Selling: Jackson DK2T

It's gonna be an emotional farewell - saying goodbye to my Jackson DK2T (made in Japan). It's the final guitar I bought from the Swee Lee Katong branch at Katong Shopping Center before the store moved to I12 Katong which had also shut down. The Seymour Duncan pickups are default from the factory & it's one of my guitars with a mean straight-to-amp tone. Thanks for understanding that my price is final, everything goes to my chemo bills in the mean time & it's gonna be tougher in time to come as I will be on no-pay medical leave. 

• Jackson: DK2T made in Japan (generic bag included, minimum padding)
• Default pickups: Seymour Duncan JB (b) / Jazz (n)
• Mods: 1) Push-pull coil split tone pot 2) Russian K40Y-9 tone capacitor
• Self-collect: CCK / Yew Tee mrt station
• No reservations / trades
• Confirmation / queries: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $800 (final)

Agent orange

I got this Jackson DK2T for a bargain & it's proving its worth.

The usual maintenance; wipe down, re-moisturized fretboard, cleaned electronics & re-strung with Darco 9s.

I must say that the Seymour Duncans I have in various guitars are sounding good with the DS-1. I usually avoid using a distortion unit & let the high gain amp pull off all the aggression with an overdrive unit instead. However, I'm backing off the gain over at the amp a wee bit more these days to let a more commanding pedal colour the tone. So far the DS-1 is winning it & living its reputation to be a no-frills unit since day one. The pickups in this guitar: JB (b)/ Jazz (n). The JB is manifesting a deeper thump despite its reputation for being treble-inclined. 

So something happened along the way; that screw there was the culprit. I was removing the mounting ring & the said screw won't budge obviously due to its dead state. Had to use a larger screwdriver to force it out & the tension release stressed the structure hence the crack. I was wondering why this particular screw ended up this corroded when the other three were not, given the fact that I meticulously wax all screw threads to prevent any untoward incidences involving corrosion & permanent grounding. I might have overlooked this one. I have spare pickup mounting rings in the house so no issues pertaining to replacements. 

Orange in the case

When the year draws to a close & you have fulfilled your purchase intentions, you look back at what you have & think of ways to better address some needs.

I have basically closed my accounts for 2013 so some funding goes to storage provisions. My Jackson DK2T was given a deserving resting place; a GATOR GC-ELECTRICA-A hard case. As you can see above, it sports a universal headstock compartment space so it will accommodate many designs. I'm also making it a point to avoid buying fibre-type cases for a simple reason- they attract mold.

Played this week

All guitars played since Monday (L-R):

1. Yamaha RGXA2-  I'm paying more attention to guitars with hollow/ semi-hollow bodies as these instruments sound different with intense distortion. They manifest this different kind of thickness as well but the RGXA2's default pickups have to go. Waiting for replacements to be available...
2. Gibson Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker)- still trying to like Gibson LPs, still trying. PFFTTTT.
3. Jackson DK2T- One of the most rewarding guitar in my possession, those Duncans in there sound... I've loved Duncans all along so I have nothing negative to say :-)
4. Schecter Omen 6- I'm really glad to have this guitar in the house, it goes to show that you can have a good guitar without spending a bomb. Also, the pickups in there are superb: TESLA's Opus2/ Nitro. I think the Nitro is my most rewarding discovery.
5. Edwards E-MA-100SD/QM- I'm rather averse to singlecut designs, namely because it alludes too much to the Les Paul- play any singlecut guitar & the other person in the store would go, 'Oh, it's a Les Paul'. But manufacturers like Edwards know what they are doing when it comes to a thoughtful design, regardless of the outline, of course. People like me wouldn't mind owning a singlecut if they are appealing in terms of playing ergonomics. Janet said there'd be more Edwards to come (@ Davis) & I'll definitely be on a lookout for them :-)

The powder solution

I removed the neck of my Jackson's DK2T yesterday & in the process of doing so, I felt the tight grip exerted by the body pocket on the neck itself. To me, this is a good sign, it is proof that Jackson did well in ensuring a tight grip there so that no neck movements would undermine tuning issues during play. Take a look at some Fender neck pockets (especially the '70s model) & note the atrocious gaps between the neck & the body's pocket edges. If you can fit a credit card into that gap, re-consider your purchase (doubt there are any more of such horrible QC today but do keep this in mind).

Removing it was rather easy but fitting it back was a challenge. The most sensible way to overcome this setback was to knock the neck into place with a hammer or mallet but the low-tech way of doing it is to apply powder at the neck edges, which I did. Elementary Science would tell us this reduces friction so it helped solve the problem.

Plate buffer

This is a neat consideration by Jackson (Made in Japan); I removed my DK2T's neck this morning (attempted to lower the action- successful? Will update soon...) & discovered the inclusion of a plastic buffer plate beneath the metal one. 

Why is this a good thing? It prevents the metal from coming into contact with the body's finish.Over time, the lacquer/ paint will fuse into the metal & will flake off. Fender guitars are notorious for this occurrence... no disrespect to Fender of course, they own Jackson.

Creamy Jack

Woke up this morning & gave a fresh set of (Pyramid) strings to my Jackson. Decided to play while waiting for the newspaper to arrive at the door-step but that lasted for 2 hrs... The (Fuchs) Plush Cream goes well with Duncans, definitely. I love how the Jazz (neck) sounded super creamy with lots of saturation in tact- this is important to me:

1. So that I don't sound wimpy
2. So that the noise gate would be triggered all the time

When you next re-string your guitar, do tune it sharp & let it rest for a few minutes or so, proceed to re-rune your guitar. Why do this? It's as good as stretching your strings & re-tuning it afterwards. I stopped yanking my strings to stretch them because they sometimes snap.

Re-string weekend: Jackson DK2T

I've been playing my Jackson DK2T for the last couple of days & the default strings finally gave way to grime & rust. I bought a pack of GHS Infinity Steel ($9.30) from the good people at TY Music; I'm a fan of steels lately for their inherent brightness. Friends reminded me of their abrasive property but I'm not too concerned with that as I employ minimal string bending. Don't squint your eyes because the wound strings you see there are indeed black- the Infinity Steel features black coating for the wound trio in this .009 set. The coating here feels much thinner than DR's Neons but let's give them some time to prove their durability.

Jackson: DK2T

I tried to ignore this guitar at yesterday's Swee Lee (Katong) sale but maybe the orange (Jackson calls it October Pearl)  has some voodoo to it so I brought (bought, more like it) it home. It's a DK2T discontinued in 1999, the fact that it's still in good condition & available in the store gave rise to many implications but they were not important. What's important is that it's a good guitar & I got it for a good price.

It's a Japanese production but it doesn't matter anyway...

... because the Duncans in there (they are the guitar's default pickups) made it favourable tone-wise. Well, at least for me. The pickups:

• Neck: Jazz
• Bridge: JB

The generous rear bevel means it's a joy to play both sitting down & strapped on; it just molds itself to the body. The post neck-plate bevel on the other hand, did very little to promote upper fret reaches but it's not as repulsive as the Les Paul's bulk at the same spot.

Since I was in the neighbourhood, it's off to BEEZ's to have the Orange Drop cap installed...

... as well as the push-pull coil split switch.

When I reached home, I had a set of SITs .009 set of pure nickel strings in there to quell the inherent brightness- an alder body coupled with a Duncan JB in the bridge manifested lots of rich top end when I heard it in action at BEEZ's. Thusfar, it's all thumbs up with the DK2T especially after I revised the action to my playing comfort. Maybe one of the reasons why it remained unappealing while it was still resident in the store might be down to its colour; to many of us, it's too 'loud' a finish.