Jackson – Service and setup

I seem to be having a short run of this sort of thing, not quite my cup of tea though.  This one has a few problems as well, just needs a little TLC and a setup.

Jackson guitar on the bench before any work was carried out

Some of the hardware has seen better days.  A couple of new pickup rings and new screws all round will sort that out.

Close up of the Jackson with it's broken pickup rings.

Most of the screws in the trem’ are rather corroded too.

Closeup view of a Floyd Rose Tremolo fitted to a Jackson guitar

So that’s a good place to start, pull it all apart and give them all a good clean.

Floyd Rose saddles removed for cleaning

Then replace those pickup rings and screws…

Pickups removed from a Jackson in order to replace the pickup surrounds

Looking better already.

Closeup of pickups with new surrounds fitted to a Jackson Guitar

Give the electrics a good clean as well.

Cleaning a set of Jackson Guitar volume and tone controls with switch cleaner

With a new set of strings the trem’ action was sitting rather low.

Floyd Rose tremolo fitted to a Jackson Guitar

so tighten up the springs a little.

Adjusting the springs for a Floyd Rose Tremolo fitted to a Jackson Guitar

That’s better.

A Floyd Rose Tremolo fitted to a Jackson Guitar

Into a standard 5 point setup.  The neck relief…

Assessing the neck curvature of a Jackson Guitar with a calibrated straight edge.

Too high so tighten the truss-rod.

Adjusting the Truss-Rod on a Jackson Guitar

Then the action at the 12th fret.  A little low now so raise the bridge.

Adjusting the bridge action height on a Floyd Rose tremolo fitted to a Jackson Guitar

The action at the 1st fret.

Using a feeler gauge to check the action height at the first fret on a Jackson Guitar

Also rather low so slip a shim under the locking nut.

A shim which will be placed under the locking nut of a Jackson guitar in order to raise the action at the first fret.

Lastly the intonation and the pickup heights and it’s good to go.

A Jackson Guitar after a full service by Guitar George

For anything else you might need check out http://guitar-george.co.uk

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *