Jackson Guitars
Jackson is a
guitar manufacturer originally owned and operated by
Grover Jackson, a partner of
Wayne Charvel of
Charvel Guitar Repair. It is probably best-known for its "Rhoads" V model guitar, originally designed and used by guitarist
Randy Rhoads. This model inspired Grover to start the Jackson guitar company.
Wayne Charvel sold his interest in the Charvel name to Grover Jackson November 10,1978. The shop was located in
San Dimas, California and manufactured guitars in this location from 1979 to 1986, when the Company merged with IMC (International Music Corporation) a Texas based importer of musical instruments.
Recently, rights to the Charvel name and permission to manufacture Charvel guitars was granted to the
Fender Guitar Company. Fender is now manufacturing guitars that are almost exactly like the original San Dimas Charvels, save for a few details. In some cases the guitars are even being built from
NOS Charvel parts.
Jackson Guitars has become most famous for its slender and elegant models, often with an aggressive look popular with harder rock and metal music. They were particularly popular among
thrash metal and other extreme metal musicians (see list for artists).
Almost all Jackson (and many
Charvel) guitars share the typical pointed, roughly triangular
headstock, which is simply a
Gibson Explorer style headstock modified to avoid lawsuits. Charvel/Jackson was the target of many copyright lawsuits from Gibson and Fender which led to using the modified Explorer headstock. This also ended using Stratocaster styled headstocks for Charvel guitars. Various models, however (especially a good number of
Dinkys) do have a reversed headstock with the tip pointing upwards.
Jackson Guitar's current spokesmodel is
porn star Jenna JamesonJackson guitar models
Jackson's trademark guitar models include:
* The
Randy Rhoads guitar, an asymmetric 'V' shaped body with pointy ends.
* The
Soloist (bolt on neck models being called
Dinky), a
neck-thru the body
superstrat design.
* The
Kelly, a more slender version of
Gibson's popular
Explorer.
* The
King V, a symmetric 'V' shape with long pointy ends that is about 40% larger than a standard V, which was originally created for and named after Robbin Crosby in 1984. Was also popularized by Dave Mustaine in the early 90's.
* The
DR, a reverse headstock model, made popular by
Anand Bhatt.
* The
Warrior, a very aggressive looking body consisting of four pointy ends.
* The
Kelly Star, a vaguely star shaped body, actually the front half of the
Kelly with the pointy ends of the
Rhoads model; this was only made for a short time around 2000/2001 and is very hard to find now.
* The
Y2KV, Shaped almost like a
Gibson Flying V but yet different, designed and made popular by
Dave Mustaine of
Megadeth.
* Jackson Professional Series was the Made in Japan line of many popular USA models. It has been discontinued
* The Rhythmist, a highly sought fictional model which is a companion to the Soloist. It is differentiated by having only a neck pickup, nine frets and is used exclusively for rhythm guitar work.
* The Performer tag is denoted on Jackson models produced in the early 90's in overseas factories (primarily Korea). Prices usually range from 400-1,000 dollars based on specifications.
Current
*
Phil Collen of
Def Leppard*
Christian Olde Wolbers of
Fear Factory*
Mark Morton of
Lamb of God*
Karl Sanders of
Nile*
Kevin Bond of
Superjoint Ritual*
Matt Tuck of
Bullet for My Valentine*
Sam Totman of
DragonForce*
Ralph Santolla of
Deicide,
Iced Earth,
Sebastian Bach,
Death, and
Millennium*
Chris Caffery of
Savatage and
Trans Siberian Orchestra*
Andreas Kisser of
Sepultura*
Derrick Green of
Sepultura*
Metal Mike Chlasciak of
Pain Museum and
Rob Halford*
Rob Cavestany of
Death Angel*
Phil Demmel of
Machine Head and
Vio-Lence*
James Root of
Slipknot and
Stone Sour*
Anand Bhatt*
Zakk Wylde (endorses Jackson and
Gibson guitars)
*
Roope Latvala of
Children of Bodom (plays ESP and Jackson)
*
Jeff Hanneman of
Slayer (usually plays
ESP and has a signature model, but sometimes plays his Jackson Soloist)
*
Kirk Hammett of
Metallica (usually plays
ESP signature model, but sometimes plays Jackson Rhoads)
Past
*
Randy Rhoads (deceased)
*
Robbin Crosby of
RATT (deceased)
*
Dave Mustaine of
Megadeth (switched to
ESP)
*
Marty Friedman of
Megadeth (switched to
Ibanez)
*
Vinnie Vincent of
KISS *
Dan Spitz of
Anthrax (switched to
PRS)
*
Scott Ian of
Anthrax (switched to
Washburn)
*
Mike Clark of
Suicidal Tendencies (unknown what he switched to)
*
Alexi Laiho of
Children of Bodom, but now plays an ESP Alexi Laiho Signature Model
*
Rusty Cooley (Currently endorsed by Dean)
*
Adrian Smith of
Iron Maiden*
Jim Root of
Slipknot (switched to
PRS &
Fender)
*
Steve Vai (switched to
Ibanez)
*
Official homepage of Jackson
