i had a jackson rhoads, a USA model made in 1986... at the time the price was almost obscene, i bought it second-hand in 1995 or so... well, mechanics were already terrible 13 years ago, and years didn't pass well on that axe; i realized i couldn't EVER sell it for a decent price and so a couple of years ago i gave it to a friend of mine in exchange for some rack hardware... my friend decided to get it completely revamped, and when the luthier took off the paint, he discovered that the body was of abysmal quality, with small pieces of different woods glued together... and we're talking about a guitar costing 2500 $ or more (4000000 ITL) in 1986!!!
maybe this has been just an unlucky episode in an otherwise flawless craftsmanship tradition, but i can't look anymore at jacksons without thinking about this...
anyway if acoustically it sounds good you just have to change pickups! : :P
ever thought about nailbombs? they're even hotter than JBs but have what your JB lacks (in your description)... personally i like JBs but nailbombs are harmonically on a different planet...
