NGD: Jackson PC-1 Phil Collen signature '98

[denii]

Today I finally got my hands on a '98 Jackson PC-1 Phil Collen signature. This guitar is simply amazing, got a really nice strat-shaped neck with a gorgeous quilted maple fingerboard, quilted maple top on either mahogany or koa body (couldn't figure it out for sure yet), DiMarzio Super3, HS-2 and Floyd Rose Sustainer pickups and a gold OFR. The neck plays like butter and the Super 3 sounds great in the bridge position, also the Sustainer pickup was a really good surprise in the neck position. My only complain is the middle pickup which sounds a bit weak compared to the other two, I'll have to check the wiring soon. The neck is more like a Strat's, so not a toothpick, but I like these fatter necks more than the thin ones. It has a really thick yet agressive tone with a surprisingly good attack courtesy of the bolt-on neck with maple fretboard.

Pics:

[Jacksonkv2akis]

Cool!!! Great guitar! Love the finish! Congrats!

[neilli]

That's a very early one, as it has the first version headstock, not the ball-sack. Nice grab!

[JCB RR1]

Great score!!! Incredible quilted top..

[shreddermon]

Great looking guitar, love the early headstock and quilt on that one. Congrats.

[denii]

I've just had the chance to take a pic of the electronics cavity where the wood is shown. I can't tell if this is koa or mahogany, my guess would be the latter.

[zorak]

Great score. Love the Mocha! And, at least from the cavity, looks like the grain of Mahogany. Does it weigh over 9 pounds like a lot of these do?

[denii]

Great score. Love the Mocha! And, at least from the cavity, looks like the grain of Mahogany. Does it weigh over 9 pounds like a lot of these do?

Thx My first choice would have been the Chlorine then the Euphoria, but I tend to love the Mocha too since I saw it IRL. Somehow the pictures don't do justice to this finish, and despite how I hate gold hardware, on this guitar I like that too. The guitar is really heavy though, somewhere between 4-5 kgs which is around 9-11 lbs. Almost as heavy as my Les Paul copy which is 5,5 kgs (12.1 lbs).

[busdriver]

I've just had the chance to take a pic of the electronics cavity where the wood is shown. I can't tell if this is koa or mahogany, my guess would be the latter.

It's mahogany. The koa ones had a clear finish on the back.

[denii]

We examined the guitar thoroughly with a luthier guy I know and figured out that it must be mahogany, in the screw holes the wood is more of that dark reddish brown that is associated with mahogany.

[The Rossness]

Cool guitar! I picked up one that's near-identical a few months ago that was made in 2000. Its got the same headstock (which I quite like), the two knob layout and is mocha as well. Mine was quite a player before I bought it. Its well worn in, but its a fantastic guitar! it plays like a San Dimas, but everything is "bigger". I'm still not sure about the sustainer. Mine might be coming out soon.

[denii]

Very cool guitar with a beautiful top, grats! The pic doesn't show it had been beaten up. Mine is almost in a "like new" condition, if you take a close look of the fretboard there are some light signs of use but no other wear 'n tear anywhere on the guitar, frets are almost 100% perfect, there's only some small issues with the wiring as the HS-2 sounds extremely weak compared to the other 2 pickups but my luthier friend will check and set up everything to perfect in a couple o' days. I like these early PC's the best with the first-version headstock and no tone pot. (I never use that.) Also it's the first guitar that sounds exactly how I like it, there's no need to replace the pickups at all (though usually it's the first thing I do with newly bought guitars). I've already bought a BKP Rebel Yell even before the guitar arrived but I really like the tone of the Super3 (though I might give the Rebel Yell a try in mine), but I can still use that in my cheap Les Paul copy.

[busdriver]

The difference between a Super 3 and a Rebel Yell it like day and night. Be prepared for a surprise...

[denii]

Yeah, I know it's a great pickup (had one in my MIJ RR24M which I sold earlier this year), my only problem is that the Rebel Yell is white and I dunno if it looked good in the PC-1.

[denii]

I finally had the chance to throw in the Rebel Yell to the PC1, but the end result was that it didn't work out well in this particular guitar. The difference was enormous between the two pickups, with the Rebel Yell I felt like a Les Paul moved into my guitar, but it wasn't any close to that agressiveness and didn't have that bite that the RR24M I had with a Rebel Yell. The PC1 with a Rebel Yell became a great blues-rock guitar, but as I mainly play more modern metal stuff, the Super 3 is better in this guitar, so it went back and the Rebel Yell was installed in my cheapo Les Paul copy in which it sounds great.