Pre Fender era KV2 vs Fender take-over era KV2

[Chug]

I own two Jackson USA KV2's, one was made in the 90's and the other was made quite recently.

The differences between them are as follows:

The pre Fender KV2 has a 5 way switch (the Jackson Special JE-0005) a copper insulated control cavity and mounting plate. It's headstock appears to be slightly larger in comparison to it's younger brother's. This of course, could be an optical illusion on account of it's narrower binding placement.

The modern KV2 has a 3 way switch, doesn't have a copper insulated control cavity/mounting plate

Both have metal pickup rings and metal plates.

Both have the same pickups

Both have the same tone woods and fret wire.

Both have an Original Floyd Rose (however, the 90's era OFR has rounder looking mounting screws)

The feel and playability of each guitar is close to identical, however, the build quality certainly isn't the same on account of the differences I mentioned above. The pre-Fender era KV2 feels slightly "smoother" in ones hands, has less hum, an expanded tonal range and it's output is a wee bit louder than it's younger brother's (even when both pickups are set to be of an equal height to each other)

Whether any of this makes it better than the other is subject to ones personal taste, I suppose. But either way, I love them both.

[Chug]

I'd just like to add, the pickup cavities on the 90's era KV2 are too small to accommodate the size of an active pickup (like an EMG) I'm not sure if the modern one has the same issue (because I haven't attempted to replace it's pickups) if any one has any experience of this please let me know

[Nightbat]

The pre Fender KV2 has a 5 way switch (the Jackson Special JE-0005) a copper insulated control cavity and mounting plate.

Now I could be wrong, but I thought all KV2's came with a 3way, and anything else would be either a Custom shop or a Custom/Student model predating the USA Select line
best way is to check the serials

It's headstock appears to be slightly larger in comparison to it's younger brother's. This of course, could be an optical illusion on account of it's narrower binding placement.

Most probable, measuring would remove any doubt

The feel and playability of each guitar is close to identical, however, the build quality certainly isn't the same on account of the differences I mentioned above. The pre-Fender era KV2 feels slightly "smoother" in ones hands

Which may just be the axe being "Worn in"
the only thing other in buildquality you mention is the addition of copper tape to the cavities, but unless you bought it new, anyone could have put that in
(I know I have in a few of my axes)

has less hum

which is probably because of the copper tape, tape the other KV in and you'll probably get the same reduction (could also be bad soldering though)

and it's output is a wee bit louder than it's younger brother's (even when both pickups are set to be of an equal height to each other)

Could be a difference in wood (even same models have been found to shift between alder or poplar, employees grabbing whatever was most available off the shelves)

AFAIK Jackson quality hasn't gone up or down much after the buyout
There's an anecdote of Grover destroying an axe because the 12th fretmarker was at the 13th fret, but we also have seen a recent 23 fret custom shop
General consensus here on the board is that "Pre-Fender" is nothing more than E-bay marketing

In the end you have 2 good guitars, enjoy the hell out of them

[roodyrocker]

Now I could be wrong, but I thought all KV2's came with a 3way, and anything else would be either a Custom shop or a Custom/Student model predating the USA Select line
best way is to check the serials



Most probable, measuring would remove any doubt



Which may just be the axe being "Worn in"
the only thing other in buildquality you mention is the addition of copper tape to the cavities, but unless you bought it new, anyone could have put that in
(I know I have in a few of my axes)

which is probably because of the copper tape, tape the other KV in and you'll probably get the same reduction (could also be bad soldering though)



Could be a difference in wood (even same models have been found to shift between alder or poplar, employees grabbing whatever was most available off the shelves)

AFAIK Jackson quality hasn't gone up or down much after the buyout
There's an anecdote of Grover destroying an axe because the 12th fretmarker was at the 13th fret, but we also have seen a recent 23 fret custom shop
General consensus here on the board is that "Pre-Fender" is nothing more than E-bay marketing

In the end you have 2 good guitars, enjoy the hell out of them

All true! And also, remember that differences in output could be the pickups themselves. They usually fall within a range and are not always identical even though they may be the same pickups in both. I too have pre and post Fender Jacksons and notice absolutely no difference in quality between the two.

