1987 Soloist Floyd route

[Jacksonshole]

This is my first post here. Although I have owned several Jacksons in the past I am getting excited about them again. I just picked up a 1987 Silver Crackle soloist. I am pretty sure it is and original route for the Floyd, but I was hoping some of you could clarify this. There is no sign of a previous locking clamp behind the nut, and it is mounted through the neck old sty lee. The route looks a bit strange for a Floyd. It doesn't look like I am allowed to post pictures and I have read the faq, but not sure on the policy on this. Any pictures of a stock Ontario floyd route would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[tonemonster]

whatever you do, dont recess the Floyd on it. you would probably induce about 7 myocardial infractions here if you do that.

[neilli]

A lot of 87's wouldn't have had a route for the floyd at all.

[Jacksonshole]

I would never cut into an old guitar. I think someone changed the pickups to EMGs but they left the original pickup ring. The guitar is is pretty much mint. The finish will take a while to get used to. I am pretty sure its a stock Floyd there is about 1/8th inch deep route around the back where the tuners are. The Floyd sits pretty high but I guess this is to be expected with the neck angle. The guitar feels very very solid. Low 3000s serial.

[pro-fusion]

If the locking Floyd nut was installed at the factory in 1987, it would have been the old style with the screws mounted from the back of the neck, like your has. While most Soloists in the late '80s had the Kahler-style string lock, some people ordered their guitars with a Floyd nut, and yours would appear to be one of them. Even if you can't post pics yet, can you describe why you think the Floyd rout is weird? There shouldn't be any kind of recess for pull backs on it, as that didn't start appearing on Jacksons until 1989.

[Jacksonshole]

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I will do my best to describe the route. It has a recess of about a quarter of an inch deep where the block goes into the body. The recess is about an inch wide. So its not wide enough for the whole bridge to sit in it. There is also route in the back of the floyd (tuners) that is about an 1/8th deep. I am pretty sure it is a stock route. I am assuming the inch wide quarter inch deep route is for the plate of the Floyd to have somewhere to go if you pull back. The 1/8th recess is for the tuners to have somewhere to go. I have seen a couple of late 80s with the 1/8th behind the bridge, I wonder if maybe Jackson did do a minor recessing for Floyds on some guitars. What do you think??

I hope its ok to post links to pictures.

http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd483/theremoteguy/

[pro-fusion]

The Floyd nut is almost certainly stock. The pullback rout below the Floyd, however, was definitely added later. You can tell by the rough cutting and the different paint.

I don't believe I've ever seen a Jackson with a stock pullback rout like that made prior to 1989, and those '89s were routed to fit the Schaller Floyd that Jackson started using as standard equipment that year. The Schaller has shorter string clamp screws than an OFR, so the pullback rout isn't as large as the one on your guitar. That's kind of a pain, actually, for owners of '89 Jacksons with that rout who want to swap their Schaller for an OFR. Pullback routs like that weren't intended to recess the trem, but simply to allow the trem bar to be pulled up higher than you could normally.

I used to have a late '80s ESP Mirage Custom that a previous owner modified the same way as yours. I think it was a fairly popular mod back in the day.

[KK666]

the dust in your headstock together with the silver crackle on the back looked like it was a matching headstock hehe! Show more pix of the guitar!

[Jacksonshole]

Yes I bought it that way. I figured the dust was vintage as well, so I should leave it there. Thanks for the info Pro-fusion I will take your word for it that the pullback route is not stock. It is a bit of a shame as the Floyd sits so high on the body I can't imagine anybody being able to pull back far enough to warrant a route. Would it be considered a sin if I block the Floyd off so it doesn't float???? Thanks again for the help. I have posted some more pics. It will take a while to get used to the paint job.

http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd483/theremoteguy/

[pro-fusion]

I agree--I've never seen the need for a pullback rout on any guitar I've owned with a non-recessed trem. But then, I'm not much of a trem abuser.

Nothing wrong with blocking the Floyd so it's dive-only. A lot of people do that. Personally, I've never liked the "clunk" you get when you return a trem to zero position when it's blocked like that, but that's just me. It certainly makes restringing/re-tuning a lot easier.

[coloradoman25]

I had a slight pullback on the Student Soloist I sold Diego Inc but its not like this one. It is MUCH sharper cut than any rout I have seen on one of these. Sweet ax the dude had a red one too didnt he and gold as well

[diablomozart]

definitely not factory...in 87/88 they would mount the floyd above the body and then route a pull up area that angled...then they would finish the guitar...see pic below for details...d.m.