[ronster]

I'm in the market for an electric guitar. I have a Martin acoustic which I play most of the time and an Epi LP cutom that was upgraded with grover tuners and EMG active pups that are a little to hard core for the jerry thing.
The following are things I would put at the top of my list for the guitar:
neck thru body construction for sustain
split coil HB's
24 frets
small fast neck as I have small hands
Jerry tone
Under $1,000

Based on the that I have been looking at Carvin DC or SC, Schector C-1 classic, or Jackson soloist. If anybody has played these guitars and could comment on the following it would be appreciated:
Neck size
Overall sound from the stock pups
Jackson and Schector appear to market toward the shredder heavy metal crowd. Not what I want , assuming I would need to replace the pups, what about the Carvin?

I've read that Floyd Rose bridges are a pain the ass and to be avoided, Is that true for any floating bridge and will the guitar have less sustain with a floating type bridge that is locked?

Also many in the Jerry guitar game go for the 3 pups. Is there a need for that or can you get most of your jerry sounds form a split coil dual HB or an HB + SC? Will i be needing to swap out for Dimarzio super 2's or there other stockpups that come close to that sound?

Any other guitars that I should be looking at.

Does updgraded wood in the neck or body, such as mohagany or Koa, make much of a differnce in the tone?


Thanks in advance for any help.

Ron

[wisedyes]

Can't speak to any of the guitars you already mentioned, except for having tried out a few different Schecters at Guitar Center one day and not particularly caring for them that much. However, I recently bought a used Brian Moore i9 model which sounds to be pretty much exactly what you are looking for, and this guitar is fan-freaking-tastic. You may want to look into this line.

They are imported from South Korea, which explains the low price ( I paid $650.00 used for one in mint condition - new my particular model goes for about $1,200 or so ), but the build quality, design, and components are all first rate. The entire iGuitar series has quite a few different configurations to choose from - mine is H-S-H with coil splitting capabilities. The pickups are a Seymour Duncan Alnico Humbucker in the bridge, Alnico Single Coil in the middle, and Seymour Duncan JB in the neck. Has a floating tremelo bridge, and locking Sperzel tuners. Fretboards are a little wide and flat, but the neck profile is slim. Mine is a bolt on, but does have excellent sustain and a very good acoustic "zing" when playing unplugged. Woods are mahogany with a carved maple top, ebony fretboard.

If you can find one of these somewhere I think it would be well worth your investigation. Good luck!

[Tennessee Jedi]

Another view
http://www.noahjames.com/vintagepage/musician.html
Neck Thru ....After playing a Strat for the last 15 years its a big change but I love it.
You would need to swap out the pups/tuners. There are zero Strat sounds which sucks. No cluck at all.But some new pups and stuff will help.
The neck seems smaller and it has 24 frets.
I got a MC 200 for $ 600
I havent upgraded my self yet but its a coming !
Jerry used a similar model in for a show in '79 I think.
Billbbill has one of those Schectors ( C-1 ? ) check out his vids.
I cant remember who but another KInder has a sweet Ibanez git all Jerry'ed out.

I've read that Floyd Rose bridges are a pain the ass and to be avoided, Is that true for any floating bridge and will the guitar have less sustain with a floating type bridge that is locked?


Ron

Floyd Rose is no way to get a Jerry sound. They are a pain to change strings. I think they are great for lots of other stuff. I have an Ibanez 550 which is a blast. Stay in tune for weeks. Jerry probably had his whangy bar blocked out on his Strats.
Guitars rule man !

[jonarobb]

https://www.carvinguitars.com/catalog/g ... odel=dc150

This Carvin is above and beyond anything in it's price range. You can have Carvin add anything you want to it. The base model absolutely sings. I got a chance to use a DC-150 with a beautiful quilted maple top and Carvin's custom onboard pre-amp. I really dug it and I always recommend checking em' out.

[Tennessee Jedi]

I love when they send me a catalog.

