NGD, and my first Jackson! 1987 Soloist red metal flake exc cond.

[gnolivos]

Hello peeps...well, I have been wanting one of these for the longest time, and a few days ago located and acquired it - so here it is...! I have several US made guitars, but this is my first Jackson.

So what we have here is a 1987 Jackson Soloist model (not bolt-on), in red metal flake, with reverse headstock. Serial is J3582, which makes it an Ontario Jackson. It's all original except the bridge pup, but the original was included, so I plan to wire it back in!

The condition is just unbelievable, really. The body and paint are virtually intact, I cannot find any defects, certainly zero chips or dents. You would think this has been in its case for 23 years, it's crazy clean, with minimal fret wear. Case is in perfect structural condition, showing wear, but very nice. The guitar hardware needs some help, I see some mild corrosion.

Here are some pics, and I have some questions, perhaps you Jackson experts can help me out please?


Jackson Soloist Canon S95 by flickristian, on Flickr




1) The original Jackson pups (the single coils) seem misaligned with respect to the strings. You can see the poles NOT aligned properly with the strings... why is this?


2) Does everything in the control cavity look original? Does to me!


3) Jack plate, original?


4) Spring location, is this adequate?


5) Any recommendation on how to properly remove corrosion from the Floyd, and perhaps from the corroded screws that hold the pup ring?


6) The strap locks, are they original? There is another (different) set included in the case, so I am not sure which is original. The finish of the straplocks pictured seems to match the finish of the (metal?) backplates. Its sort of brushed, very nice.


7) Why the gaping hole near the nut, revealing the truss rod?


8) Tone knob is push-pull.. what for?


Thanks a lot, happy to join the club and will be hanging around.

[Rogueleader]

Damn thats nice! I wouldn't be too worried about keeping it original, those original pickups suck anyways.

Unless if you want to keep it original or are a "collector". But those people are just wierd

Push pull is most likely to split the coils in the bridge humbucker.

[Rogueleader]

Also, that san dimas control cavity is awesome!

[Rogueleader]

Whoops, probably should have consolidated all this into one post

-The truss rod has been cut for easy truss rod access.
-Based on what I've seen from Jacksons of that era, those aren't the original strap buttons.
-Soak the trem in WD40 for a week or two won't make it look that much better but it will get things moving smoothly again. Or just get a new OFR and rock the fuck out. JT-6s aren't exactly the best trems out there.

[gnolivos]

Any idea why the pickup pole spacing does not match the string spacing? That worries me.

[toejam]

Pole spacing doesn't really matter much, but the JT6 trem is not F-spaced. The strap buttons are the Dunlop Straplok Dual-Design model. http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?p...ts/accessories

[gnolivos]

Damn, so Jackson equiped this guitar with a Jt6 trem (not F-spaced) with Jackson Pickups that have F-Spaced poles? Gosh, why!? I guess it is time to look for an Original FR with F-spaced saddles...

[daisp]

Lookin good! nice fiddle

[warlok]

What's the HB? Dimarzio? I'm no expert by any means but I thought this year would have one of the active JExxxx circuits from the factory so I think the wiring is not original. Nice guitar BTW..

[salmonella]

Nice score. . I have an 87 one (serial few numebrs lower) with the same specs as yours and the strings run along the inside edge of the pole pieces at the neck PU (not directly over - eg. due to the spacing thing metnioned above).This is factory intended. A bit of gentle cleaning with oil will sort out the trem but agree with previous post - it wont look any nicer. A word of warning - be very careful tightening anything on the JT6 beacuse the metal is very soft. They hold tune very well but Im not sure if the tone / sustain would be any better with Floyd (since I havent tried it) . The control cavity looks original to me. Straplock are dunlops (not orginal). Is the finish particularly glittery in the light or is the effect more subdued in real life?

[DonP]

Hello peeps...well, I have been wanting one of these for the longest time, and a few days ago located and acquired it - so here it is...! I have several US made guitars, but this is my first Jackson.

