 | |
 | Download Example 1 Jackson Vol. & Tone 8, Neck/mix/Bridge pups; Egnater Rebel 20 "Smooth Clean" setting; |
| Download Example 2 Jackson, Vol. & Tone 9 - Neck/mix/Bridge pickups; Egnater Rebel 20 "Searing Lead" setting |
| Download Example 3 Jackson Vol. & Tone 10, Bridge pup; Egnater Rebel 20 "Searing Lead" setting |
| Recorded in Sound Studio on a MacBook Pro using Digidesign MBox (SM57; MXL990). | |
In this hot rod issue of Premier Guitar, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the history of this type of guitar, and looking at some modern touches you can add to your current setup. Jackson—one of the first companies to work with hot rod guitars—sent us a new Soloist model from their Custom Shop, and this seems like the perfect issue to review it.
If You Come, They Will Build It
When viewing the Custom Shop’s spec form on their website, the first thing that jumps off the page is the sheer variety of options. Nearly anything you can think of is available. Want a neck-thru seven string Rhoads made out of koa? How about a bolt-on mahogany Kelly? Those options are in just the first section. After that, you get into the neck, parts, electronics and finish. An important note: if it is on the website (and, in some cases, even if it isn’t), you can build it. I do wish there was an interactive way to view the models after picking the parts; I could see myself spending even more time poking through the menus than I already have. It would also be nice to see more from the fruits of my digital labor than a spec form, so I can visualize exactly what I’m getting.
The guitar sent for review wasn’t of my own design, but any trepidation about someone else’s choices was gone the moment I opened the case. The first thing that jumped out was the sheer “metal” look of the guitar. It’s got a silver and black iridescent paint job, and the sharkfin inlays are partially colored red to look dipped in blood—definitely a clever touch. The Jackson logo on the reverse headstock has been bloodied up, too (even cooler). According to Jackson, this guitar is one of nine similar models, each based around the neck design. Right off the bat, I was struck by the quality of the design. The entire body is painted with a swirl that converges underneath the bridge pickup. It helps draw attention to the center of the guitar, a very tasteful touch. It came with a 24-fret neck-through setup and a Floyd Rose tremolo. Just below the 24th fret, the serial number is stamped into the fretboard, yet another subtle detail. The Soloist model, being a superstrat, allows easy high-fret access, letting you take full advantage of every one of the frets. That’s all done by scooping away a good deal of wood where neck meets body. And let me also say, the frets on this guitar are “jumbo” in the same way that Yao Ming is “tall.” They’re huge—a fact that is enhanced by the contours where the neck meets the body.
Another custom touch was the addition of a bright red kill switch, located next to the control knobs. I never hit it accidentally while playing, and the location is perfect—just below the bridge pickup. It’s not just a sound effect, either. It can help you cut off a chord into total silence when you need that, while preserving economy of motion. The hardware on this guitar was all “just right.” The controls have just the right amount of stiffness: you won’t really budge them by accident, and when you move them intentionally, there’s enough resistance to make them trackable. The same goes for the tremolo arm: it stays put it until you move it again.
Playing the Jackson
When first picked up, the guitar has a very solid feel to it. It’s not as heavy as some vintage Les Pauls, but at over eight and a half pounds, it’s got some heft. Part of that solid feeling comes from the neck-through design and the alder wings attached to the maple neck. The neck has a nice feel to it; it’s nowhere near as thin as the Wizard neck on my Ibanez, but it plays nearly as fast. Some of that speed comes from the finish on the back of the neck, in addition to the fantastic construction of the guitar. With a 1-11/16" nut width (2-1/4" at the 12th fret) it’s got a nice, wide neck, even for a superstrat.
