KV2 action problem...

[RobRR]

Yeah, sloppy. Wood splinters everywhere... thats what happens when you use a dull bit. The lines arent even straight for christ sakes. But I could care less about the rout, as it doesent affect anything at all. What I care about is this getting the guitar playable which is apparently gonna require me to rout out the rout or send it to FMIC.

As for it being a Floyded KV1, I highly doubt that... IIRC, KV1's had Kahler fixed bridges correct? Kahlers require neck angle... not as much as top mount Floyds, but a decent angle, much more than recessed floyds. If this guitar was simply a KV1 with a recessed Floyd, the bridge would be sticking up out of the rout to compensate for the neck angle. This guitar as no neck angle at all.

And to be completley honest, if this is "how it is supposed to be" and is "within tolerances" then I will NEVER purchase another USA Jackson again, period. Im a player first and foremost... I play my gear. I need it to perform correctly so I can perform correctly. Out of the 4 USA guitars I own, two of them have had severe problems. Thats unacceptable unless for some reason I happen to be a defective guitar magnet.

[Spivonious]

That's why I stick with Asian guitars. If there's a problem with one it's not a big deal since it only cost $200 anyway

[RobRR]

Same here. But honestly, aside from the early 90's Pro's, theres nothing quite like the feel of a properly set-up AND MADE USA Jackson. The sound, the feel... most todays imports feel ok, but they dont have the vibe they used to. Thicker necks, thinner finishes, shitty hardware... ugh...

But whats a guy supposed to do? Spend the money on a USA and hope and prey theres nothing wrong with it? Or get an import and be almost 100% certain that the guitar will be perfect... but not get the features you want? Its like you either have to sarcrifice features to get quality at a lower price, or sacrifice quality to get features at a higher price.

[ulijdavid]

Hey RobRR,
I believe you might have already tried this, but have you lowered the Floyd to where the action was what you want - ignoring the function of the Floyd. I am just wondering if you can get the action correct and see how much pull up you can get out of the Floyd. From the pics, it looks like you still have a good .060" before the Floyd base plate bottoms out in the cavity. I know you have probably tried all of this and are hoping there is something easy that is being missed. I will try to take pics of my KV2's tonight. But if I remember correctly, the top of the Floyd base plate is aligned to the top of the body - much like what yours looks like.

[RobRR]

I can get the action pretty close to right, however at that point the Floyd is totally unuseable... I like using the Floyd, thats why I got a KV2 not a KV2T.

[StukaJU87]

Rob, sorry I am late to the game. I took some pics for comparison, but because of the shitty lighting and the camera not focusing because of it, these are the best I could do for now.

Same little shelf, but the cavity is obviously painted. My Floyd rests about even with the body in the rout.

[StukaJU87]

Oh, and as a side note, the action is low, but not Gibson low. I can never get my Floyded guitars as low as my Gibsons or string thru Jacksons.

[Bengal65]

That's why I stick with Asian guitars. If there's a problem with one it's not a big deal since it only cost $200 anyway

For a minute there, I thought Fett was back

Rob, you have a lot of good suggestions so far. I'm wondering if the rout (shelf) on the top for the Floyd was deep enough from the factory? I can tell from the photo, that the forward edge of the Floyd base plate has already been hitting the front edge of the rout from diving. There is lack of paint in that area. another strange thing to me is it looks like the rear cavity has an extra piece of wood, or it was routed that way, to reduce forward movement of the Floyd. I don't have a KV2 to compare, but plenty of other Floyd'd Jacksons.
This one is a mystery for sure.:think:

[Brooke]

Yeah, sloppy. Wood splinters everywhere... thats what happens when you use a dull bit. The lines arent even straight for christ sakes. But I could care less about the rout, as it doesent affect anything at all. What I care about is this getting the guitar playable which is apparently gonna require me to rout out the rout or send it to FMIC.

As for it being a Floyded KV1, I highly doubt that... IIRC, KV1's had Kahler fixed bridges correct? Kahlers require neck angle... not as much as top mount Floyds, but a decent angle, much more than recessed floyds. If this guitar was simply a KV1 with a recessed Floyd, the bridge would be sticking up out of the rout to compensate for the neck angle. This guitar as no neck angle at all.

And to be completley honest, if this is "how it is supposed to be" and is "within tolerances" then I will NEVER purchase another USA Jackson again, period. Im a player first and foremost... I play my gear. I need it to perform correctly so I can perform correctly. Out of the 4 USA guitars I own, two of them have had severe problems. Thats unacceptable unless for some reason I happen to be a defective guitar magnet.

I can concur,, KV1 has a huge neck angle, especially with the bezel under the kahler.

[RobRR]

Thanks for the pics Scott! If you could do me a huge favor if you get a chance, could you just take a small ruler and measure the depth of the shelf so I can compare mine to yours? My shelf is exactly 3/16", while the shelf on my SL2H is 1/4" exactly. So a 1/16" difference in depth... probably not enough to completley cause my problem, but probably one of the factors. Id say its a combination of neck angle and rout depth.

Also, if you look at these two pics, you can see the difference. Where your neck meets the wings, it is touching the binding... then as it goes into the body, its on a slight angle and theres paint under the binding. In my pic, the wings arent touching the binding, though when it goes into the body, the the binding angles down "into" the body. Hard to explain but if you look close I think ya'll can see what Im talking about...




Bengal, there isnt any paint missing... though it looks like it in the pic, I just went to double check and its perfect, must have just been the lighting.

[StukaJU87]

Rob, where do you want me to measure? The Floyd recess? Or the little shelf between the Floyd block and strings? Point it out cuz I am kinda slow.

[Spivonious]

Rob, have you measured the action? It's hard to tell how high yours is compared to Scott's because of the angle of the pic. It could be that that's just how a KV2 is.

[ulijdavid]

RobRR,
I tried to take pics of my KV2's but they just came out extremely blurry. I did take some measurements. The distance from the 24th fret to the bottom of the High E and Low E is 0.050" on both guitars (I put a 1.5mm pick between the fret and string and the string moved very slightly so the action is between .05-.06 inches). Also I measured the distance from the body to the top of the fretboard (not the frets) and it was 0.24". I did not measure the top route depth, but both guitars have the top of the Floyd base plate flush with the top of the body. I also have about 1/16" before the Floyd bottoms out on the recess, but I have no problems pulling up on the Floyd. Both guitars are set up exactly the same and the measured distance are pretty much the same. It will be interesting to see the numbers you have.
Incidentally, I have three Gibson Vees from the late 70's/early 80's and they have super low action. But, I measured them and they are about the same. They feel much lower because of the super low frets used. That actually surprised me!!! You might want to use a pick to measure the Gibson and Jackson for a comparison.

[salmonella]

Nothing more annoying than a faulty guitar.. Can you still send it back.

[Mazrim]

I have a KV2 and the action is low and perfect. No problems with the Floyd either.

I'll try and get some pics.