Refinish, butcher or both

[Devotee]

I vote blues-rock marshmallow peepdragon finish. I'm sure tonemonster will agree.

[Newc]

The only trouble with replacing the pickups is not everyone likes the SD HotRails, and even then, you MUST get the the older (used) style where the wire does not come out of the middle, (even the bottom of the middle, as most are now), but from under the side near the mounting screw. Your only options there are used and Custom Shop.

I had an older JBJr and neck-position HR in the bridge slots of one of mine, and for me, with the tones I get, it sounded great. Obviously that's not gonna happen for everyone with those same pickups, and finding the right pickups would be an expensive hobby unto itself.

If you're going to get into another expensive hobby, I'd say make your own pickups for it.

Either way, it's a catch-22; few like the current finish enough to pay for it, but everyone will launch low-balls because of the refin (even those who didn't want it when it was original), despite the fact that paint has little to no effect on playability, tone, and construction quality.

Things would have been so much better had Jackson spent more time making pickups that were not "vintage spec" and "Strat-centric". The J200s were nice, but they were just too Stratty. The J100s were pretty much an experiment, IMO. That, and they relied far too much on the onboard electronics to "help" the pickups.

Have you tried J200s and an EMG AfterBurner with 250k pots?
There's gotta be someone who makes a decent single-coil-sized pickup and a decent on-board preamp that can do the job. Maybe MOD-Boards/GuitarFetish?

But then again, you end up getting into another expensive hobby with that search as well.

[wilkinsi]

That was the problem with the SD JB.Jr, Hot Rails and Lil 59. They fit, but not easily because the wires exit from the centre, not the sides like the Armstrongs have. I found these Duncans to be very weak by comparison, so I had the guitar put back to stock. £300 spent on that experiment.


Having the guitar refinished in yellow, the bridge pup route butchered and having a full size humbucker fitted (Nocturnus FTFW!) would make me keep the guitar, not sell it. If anything, such mods would devalue the guitar. Cost would be approx £500 and a 6 week+ wait.

[Newc]

Well, if it would help you keep it and enjoy it, then I'd say it's worth it. I've owned both butchered and stock, and couldn't say I liked one over the other.

[wilkinsi]

Got an update today - £350 for a solid finish, more if pearlescent or illuminous. The rest will be on the hack-modding of the bridge route, the pickups and 3-way switch. The JE-1500 and battery will be removed. I would've liked to have Mike Learn do a graphic, but can't think for the life of me as to what I'd want. I guess I just prefer solid finishes these days. So I'm gonna have this one refinished and sell off my Nebula WR1 if I can.

I listed this Coral Sea on ebay twice, tons of tirekicking watchers, no bids. Fuck em.

[RobRR]

What were you asking for it out of curiosity?

[wilkinsi]

I was asking for £1300 + shipping, which, when you consider I paid £1650 for the guitar, the taxes and minor repair to the rear upper wing tip, I don't think that was an unreasonable price.

[RobRR]

Especially considering how rare they are over there... I cant believe nobody wants it. The hard part as a USA buyer are the exchange rates... that would be $2025 plus shipping for someone over here, but from what I understand, a USA Jackson over there for that price is pretty decent.

[wilkinsi]

The UK is full of cheapskates.

[Devotee]

In the UK sellers list an RR3 on eBay with a starting bid of £350... For a Warrior Pro, £1300 is an amazing price. Believe me, i'd have snagged it from you if i had the cash lying around.

[LaoWai]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have a similar question. I bought a SL2H, that the previous owner swapped out the pups for EMGs.I have an SL2H with the original pups, so I'm thinking of leaving the new one with the EMGs.
My question, I'm thinking of routing in a battery box like what's on the back of a SLSXMG, would you? I'm not too concerned about resale value as I got it for a good price, of course I don't want to kill the value either.
While I'm putting holes in it, I'm thinking of putting a"Buckethead" kill button in it. : )

I hate to dig into a USA model, but wtf, I want to playit, not pull it out of the closet & rub polish on it every year

[Ward]

It's completely up to you, but I wouldn't route for a battery box. It could seriously hurt resale, and I'll be honest, I wouldn't buy one that someone had routed a box into, no matter how good a job it was.

Have you considered one of those control cavity covers that have a battery compartment built in?
77.jpg

Frets on the net have them, but I don't know if he ships to China.


How often do you need to change batteries anyway? I've got EMGs in two guitars, and they seem to last forever. It never bothered me to unscrew the plate because I do it so infrequently.

[LaoWai]

Woa! Thanks Ward!

That looks like that is a far better route (punny) , I'll do that!
It's hard to get anything in China, except cheap knockoff crap. I actually just bought the guitar
online (GC) and I am flying in to pick it up while I'm visiting home.. so I'll see if I can get one while I'm there.
Honestly this is my first setup with active pickups, so I'm a complete newbie with regards to battery life..

Thanks again!
Dan

[Ward]

According to EMG, a battery lasts 3000 hours, which would mean you could play it 8 hours a day for over a year without changing a battery. Or if you completely forgot to unplug the chord, it would still last 125 days.

I don't use my EMGs much, but I change the batteries once a year and they are usually still full of charge.

[wilkinsi]

I plugged in my DK1 when I still owned it. The battery was dead in just one night.