kOhms and can riff all day long.

You think maybe there's something wrong with mine? They just seem so reserved sounding to me. They have beautiful tone for rock. But for heavy metal they're just not doing it for me right now.

I might try bringing them closer to the strings. but since they're direct mount imma need to find some shims first.

[elrrek]

The J85 (the bridge pickup with rails) is an absolute beast , if you are saying that it's too "tame" then I would be very surprised.

Like Axewielder says, it's a really hot pickup and you should have no problems riffing on that. I have a DinkyRev tuned to D# for playing SLAYER and yes, you can tell it's not an active pickup but it still absolutely rips.

p.s. that's a really, really nice looking guitar. Congrats!

[iosappsrock]

The J85 (the bridge pickup with rails) is an absolute beast , if you are saying that it's too "tame" then I would be very surprised.

Like Axewielder says, it's a really hot pickup and you should have no problems riffing on that. I have a DinkyRev tuned to D# for playing SLAYER and yes, you can tell it's not an active pickup but it still absolutely rips.

p.s. that's a really, really nice looking guitar. Congrats!

I guess I really need to crack down on my amp tweaking then! It sounded pretty humble to me, but I'll work on tweaking it and hopefully I can get something I enjoy out of it. Although either way, I will most likely be throwing some SD Black Winters in this. I just really want to try those pickups, they look beast.

And thanks man! She is a beauty. Actually took me a while to find a Maple fretboard one that wasn't plain black.

[Number Of The Priest]

Awesome color! Your new Schaller trem looks right at home there.

Such a satisfying feeling doing deep cleaning and breathing new life into a guitar with so much potential.

For pickup heights, I press the low E string at the last fret and measure 1/8th of an inch from the polepiece to the middle of the string. For the high E string pressed at the last fret, I measure 3/32nds of an inch. All pickups receive this starting measurement, and if required, I fine-tune the heights. Oftentimes I leave it alone because those settings seem to yield a "sweet spot" that balances tone, sustain, and no wonky magnet-pull-related intonation issues.

No comments on the Seymour Duncan Black Winter pickups though, since I've never tried them.

[iosappsrock]

Well, ya'll were dam right haha! I spent a good 30 minutes completely retuning my amp and pedals and wow, these pickups do sing and scream pretty well! I'm impressed, for Jackson branded pickups these sound really good. I may leave them in for a while before switching out for SD. I'm quite happy with them now.

Gonna see if I can find time today to replace the pots, and then start polishing and buffing this bad boy up.

[iosappsrock]

Awesome color! Your new Schaller trem looks right at home there.

Such a satisfying feeling doing deep cleaning and breathing new life into a guitar with so much potential.

For pickup heights, I press the low E string at the last fret and measure 1/8th of an inch from the polepiece to the middle of the string. For the high E string pressed at the last fret, I measure 3/32nds of an inch. All pickups receive this starting measurement, and if required, I fine-tune the heights. Oftentimes I leave it alone because those settings seem to yield a "sweet spot" that balances tone, sustain, and no wonky magnet-pull-related intonation issues.

No comments on the Seymour Duncan Black Winter pickups though, since I've never tried them.

Thanks for the reply man. I'll try your measurements out for the pickup height. I gotta find some shims first since they're direct mount. I've also heard of people using springs on the screws to allow them to be adjusted more freely?

And yes. This has been my first guitar I bought to restore, and it's been so much fun. I'm already looking for more poor beat up babies for sale. I just tweaked the action even lower, and it's playing like butter now.

[Number Of The Priest]

Thanks for the reply man. I'll try your measurements out for the pickup height. I gotta find some shims first since they're direct mount. I've also heard of people using springs on the screws to allow them to be adjusted more freely?

Looking back at all the humbucker-equipped guitars I've ever owned, I realized I've never owned any that had humbuckers directly mounted to the body. I do like how pickup rings make adjustments very straightforward and I'm blissfully ignorant when it comes to direct-mounted hums. I never understood why direct-mounted hums weren't height-adjustable. Single coils are mounted directly to the body and they have springs under the height adjustment screws that make adjustments easy. I always assumed it was the same for direct-mounted hums.

And yes. This has been my first guitar I bought to restore, and it's been so much fun. I'm already looking for more poor beat up babies for sale. I just tweaked the action even lower, and it's playing like butter now.

I know the feeling! I bought a dirty, difficult-to-play Charvel Model 1C in April 2016 and I got bitten by the "restoration bug". Since then, I've purchased nine more local used guitars in various condition and made great players out of all but one, which possibly needs minor fretwork, which is beyond my current skill level. My education and confidence in disassembly, cleaning, reassembly, and setups has increased dramatically. This is a problem because I'm running out of room as I keep acquiring guitars I intend to resell for profit, but they instead become part of my family and it breaks my heart to think about selling any.

It's addicting hunting for the deals, seeing which ones have potential, and then helping the guitars reach that potential.