Has anyone else "gutted" your Jackson PC1 ?

[vklobucar]

I am about to pull the sustainer out of my '98 Chlorine PC1. I have been troubleshooting those things for years and quite frankly the quality control of those units is a bloody joke.

A blind and deaf monkey strung out on acid could have performed a better soldering job on those units.

I am gonna keep the Super 3 as well as the HS-3 and just add a new neck pickup like say, a Cool Rails perhaps.

Its gonna be a straight volume and tone affair as my PC1 is the early two knob version. The two mini switches will be filled with new stew mac units that will be dead.

Has anyone else pulled the units out? I suspect that it will "open" up the guitar a little more no?

[Amerturk]

A blind and deaf monkey strung out on acid could have performed a better soldering job on those units.

[mr426]

I dont own one, but I remember a thread not too long ago about this and lots of people did it with great results

[vklobucar]

Thing is that while the sustainer is a HUGE part of the PC1 tone, its a total PITA to maintain.

Not to mention Jackson's less than stellar post sales service too.

Sucks that a 3K guitar is gutted after a while, all due to a very fragile and cheap unit that stops working properly.

Can not wait to see how long the sustainer in our PC Archtop limited run CS lasts too?

[vklobucar]

If it turns out as well as I suspect, I might do it to my other Solar PC1 too!

[markD]

i gutted my solar PC-1 and the difference was so unbelievable. i was really bummed about how a guitar that was clearly made so well could sound SO bad. i almost did it to the euphoria you own back when it was mine, but it sounded a little better than my solar, so i figured i'd keep one of the PC-1s stock.....even though i did eventually change the bridge pickup....

my solar is rewired with an SD JB in the bridge and a dimarzio HS-3 in the neck. the middle pickup is a dummy - it has no wires. i wired it up with a 3-way tele switch and just a volume knob. real straight forward, and it is now my BEST sounding guitar!!

[rdamaral]

I sold mine instead of gutting it. Best feeling guitar I owned, but by far the worst sounding.

[DonP]

Damn, you guys are bumming me out

Never had a PC1, so I don't know if I'd want the sustainer, and that fat neck keeps me away. But I'd love to get the empty body for a project someday.

[coloradoman25]

I put an aftermarket sustainiac in mine sounds better to me than any pc1 did stock that ive touched.

[stevoc]

Anyone selling their sustainiac?

[rjohnstone]

I dig the units, you just have to tweak the shit out of your amp's tone or do a pickup swap to compensate.
I have patches on my GT-8 that are specific to my PC-1.
And yes... a blind monkey with Parkinson's could do a better job soldering these units in.

[SydneyPC-1]

I dig the units, you just have to tweak the shit out of your amp's tone or do a pickup swap to compensate.
I have patches on my GT-8 that are specific to my PC-1.
And yes... a blind monkey with Parkinson's could do a better job soldering these units in.

I have a 2011 Solar PC-1 and love the guitar. The big neck adds to the overall sound of the thing. I agree that the sustainer engaged is a very specific part of the overall PC sound. Personally I love it and prefer the sound of the sustainer on. Once you have it set up properly via the two internal pots it adds lots of harmonics and controlled feedback, The intensity knob is great when you want to "turn things up". The feedback switch for the end of a solo (once or twice).

I am not sure what my Monkey was on, maybe they were out of Acid that day but I keep my fingers crossed that the sustainer keeps working.

[vklobucar]

Dont get me wrong. I LOVE the sustainer units but sadly they do not last long and are prone to tons of issues. jackson has a pretty lame approach to servicing those units and once it's out of warranty you are pretty screwed.

[vector]

I'm sorry to hear that about the sustainers as I ordered one on my Jackson CS Star.

[markD]

i am sorry vector i know that is a pretty pricey option. hopefully it will work better for you than it did for me...