Phil Collen's Jackson PC1 Chlorine in the house! Literally!

[vklobucar]

Production kinda....Tim picked out a killer birds eye but pretty much stock size.

[BGWwebguy]

Never mind the guitar, if im in NJ and you are in Canada, how exactly did I come "Down" for Thanksgiving?

[vklobucar]

OMG!!!

Oh I suppose if you want to nitpick you NJ folks came "up to the Great White North" ! LOL!

But we did not stop once at a Tim Hortons nor did we sample the poutine!

Next time!!!!

[dmoney666]

Appearance-wise, I mean. The quality/grade of the quilt-tops and flame-fretboards used was much better back then, as well as more consistent. They're more hit or miss now. And the old ones were done with analyne dyed tops, which really brings out the figuring. Now they use some crummier spray-on translucent something-or-other that actually hides some of the wood figuring, making some tops appear worse than they are.

And it's not just PC1s, this has been a trend for all production USA Jacksons. Honestly, IMHO they've lost their way on doing quilt/flame-top production guitars. There seemed to be a cost-cutting decision several years ago that, with these changes, the USA Select guitars still looked "good enough". But IMHO they don't, not even close. And it's more pronounced on quilt-tops, like PC1s. ...Its why we did that special run of PC1s a few years ago with Matt - to get new ones done "old school".

Honestly, I wouldn't order a trans-top USA Jackson blindly now. It's too much of a gamble, setting yourself up for possible disappointment. Better to just wait and look for a "good one" in stock at a dealer somewhere, and pay up. Otherwise, you have to go full masterbuilt custom shop to make sure it's done well. Heck, I have a Custom Select Soloist with a quilt-top on order right now, and I wonder if even that might've been a gamble. Crossing my fingers that it turns out well.

Couldn't agree with you more. On top of that, almost all the figured tops are paper-thin laminates. Just about every one of them, especially the quilts, look...blurry. For the price, I find it inexcusable.

[kmanick]

So is this one "yours" now or are you just "tuning it up" for brooks?

[shreddermon]

Couldn't agree with you more. On top of that, almost all the figured tops are paper-thin laminates. Just about every one of them, especially the quilts, look...blurry. For the price, I find it inexcusable.

On the thin tops, I'm not bothered by that at all. It only applies to USA Select production guitars. Basically, any of the trans-topped maple neck / alder body production guitars. With that wood combo, I actually prefer less maple in the top. Besides, that's been Jackson's practice for 20 or more years, so it's not even remotely a recent change. USA Artist sig models (like the PC1s), Custom Selects and Masterbuilt guitars all still have 1/8th tops.

Totally agree on the "blurry"ness, though. Especially for the quilt tops. This is all about the grade of the top used, and the newer non-dyed finish on the USA production guitars. It's classic cost-cutting degrading. It's like the difference between a real tan and a fake spray-on tan. ...We can tell the difference between a healthy, hot-looking tanned babe at the beach vs. Snooki. The difference is THAT obvious. LOL

[xenophobe]

They shouldn't be using anything less than 1/8th tops on USAs, IMO. A photoflame or super thin laminate will never have the look of well done dying and finishing...

Wow... it just bugged me how McDonalds Jackson has become.

[vklobucar]

Its still his guitar.....for now.......

[Bryan]

Thanks for sharing the pics. That's really cool!

Now about those guitars on the wall behind you.....

[vklobucar]

From L to R

1978 "Felix" Strat. its a dead on copy of Phil's Strat that his Mum gave him for his 21st Right down to the Ti OFR

Jackson Dinky Adrenalize as painted by Dan Lawrence of GMP and DRL Graphics

Jackson CS Phil Collen Archtop from the JCF order a few years ago

Jackson Pro Phil Collen Archtop as refinished by Dan Lawrence.