Belated NGD: Something Old and "Eerie"

[groverj3]

I always wanted a Jackson in their Eerie Dess Swirl finish, and I saw an old DK2 on Reverb for a reasonable price and jumped at it.

It was looking kind of sad:



Dry fretboard, broken pickup ring, some oxidation on the frets. However, these are a fantastic modding platform. It got the full refurb treatment:

- EMG 81X + 2x SX
- Full solderless wiring
- Relocate volume control to tone position and fill the extra hole
- Metal low profile pickup ring
- Mostly black hardware (some parts are hard to find, but the black + chrome works)
- 1000 series Floyd
- Stainless steel Floyd Rose bolts
- Titanium string lock blocks
- Push-in arm
- Usual fret polish and fretboard cleaning

After:




Plays great! Set it up in D standard and it rips.

Not so great, there were two headstock breaks (the tip and through the lowest string tuner hole). But they appear to be well-repaired so I'm not going to complain too much. However, sometimes when you rescue something old there are surprises.

Some surprises are good though. Basically zero fret wear on this.

My biggest problem: now with 9 guitars I have run out of guitar stand space. I told my wife I'd sell one, but sssshhhhh I don't think I will.

 

[Crungy]

Hell yeah, congrats! Such an awesome finish and your thread title delivered lol

 

[sell2792]

Can you compare the 81X to a regular 81? If so, how do you like it? Also, sick guitar!

 

[groverj3]

Can you compare the 81X to a regular 81? If so, how do you like it? Also, sick guitar!

Hard to say, as I never know how to describe pickups.

I do have an 81 in the bridge of my C standard guitar. The 81X may have less of a midrange spike, and seems to be less hot in general. I don't like having to drastically change my amp settings with different guitars, but the added output of actives does necessitate this. The X series don't have this issue though, and have more "passive-like" output.

 

[groverj3]

I'll add, almost all the parts for the refurb were used, except the pickup ring and locking nut. Because I was doing this on the cheap.

Also, it's hard to find the proper locking nuts for these. They are stamped BH43 on the underside. I wasn't able to find a black one and tried a couple different random options. The one on there is from "Musiclily" on Amazon and has the proper height, but the wrong string spacing. It's totally playable, but of anyone knows of an properly fitting nut then that would be great. They do show up on eBay/Reverb from time to time. Just overpriced.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

Congrats...imho, an iconic Jackson finish.

I go back and forth between this and the 'Bolted Metal Plate' finish. I've owned the 'Pile-o-Skulls' until a friend talked me out of it.

 

[ZLE]

@groverj3 Cool guitar. How's your intonation btw, bolt placement on the Floyd (particularly on the G and high E) seems odd?

 

[Nightside]

That is fucking sexy. Great choice with black hardware. The chrome just takes too much attention from the EDS finish.

A Floyd Rose Special/1000 R3 should be a fit and has the 12" nut radius as well.

 

[Nightside]

Also if you want that Jackson USA look, get a Seymour Duncan humbucker ring. That's the matt black plastic type used on USA Jacksons.