Jackson RR1 sounds like dogshit, help

[redrol]

First my rental house has been fucking up my guitars. Somehow its making the frets and any metal exposed rust. Both my Jackson JJ1 and RR1 got all screwed up. I had to disassemble everything and clean it and polish the frets on 4 guitars. Sucked. Next my Mesa cab sounded like shit. I decided to take the 2x GT75s out of it (had them in an X pattern) and put the original v30s back in. Much better, I hate GT75s I have decided.

So my JJ1 with a Seymour Duncan JB sounds awesome. It somehow regained volume and gain when I cleaned the output jack. Problem is with my RR1 Jackson.

I cannot make this goddamn guitar sound good. So far I have tried a SD Distortion, a Dimarzio Tone Zone, and a few other odds and ends. It always sounds like muddy shit... The original pups were Jackson J80s, I ripped those out and the booster electronics a while back. Im beginning to think that Jackson put weird/different wired pots in the control cavity. I cannot for the life of me make the pickups work correctly. If i wire it like SD's wiring chart, I get muddy shitty sound from the bridge pickup (which is the SD Distortion right now). I disconnected the neck pickup for now. It sounds horrid no matter what I try.

So I hooked the pickup directly to the output wires. This sounds... passable but shitty. FAIL.
Before this I had it wired like it was supposed to be, but I noticed when I flicked the selector switch to the neck (which is disconnected) I get a trebly quiet version of the tone with no body... but the WRONG PICKUP IS SELECTED WITH NOTHING aCONNECTED?! All I can figure is the pots that were left over from the original electronics are wired all backwards or wrong compared to what I am expecting.

What the FUCK is the deal with this Jackson RR1.

 

[symbolic253]

might be wired wrong and maybe try some emg's they never fail me or a dimarzio x2n idk ive had the same problem with one of my esp's i own know no matter what pickup was in it, it was mud central now i have paf pro and it sounds super sweet even tho hate that pickup. keep searchin for the right pickup

 

[Tawlks]

For the rust issue, clean the rust off while it's fairly fresh and buy a dehumidifier, if you don't know what that is, it removes water from the air.

 

[noob_pwn]

For the rust issue, clean the rust off while it's fairly fresh and buy a dehumidifier, if you don't know what that is, it removes water from the air.

+1 for the dehumidifier.

As for the RR1, i would strip it of electronics and rewire it from scratch

 

[Deleted member 8761]

Hey man, I feel your pain, nice gear but not the sound you want. For what it's worth, I had a SD in my SL2H and could not get a tight rhythm sound. Just not articulate enough for me. In the end I replaced it with a Dimarzio D-activator. Much better now. I would look into the new EMG 81-x set. They come with a solderless connection system. Should be an easy installation. That way you know that the wiring will be good and you probably have to start all over anyhow.

And yes, a dehumidifier is a must for moisty environments. You don't want your amp to go next...

 

[satannica]

I would second the replacement of the electronics. Or at the very least contact cleaner. But if the electronics are as old as the guitar, sod it. Rip em out, start over.

Check the pickup with a DMM too and make sure it meets SD's posted specs.

I had a guitar like this too, a 1980s fender floyd rose strat. The guy who sold it to me told me it was as "repairs only" lol. I first blamed the shite fender pickups (wish I never threw them away!), then blamed the guitar for being crappy despite "cleaning it" with WD40 (I was young, didn't know). I then relented, stripped out all the electrics - even the ground to the tremolo claw - rewired it from scratch with new pots, switch, capacitor, wiring and a new set of EMG SA pickups.

This was also the first guitar I did a for-real fret level and setup on after practising on cheapy junk. Properly radius'd flat, floyd rose stripped, cleaned, reassembled and setup, the works. I spent a good few days on that axe!

The first notes were golden. I would still have it if it wasn't for the house fire. Shame.

If you're not confident with your soldering skills, either go the EMG sodlerless route or get a tech to replace it all for you.

 

[romanianreaper]

Years ago I had a RR5 with a JB in the bridge. I could not stand the way the guitar sounded. I didn't even have it for a day. I actually like the JB but I did not like it in that guitar.

 

[locoed]

I installed EMG's in my RR-1 the stock pups
sounded like poo poo,need active or at least hotter
pups in those guitars since there's not much wood.

 

[mrhiwatt]

I have 2 RR1's. I did not like the stock JB set up at for some reason. I replaced the JB with a Dimebucker. The other RR1 I set up with a set of SD BLackouts. I now like both guitars I change the Eq a little on the amp when switching between them but they are great metal machines. I would rewire and perhaps try a different pickup in the bridge.


MrHiwatt