There
are many great guitars, in many shapes and sizes, what is the
difference and what are they?!
going
the full pointy!
 During the Seventies, players
mainly stayed in either the Fender or Gibson camps. It would
often seem sacrosanct to actually meddle with these pieces of
history, these holy legends! Some of us put up with noise,
wished there was something between the two, wanted a Strat feel
with Les Paul sound, our a Strat with a flatter radius neck and
large frets.... this man put his fear aside and cut a hole in
his guitar to instal a HUMBUCKER! So the story goes!
Some companies were making high
quality replacement necks and bodies. Eddie cleverly grabbed a
body and neck, cheaply (!), slung them together, bunged a PAF
humbucker in, and the rest is history!
Eddie got the mix of explosive
attack and classic Strat style, with the fatness of the
humbucker pick up. Whammo. Instant Eruption!
Suddenly, guitarists everywhere were ruining old Strats!!!! 2
handed tapping was in, and thus the serious age of shred was
born. All that was left was for the Floyd Rose to be invented,
and we would have the template for a whole new beast!
For
a while, at least, the wang bar was king! Les Pauls were left in
their cupboards as the shred fest began. In keeping with this
new age of flash playing, Charvel/Jackson's day was to come.
Charvel were responsible for the parts of Eddie's axe, and were
making cool custom jobs for many up and coming players. Among
those players was Randy Rhoads, who had them build the original
Jackson RR.
These guitars started a
revolution with their pointy headstocks and sharkfin inlays.
Brilliant custom finishes followed, and we were all impressed!
Randy also played a Gibson Les
Paul, for which he was justly famed, but the Jackson really was
the beast for which we all mostly relate to him!
The Jackson, pic right, sported
a neck thru body design, which meant that the bridge and nut,
the two pivot points for the strings, were on the same piece of
wood, for maximum sustain. The sides were made of poplar, the
neck of maple, which meant a unique bright tone, that has become
a staple for bands like Megadeth, and at times Metallica,
Anthrax, and many more extreme bands. These guitars had a very
tight tone great for fast heavy riffing.
 Glam
metal bands also loved them for the amazing graphics. What a way
to be noticed on stage!
Check this crazy Warrior from the Custom Shop!
Click on it to enlarge.
Steve Vai had also been playing
a neck thru Jackson Soloist at the time, as well as a green
Strat style with HSH configuration. He was now in Dave Lee
Roth's band, and had a huge profile. Enter the lads from Ibanez!
The JEM was created, and Ibanez took a grip on the market big
time. Basically the same guitar as the Jackson with a bolt on
neck, strange 'grip' cutout, lurid colors, in some ways a look
only a mother could love... but that was the '80's!
PASS THE HAIRSPRAY PLEASE...
 For
some of us the whole dodgy glam thing was a joke after the
promise of quality work from great bands like Iron Maiden,
Priest, Motorhead, Whitesnake et al. Def Leppard and Whitesnake
jumped on the glam bandwagon, and produced brilliant albums like
1987 and Hysteria, Ozzy plonked on the eyeliner and kept his
cred, and Kiss oddly enough had lost the make up and found a
more subtle look, though a lot more pretty! Guns'n'Roses hit the
streets with Appetite for Destruction, and all of a sudden the
Les Paul was back!
Shred was fast on the burn out,
but the classic Floyd equipped super guitars were still with us.
At one stage I remember a shop
full of these beasts around 1986, in Denmark St, London. Kramers
with Statue of Liberty graphics, Snakeskin Jacksons with huge
slabs of ebony for fingerboards, and the flattest, widest
fingerboard I have ever seen! Pearl Jacksons with sharkfin
inlays were the axes to be seen with. Hamer had the excellent
Steve Stevens model, which really played and sounded great. I
actually bought a Kramer, that had a wide flat board. It had a
great tone, especially the split humbucker, and stayed well in
tune. It looked awesome. Unfortunately, the wide board was a
nightmare for me. Oh for a Fender or Gibson!
The trend for the time was a
super thin neck, flat radius 17" or thereabouts, huge
frets, trendy finish, Floyd trem, and a combination of humbucker
and single coil pick ups. The idea was to get a low action with
little choking for bending, and great for tapping and high speed
shred.
These styles still live on,
though slightly more sensible. The Jackson guitar is still
hugely popular with hardcore metal players, and power metal
dudes. Likewise Ibanez. There has been a movement towards Gibson
for some, PRS for others. You have to admire the sheer
originality and show off appeal of the USA Jacksons! Could they
be the collector items of the future?
Is the 'pointy' metal beast for
you? We shall cover that at the next article!
"Next!"
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Rock
Axe Heroes 1960's to present.
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Eric Clapton
Jimi Hendrix
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Brian May
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Send 'em in!!!
What
is the best rock and metal axe?
Fender
Stratocaster
Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Explorer
Gibson V
Gibson SG
Epiphone Les Paul
Jackson Rhoads V
Jackson Dinky
Jackson Soloist
Ibanez RG
Ibanez Vai
Ibanez Satriani
Ibanez RG7620
Washburn Dime
BC Rich Warlock
Other!!!!
Name
your fave
Metal band!
Led Zeppelin
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Kiss
Metallica
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Slayer
Iron Maiden
Black Sabbath
Van Halen
Rush
Hammerfall
Rhapsody
Scorpions
Ozzy Osbourne
Tool
Sevendust
Korn
More...
Jackson
Guitars are available at Kosmic.
Call in and try them, and show us your best shred licks!
Also, visit
jacksonguitars.com
to check more of these outrageous guitars.
We have a lerge
range of Ibanez too!
Check Ibanez also
at www.ibanez.com
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