Jackson Guitars is a US manufacturer of electric guitars and electric basses. The company is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jackson is a subsidiary of the guitar manufacturer Fender. The Jackson company emerged from the workshop of Wayne Charvel and Grover Jackson.
Read more...Jackson achieved initial success with the Super Strats, especially with pickups and hardware modifications of the Fender Stratocaster. Jackson still builds these today under the names Dinky and Soloist. Jackson's first endorser immediately got his own model - Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads (†1982). His world-famous and self-sketched guitar model Jackson Randy Rhoads is specially adapted to his playing style and, apart from its namesake, is also played by other metal guitarists such as Kirk Hammett. This model is especially popular because it can be played standing up.
Jackson guitars are mainly used in the metal genre. In addition to the Randy Rhoads model mentioned above and the Dinky and Soloist Superstrats, Jackson currently builds the King V, which is based on the Gibson Flying V, the Kelly, which is distantly reminiscent of the Gibson Explorer, and the Warrior. In addition, there are "endorsement" signature models for some deserving musicians, each based on the standardised models.
Jackson builds almost all models in different series with different equipment and 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 here goes from the comparatively inexpensive X-series starting at €400 to the handmade custom shop version with prices of several thousand euros. As with most dream factories of renowned guitar manufacturers, however, there is no upper limit here.