How can I find original build spec of my 1986 San Dimas Soloist?

[matt86]

I recently contacted Jackson customer relations trying to find out some of the history of my 1986 soloist...specifically I’d really like to know the original build spec, pickups, electronics etc.

They were pretty quick getting back to me by email, but told me that as it was built before 2002 (when Fender bought them) they have limited to no information on guitar builds.

So the question is, has anyone else managed to track down the original build spec of their pre-2002 Jackson through some other means?

Thanks in advance for any info!

[MPI]

It depends on what's on your guitar. Soloist from that era were either Student models (rosewood fingerboard, dot inlay) or Customs (Ebony with Sharkfin inlays)
Bridges could be Kahler or Floyd. The JT580 IIRC was 87 the standard bridge. They were all built to order, but the main core was maple center with poplar sides.
Pickups could be any setup, 1 hum to 3 tite. Duncans were the go to standard JB's and Distortions for the bridges Jazz for the Neck hum. Jackson PU and electronics came in 87 IIRC. Color anything you wanted but black, white, and red were a lot of "dealer" orders Don forget graphics

[matt86]

Thanks MPI - didn’t know that about the woods or the colours.

Still keen to hear from anyone who has managed to track down their original order specs 🤞

[pianoguyy]

Bridges could be Kahler or Floyd.

Due to the custom nature, bridges could be anything. Kahler was a standard option.
Floyd Rose was another standard option, but they had to be bought yourself and sent to Jackson to be installed.

The JT580 IIRC was 87 the standard bridge.

Not even close.
JT-6

Color anything you wanted but black, white, and red were a lot of "dealer" orders Don forget graphics

More importantly, the colors were not standardized. They were mixed by hand, and depending on how much they were smoking on any given day, the same color could be a different shade than the day before.

[MPI]

I had an 84 Charvel explorer single hum Duncan Distortion and a strat bridge half red/ half black diagonal poplar body rosewood fingerboard
84 Student RR white hardtail 2 Hum
84 Rhoads Custom Ferrari red with a gold Floyd 2 hum, later repainted black by GMW in 94
84 Rhoads Custom Floyd was repainted Blue/GrayWhite Camo by Dan Lawrence at GMW in 93
Rhoads were all Poplar Maple combo.
Nothing special on the order specs. All were sold off last 20 years

[CaptNasty]

Checkout the catalogs and price sheets for 1986.

https://assets.ctfassets.net/4jcppgetbqrc/RY0seSwWkwmsmcygauaKI/c4316115e883076760b3ac3e15c46e13/Jackson-1986-SanDimas-catalog.pdf

https://assets.ctfassets.net/4jcppgetbqrc/2mxc6vIxT6qg2AKMqOywci/c0d050964ed78c1e21339fd1cf6dcec8/Jackson-1986-Ontario-catalog.pdf

The price list would probably be the best source for prices. Would need to search around with Google to find 1986.

[matt86]

Thanks for all the replies - the catalogue images seem to be the most useful, although it’s just pictures - is there anywhere that would give info about the pickups etc.?

I was hoping (more like dreaming!) there was a way to find out more from someone’s connections with Jackson, but I guess that was fairly ambitious!

[CaptNasty]

There are also price sheets that they used back in the day. You can use google and play around with search terms to find price sheets for the year you are looking for. They are out there but the are hard to find. I have found a number of them in searches for other things.

The price sheets will have details on defaults and options.

[matt86]

Thanks CaptNasty - I’ll give it a shot!