New/ old guitar day . 89 Jackson SL1 pre production Soloist.

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One of the very few times I ever was blown away by just how well a guitar could play was the first time I played an SL1 in the mid 80s . The compound radius, excellent fret work ,6100 frets and attention to detail that was missing on pretty much everything else at the time. And then Jeff Beck had 3 that he was using so that was it . But in the UK there was practically none short of importing one at huge expense on top of the then nearly twice of the price of a new Les Paul custom. To cut a long story short I got one and have owned 6 over the years. The best ones by far are built between 86 and 90 if you don't count the Professional made in Japan in 1990 but these have to be the first runs because they quickly started to down grade the specs. Then you have to have a Floyd and most built then have either a Kahler or a Jackson JT6 which is ok but the lock nut was garbage and not compatible with a floyd nut without modification to the guitar. The Kahler is just a complete tone sucking string breaking POS so those are out. In 87 with the Jem 777 Jackson was feeling the competition and people wanted a real Floyd with the proper lock nut so with the advent of the Schaller floyd available to license was a way of not having to buy the bridges retail from Kramer. Back to now; I regret selling almost no guitars that I have ever owned except a Soloist from this window with all the right details thinking I would easily find another if I wanted it, was I wrong . In 1990 they changed the speck and in the mid 90s the truss rod which now interferes with the lock nut screws. They make the body in different wood and have reduced the depth of the neck section adding body wood under it . This only leaves the Mike Shannon limited and the 30th anniversary models as they should be. These are already a decade old rare and rising in price.
Finally I have found a SL1 from the time I want specs I want in 9.5 condition. Two dings no wear of any description and never altered in any way from new. Looking good and playing perfectly without me touching it at all. Not bad for a 34 year old guitar.
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Still go the plastic on the truss rod cover.
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Perfect action and a matching radius with a floyd nut is rare indeed.
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The only visible wear on the guitar is the logo in the single coils is rubbing off .

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Nice original style controls cavity.
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Just a near perfect example of the best of the best from the 80s. This one is going nowhere :ROFLMAO:
 
Wow, that's super clean and the neck is hot.:love Congrats!

What's the scoop on that bridge pickup? Is it blades or pole pieces under that cover?
 
Playing it plugged in thinking "this isn't a paf" it is a on examination a J80C 13.6k the list said J50B and and J100 single coils. This makes more sense. Nothing has been touched in it though so it hasn't been changed.
 
Playing it plugged in thinking "this isn't a paf" it is a on examination a J80C 13.6k the list said J50B and and J100 single coils. This makes more sense. Nothing has been touched in it though so it hasn't been changed.
Does that make the output balance between the humbucker and the single coils even more extreme?
 
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