Jackson PC1 love

[HurricaneJesus]

I find myself wanting one of these....bad. Seem like they don't often show up used and when they do it's not what one would call a bargain. Show me some pics then tell me how awful they are.

[dspellman]

Originally Posted by HurricaneJesus

I find myself wanting one of these....bad. Seem like they don't often show up used and when they do it's not what one would call a bargain. Show me some pics then tell me how awful they are.

They're expensive guitars, for starters, and not a lot of them get sold (at a guess -- I've got no access to Jackson sales figures). They're also a bit specialized, what with the Sustainer tucked in there. One caution; the PC1 (as I've recently found to my chagrin) uses an old sustainer design that appears only on this guitar. Other Jackson guitars use a Sustainiac kit that works exactly the same, but Phil Collen has kept this version alive, I think, in part because it's whatever he used back in the day. Contrary to some opinion, it's not better than the new Fernandes and Sustainiac styles (both of which are improved and are being improved further still), but Jackson does charge through the nose for it ($900?) and ONLY Jackson can fix it, and Jackson service on these is abyssmal. With other sustainers there's either really good service from the factory or there are really knowledgeable techs (Gary Brawer in SF is one I can think of) who can fix or replace them quickly, should it become necessary.

In short, while I looked at the guitar briefly, I went elsewhere AND ended up with a sustainer-equipped guitar.

[HurricaneJesus]

What did you wind up going with, ds?

[lifeson1]

Originally Posted by HurricaneJesus

What did you wind up going with, ds?

Insert insane photos of DS' Agile LP Custom and Shon LP.... Lol. Very cool guitars, I'm sure he will post them here....

I wouldn't mind a Purple PC-1. Every tie I think of buying one, I do end up going elsewhere, for some reason...

[b2sc]

Here's mine. Nice fat neck, FR stays in tune forever and the sustainer works just fine. The Dinky body is very comfortable. I love the gold hardware on these.

This one's top is like looking into a swimming pool...

[RCM78]

I have one in au'Natural. Great guitar, nice fat comfortable neck with rounded edges. Plays great too, I swapped the super 3 for an Aldrich. The brought out the highs a bit more. I have to admit, I have no use for the sustainer and I might just remove it. It places a slight load on the bridge pickup reducing it's output. Other then that I love it.

[tsar nicholas]

Definitely one of my favorite shred machines. I like the crazy-shaped early '90s ones especially

[deflep]

I had a sick custom shop pc1 with a dan lawrence adrenalize graphic.

However, I couldn't get a good tone out of it to save my life. Guitar felt lifeless.

Phil mods the floyds with titanium blocks to inprove the sustain and now i know why. For the cost, get a Suhr Modern.

Alex

[dspellman]

Originally Posted by lifeson1

Insert insane photos of DS' Agile LP Custom and Shon LP.... Lol. Very cool guitars, I'm sure he will post them here....

I wouldn't mind a Purple PC-1. Every tie I think of buying one, I do end up going elsewhere, for some reason...

I'm sure you can find shots of those guitars elsewhere here; they've been posted enough. I should shoot them again, though. Several things have changed. For those who haven't seen them, they're just LP type guitars with sustainers, carved neck heels, kill switches, moved controls, Floyds, an interesting pickup setup and a few tonal mods.

I've come close with several PC-1's, but, as lifeson1 does, end up going elsewhere, and for no particularly compelling reason. They're hellaciously nice guitars.

In my case, I keep thinking that I could pick up something else with all the wood and fret work at the same level or better from Carvin, Suhr, Tyler, etc. A Carvin DC-145, for example, would be a neck-through version with 24 frets, 25" scale, the ebony fretboard I prefer over maple and a choice of 14" or 20" radius. Adding a sustainer, either sustainiac in the control cavity like the PC1 or a Fernandes in a separate rout like those on my LPs, runs about $250 for the kit and $250 for the installation. In fact, I have a rare 25.5" scale neck-through Carvin that I would LOVE to have duplicated in PC1 fettle. In any case, the whole thing would probably run around $2000 with an insane quilted-maple or flamed koa top, stainless frets and, say, a koa or mahogany body/neck, sustainer and all.

