| Jackson Randy Rhoads | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Jackson Guitars |
| Period | 1981 - present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Neck-thru and bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Different, often alder |
| Neck | Different, often maple |
| Fretboard | Different, often ebony |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed, Floyd Rose tremolo or tune-o-matic |
| Pickup(s) | 1 or 2 humbuckers |
| Colors available | |
| Various, including custom finish graphics | |
The Jackson Randy Rhoads is an iconic model of electric guitar, originally commissioned by guitarist Randy Rhoads and produced by Jackson Guitars.
Rhoads' first Jackson prototype was the now immortalized white, pinstriped, asymmetrical Flying V built by Grover Jackson, Tim Wilson, and Mike Shannon of Charvel Guitars[1]. The guitar featured a maple neck and body (neck through body), ebony fretboard, medium frets, Stratocaster style tremolo, and Seymour Duncan pickups. This prototype was the first from the Charvel works to be labeled with Jackson's name. The guitar was originally slated to be called The Original SIN, but Randy nicknamed it Concorde[2] after the sleek, white supersonic aircraft[3].
Randy re-designed the next prototype because he felt the shape of the 'Concorde' was not distinctive enough from the traditional Flying V. His solution was to elongate the top 'horn' of the instrument such that the body bore more resemblance to a shark's fin. The second prototype featured the revised body shape, was black with a gold pickguard, and fixed tailpiece with strings anchored in the body. This guitar featured Grover locking tuners and Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups (TB-4 bridge and a SH-2 neck). Two more prototypes were commissioned (four in total), another string through body example (later accidentally sold at NAMM) and another black and brass tremolo model with reversed shark fin inlays. Rhoads was killed in a plane crash before the second two guitars were completed, and before he could give Grover any feedback.
These revised prototypes would become the first guitars sold to the public under the Jackson Guitars brand name. The ensuing popularity of the Randy Rhoads model essentially put Jackson's name on the map.
Contents |
Vinnie Vincent of Kiss was the first professional guitarist to be offered an early Rhoads guitar by Jackson after Rhoads' death, which Vincent used on the Kiss Creatures of the Night and Lick It Up tours from 1982 until 1984. Following Vincent's departure from Kiss, he modified the Rhoads V design by adding a second V at a slight rotation to the first such that it mimics a shadow. Jackson made at least 3 of these Vincent modified Rhoads Vs from 1985 to 1988 for Vincent, and about 25 others were custom ordered and sold. The design would later be copied by Carvin, Ibanez and Washburn Guitars, all for Vinnie Vincent.
In 2001, guitarists Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala (of Children of Bodom and Sinergy) made a deal with Jackson to produce their own version of Rhoads models, which featured alder bodies, bolt-on necks, 24 frets, rosewood fretboard, black with yellow bevels, and a Jackson JT580LP Floyd Rose bridge. This model was called the Jackson Randy Rhoads L/L (L/L for Latvala/Laiho). Neither guitarist was allowed a guitar for his own use, and both played the guitar only for promotional purposes.
Other noted users of this model include:
Jackson currently has 12 different Randy Rhoads models in production.
The basic model in the USA Select Series is the RR1. The RR1 is made of alder with a maple neck-thru design neck. The ebony fretboard has 22 jumbo frets. The RR1 is equipped with two Seymour Duncan humbuckers and a Floyd Rose original 2 point double locking tremolo at the bridge. The RR1 has four variations:
The Pro series is the mid market series, made in Japan. There are currently five different models of the Jackson Rhoads in the Pro Series:
The X series RX10D has an alder body with a maple bolt-on neck. The Rosewood fingerboard has 22 frets, and pickups are both Seymour Duncan Designed humbuckers. The bridge is a Jackson double locking tremolo unit.
The JS30RR is from the entry level group that is made in India. The body is Indian cedro, and has a bolt-on maple neck. It is fitted with two Jackson pickups and an adjustable string-through-body bridge, and the rosewood fretboard has 24 frets. This model was available with a Floyd Rose tremolo as the JS35RR, but was discontinued in 2000.
The current JS series offering is the JS32T Rhoads. It's similar to the original JS30RR, with the addition of shark fin inlays on the fretboard.