[jeffm725]

Another view
http://www.noahjames.com/vintagepage/musician.html
Neck Thru ....After playing a Strat for the last 15 years its a big change but I love it.
You would need to swap out the pups/tuners. There are zero Strat sounds which sucks. No cluck at all.But some new pups and stuff will help.
The neck seems smaller and it has 24 frets.
I got a MC 200 for $ 600
I havent upgraded my self yet but its a coming !
Jerry used a similar model in for a show in '79 I think.

I cant remember who but another KInder has a sweet Ibanez git all Jerry'ed out.

you mean this Ibanez?




I love this guitar, This isa MC400 that has been gutted, routed and jerryized...plays like a dream and is a great way to get a wolf on a budget. However, it isnt so budget anymore. In the last couple years, I have seen MC400's and 500's Go upwards of 2000 dollars for mint versions of the natural Stain ones. Most of the 400 and 500's end up going between 1000-1500 now.... I picked up a MINT MC 500 in 1998 for 350 bucks on ebay. I picked up the MC 400 that is the modded in the picture in 1999 for 275!
The MC500 I have is all original and I will never mod that one because it is a collector now. The 400 had a busted active EQ and some other issues when I got it so I have (had) no problem doing the jerry mods to it. I showed pictures of it on the Ibanez collectors board once and you would have thought I commited treason.Those hard core collectors do not like the idea of cutting these things up, but it is MY axe

[Tennessee Jedi]

[

you mean this Ibanez?




I love this guitar, This isa MC400 that has been gutted, routed and jerryized...plays like a dream and is a great way to get a wolf on a budget. However, it isnt so budget anymore. In the last couple years, I have seen MC400's and 500's Go upwards of 2000 dollars for mint versions of the natural Stain ones. Most of the 400 and 500's end up going between 1000-1500 now.... I picked up a MINT MC 500 in 1998 for 350 bucks on ebay. I picked up the MC 400 that is the modded in the picture in 1999 for 275!
The MC500 I have is all original and I will never mod that one because it is a collector now. The 400 had a busted active EQ and some other issues when I got it so I have (had) no problem doing the jerry mods to it. I showed pictures of it on the Ibanez collectors board once and you would have thought I commited treason.Those hard core collectors do not like the idea of cutting these things up, but it is MY axe

Yep dats the one !
If you start out with a beater with belt buckle rash and chipped here and there than you wont have to feel bad about "ruining a vintage " guitar .....
Guitars are meant to rock not sit in a case somewhere ....

[tigerstrat]

Jackson and Schector appear to market toward the shredder heavy metal crowd. Not what I want , assuming I would need to replace the pups,

(sp. Schecter)

... marketing strategy is fairly irrelevant here, besides you said you wanted "a small fast neck", so you probably SHOULD look at shred-intended guitars. My strat neck is FAT compared to my C-1, although they are both 25.5in.

As far as the pups- the C-1 Classic doesn't really have "metal" -type pickups (which is what Super Distortions ARE anyway), it has Seymour Duncan's most popular "all-purpose" pup set: JB(br) and Jazz(nk) humbuckers which may be wired for split coil, but come wired 5-way as series/parallel combinations of all 4 coils. The C-1 is an odd bird as far as Schecter's go... the only neck thru(/stringthru), and I think the only one that doesn't have the "Duncan-Design" licensed off-brand pups

[frankielee]

Don't know if this helps but I have a Strat for sale for 300 bucks. I think it's still in the classified section on this site.

[Chuckles]

Another view
http://www.noahjames.com/vintagepage/musician.html
Neck Thru ....After playing a Strat for the last 15 years its a big change but I love it.
You would need to swap out the pups/tuners. There are zero Strat sounds which sucks. No cluck at all.But some new pups and stuff will help.
The neck seems smaller and it has 24 frets.
I got a MC 200 for $ 600
I havent upgraded my self yet but its a coming !
Jerry used a similar model in for a show in '79 I think.

