RRXMG facelift/upgrade

[Hamner1]

Not sure if posts between August & early January will show up, so I'm starting this over. I will post pics & process later, it's a PIA to do that on my phone.

So I think this is rather self explanatory. I am making a Concorde Tribute out of a RRXMG. You would be correct in stating it will not be exact, which being exact is not what I am trying to accomplish. If I wanted to have an exact replica I would shell out the $12,000+ Jackson is asking for their tribute. Anyway I also will post pitfalls, successes, and part #s in hopes of helping others when they are trying to upgrade their Import Jacksons.

So the RRXMG as she was original from the factory.


1st mod was to add the RR truss rod cover from Frets On The Net. It fits perfect & looks great. Thank you again Dave.


Next came pulling the EMGs, battery wiring, adding gold potentiometer knobs, & a gold screw in trem bar for the Floyd Special. I had intended to go with this bar when the gold OFR showed up, but also ordered a push in style gold bar to try as well. Mainly because while I find the screw in style bar better than the collar style it still has some limitations. You have to set the trem housing at which ever point you want the bar to stop to minimize as much play as possible in the bar when in use. In truth the play as significantly less than the collar version but it makes using the bar to the back for a "pull up" impossible. Yes I know there is a solution to the problem which involves actually pulling up on the bar while in standard playing /use position. My experience with this is that it is difficult to get a smooth increase in note pitch flutter doing it that way.

[msaint65]

Looking forward to seeing the finished guitar......really enjoying the thread.

Mark

[warlok]

Just out of curiosity, how it thye neck compared to your KV Pro? Shape, thickness, width, and just the "feel" of it.. I have a Soloist Pro and may be picking up a RRXMG..

[Zedder]

Just out of curiosity, how it thye neck compared to your KV Pro? Shape, thickness, width, and just the "feel" of it.. I have a Soloist Pro and may be picking up a RRXMG..

I have two RRXMGs and a ´92 Soloist Pro. Neck shape and thickness and feel is almost same, I think. I have a Rhoads Pro too and it´s neck is little bit thicker.

[Hamner1]

Just out of curiosity, how it thye neck compared to your KV Pro? Shape, thickness, width, and just the "feel" of it.. I have a Soloist Pro and may be picking up a RRXMG..

I think the KV is slightly thinner & wider. I'll check them with the calipers tonight & report back.

Edit:
Somewhat confirmed (measurements in mm)
Fret- @nut, 1st, 8th, 12th, 24th, Depth @ 12th fret
KV PRO: 44, 45, 51, 53, 57.5, 20
RRXMG: 43, 44, 50, 52, 57, 20
So wider, yes, but only by 1 mm. Thickness of neck appears to be the same (at least at the 12th fret)

I know I mentioned in a post, how the RRXMG would not fit in the new case but fits in the old case, well I confirmed that as well...
KV PRO: 42.5 inches
RRXMG: 46 inches
Measured from tip of headstock to long fin.

[Hamner1]

Oh yeah the pic in 1st post also shows the updated 3 way blade switch from AllParts (EP-0075-000). This was a switch that I had laying around for a different project that never got done.
1st problem with it was the screws were too short to fit through the body & into the switch. Solution was to go to ACE Hardware & source out 6-32 x 1/2" machine screws Here is a pic of the original screws & the longer ones I purchased.


All right, it's late & I'm tired, so more to come tomorrow.

[Hamner1]

I ordered parts from Stew Mac. Low & tall tapered rings (2072-G & 2073-G), .022 Orange Drop cap (1281), a 3rd gold potentiometer knob (0157-G), and a 500k potentiometer (0130). FYI, the Stew Mac gold knobs are more fine knurled & slightly different than the All Parts versions I previously obtained.


The standard Alpha 500k (0130) shaft was not tall enough, it was also a tight fit. I thought this was due to the tab/tang sticking up off the base. After removing the tang, it still was not tall enough, so I went with an Alpha mini potentiometer (3477), actually 2 of them. These also had a tang, which I removed & they just barely fit through. I am thinking a long shaft potentiometer (3482) is what one would need to use all of the washers & nuts & be tall enough. If I find this guitar too bright I may at some point order those & see if they "fit" better.
Pic of the tab/tang issue. I used a wire cutter to snip it off.


I ordered some Wilkinson EZ Lock Tuners (JIN-HOR1) from Guitar Heads (Ebay).



The retaining screw on these are an exact fit to the Jackson tuner. The main shaft is a tad bit slimmer than the Jacksons, but not enough to be an issue. Once the shaft nut was tightened down there was no movement. Here is a shot of a tuner on the Jackson next to the Jackson tuner & then the full set installed.

