Article - Charvel/Jackson custom reviews

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Article - Charvel/Jackson custom reviews

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1. Jackson "custom" by Charvel, by Bob Davis
2. Charvel/Jackson: Randy Rhoads Custom



Jackson "custom" by Charvel

You know if Marilyn Monroe played electric guitar it would be a Charvel. Grover Jackson makes the sexiest, sleekest guitars around. Let's hear it for the good ole' U.S.of A. We believe that Grover makes the fastest neck in the West. The Jackson Custom comes stock with a 22-fret maple neck through the body with wings of poplar wood. The fingerboard is Grover's classic ebony slab-board, which means it is thicker than normal, and I don't care what anybody says, this thick fingerboard changes the tone of the instrument. It adds more "ping," high end, brilliance and tonal response that keeps going up and out. Along with slab-boards Grover also makes his necks 1 & 11/16" wide at the nut and makes the dimension of the back of the neck in either flat, normal or dumpy (like Allen Holdsworth's). The strings go through the body behind the bridge and fan out a bit at the headstock Now the headstock design was designed by Grover and the body and fingerboard inlays were designed by Randy Rhoads. Randy thought his original Jackson prototype looked too much like a Flying V so he had Grover take the body to the bandsaw and streamline it. The end result came out a little like the rear fins on a 1959 Cadillac. This neck-through-the-body idea really does add sustain and power to a guitar; the next step above this, of course, will be when a luthier has the guts to build an ebony neck through the body (heaven forbid!). Every Jackson Custom comes stock with a Seymour Duncan Jazz Humbucking in the neck position and a Duncan distortion in the bridge position. The hardware is all brass. The finishes offered are either black or white. The back of the neck and headstock come painted as well and binding around the neck and headstock are standard. The controls are, from front to back: volume, three-way toggle-switch, volume and a tone. It seems that this collaboration between Grover Jackson and Randy Rhoads is really being picked upon heavily by the "metal monsters." I think Grover has created a monster - look out. The suggested retail price for the Jackson Custom is $1,500. Contact: Charvel Manufacturing, P.O. Box 245, San Dimas, CA. 91773, (714) 599-9207. In New York: Sam Ash, 160 W. 48th St., N.Y., N.Y 10036, (212) 245-4778-9. --Bob Davis

Grover took Randy's advice and streamlined the basic configuration of a V. Now it looks like the fin of a 159 Caddy.



Charvel/Jackson: Randy Rhoads Custom

Before his death, Randy Rhoads spent 15 months working closely with the staff at Charvel - and particularly Grover Jackson - to create this guitar. With the consent of Randy's family, Charvel/Jackson now sells the instrument for $1,500. Made of eastern hard rock-maple, the Randy Rhoads Custom has neck-through body construction and a 25 1/2" scale. The neck has an ebony fingerboard with a 16-inch radius, and the 22 frets are made of Dunlop 6230 metal. Gotoh tuners are standard, as are binding on the neck and headstock, and custom - design pearl inlay position markers. Electronics include Seymour Duncan distortion humbucking and Seymour Duncan Jazz pickups, dual volume and single tone controls, and a three-position pickup selector switch. All hardware is made of brass and includes a Tunamatic bridge with stringing done through the body. Color options are black or ivory, and the optional hard-shell case is $150. Charvel/Jackson offers you the opportunity to participate in the design of any instrument it makes.
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