Help With More Info on my 1990 Custom Shop

[LT. Dan]

So I'm new here. Thanks for having such a great forum dedicated to some bad ass git fiddles! What I know so far is that it's a 1990 custom shop based on the serial number stamped in the neck (J5766). It has a replacement EVH Frankenstein in the bridge but what I think was the original pickup is in the case. I took the neck pickup out but forgot to take a picture. I think I remember it saying J50N. It has an oiled neck which is written underneath the springs with a work order of 7352. Its a great guitar but I was wondering if you guys have seen one like this before. Whats the value? Proper model name? I'm mostly a Les Paul and Strat guy but a friend of mine passed away a few years ago and I recently bought this from his widow. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Is there any info someone here can provide based off that work order? I also noticed a replacement screw on the bridge under the g string. I just got it back from my tech who set it up and he said it was no biggie. Pictures are from before setup thus the loose strings etc. It had been sitting in a case for 3 years.

[rjohnstone]

Custom Soloist.
Nice looking fiddle.

Value is tough... typically you're looking around $1k to $1,500 ballpark for guitars from that era.
It is unique in that it has an oiled neck and an H-H config. So it could pull in more... just depends on the finding the right buyer.

[LT. Dan]

Yeah, I figured as much. I was thinking somewhere around the same numbers. Always worth what someone is willing to pay. So is this era poplar wings? I'm just curious to find out more info since shit is so scarce since Fender bought them out. Is it an SL2H? I just an't find very many that have a single volume and a 3 way lester style switch. It plays nice but it's definitely meant to be a shredder. I'm used to a different neck profile being that I play mostly Gibsons and Fenders and this thing is way different. Not a chunky neck fo sho

[rjohnstone]

It has a similar config as an SL2H, but that particular model didn't exist in 1990.
Poplar wings should be correct. Short of seeing the actual work order, it would be hard to verify though.
Customer could have asked for maple, ash, basswood... hard to say.
But I'd be pretty confident in thinking they were poplar.

[LT. Dan]

Whats that square notch that's cut in the tremolo cavity picture right past the number 2? It connects to one of the pickup cavities iirc. The only writing in the entire guitar is that work order number and oil neck. Are the Ontario years considered not as good compared to the San Dimas years? Also, would it be worth it to try out that J50BC? I know its ceramic so I'm thinking I may not like it but I just don't know enough about Jackson pickups and what they sound close to for comparison purposes. By the way, sorry for all the newb questions and thanks for answering.

[pianoguyy]

That would be a Jackson Soloist.
From back when they called them Soloist because they only issued one. Today, Soloist is more of a generic term, and it would be called an SL1 - although, in that pickup configuration it would be called an SL2H which is the two humbucker version of the SL1 but not the same as an SL2 which is a different model altogether - someone messed up naming these things.

Assuming that the finish is original, and there wasn't any sort of repair/replacement work going on...
This would be the first I have seen an unpainted neck from the factory on a Soloist from back then.

[neilli]

As Rick said, that was prior to the SL1/SL2H designations, so that would be a Soloist custom - as a lose rule of thumb, customs have bound ebony boards with sharkfins (students are rosewood with dots) but of course there are customs with dot inlays (or many other inlay options).

The square hole in the spring rout is from the rout for the bridge pickup leg, and it's pretty common.

I'd be somewhat surprised if the neck wasn't stripped after it left the factory. Again like Rick mentioned, oiled necks were fairly rare on neck-thrus in that era, plus the paint edge looks suspect and the lack of figuring in the maple of the headstock (after the scarf join) would seem very strange on a factory oiled neck.

[Catharpin]

I'd be somewhat surprised if the neck wasn't stripped after it left the factory. Again like Rick mentioned, oiled necks were fairly rare on neck-thrus in that era, plus the paint edge looks suspect and the lack of figuring in the maple of the headstock (after the scarf join) would seem very strange on a factory oiled neck.

Did you miss the picture where it says "oil neck" in the cavity?

[TommyD]

It's been a while since I saw a piece I actually want,but can't swing at the moment...if I was gonna order a Custom Select tonight that would be pretty much it ;-). Tommy D.

[ps43203]

That's really cool. Def don't see many oiled neck soloists. Especially from that era. I think it's a keeper.
Oh and just a little piece of advice, whatever you do be gentle if do any intonating on that Jt-590,
they strip REALLY Easy. I had to get a new base plate from Schaller on one of mine. I know you
can heli coil it too, but didn't feel like dealing. I still have the original just in case. Just an FYI.