1987 ? San Dimas neck; some Q's

[guitarmn101]

Hi, guys! I'm the guy who sold several Warriors and Rhoads guitars in the last few years. They were pictured in front of my ever-so-metal fireplace (burning like a Dokken video, of course) so the oBoy perusers would get all tingly.

Anywhat, I have a maple/maple neck with plate #3805, San Dimas flave. It has the Jackson logo, (R), and "MADE IN U.S.A." on the pointy headstock. The heel reads 1739, has a due date of 10-26-87, no graphic, and was inspected by "RM".

The IPO mangled the Floyd nut install, so a buddy of mine took a chunk out of an old Charvel neck and made a terrific shim of like color. It's functional now, and very stable, but not perfect. I made the neck itself baby smooth with some 2000 grit, and it feels terrific.

My Q's:

1. Since the headstock has a few dings should I refinish, redo the logo, and make the shim absolutely perfect? I am planning on stripping a Charvel H/S body, veneering a beautiful exotic over the top, and maybe the headstock as well. Mutt city, but at least it's mine.

2. Should I eBay as is? With or without the scratchfest black body? Separate auctions? Separate auction for the plate? If I sell, any ideas on reserve(s)?

BTW, I'm not opposed to putting together a new Warmoth version or trading for the equivalent axe with some of the "natural finish" cool factor.

3. Anything else I should consider?

Thanks again for all your knowledge, folks. I remember living in a beautiful sea of this brand while at GIT, specifically the RR models. My private teacher was a former Randy student, and told me just how much Mrs. Rhoads deserves those royalties. She treated me so very well, and does so much good with the money, that I never minded playing such amazing guitars...

Oh, one more thing: I loved my old Warrior fretboards so much now I even date a woman named Ebony! She couldn't just BE black, she had to be NAMED black! Heh, heh...

[charvel750]

I'd leave it be if it is playing properly. By the way, it's not a San Dimas if it was made in late '87. They were still using the older neck plates but were already in Ontario by then. Oh, by the way, is it true? Once you go black you never go back? :P

[guitarmn101]

Thanks for the response. I wasn't trying to mislead anyone with the San Dimas reference, I was just trying to be as thorough as possible with the description of the neckplate. Sorry if my title came out wrong!

I guess the reason I'm asking all this is because I don't know if I'm as attached to this particular project as I should be. Maybe that'll change the more I work on it, or perhaps I should just sell and move on.

As for the IR dating, it's always been ok with me to put a lighter neck on a black body (see how guitarsick I still am after all these years? So sad...). The heart wants what it wants, you know, so I didn't stand a chance against this, AT ALL. She and I captured the best of life in each other right away. Our world is *immeasurably* richer than before we met. It's funny, it took a couple named Loving to help the Supreme Court get it right back in 1967.

Now, back to the geekspeak about serial numbers and correct screwhead sizes and how aircraft aluminum latches on your case really DO affect your tone...