NGD! Right place, right time!

Well, Darwin's theory about GC is correct. I found a '86 Rampage for sale at GC for about the same price as a used tribute version. To them it was just an old ugly 80's guitar from a Fender copy company. Needless to say I looked past the yellow finish and jumped on it. If you've ever tried finding a Rampage you know how hard they are to find, and when you do, you have to pay a premium. I lucked out because they had just put the guitar up for sale that day and listed it on their website. I have since talked to the salesman, and he was surprised that they have received calls about it all day! He asked me if the price was too low.... Of course I told him no! Lol!

The guitar had an EMG pickup, and a mini toggle switch that I thought was a kill switch. I've always assumed EMG was a heavy metal pickup and I never gave them a chance. I planned on replacing it right away. Boy was I wrong. I was very impressed with the warm tone. When I took the cover off to give the guitar a good cleaning, I found a very professional install. I then found that the volume knob was a push/pull knob, and the pickup is a dual mode pickup. The coils can be split with the knob. I then realized the guitar also has a preamp installed. The toggle switch is the PA2 Boost/preamp! The tones I can get out of this thing are incredible! I can get a great, clean single coil tone, and then switch to a pretty aggressive distorted tone! I had no idea that an active pickup could be this nice! Needless to say, I think this one is a keeper!

Dave

Great find Dave and full of surprises! If you have some pics of the innards I for one would be interested to see them

- Jos

Great! I bet you have the EMG89 which is actually an 85 and a SA under the same housing. The 85 is EMG take on an alnico PAF and the SA is their alnico single coil (hence the warmth).

You lucky dog!!
I'm headed to GC tomorrow because of you....

Rock On

Awesome find!

Pics would be epic though.

Hi Dave,

Nice score!

Please do post a photo or two.

Excellent !

However .....

Congratulations!

It's always great when you find a deal like that!

Great! I bet you have the EMG89 which is actually an 85 and a SA under the same housing. The 85 is EMG take on an alnico PAF and the SA is their alnico single coil (hence the warmth).

Thanks for the info! I looked up the EMG89, and I bet you are right! I am very pleased with the pickup. I had no idea they were such a high quality pickup!

Thanks,
Dave

Thanks for the comments guys. I have been busy, but I will get pics up in the next day or so. A few thoughts after playing it for a few days. The neck on this one is slightly thicker than my other '86 Rampage. They both weigh 8.2lbs. Same as my '85 Invader. My Tribute Rampage weighs 9.0lbs.

This guitar was obviously owned by someone who knew what they doing, or they had a very good tech. The wiring, and the preamp mods were done very well, and very clean. The setup and intonation was spot on. I prefer guitars to be all original, but I think this has been turned into a unique guitar. It has a really smooth feel.

Dave

Here are the pics to prove its existence!

Under the hood

Screamin' 80's! /,,/
Not sure that "stealth" could be the right adjective (despite the discrete toggle for the 89 and the versatility it doesn't advertise) but slick or sleek could be (I got trapped in the "S" section of my dictionnary... but skipped "satanic" as unappropriate for the unsacrificed chicken yelllow colour). Beware, Jerry might want to steal it from you!

I haven't understood yet why on Khalers the blocking nut is after the actual nut.