Help me identifying this RR

[Joe Corpse]

Hi everyone,

Being a lurker for many years, I decided to post here for the first time hoping you could help me out.
Few years ago, I bought a Jackson RR second handed on ebay. Being happy with it since that time, I never bothered about my EMG's or about which type of wood my guitar was made of. But now I want to buy some Bareknuckles pickup's and I don't wanna choose them withouth knowing the specs of my RR, since buying pickups without knowing the exact wood tone of your guitar is like buying them blind (should i say deaf ?)

You can the pictures here : http://imgur.com/a/yh3Eb

As you can see, it's an Ontario one from '88, RR2152. The EMG's are obliviously not the originals one, and I guessed that new holes have been made in the cavity for the electronics.

On top of that, I'd like to be able to know if this one is part of the cheap Ontario era (JS Floyds, cheaper tuning machines, and maybe some other things I don't know) or if it's same quality from the san dimas era.

Thanks for any help you could provide and I hope your eyes will enjoy this old RR !

[neilli]

Yeah the EMGs were added afterwards, but I doubt any new holes were made in the cavity. There wasn't really a 'cheap' Ontario era in terms of build quality, but they did introduce the shitty (IMO) JT6 trem and the oversize pickups at that time. Poplar was fairly common in that era as I recall.

[Joe Corpse]

But I doubt any new holes were made in the cavity.

Hm really ? That would be a good news, but I was wondering what were the three littles holes not used. (you can see them in the second pic)

There wasn't really a 'cheap' Ontario era in terms of build quality, but they did introduce the shitty (IMO) JT6 trem and the oversize pickups at that time. Poplar was fairly common in that era as I recall.

Yea, that's what I was talking about. By the way, what was the thing with the oversize pickups ?

Poplar was fairly common in that era as I recall.

Hmm, any way I can check that ?

[neilli]

Hm really ? That would be a good news, but I was wondering what were the three littles holes not used. (you can see them in the second pic)

I can only see one hole, which would be the channel for the ground wire to the bridge, which EMGs don't need. The screw would be the ground tab, which again is not required by EMGs.

No idea what they were thinking about when they decided on the oversize pickup covers / rings.

And I'm not sure there's any way to check on the body wood from that era. FMIC can't / won't help.

[modelseriesman]

Maple down the entire center with Poplar wings was the base model, however they did offer wing-wood options for an upcharge. Consult the '88 catalog for these details.

In the absence of any current support for these era guitars, the only way to know is to strip it. Bummer.

[RacerX]

Consult the '88 catalog for these details.

In the absence of any current support for these era guitars, the only way to know is to strip it. Bummer.

Already did - no joy.

+1 on your 2nd sentence.

[xenophobe]

If it has a custom serial number, it's still probably the same base wood, but you can never know for certain. Take a core sample and have the DNA analyzed.

[Joe Corpse]

Hi guys, thanks for the help.

I tried to contact jackson custom shop by mail, but since it's now FMIC, they don't have the specs of anything before the merge. What I don't get is that Mike Eldred worked for the Jackson custom shop back then. So they must have kept all the old papers of Jackson, I can't believe that they just burned everything to get rid of the past... Seems like it's more a question of willing...
Anyways, in the meanwhile, I guess I will take it as a Maple with poplar wings since it seems to be the standart building ; I don't want to drill my guitar !

I still have a question about those oversized pickups : do you think this guitar have them ? Since I don't know the difference between normal, and oversize, if you could take a look and tell me, that would help me, evenmore since I want to change my pickup's.

[RacerX]

They do still have the records; they're in the same black file cabinets that are now on the 2nd floor at the Corona location. Your email probably went to some cubicle rider in Scottsdale. Unfortunately they won't go look at the records like they used to.

[Hellbat]

It would have likely been poplar, or possibly alder wings. Both are similar tonewoods so I'd go off the assumption it's poplar and base your pickup choice off of that.

[Ward]

I still have a question about those oversized pickups : do you think this guitar have them ? Since I don't know the difference between normal, and oversize, if you could take a look and tell me, that would help me, evenmore since I want to change my pickup's.

From looking at the picture, it looks like you have the oversize pickup rings. The large gaps around the EMGs make me think so. Hopefully someone will speak up if I am wrong.

You could order oversize pickup rings that have the inside holes cut to fit a standard size pickup. It makes things look much neater than the gap that you have now, and uses the original holes in the guitar from the oversize pickup ring. I ordered one for an old soloist that had the oversize pickups & rings that I wanted to change. I put in a standard size humbucker with no gaps and no drilling needed.

Here is a link to a site (I believe he is also a member here) that custom makes oversize Jackson rings to fit whatever pickup you choose.

http://www.fretsonthenet.com/Pickups_Info_Parts/pickup rings page.htm

Scroll down to where it mentions Jackson oversize rings.

[JACKSONFREAK]

As for the question of what it is. It's a RR1T,

[straycat]

Cheap Ontario Jackson? I don't think so, don't listen to your friends that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
Some of that era had the over sized pick up rings to fit the pick up covers.The pick up itself is not over sized.
The holes in the cavity is where the ground wire from the TOM bridge.
Std build wood was maple neck/center section and poplar wings.
I had an 89 that was all maple so different woods were used if the customer asked for it.
The serial number makes it a 1988.

[RacerX]

As for the question of what it is. It's a RR1T,

No, this letter letter number designation did not start until around 1995.

[decadence5423]

Poplar is an interesting wood. I love it in my RR2. The tone is similar to my alder DK1s, but I do notice a bit more 'warmth' to the tone and it's noticeable on the low end especially when I tuned it lower. Mine really opened up on C tuning. But mine are all bolt on, so the body wood would likely affect the tone a lot more compared to a neck through, where the maple goes all the way through the body.