Talk:Jackson Guitars

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There are a few misconceptions in the entry about Jackson Guitars.

Firstly, Grover Jackson sold the company to AMIC (AKAI) in the late 80's to early 90's. It was then run by AMIC for several years before it was finally sold to FMIC (Fender).

Secondly, the typical Jackson headstock design is not a derivate of the Gibson Explorer headstock, even though they share some basic characteristics. The Jackson headstock was designed in conjuction with Jackson by the late Randy Rhoads (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne Band), and was made to mimic the cocpit of the then very popular Concorde aircraft:

At that time, Jackson did not exist as a guitar brand. The guitars were called Charvel (after the founder Wayne Charvel), and the company had just started to produce custom made guitars made to order (previously they had only made custom and replacement parts). It was then that Randy Rhoads (Ozzy's new guitarist) approached Grover Jackson to have a custom guitar built. Randy had the idea of building an offset V-shaped electric, inspired by the Concorde aircraft. He brought sketches to the Charvel workshop, and worked the design out with guitar builder Mike Shannon. As the prototype guitar was being finished, Grover thought that the radical design might not be very well recieved by other Charvel fans and players, so instead he put his own name on the headstock. That was the first Jackson brand guitar. The model was originally going to be named the "Concorde", but after Randy's tragic death, it was just named the "Randy Rhoads", or "RR" for short. It is still the flagship of the Jackson product line.

As the 80's rock'n'roll and metal wave hit in full force, many high-profile guitarists were seen playing the Jackson RR, for example Vinnie Vincent (KISS, Vinnie Vincent Invasion), Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Kirk Hammet (Metallica), etc. Today the most well known RR player is probably Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom), who used to play custom-made 24-fretted RRs.

The Jackson RR has also spawned new designs, of which the Jackson "King V" is most well known. It was originally the idea of guitarist Dave Linsk of Overkill, who wanted an RR-style guitar with long symmetrical fins. This guitar was called a "Double Rhoads" and was quite massive in size. As Dave's guitar was being made, Robbin "King" Crosby (guitarist in RATT) visited the shop, saw the guitar, and wanted one for himself. Jackson made him a red Double Rhoads, which was nicknamed "Big Red". Later, as the new guitar went into regular production, the fins were scaled down a bit, and it was named "King V" after Robbin Croby, since he was the one to take the guitar into mainstream popularity. The most well known King V player these days is Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), who had his own signature model King V during a few years, but who now plays ESP guitars.