Jackson Guitars
The Jackson company is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses . Its headquarters are in Scottsdale , Arizona . Jackson, along with Charvel and a few others (e.g. Gretsch or Guild ), is a "subsidiary" of the guitar manufacturer Fender , which has been building solid body guitars since the 1940s and is now one of the largest and most successful corporations in the industry.
With the takeover of the Jackson company, which emerged from the workshop of Wayne Charvel and Grover Jackson, Fender also entered the metal scene , in which hi-gain sounds and modern designs are decisive. These heavily distorted sounds are mainly achieved for Jackson guitars by installing double- coil humbuckers ; which also represents the greatest structural difference to the guitars of the parent company Fender.
Jackson achieved first successes - at that time still independent of Fender and in cooperation with Charvel - with so-called " Superstrats ", especially on pickups and hardware modified conversions of the Fender Stratocaster . These are still built by Jackson today under the names "Dinky" and "Soloist".
Famous artist
For the guitarist Randy Rhoads a model named after him was developed. His self-sketched guitar model " Jackson Randy Rhoads " was matched to his playing style and, in addition to its namesake, also played by other metal guitarists such as Vinnie Vincent ( Kiss and Vinnie Vincent Invasion ), Kirk Hammett ( Metallica ) or Alexi Laiho ( Children of Bodom ). This model is particularly popular because it can be played while standing. Due to the one-sided elongated V-shape, the center of gravity shifts so that it hangs at almost 45 °, which is very close to the classic way of playing (while sitting) an acoustic guitar.
Furthermore, Jackson guitars are mainly represented in the metal genre, which is reflected in other artists such as Kristian Ranta ( Norther ), Dan Spitz (formerly Anthrax ), Mille Petrozza ( Kreator ), Mick Thomson ( Slipknot ), Roope Latvala ( Children of Bodom ), Phil Collen ( Def Leppard ), Matthew Tuck ( Bullet for My Valentine ), Serj Tankian ( System of a Down ), Jacky Vincent ( Falling in Reverse ), Zakk Wylde , Buckethead , Stryper , Phil Demmel ( Machine Head ), Robert Vigna ( Immolation ), Mark Morton ( Lamb of God ) and many others. Jenna Jameson recently started promoting Jackson. The guitarists of Iron Maiden, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray as well as Janick Gers , who started playing guitars at the beginning of the 1990s, can be regarded as the link between the former "mother company" Fender and their "daughter" Jackson . which completely corresponded to the Stratocaster model in form, but were technically modified by Jackson. As the originally determined advocate of Fender Stratocasters, Iron Maiden opened up an enormous promotion boost for the manufacturer Jackson.
Product range
In addition to the aforementioned Randy Rhoads model and the Dinky and Soloist Superstrats, Jackson is currently building the King V, which is based on the Gibson Flying V , and the Kelly and the Warrior, which is remotely reminiscent of the Gibson Explorer . There are also signature models for some well-deserved musicians, each based on the standardized models. For Mark Morton (Lamb of God), Jackson designed a completely new guitar shape based on his ideas. (Mark Morton D2 Dominion TBK series)
Almost all Jackson models have in common that they are built in different series with different equipment and correspondingly different prices. The main differences are the place of manufacture ( Japan , India , USA ), the choice of woods, decorations and neck dimensions / proportions. The price range extends from the comparatively inexpensive X series to handcrafted custom shop designs with corresponding prices. As with most “dream factories” of renowned guitar manufacturers, there is no end in sight here.
