Ok,2 questions.... floyd nut and neck question.

[BRADSTANG]

QUESTION #1 i'm having a brain fart, which floyd nut do i use on my jackson. i know the r43 jackson nut is theirs but which one for floyd? r-3 / r-4? is the jackson neck at the nut a 12 degree radius?

QUESTION #2 I just picked up a beautiful 90's bound and mop dinky xl professional neck for my first custom kelly that i'm building a mahogany body w/ quilted maple top ground up. oops, off the subject, but the fret board on this is the nicest and blackest neck wood that ever seen on a jackson import, like almost no visible grain and doesn't look dyed. Did they ever put ebony on their imports , i know older rosewood use to be darker in the past but cant find that quality wood anymore and btw they are mop inlays not moto's.

[potatohead]

If you want the "standard" 1 11/16" string spacing, you need the R3 or R4 nut. The 3 is for necks without binding, the 4 is for necks with binding. I think the OFR nut is usually 10", but Jackson has 12" radius at the nut... No big deal.

Can't answer #2 for you.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Yes MIJ imports had ebony boards in the early 90's pro series kike the Dinky XL pro the Fusion Pro and the Stealth Pro. All bolt on MIJ with ebony boards.
Gil

[warlok]

Really? I thought only the Pros (not to be confused within the Professional Series, just the Pros, not Std. or XL's) had ebony and Std and XL's have rosewood. I have a 94 Kelly XL that is just like you describe, almost black, almost no grain, not dyed, and looks amazing. But everything I've seen says rosewood... Even my 87 Model 6 is almost black and very little grain showing.

[vklobucar]

If you do not have access to the brass tape that the Jackson factory uses as shims, metallic aluminum tape that is used to seal duct work is a great option. Pretty much the same thickness and plenty sticky too.

[BRADSTANG]

If you do not have access to the brass tape that the Jackson factory uses as shims, metallic aluminum tape that is used to seal duct work is a great option. Pretty much the same thickness and plenty sticky too.

what are you talking about, i'm trying to find which nut i need, r-3 has a 12'' radius and 1-11/16 width is that what i should go with? why is there a differance between a bound neck and unbound , they're the same width.

[rjohnstone]

what are you talking about, i'm trying to find which nut i need, r-3 has a 12'' radius and 1-11/16 width is that what i should go with? why is there a differance between a bound neck and unbound , they're the same width.

He's probably talking about shimming the nut with metal tape if you need to raise it up.

As for the R3 and R4 nut, both are 1 11/16 wide with a 10" radius, but the R3 nut has a narrower string spacing compared to the R4.
The whole bound/unbound neck thing really is irrelevant. Some people use an R3 nut on a bound neck to keep the strings off of the binding, however I've never seen this to be an issue with an R4 nut.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

With a rare exception or two, Jacksons always use an R3 nut from the factory unless it's a custom shop guitar and you asked for something different, or it's an import that uses certain licensed trems like the 580LP.

So, while I wouldn't say it's always an R3 it usually is.

It would help if I had some idea what Jackson, they make a few different models.

Look on the bottom of the nut to be sure. If it says R3, it's an R3. If it doesn't say anything, it's an import nut, and good freakin' luck finding one like it.

[Chad]

Is it true that an R3 nut is 1 11/16" nut width with 1 5/8" string spacing? Whereas I think an R4 is 1 11/16" with 1 11/16" string spacing. I normally like wider string spacing, so I've considered replacing the R3 with an R4 on my RR-1.

[potatohead]

Is it true that an R3 nut is 1 11/16" nut width with 1 5/8" string spacing? Whereas I think an R4 is 1 11/16" with 1 11/16" string spacing. I normally like wider string spacing, so I've considered replacing the R3 with an R4 on my RR-1.

Warmoth says the R3 is "narrow string spacing" and the R4 is "standard string spacing" but then they are both 1 11/16", so who knows. I think the string spacing is the same, but the R4 nut itself is a bit wider. I know with my old Soloist with binding the nut was for sure an R3, but it was about 2 mm narrower than the nut shelf.

http://www.warmoth.com/Floyd-Locking-Nuts-C839.aspx

[Chad]

Dug a bit and found this PDF chart on the Floyd Rose site:

http://www.floydrose.com/pdf/FloydRoseNutSpecs_1-10.pdf

According to that, the R3 & R4 are the same except the R3 is 12" radius and narrow string spacing. R4 is 10" radius and wider string spacing.

But then I found this:

http://www.floydrose.com/bridges/nutsizes/FloydRose_Original-Pro_nutsizes.php

...that says they are both 10" radius.

Combining that with the Warmoth info, I'm gonna venture to guess the 12" R3 spec is a typo on the Floyd Rose site and they are both the 10" radius with everything else the same except string spacing. Based on that, I think I will pickup an R4 the next time I do a parts order.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Maybe i misspoke with the XL but yes the PRO's had ebony boards. \
Gil

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Is it true that an R3 nut is 1 11/16" nut width with 1 5/8" string spacing? Whereas I think an R4 is 1 11/16" with 1 11/16" string spacing. I normally like wider string spacing, so I've considered replacing the R3 with an R4 on my RR-1.

Well, what is "1 11/16" string spacing"? No such thing. You can space the strings 1 mm apart on any nut width if you want. That is why they just refer to it as narrow or wide. ALthough I will admit that the R3 nut is spaced more similarly to the 1 5/8" nut width guitar I have, which interestingly enough has a Graph Tech pre-slotted nut for a 1 3/4" nut width on it. Why? Because the Graph Tech pre-slotted 1 3/4" nut is spaced narrower than the pre-slotted Graph Tech 1 11/16" nut. Yeah, makes sense, huh? :think:

[Chad]

Well, what is "1 11/16" string spacing"? No such thing. You can space the strings 1 mm apart on any nut width if you want. That is why they just refer to it as narrow or wide. ALthough I will admit that the R3 nut is spaced more similarly to the 1 5/8" nut width guitar I have, which interestingly enough has a Graph Tech pre-slotted nut for a 1 3/4" nut width on it. Why? Because the Graph Tech pre-slotted 1 3/4" nut is spaced narrower than the pre-slotted Graph Tech 1 11/16" nut. Yeah, makes sense, huh? :think:

Yeah, that's crazy. That's why it's best to cut a nut from scratch and get exactly what you want. But that obviously can't be done with locking nuts and is one of their drawbacks.