Hey guys, after perusing a few guitar forums I thought this looked like the best one to join and ask this question! I will start off by saying that I am primarily a rock bass player, probably always will be, but when I'm jamming metal with my old college buddies nothing is more fun than guitar, and I really dig my Jackson King V!

I bought it used in 2005 I think and I don't really know heaps about it. It is definitely pre-Fender and the last owner thought it was Japanese. The headstock says Jackson Professional and the truss rod cover says King V Std. Serial is 310551, bolt-on neck with a licensed Floyd Rose bridge rather than a real one and Jackson branded pups.

It definitely needs work. I replaced the nut with a new one as the old was stripped, replaced the pots with new DiMarzio ones and also put a DiMarzio D Sonic at the bridge, as the old pups have gone microphonic. It still needs a fret-dress (or possibly re-fret as two of the frets are damaged) and I'm unsure on the D Sonic yet (my guitar amp is crap so it's hard to really judge the tone, sold my old JCM2000 foolishly a couple of years ago when I wasn't playing 6-string as much).

Anyway, what I really wanted to know was, is it actually worth throwing money at this guitar or am I better off saving for a new USA Jackson? Is the D Sonic a good match for the V (maybe with an Air Norton?) or would some other pickup combo suit? I'm playing mostly Toxic Holocaust style thrash.

Cheers!

It's a 1993 King V Standard.. Whether or not putting money into it is purely a matter of what it's worth to you. An alternative would be to find a new neck for it on an auction site, and save the original just in case you ever want to restore it at some point in the future..

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Chaos, panic, and disorder.. My work is done here.

Wow, that was fast! Did you work that out from the serial or something? Are those actually Jap or was that untrue? I'm going to assume that by the "worth to you" bit that's a nice way of saying it's probably not worth that much? Haha.

There are some chips to the body that show a light coloured wood being used, would that be Alder? Or Basswood? Or just something cheap?

Yes, I got the year from the serial number, but that date coding system ended in 1996. It was definitely made in Japan. My "what it's worth to you" statement was based on the fact that a refret will cost you about $300, and a replacement neck can be had far cheaper ( just don't try to put a 24 fret neck on a 22 fret body and visa versa). Also, KV's tend to get the points beat rather badly, and in resale value their condition can make or break overall value. The body wood on those was poplar, and the actual model is the King V Standard (predating the KV3 which was introduced in 1999).

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Chaos, panic, and disorder.. My work is done here.