[xenophobe]

AFAIK Jackson quality hasn't gone up or down much after the buyout

Overall quality has not changed much. Build method has changed... it's been modernized. QC has increased tremendously.

[ValentinoScaramanga]

I thiiiink the 90s one may well be a custom model but I could be wrong. But more time and effort was clearly afforded to it than the other. Hang on guys, I'll upload side by side pics when I can in high quality

[H8Red442]

I had a pre-Fender KE2 and KV2 and currently have 2 of each that are post-Fender. Prefer the post-Fender guitars.

None of them have the copper taping or 5 way switch you mention.

[Mudlark]

All of my Jacksons are post-Fender and I honestly don't think they could've been built better under any circumstances.
I see the term 'pre-Fender' constantly online and it always makes me cringe.

[xenophobe]

Post Fender Ontario build was still done the way they had been doing them... the only change was better QC. Jacksons from Corona started changing. Old colors and finishes were abandoned, Fender specific colors were introduced and the CS and USA Select production split work areas.

So really, the whole Pre/Post Fender thing is mostly meaningless... if you want to be specific you should refer to Ontario or Corona builds. :p

[Chug]

I don't like Fender guitars, to be perfectly honest I can't stand them. But that's not to say I'm trying to demean the company with this thread. Both of my KV2's are fantastic, despite their slight differences (I'm sorry guys but they're not the same) I just find it all very interesting, it isn't a debate.

Apparently they stopped using the 5 way switch sometime in the 90's, so my pre-Fender KV2 is probably an earlier model than the one you own.

I don't know how to share images here and can't be bothered to set up an imageshack account. Is there any way I can just paste pictures into this thread instead?

[Newc]

No, because that would mean uploading to the JCF server. It would take just as long to set that up as it would to get a Photobucket or Imageshack or even your own domain.

The Special 5-way was indeed abandoned in the 90s, but it was typically reserved for 3-pickup models, although I have found it on H-H models with various splits and whatnot. It's a complicated switch to work with, and you can buy a dozen 3-ways for the cost of one Superswitch (especially at that time). Since they were aiming for the Metal market, there wasn't as much call for those sweet single-coilish split humbucker tones, so the Special 5-way was phased out.

I've owned production models from the 90s up til 2013, and several SD and Ontario Customs, and not one has had anything other than grey shielding paint in the cavity, so the copper was either added by a previous owner or you have a Custom. The serial number may or may not indicate CS, as there were more than a few Customs with USA Select serials, and I'm sure there were a few pre-Select USA models done the same way.

Right now I've got 5 bolt-ons with DK2M necks from 3 different years and they all feel and sound slightly different. None of the Charvel SoCals I had (7 at once) sounded or felt identical, and they were no more than a year apart. It's been stated several times that there was no one standardized "San Dimas neck profile", by those who have several models with sequential serials.
It is accepted that you have to dig through a stack of identical Les Pauls to find the one you like best.

There is no such thing as consistency where wood is involved, much less a musical instrument.

But, people need this "Pre-Fender" thing to hype their Ontario Jacksons, just like they needed the "San Dimas" thing to downplay the Ontarios.

[Nightbat]

I don't like Fender guitars, to be perfectly honest I can't stand them. But that's not to say I'm trying to demean the company with this thread. Both of my KV2's are fantastic, despite their slight differences (I'm sorry guys but they're not the same) I just find it all very interesting, it isn't a debate.

That has everything to do with personal preference how a guitar 'feels', can't have much argument over that

I don't know how to share images here and can't be bothered to set up an imageshack account. Is there any way I can just paste pictures into this thread instead?

www.tinypic.com -> upload picture -> select the correct forum code (I believe the one with [ img ] ... [ /img ] ) -> copy/paste -> post