Suhr makes a very cool set neck that I've had my eye on for a while now, and I'm even squinting at the Tyler/Variax guitars, trying to see if Gary Brawer is up to the challenge of putting a sustainer on one of those. So far no Floyd on those guitars, but I know Line 6 is working on one.

[maltomario]

I guess I'm one of the few who love PC1s. THe sustainers on them are in my opinion superior to the fernandes and the sustainiac variants, having owned all three at one point in time. But try them all and form your own opinion.

I own three PC1s.. the older ones I prefer over the newer ones, but they're all very nice instruments. I think they're fantastic guitars with excellent tone. The stock HB pickup is a great choice for both rhythm and lead playing. the middle pup is a bit weak compared to the bridge, so that's awkward to use in a live setting. The necks are very comfortable.

These guitars are not for everyone. first they're expensive, yes, but they also stray far from tradition. They have their own 'vibe' going on, so if you're looking for a clone of a classic design, they are not for you.. Build quality excellent and they are stunning in person. too bad more stores don't carry them, and if they do (MF) they only stock 2 colors.

Here's mine:









this wasn't really intended to use for sound comparison purposes, and its a shitty cell cam vid with AGC, but here's a clip of me playing the blue one, straight into a VFX5212 2x12 tube amp, no pedals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0sEwB8nQwU

[leonard d rock]

nice guitars. is the middle pup set nearer the bridge rather than in a middle position?

[maltomario]

Originally Posted by leonard d rock

nice guitars. is the middle pup set nearer the bridge rather than in a middle position?

yep. thats one of the 'non traditional' features I was talking about. lol.

it does help though if you're one of the types of players whose picking technique has you hitting the middle pickup constantly on HSH guitars.. it gives you more space to avoid.

[EZchair Picker]

I just received a PC1 this week. Unfortunately I had to order it 'blind' from an internet dealer since these are near impossible to find in any of my local shops. Initial impressions were that it was a beautiful guitar and sounded great unplugged, but felt a little weird and sounded really hot and muddy through my amps. I spent a couple hours playing around getting the action and pick ups adjusted. (just a note for future owners that the allen wrench for the truss rod can be a little finnicky to get in). For reference, I am used to playing fender american series teles and strats with the modern c neck and 9.5 straight radius. The PC1 feels like a slightly fatter c shape (very comfortable and very fast) but the string spacing is much wider, I'm guessing due to the 12-16 compound radius. That is taking a little getting used to. After playing it the past few days, I went back to a fender and thought wow...what a difference. The jackson allows for faster, cleaner runs where as I feel that I'm tripping over strings on my fenders playing the exact same passages. What felt weird at first feels really good now. I just hope it doesn't spoil my fenders for me! As to the sound, adjusting to pickups did make noticeable difference, but the super 3 in the bridge still seemed to be too mid and bass heavy. Then I decided to do some A/B comparisons between the PC1 and my other guitars. That's when it hit me. I don't have another guitar that sounds as full, lively and resonates and sustains (without sustainer) as nicely as the PC1. This bolt on jackson could easily put some more expensive neck through guitars to shame. I started EQing it more like a lester than a fat strat and all of the sudden, the mud lifted and interaction between the guitar and amp started to take on life. By comparison, my fenders now sound rather dull next to it. There's some nice variety of tones found as well, especially using the tone knob on the single coils pups.

Initially I though I'd made a mistake and was contemplating returning it. Fast forward a few days with some lessons learned and a little familiarity, and I really can't imagine what I was thinking then. I guess a really great guitar can change the concepts you thought you knew and reshape your thinking on things.

[Sherman]

I love my PC1! As others have noted the stock DiMarzio sounds muddy/murky. I installed a Motor City Torque for the DiMarzio and it sounds better. My guess is that a Bare Knuckle Mule will sound even better (more open sounding) based on previous experience with the Mule.

[EZchair Picker]

For you guys who changed out pickups.....how did you do it? I quickly looked at mine and it looks like they are connected to the sustainer board via some sort of clip.