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Sunday, May 3, 2026

Jackson Dinky - Another Guitar Center FAILURE / FretTrack stringed instrument check-in software

 Guitar Center Proved Again 

They are not meant for guitarist starting out. I received this White Dinky Archtop for repair, and the customer complained about a few things; mainly the input jack and tuning stability. After I received it and did the initial inspection, I noticed it was supposed to have a tremolo arm. I asked the customer if he brought it with, (it wasn't in the bag) and he said he bought a Jackson that doesn't have a tremolo arm. So, I had to let him know that yes, it was supposed to have one. Guitar center fail #1.

No tremolo arm

B string tuner crooked?
Wood coming up




#2. failure; B string tuner was taken out and reset...and new hole drilled, yet it is still crooked?

What the actual F?

So. #3 failure is the wood coming up on fret 17. Terrible QA or guitar center failure? Who knows. I'll just try to fix it as best I can. We agreed on a price, and I set about getting the frets checked: We have 8 rockers, and they need polishing anyways. So I began by cleaning, oiling, then taping up the fretboard.

Clean and oil first
Make sure it is straight

Press a few down
















The truss rod on this Jackson is opposite of the last Jackson Dinky I repaired. This one has the truss rod CRANKED all the way counter-clockwise in order to get the neck straight. Jackson, come on! After leveling the 7 frets, and double/triple checking each fret afterwards, I crowned the frets, then I sanded the frets 320/500/800/1500/2500/4000/5000/7000/9000 then polished with dremel and fret polish to finish out.






After adjusting the bridge (Guitar center SLAMMED it so they didn't have to sell it with a tremolo arm) I adjusted the saddles and posts. I plugged the holes in the headstock, and reslotted the tuner, redrilled the retainer screw hole, and reset it. Then I focused on the input jack. I removed the old jack (cheap OEM) and added a better quality jack with better jack retainer to hold the jack.|


Cheap
Added PIO Cap for customer
















Soldered in the new jack, tested everything, then locked it in with Permatex. I added a paper in oil capacitor for the customer, replacing the cheap greenie cap. Strung the guitar up and made adjustments. All final measurements logged into my new software I created, FretTrack. Not sure what I'll do with it yet.















Coming soon. Customer picked up the Jackson and is completely happy!




























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