Another post about my newly acquired Jackson Performer guitar, listing points of concern:

1. The screws and springs on the bridge are not consistent in length or thickness. This is impeding the intonation of this guitar. The bass string speaking length, for instance, needs to be lengthened to intone correctly, but the thickness and size of the spring will not allow the bridge insert to be moved further back.

2. Machines/Tuners: With the bottom half of the locking nut -- these types of Jackson tuners do not hold the angles of the strings low enough on the higher strings behind the nut, therefore losing sustain and tone. This guitar would probably look and sound best with modern black staggered tuners, which would tastefully solve this problem.

3. Electronics: One of the tone knobs is missing and should be replaced. Output jack, three-pots, and 5-pos switch and all wiring should be replaced. Control cavity should be shielded. The bridge pick-up magnet poles are not lined up with the string lanes, especially on the treble side. I may need to consider changing to rail-type pick-up for the bridge position. It might not hurt to upgrade all the electronics. I'm thinking three single-coil-sized humbuckers with split coils; upgraded pots, switch, and jack; shielded cavity; and safety ground.

4. Bridge: It would increase the sustain if the bridge/tone block was more solid/had more mass. It would be a significant improvement to upgrade the bridge and tone block. A trem-setter should be considered.

5. Strings: The light gauge strings now on the guitar may not provide enough mid-range tone. Maybe I should switch to a little heavier set of strings, at least try coated strings of maybe 9-42.

6. Finish: The cheap body finish does not seem consistent with the Jackson headstock finish. The Jackson logo is off-white in color, and the one-ply pickguard and pickup covers are bright white. I'm thinking of using the existing black finish, but adding some sort of sparkle and clear-coat. An easier option might be just to change the color of both pickguard and pickup covers to an off-white or black/gray sparkle/pearloid.

7. Strap Buttons: The two strap buttons are not consistent -- not the same in either style or color. They need to be replaced, and the screw holes need to be lengthened.

8. Frets: The fretboard itself seems fine, but the frets are dirty and should be polished.