The setup of this guitar is nearly flawless. The intonation is spot-on, and the Floyd Rose allows the bar to be pulled up without any string buzz—on open strings, at least; fretting a string and pulling the bar up all the way (raising the pitch up to two and a half steps) does introduce some buzz on the wound strings. I tried some Vai-style divebombs, and was relieved to find the guitar still in tune. After five repeated divebombs, I had to dial in the G string a bit on the fine tuners, but if you don’t over-abuse the whammy bar, you’ll be fine.
 |
The pickups are two Seymour Duncans—a JB in the neck position and a Duncan Distortion in the bridge. This combo allows quite a few tonal variations, with enough control to really get a unique sound. Both pickups give a wide range of tones; fiddling with the tone knob allowed for more—and better—tones than I was expecting. It never quite reached “woman tone” territory, but rolling off the tone on the bridge pickup gave a very warm, smooth sound.
I ran it through an Engater Rebel 20 and was blown away. On the clean settings, it sounded good—thicker and darker than a traditional Strat (but if you want a traditional Strat, you’re probably not looking at a Jackson). With some gain, it started to shine: warm with the neck pickup, and cutting with the bridge. With a lot of gain, the guitar really came alive. Make no mistake, this guitar sounds great all the time, but it’s made for a high-gain situation. The Seymour humbuckers help with this, as they range from a smooth creaminess in the neck to an outright scream at the bridge. With the Rebel, the Jackson let me get some serious crunch on power chords near the nut, and some hot lead tones on the upper frets. The bridge pickup never got too harsh, but I found myself drawn to the neck pickup a bit more because of the smoothness of the tone. In addition to the Rebel 20, I also plugged it into the new Goodsell Black Dog 50 [review on page 179]. Again, it performed best on a high-gain setting, where the nuances of the guitar could really shine through. This guitar was made to be played loud, and run through an amp that moves some air. When you really dig in, you’re rewarded with some seriously rockin’ tones.
The Final Mojo
Overall, Jackson has put together a superb product here. The Soloist model we reviewed has enough weight to give it some serious crunch, without losing the playability they’re known for. Considering that there are near-limitless options available, odds are, Jackson can put together your dream guitar—if you’re looking for a rock axe. It is what it is, and while it has a very versatile set of rock/metal tones, it’s going to be best in that style, not elsewhere.
Buy if...
you want complete control over the design of your dream guitar.
Skip if...
your dream guitar is a ’56 Les Paul Goldtop.
Rating...
MSRP (as reviewed) $4800 - Jackson Guitars - jacksonguitars.com |
Pickup screws with latex tubing.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to eliminate most of these issues. And if you haven’t faced such problems on your Tele, you can still give these a try, and chances are good that you never will. These procedures will not alter the tone of your Telecaster in any way, so it’s better to have it and not need rather than to need it and not have it.
Checking the Pickups
Over the years, I have seen the wildest things coming stock from the factory, especially on budget pickups: unbent metal tabs on neck pickups, loose metal base plates on bridge pickups, bridge pickups only held by the springs, and other crazy stuff.
Let’s start with the neck pickup. Make sure the cover is installed tightly and is not loose in any way. The metal cover is only held by three metal tabs that are bent around the bottom of the pickup, one of them usually connected to the pickup’s ground. Make sure they are tight, holding the metal cover firmly in place. If not, they need to be re-bent. Be careful to not break them.
“Often, these small metal springs can cause feedback, and I’m sure Leo Fender had his reasons for choosing latex tubing instead.”
On the bridge pickup, the metal base plate on the bottom needs to be attached firmly. Check with your fingers to see if it can move. If so, even in only one spot, you need to re-glue it to isolate vibration. Otherwise, it will squeal at high volumes. This is easy to do, and the easiest and best way is to completely take the base plate off, clean it, and re-glue it with a thin layer of silicone from your local Home Depot.
While you are in there, it’s always a good idea to convert both pickups to 3-conductor wiring by breaking the ground connection of the metal cover (neck pickup) and the base plate (bridge pickup). Attach a third wire to one of the lugs of the metal cover and another one to the metal base plate, and solder both to a grounding point of your choice, e.g. the casing of one of the pots. This can be helpful for future mods, like any 4-way switch mod, where this is a mandatory requirem
Un-springing the Pickup Attachment
If your pickups are attached with metal springs to enable height-adjustment, you should replace them with some latex tubing. Often, these small metal springs can cause feedback, and I’m sure Leo Fender had his reasons for choosing latex tubing instead of metal springs. This is cheap, fast, and easy to do; you can get latex tubing from any guitar store or online for only a few cents. (See photo at top.)
