Clarification on possible mij Jackson.

[Number Of The Priest]

Hardware color in conjunction with pickup labels are somewhat reliable visual indicators of the period in which certain Japanese Jackson guitars were made.

If you follow my timeline from Post #4 in this same thread, the same indicators can be considered for most of the Japanese Jacksons of the 2000s.

2006 is the really critical year where chrome hardware was replaced with black, Duncan Designed pickups were replaced with Seymour Duncan pickups on the Pro Series, and EMG-HZ pickups were replaced with real EMGs on the MG Series. It's as if FMIC listened to players who bemoaned Jacksons looked "cheap" with the chrome hardware and sounded "inferior" with Duncan Designed / EMG-HZ pickups.

For certain higher end Japanese Jacksons, 2006 also saw the upgrade from Takeuchi JT580LP tremolos to Floyd Rose Thousand Series tremolos.

Based on my observations, pre-2006 and post-2006 Japanese Jacksons are available in roughly equal proportions on the used Canadian market, for typically the same ballpark prices. Thus, given a choice for the same cost, I will always pick a 2006-11 guitar over its pre-2006 equivalent, simply for the black hardware and real Duncan/EMG pickups.

[Heavymetal2000]

Thanks for pointing that out. Totally forgot it was already there on page one... man...
I'm gonna start documenting some of this so I can identify these things more thoroughly myself.
Thank you both for clarification on this guitar. I'll browse the catalogs as well and see what I come up with.

[Mudlark]

The reason you see so many Jacksons listed as '96, '97 and '98 is because people don't realize there were two different number formats that used those 7 digit 96xxxxx, 97xxxxx and 98xxxxx numbers. All were MIJ bolt ons.

By far the most common format seen is the sequential format. This started circa '96 at 9600000 and went up to 2011 and ended around 985xxxx. My 2011 DKMGT is 9853xxx.

The date coded numbers used from '96-8 are only seen a very small fraction of the time and most have a 'Professional' headstock logo.
That said, many Professional logo'd guitars had a 96xxxxx that weren't a 96.
When in doubt, check the catalogues to see what years the model in question was being offered.

[Heavymetal2000]

Thanks for pointing that out as well mudlark.
I had messaged the seller mentioning it was much more likely a 2003 or later and he never messaged back...

Oh well.

[Heavymetal2000]

Another question in regards to my Kelly.
I was always under the impression the body was basswood.
Is this true or are these alder?
Is there an easy way to tell looking at the wood itself?

[Number Of The Priest]

Your 2004-stamped KE3 body should be alder. https://www.jacksonguitars.com/suppo...hived-catalogs

[toejam]

They were first poplar and then alder. I think they only started using basswood very recently for the Kelly models. In the early to mid '90s they were using basswood on the Dinky Reverse models, but I don't remember any other models being basswood offhand (except for the bolt-on Charvel Model Series strat bodies from the '80s).

[Heavymetal2000]

Awesome thanks guys!
I was curious as I'm searching for info on how a pearly gates would sound in this guitar as a bridge pickup.

[Number Of The Priest]

Are you looking for vintage tones? It's gonna be lower in output than the JB you have in there now and lower than the Duncan Designed Detonator that would have come stock in it. The Pearly Gates came stock as a bridge pickup in the 1998 Shannon Soloists and many owners regard that as an underpowered choice especially given the application of Jackson guitars in heavier rock/metal styles. (The body wings on those Soloists were poplar which is similar to alder, for comparison.)

Nothing stopping you from trying it though!

[Heavymetal2000]

I was mainly curious as a buddy has one I can use for free.
I'm not looking for vintage tones though as I don't really do the classic rock, blues thing.
I do enjoy a bit of black sabbath, iron maiden style stuff but mostly I've been trying to learn stuff more in the modern metal tone areas as it's what I listen too and absolutely love.
Lamb of God, Oh Sleeper, Silent Civilian, and As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engages older tunes from my childhood etc ..
Protest the Hero is my goal to get to hopefully one day.

There is a JB on kijiji for 50$ I could probably get shipped for 60 and just have one in the Kelly and the KV.
Could leave the stock DD in the V but man its
Hard to argue on how good the JB sounds. It took my Kelly from mediocre modern metal that was kinda fuzzy, to holy shit this thing is an animal.
Gonna pass on the Gates though I guess. Doesnt sound like something I'm gonna need or use for what I'm doing.

[Number Of The Priest]

Hey, if you can try any pickup for free, why not keep an open mind? You might end up liking it.

In this day and age, with amps being capable of producing plenty of gain, some players like having more moderate pickups for clarity and sustain, and letting the amp handle the gain. Gone are the days when you need a high output pickup to slam the front end of an amp with extra signal for more gainy sounds from weaker amps.

[Heavymetal2000]

I almost always have a tube screamer or an overdrive pedal in front of whatever I'm using as a boost. No gain or tone, just extra drive, so pickup output isn't a huge concern, it's more the characteristics the pickup brings with it. I also don't have the luxury of a high gain amp so I need the boost to get what I want. Or I plug into the laptop with an Engl Powerball and mesa cab sim.
So far the JB is the only real SD pup I've had the luxury of using and genuinely ended up with it due to Will Adler using one at the time in his ESP and I'm a die hard log fan. I do love it though.

Now you mention it though I'm gonna try that pearly gates, who knows. Like you said it may surprise me even in a modern metal setup.