[Hamner1]

So I obtained Floyd parts from Musicians Arsenal; OFR w/R3 nut, 32mm Fat Brass L Block(RG-FBB), Push in style gold OFR arm (FRTAPIGP), & a Schaller Adjustable Claw (SCHSC). I ordered from MA since I had previously & like there speed of service, as well as, they were the only outfit offering to select which Floyd nut you wanted with the OFR purchase.


My biggest fear was that the Floyd nut would be too tall & notes @ the 1st few frets would be sharp (had this issue with OFR swap on SLSXMG). Oddly enough there were a couple of 1mm (if even that thick) paper shims under the Floyd Special nut. I left these out because as you can see the OFR nut string slots are taller.


For a reference here is the Floyd Special nut measurements:


The Schaller claw went in smoothly & it was easy to position the hole in the trem cavity cover for the allen wrench adjustment. 5/64" hole is the right size, but I decided to go with an 11/64" hole to give the wrench "some extra room". I got lazy & instead of soldering the ground wire to the claw I just attached it to one of the mounting screws. Hopefully I don't have any ground issues.
As you can see by the picture above the 32mm brass L block is in & fits perfect. The OFR came with a 37mm block & it is a tad too long. If I wasn't using the back cover it would have been fine. Oh and for those that don't know the Floyd Special had a 34mm block.



So installing the Push in style arm presented me with a couple of issues. 1st getting the collar into the trem plate. I was not able to just simply push it in (tight fit). Initially I was concerned with having a flat surface, damaging other parts & bending the base plate. I removed all the string saddles, screws & sustain blocks. I then drilled a 3/8" hole into a scrap piece of 2x4 to accommodate the collar shaft below the baseplate. (the piece is about 1.5"x1.5"x2.5ish"). I initially tried a hammer with a credit card thick piece of plastic as a collar finish protector. It would not work as I could not get a strait even blow to drive the collar in. My solution was to use a bar clamp to get it started if not all the way in. I only had enough grip strength/torque to get the collar 3/4 of the way in. At that point I finished with the hammer. Pic of the collar in.


My next issue was the arm height. It was too low. The arm would not clear the potentiometer knobs. If I set the set screw tight to hold the bar higher then it would not swing out of the way. So off to the hardware store. Essentially I needed the arm to be about a 1/4" taller. I purchased some 1/4" spacers from ACE hardware and they were too wide of a diameter, but not by much. I lost 2 of them trying to sand them narrower. So screw that idea & back to the hardware store I went.
Realizing the OFR is metric & I needed something, larger than 3/16" but smaller than 1/4", this time I saw metric set screws. the M6x6 set screw appeared to be the right height & diameter so I got it. Low & behold you would be hard pressed to find a better solution that didn't involve some sort of tooling or sacrificing a different trem arm to get a 6 or 7mm piece of round metal. At any rate the set screw slips right in the collar shaft. If it were a hair or 2 wider it would have been a snug press in fit. As it is there is no room for it to wiggle/move in the collar but it will come out by turning the guitar face down. Here are some shots of before & after.




Setup stuff coming on next post.

[warlok]

Really coming along nice! Keep the updates coming. And thanks for the neck info!

[Hamner1]

I need to find more time so I can get this done.
I didn't get much farther today. It has been awhile since I've done any soldering, so it was slow going & all I got done was tinning some wires & laying down some solder on the potentiometers. It is also very cramped in the RR cavity, so I made a cardboard template. Hopefully this will make it easier to get all the connections made.

[Hamner1]

Well it's been 2+ months & she is in the same state. It sucks that real life obligations get in the way. So off she went to a local tech that I have used for years. He will finish the electronics, shave the nut shelf, & set her up. I should have it back by the end of the week.
Sometimes it's worth it to part with some cash.

[Hamner1]

Done.
Complete front & back.



Some quick measurements & picks of setup. I thank Paul @ Flatland Guitars in Fargo for the speedy & great setup to get this project completed finally done. If you're ever in/near Fargo check them out.




Floyd setup, back with no battery.

[Hamner1]

Electronics

[Hamner1]

Man I dig these passives. '59 neck & Custom Custom bridge. I rarely use the neck pickup, but it is there when if I need it.
Wired up: bridge volume, neck volume, tone. Switch positions are normal. Battery wiring completely removed.

I think I got all or most of the parts info listed. If you have any questions on parts or procedure let me know. I may add a quick video to hear these pickups.

[warlok]

That came out great! And thanks for all the detailed info on fitting and such. On your info I grabbed some of those Wilkinson tuners. Good quality so far and perfect fit in my RRTMG.