So what we have here is a 1987 Jackson Soloist model (not bolt-on),

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know that

in red metal flake, with reverse headstock. Serial is J3582, which makes it an Ontario Jackson. It's all original except the bridge pup, but the original was included, so I plan to wire it back in!

The condition is just unbelievable, really. The body and paint are virtually intact, I cannot find any defects, certainly zero chips or dents. You would think this has been in its case for 23 years, it's crazy clean, with minimal fret wear. Case is in perfect structural condition, showing wear, but very nice. The guitar hardware needs some help, I see some mild corrosion.

Here are some pics, and I have some questions, perhaps you Jackson experts can help me out please?

1) The original Jackson pups (the single coils) seem misaligned with respect to the strings. You can see the poles NOT aligned properly with the strings... why is this?

2) Does everything in the control cavity look original? Does to me!

3) Jack plate, original?

4) Spring location, is this adequate?

5) Any recommendation on how to properly remove corrosion from the Floyd, and perhaps from the corroded screws that hold the pup ring?

6) The strap locks, are they original? There is another (different) set included in the case, so I am not sure which is original. The finish of the straplocks pictured seems to match the finish of the (metal?) backplates. Its sort of brushed, very nice.

7) Why the gaping hole near the nut, revealing the truss rod?

8) Tone knob is push-pull.. what for?

Thanks a lot, happy to join the club and will be hanging around.

1) Those are STRAT pickups. Strat pickups have always been wider than humbuckers until "F" (Fender) spaced humbuckers came out, after your guitar was made.

2) NO. You don't have the original pickup in there, so how could it be original? And I'm betting that push/pull pot isn't original either.

3) Don't know

4) What? Have you had guitars before?

5) WD40 as already mentioned

6) Why?

7) Because it's is broken. Get a new one from www.fretsonthenet.com

8) You should be able to figure this out for yourself. What does it sound like it's doing? You can see the humbucker coil junction is wired to it, so wouldn't that be a coil split to put the humbucker into single coil mode?

I've never seen black mini bat handle toggle switches, only nickle/metal. I've seen black mini paddle handle toggle switches on imports.

[DonP]

Damn, so Jackson equiped this guitar with a Jt6 trem (not F-spaced) with Jackson Pickups that have F-Spaced poles? Gosh, why!?

Golly gee, maybe because at that time all humbuckers weren't F-Spaced either?

I guess it is time to look for an Original FR with F-spaced saddles...

Wouldn't that make you guitar non-original?

Why not just get some none-F-Spaced single coils

[gnolivos]

Thanks for the info, and confirmation on pole spacing vs strings... The color is flake metallic no doubt, but the photo shows it more pronounced because of the flash. Under normal lighting conditions, it is not as obvious (much nice)... otherwise it would look too cheesy imho. I love the color in person.

Nice score. . I have an 87 one (serial few numebrs lower) with the same specs as yours and the strings run along the inside edge of the pole pieces at the neck PU (not directly over - eg. due to the spacing thing metnioned above).This is factory intended. A bit of gentle cleaning with oil will sort out the trem but agree with previous post - it wont look any nicer. A word of warning - be very careful tightening anything on the JT6 beacuse the metal is very soft. They hold tune very well but Im not sure if the tone / sustain would be any better with Floyd (since I havent tried it) . The control cavity looks original to me. Straplock are dunlops (not orginal). Is the finish particularly glittery in the light or is the effect more subdued in real life?

[gnolivos]

Well, I was thinking in the lines of: "Why wouldn't Jackson create a JT6 with F-spacing instead?!"

Cincinnati? Me too. Loveland/Milford... you?

Golly gee, maybe because at that time all humbuckers weren't F-Spaced either?

Wouldn't that make you guitar non-original?

Why not just get some none-F-Spaced single coils

[gnolivos]

To those wondering, this is my first guitar with a FR trem system... so yes, my questions may not be the smartest.