Jackson Guitars origin...

rice_pudding · Post by **rice_pudding** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 7:23 pm

hey all, got a question for you!
Im a little shaky on my knowledge of how jackson started off although i know it involved a former Charvel employee spreading his wings (right?!). But anyhow i've heard that randy was sometimes asked "whats jackson" in reference to his custom v's. Considering the companys name had little status how important do you think Randy was in helping launch the company?

deansolo · Post by **deansolo** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 7:46 pm

I'm no expert on Charvel /Jackson so I can't answer that question, But I do remember back in the mid to late 70's you could buy a Charvel Strat-copy as a kit for just over $100.00. They were pretty good quality for a kit too!

I'm sure Randy helped Jackson tremendously, as I personally don't recall really hearing much about them until Randy started playing them.

Paul Wolfe · Post by **Paul Wolfe** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 2:30 am

The company was originally "Charvel" and was owned by Wayne Charvel and Grover Jackson. Randy went to Grover about having a guitar made that was "similar to a V but offset"...

Randy and Grover worked out the specifics and Grover built the guitar. Since it was a one-off deal he put the name "Jackson" on it because it wasn't a Charvel production model. Randy did the same thing with the black Jackson - the shape and the inlays were apparently Randy's ideas.

Randy's fame brought "Jackson" guitars into the limelight and, yes, that did launch the company into what it is today.

Grover Jackson was recently interviewed for the RR documentary, so you'll be able to get the story straight from Grover next year.

cableguyxx · Post by **cableguyxx** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 1:39 pm

There's an audio interview somewhere that escapes me at the moment, where Randy is talking about someone who asked him "What's a Jackson?" and he goes on to talk about it a bit. It was also very cool to see that guitar close up in person, and then noticing that the "Jackson" name on the headstock is actually hand painted in gold paint.

rice_pudding · Post by **rice_pudding** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:31 pm

thanks for the insights and info everyone, all much appreciated

cableguyxx, i dont know which tape your talking about but i remember someone asking Randy about jackson at on the seminar tapes.

cableguyxx · Post by **cableguyxx** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:43 pm

rice_pudding wrote:thanks for the insights and info everyone, all much appreciated

cableguyxx, i dont know which tape your talking about but i remember someone asking Randy about jackson at on the seminar tapes.

That's probably correct

Here's a closeup of the headstock with the hand painted "Jackson" I spoke of: