Made In Japan pots on USA Series RR1 ?

[Hoarne]

Hello everyone.
I am French, and here is my fighter plane, a 1995 RR1 in the Lightning Sky version.
It is in new condition, not a scratch, not a shock.
This is my second RR1, having already owned a Rhoads USA, still in 1991 Lightning Sky, so with the mid-boost. I bought it new in 1993, but I made the mistake of selling it in 1997. So it took me 25 years to find one in good condition.

So to come back to this RR1, one of the former owners replaced the original Bill Lawrence OBLs which he considered too garish, for Seymour Duncan TB4 and SH2.
I really like these pickups, but I'm thinking of fitting him with Bill Lawrence L500L and L500XL "Wilde Pickups", so the real Bill Lawrence sold by his wife Becky, and restore it to its original look, but with better sounding (I seems that the 1995 OBLs weren't really real L500L and L500XL anymore, they belonged to Gibson who equipped their Epiphone range with them, among other things... So I don't understand why Jackson turned to these low-end microphones range, the real OBL Germany created in 1986 and stopping in 1989...)

On the other hand, something intrigues me about this guitar: it has 3 "Made In Japan" potentiometers... Is it normal on a Jackson RR1 USA from 1995 to find this kind of elements?? The switch seems to be a Switchcraft, but I thought they were rather equipped with CTS ...
My Guitar Tech doesn't seem more surprised than that, telling me that during the 90s, American brands such as Jackson, Charvel, Kramer, BC-Rich used very good "Made In Japan" pots on their high-end productions. range...
Have you ever encountered this kind of electronics? Can you confirm what my Guitar Tech tells me?

Thanks for your feedback.

[pianoguyy]

First, it was a used guitar. There's no telling what the owner may have changed.
And while I have no actual knowledge of parts, it makes sense that there are MIJ parts in US gear.

[john.w.lawson]

Hello everyone.
I am French, and here is my fighter plane, a 1995 RR1 in the Lightning Sky version.
It is in new condition, not a scratch, not a shock.
This is my second RR1, having already owned a Rhoads USA, still in 1991 Lightning Sky, so with the mid-boost. I bought it new in 1993, but I made the mistake of selling it in 1997. So it took me 25 years to find one in good condition.

So to come back to this RR1, one of the former owners replaced the original Bill Lawrence OBLs which he considered too garish, for Seymour Duncan TB4 and SH2.
I really like these pickups, but I'm thinking of fitting him with Bill Lawrence L500L and L500XL "Wilde Pickups", so the real Bill Lawrence sold by his wife Becky, and restore it to its original look, but with better sounding (I seems that the 1995 OBLs weren't really real L500L and L500XL anymore, they belonged to Gibson who equipped their Epiphone range with them, among other things... So I don't understand why Jackson turned to these low-end microphones range, the real OBL Germany created in 1986 and stopping in 1989...)

On the other hand, something intrigues me about this guitar: it has 3 "Made In Japan" potentiometers... Is it normal on a Jackson RR1 USA from 1995 to find this kind of elements?? The switch seems to be a Switchcraft, but I thought they were rather equipped with CTS ...
My Guitar Tech doesn't seem more surprised than that, telling me that during the 90s, American brands such as Jackson, Charvel, Kramer, BC-Rich used very good "Made In Japan" pots on their high-end productions. range...
Have you ever encountered this kind of electronics? Can you confirm what my Guitar Tech tells me?

Thanks for your feedback.

They used all kinds of pots at different times. They even used 250K pots in some USA's. Like OP said who knows if the other guy or guy before changed stuff, doesn't really matter much.

[Hoarne]

Ok, thank you for your answers.
From all the research I've been able to do, and from the photos I've seen, it appears that there is no standard at Jackson USA about pots, there were a lot of different assemblies, and most of the time, with Japanese potentiometers, which, according to my luthier, were of better quality than the CTS of the time, for example...

[pianoguyy]

I sold Lowrey organs. The big sales line was 'Made in the USA'.
The last few generations had touch screens, CDs, and USB and all that other fancy tech stuff. But prior to that... let's say going back to pre-2009 (the years blur in the mind).
The only non-American part in them were the tweeters (which were only used in the larger models). Why? Because you couldn't find good American made tweeters.
*Of course, after that, they started using metal instead of wood, used a bunch of tech stuff, and moved production to China.... and then shutting down completely.


So, it makes total sense that American guitars are the same way. I mean, Schaller is from Germany. Takeuchi is Japanese. Gotoh may be an American company, but most of their parts are made elsewhere. Where would we be without those brand names.

[Shredmachine]

I worked on a 95 roads the other day that also had made in japan pots which appeared to be factory.