Scored an early Jackson - which model & some ???'s

[Crusher]

Hey guys,

Just scored an early 80's neckthrough Jackson with case. It's in pretty rough shape and will be a project guitar. I will repaint and put all new hardware & electronics. It is neckthrough with a single humbucker, Licensed Floyd rose bridge w/locking nut, binding on neck & headstock. SN# J5589

Few questions:
1. Anyone know what kind of model this is? Soloist? Dinky? Special run?

2. The binding on the headstock is gone, is there a way to add binding myself or is it best to take to a luthier?

3. There are 3 holes for knobs, but I only want one to act as a master volume knob. What would be a good way to fill the other holes? I'm guessing glue & dowels?

4. What's a good SD pickup for a single layout? Maybe a Custom?

5. The Hardshell case is pretty beat, but all latches still work, however they are rusty. What's a good way to remove the rust? What product to clean the outside of the case?

Here's a couple of pics. Thanks!!

[diablomozart]

1. Anyone know what kind of model this is? Soloist? Dinky? Special run?
ontario soloist...i hum soloists are fairly rare

2. The binding on the headstock is gone, is there a way to add binding myself or is it best to take to a luthier?
best to take it tyo a luthier really...

3. There are 3 holes for knobs, but I only want one to act as a master volume knob. What would be a good way to fill the other holes? I'm guessing glue & dowels?
hell no...find little plastic plugs that are nonobtrusive but dont require gluing...similar to grommets...having three holes on a 1 humbucker guitar means more than likely it had a jackson preamp system...1 volume, 1 tone, and 1 volume for preamp...using dowels is a pain and you have to consider the time and effort to get it all level...and still later on the dowels could leave indentiones even under a refin

4. What's a good SD pickup for a single layout? Maybe a Custom?
i prefer a custom...others prefer a duncan distortion or jb...it's really personal preference

5. The Hardshell case is pretty beat, but all latches still work, however they are rusty. What's a good way to remove the rust? What product to clean the outside of the case?
not really my field but i'll take a guess with brasso for the latches...as for cleaning the case itself?...it's tolex...i would guess soap and water and a lot of elbow grease?...

congrats on the score tho...d.m.

[JZ06]

Congrats on the score. She could definitely use some TLC

There was a red one similar to that on e bay.It's a soloist of some sort. It might still be on there. I hadn't seem many like that. Cool guitar. I've always liked the JB for an all around pickup(scream to clean) My '82 Charvel had a hole drilled for another volume knob...I just put a piece of foam in there for the time being.

I'm a car detailer so I know a thing or two about cleaning. For the outside of the case, some simple green or "blue magic" interior vinyl/leather cleaner should work fine(can be found at most popular auto parts stores) mothers polish or chrome polish should clean up the latches nicely.

[neilli]

Cool guitar, but boy has that seen some (ab) use in it's reltatively short life.....

[nateb]

This will be a good restore job. Everyone here basically said it. When I started my restore, I just stipped, bondo the holes (even the control cavity holes.) Just make sure that you bevel the control holes so that the bondo hos something to hang onto. Would be nice if you could get that holograph sparkle finish redone.

Pickup is a personal preference... I would say a tone zone.


Good luck,

-Nate

[Crusher]

Thanks guys!

Nateb,
I noticed the control holes are beveled underneath, If I fill it with bondo, wouldn't I still need some type of wood or plastic dowel to give it a little more "meat" to help the bondo hang in there better and not crack?

Upon further inspection, the binding around the headstock isn't totally gone, just a small 2-3" piece is missing near the tip. Would it be OK to fill this area in with some wood filler or bondo and blend it in? Here's a pic.:


Lastly (for now) I noticed the neck binding is a weird, brownish color but it's a very thin layer, underneat is bare wood. Maybe it's some type of poly coat?? It's missing in a few sections....


I cleaned the case pretty good, still not perfect, but much better than before, the "rust" on the latches isn't rust on the surface, it's imbedded in there somehow (oxidation?) Here's a pic. of the cloth after scrubbing all metal surfaces with aluminum cleaner


Here's the case now, a Jackson decal should hide that gash nicely

[jackson1]

Adding more gashes would also hide that single gash

The neck binding... looks very strange. Isn't the brown color just the clear coat on the binding that has somehow turned brown? So by scraping the brown coat off, you'll reveal the white binding underneath?

[RacerX]

by scraping the brown coat off, you'll reveal the white binding underneath?

White? That binding will never be white!

[jtr]

Single Hum Custom Soloist probably late 80's I remember there was a Cream one at Knut Kouppe around 89 but had a JT6 that I didn't like so I passed on it.

[RacerX]

Ser# dates it as 1989

[nateb]

I noticed the control holes are beveled underneath, If I fill it with bondo, wouldn't I still need some type of wood or plastic dowel to give it a little more "meat" to help the bondo hang in there better and not crack?

Bondo is some HARD stuff as long as it is mixed well. There should not be a reason to use any dowling whatsoever. For example, I and a few other people on this board have completely filled in humbucker pickup area without any dowling. I wish I knew who it was, they did a 24fret RR conversion, gold hardware, badass conversion. The post important thing is that it has area to hang onto. THat is why I was suggesting that you bevel the inside or outside.

More specifically ::

what you could do is use a drill to just bevel the lip of the control holes outside of the body. After that, tape the inside of the control cavity with duct tape. Mix and place your bondo from the top of of the body and let it sit for a couple of hours. Sand it, remove the tape afterwards.

I wish I knew where the thread was. It was a Amazing job with bondo and it was a spotless job.

-Nate

[nateb]

Found it....

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48539

BTW, you might want to try asking these questions in the Tech/QA area. Questions in that area are always answered, we have some great people on this board that know a metric fuckton more then I do. You might want to just keep a running thread in there and keep the pictures coming in with your progress.

Best of luck,

Nate

[rjohnstone]

Here ya go...
http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48539
Read very carefully. Mark is a guy who pays attention to details.
You have a nice axe that has potential and can be rebuilt to perfection or totaly screwed up.
Think before you start cutting, drilling or filling anything.

Edit: nate beat me to it.

[Shawn]

Cool beast, but Jesus, was that in the basement with Al-Zarqawi?

[Crusher]

That was a great thread and the guy did an incredible job on that Rhoads. Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.