I cant remember who but another KInder has a sweet Ibanez git all Jerry'ed out.

you mean this Ibanez?




I love this guitar, This isa MC400 that has been gutted, routed and jerryized...plays like a dream and is a great way to get a wolf on a budget. However, it isnt so budget anymore. In the last couple years, I have seen MC400's and 500's Go upwards of 2000 dollars for mint versions of the natural Stain ones. Most of the 400 and 500's end up going between 1000-1500 now.... I picked up a MINT MC 500 in 1998 for 350 bucks on ebay. I picked up the MC 400 that is the modded in the picture in 1999 for 275!
The MC500 I have is all original and I will never mod that one because it is a collector now. The 400 had a busted active EQ and some other issues when I got it so I have (had) no problem doing the jerry mods to it. I showed pictures of it on the Ibanez collectors board once and you would have thought I commited treason.Those hard core collectors do not like the idea of cutting these things up, but it is MY axe

Can I get an AMEN? Doing much the same to my 400 next week - can't wait!

Two MC400s, a stunning dark stain and a very nice blonde, went a couple of weeks ago on Ebay for $990 & $1075 respectively. An MC500 (carved top version) went for $1,250. An MC300 (without active EQ.. and w/a Kahler trem system??) went for $700. The necks on the Musicians are unbelievable; play one and you'll be a convert. These 78-79 guitars are real pieces of craftmanship and put together solidly.

The active EQ on my 400 went out about three months ago, and the sound with the stock pups is actually very good through a Fender amp - close, but not exactly Jerry - and they are wired single/out of phase (Bobby late 70's)/hum. With the active EQ, you get a more agressive sound, as there is up to a 25db boost. You could keep an eye out for an MC300 and swap out the pups for the DS2's and be really close. I like the 400 because you don't have to do too much cutting to get to a Tiger-esque axe - or any at all if you don't want a third pup (mine isn't going to be an exact Tiger/Rosie clone, but will have many of the same options available once it's done).

Good luck, and keep an eye out for those Ibanez Musicians (and screw what the collectors tell ya)!

[Pete B.]

Hey one thing about the Carvins you should be aware of is that, on the used buy/sell/trade market, they go for ~50% of the new price.

I've had two, a '96 Koa DC127 ($350 on Craigslist) and a '04 DC727 with the DC400 style electroncs and a bunch of other upgrades ($250+the DC127 from another Craigslister... 'was like $1299 new).

If I get another I will go for a 3 pickup version, like a DC747.

[tigerstrat]

Hey one thing about the Carvins you should be aware of is that, on the used buy/sell/trade market, they go for ~50% of the new price.

That's also true of the Schecters ,and I would assume for the Jacksons too. One thing about Jacksons is there is one model that comes w/ a string/neck-thru AND ebony fretboard... forgot the model#

[ronster]

Pete, thats a great price you got on the Carvin 127 in Koa. They appear to be selling for about 425-450 in the standard wood on ebay. Can you comment on the upgraded active electronics in the 400. Is it worth the extra dollars? You also said you would get the 3 pu model. With the coil tapping what is the advantage to adding a single coil to the double HB set up?

Most Jacksons come with the Flyod Rose so unless I run across a good deal on one with a fixed bridge I doubt I will go that route.
Looks like a Carvin DC or a C1 classic are in the running. I've noticed the Diamond series C1's are cheaper than the the others. They appear to be the same just older. Anyone know anything about those?

Hey Bill, can you weigh in on your C1?

[CaptainTrips]

Another view
Guitars rule man !

Amen Brother!

A good neck thru is gonna be tough to find in that price range, IMHO.

[Chuckles]

Ronster -

Just noticed where you're from... If you want to get together and check out the Ibanez, you are more than welcome; just drop me a PM. It's going in the shop next week (hopefully!), so it would have to be soonish...

- Chuck