Cushioning the Pickups
On a Tele, there’s usually a gap between the bottom of the pickups and the inside of the guitar’s body. This open space can exacerbate feedback issues. Luckily, it’s easy to solve with a piece of foam.
Using a piece of white paper, outline the routing for each pickup. Cut them out as a template for the foam. Then, trim the foam to shape. Place the foam on the bottom of both pickup routings, and you are done. There is no need to glue or attach the foam in any way.
It’s important that the bottom of the pickup is touching the foam so there is no more open gap. I usually use foam that is a little bit thicker than necessary, so the pickup will press on it slightly, making a perfect connection. The type of foam is not important as long as the gap is closed. I prefer to use foam rubber that is easily available in a variety of thicknesses.
Closing Support Routings
On a lot of Telecasters, you can find open support routings from the neck pickup routing towards the electronic compartment. This is for easier access when running the wires of the neck pickup through the body.
Note the various cavities in this typical Telecaster body.
Photo courtesy of Singlecoil (https://singlecoil.com)
There are two ways of routing the wires of the neck pickup through the body: from the neck pickup routing directly into the electronic compartment or into the routing of the bridge pickup, and from there into the electronic compartment, which is the traditional way. In the latter case, make sure all the wires are running underneath the additional piece of foam. If you have any open support routings on your Telecaster body, put some foam in to close them. You don’t need to attach the foam; the pickguard will hold it in place. The kind of foam doesn’t matter, and you can also use things like a small piece of cotton cloth, cotton wool, Styrofoam, etc. in there.
Addressing Bridge Plate Flaws
One of the most common reasons for unwanted feedback is the typical Telecaster bridge plate. The Telecaster bridge system was designed in the ’40s by Leo Fender himself and is crude at best. Its function was simply positioning the strings and providing a rough, easy adjustment of the intonation and the string-height settings. It wasn’t long before Fender released the much-improved bridge design found on the Stratocaster.
The current production Fender vintage bridge plate, as well as most budget aftermarket bridge plates, is made from thin hot-rolled steel in a deep-drawn process. Using this manufacturing process, parts can be made very quickly and cheaply, but at severe cost in quality. The steel used must be very soft and thin to allow it to fold and bend in the corners.
A classic Telcaster bridge plate.
Photo courtesy of Singlecoil (https://singlecoil.com)
Unfortunately, this process creates unusual internal stress in the steel, which can bow the plate so it can’t sit flat on the wooden body. This is a common reason for unwanted feedback on so many Teles. Interestingly, the early vintage bridge plates Fender made used a cold-rolled steel procedure to relieve stress in the material and to avoid this problem. Long live modern mass production!
If you have a Tele with a bowed bridge plate, there are three possible things you can do:
• Change the bowed bridge plate for a straight and even one. (This is the easiest way to avoid any troubles.) There are excellent replacement bridge plates on the market, so you’ll have plenty of choices for materials, designs, finishes, etc.
• Get the bowed bridge plate to a metal fabricator or tool maker so they can try to solve the problem for you. This process will probably cost you more than a new bridge, so this is only an option if it’s a special bridge you want to keep, no matter the cost.
• Drill two small additional holes on the front of the bridge plate, shown as red dots in the picture. After re-installing the bridge plate on the guitar, tightly drill two wood screws through these holes. Often, modern replacement bridges already have these two additional holes. In many cases, this will do the trick, so you don´t have to buy a new bridge.
If you have gone through this entire list and still have problems with feedback, it’s very likely that the pickup itself needs to be re-potted, which a pickup builder can do for you.
Next month, we will stay on the Telecaster subject, taking a close look at the famous Andy Summers Telecaster wiring, so stay tuned!
Until then ... keep on modding!
