New to me PC1 - Have some questions

[nitrous12]

I recently got a 2006 Chlorine PC1 in dead mint condition. Real nice guitar, but I have some things to sort out.
The stock pickup was changed to a Super Distortion I believe. I actually had a Guitarforce Superstar I hadn't installed in my San Dimas yet so I put it in the PC1. It's my go to pickup and while it is a bit brighter and articulate I still find the tone pretty dark and muddy. Especially the low end. Low E rooted power chords have no cut and bite and almost seem like the neck pickup is on. I have had good luck improving that with changing FR bridges to Gotoh, which I may do on this guitar since I want to change from gold any way.
I also notice if I have the intensity all the way up and switch to harmonic mode it does its thing, but when I stop the strings it squeals until I shut it off or roll back intensity.
So my questions:
-is that normal for the intensity/harmonic mode or is it dialed up too high? Intensity at 50% and it doesn't squeal but also takes longer than I think it should to go to the harmonic.
-are the volume/tone pots 250k and would changing either to 500k brighten things up a bit?
-anyone know if the Gotoh ge1996 bridge will drop into the bridge route? From front to back the Gotoh plate is a tad bigger and I am thinking it won't fit.

I gotta get this thing supped up and working great for the Def Leppard Rock block my band is going to do. As it is we have Photograph, Animal, Rock of Ages and Pour Some Sugar in the song bank. Fun stuff!

[Bryan]

Trust me. Some very smart people who know a lot about the PC-1s are going to answer all these questions.

However, I am not one of those people.

But I will welcome you to the PC-1 crowd. It's a fantastic guitar.

[neilli]

Read this as a starter for the electronic questions:

http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/124803-Jackson-PC-1-Setup

[rjohnstone]

What he said ^^^

[nitrous12]

So with the intensity maxed should it not squeal at all? Just trying to understand since I never had one before and have no base line.
Thst thread certainly helps for tweaking it. Need to get a plastic screw driver.

Thanks guys!

[rjohnstone]

It should never squeal.
That is caused by the gain being set to high on the board.
Turn the sustainer on and set the intensity knob to 100% and then start backing off the gain until the squealing goes away. Do this in both modes.
This will help you find the sweet spot.
If you do this without removing the board (through the holes in the PCB board), everything in reversed.
Turn clockwise to decrees and counter clockwise to increase.

Somethings to remember... Use fresh batteries and make SMALL ADJUSTMENTS. Be careful not to turn the pots too far either way. They can break.

[nitrous12]

I was able to make adjustments and I believe I have it to where it will no longer squeal. Only tried through my practice rig, but it was acting the same on both my live and practice set up before.
I do notice a slight change in tone when turning on the sustainer. Are they further adjustments that can be made to even that out?

[rjohnstone]

Nope... that is the drawback to the sustainer... it sucks some of the mids out.

[nitrous12]

Is the gain pot at the top of the board used to even out the output between sustainer on and off? I am not sure it's so much mids being sucked out that I hear. For one it sounds like I lose some output when I turn it on....my gain level comes down some. I wasn't sure if the gain pot on the board was for that or more to drive the magnetic field of the sustainer.
I am also feeling like it muddies the tone a bit. I lose some tightness and bite. To be honest though, I put a 500K Superpot in the volume and a 500K tone pot in and it still seems muddy even w/out the sustainer. Almost like it has some neck tone attributes or like the tone is rolled back even when it's not. Just not getting the crisp snappy attack I want.

[rjohnstone]

The trim pots are for the sustainer itself.
They have no effect when the sustainer is off.
You can boost the gain a bit to try and balance the output volume, but this is where you need to be careful.
Bump it up too much and you'll get the squeal back.

Your complaint is a common one though.
Some will change out the humbucker to compensate for the tone suck. The Super 3 is a dark tone pickup to being with.

[nitrous12]

Rick,
I found this bit of info elsewhere on the internet. Does it sound right? Where are those jumper pins for changing the bridge pickup load?


The four pins not specified in the diagram: For changing the load on the bridge pickup. The difference is subtle. Check the sound of the bridge pickup with sustainer switched on and then off. Use the guitar chord you would normally use. If the sound is very close to the same, you can ignore the pins. If you hear a difference not to your liking, try jumping 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 (numbered consecutively).

The trim pots: One is for sensitivity and the other is for output. Turn the
output and sensitivity all the way up, then back off until the uncontrolled
feedback ceases. You will then have the highest possible output. You then
back the sensitivity down to whatever level you prefer based on touch.

Set the height of the driver as close to the strings as you can for the
best driver performance.

[rjohnstone]

There are no jumper pins on a PC1 sustainer.
Would love to see whatever diagram the person was referring to.
Rev B and Rev C sustainers have no user configurable jumpers.