Grover Jackson On Randy Rhoads/Beginning Of Jackson Guitars

[thattimeofyear87]

Excerpt from the book "Crazy Train: The High Life And Tragic Death Of Randy Rhoads":

Grover Jackson on meeting Randy Rhoads/birth of Jackson Guitars:

"We talked about guitars; we talked about music; we talked about guitarists; all sorts of things. He had come out with a little scrap of paper, like a cocktail napkin --- which has since been lost --- and he'd drawn a four- or five-line sketch on. We talked about Gibson Flying Vs, and he said he wanted a shape that was more radical than the Flying V, so I said, 'How about we put this headstock on it? and he said, 'That looks good.' I just did that right on the spot. It was pure whimsy. We sketched and scribbled back and forth, and he came up with the skarkfin inlay on the fretboard.

"You have to understand that my company was barely surviving in those days. I had just carved out a little niche by selling Charvel guitars, which were all bolt-ons. He wanted this to be a neck-through guitar, so I said, "Would you mind if I put Jackson on it instead of Charvel?' and he said, 'No, that's fine.' That's how Jackson Guitars was born, out of panic. The Charvels that we were selling were basically Stratocaster and Telecaster body shapes, and in walks this guy with this crazy shape -- so I was afraid he was gonna kill my business. So I thought, 'Hey, I'd better put a different name on this, so I don't piss all over what I've got going!"

[shramiac]

And then by reports, Randy hated the Concorde!!!! Too big, still looks too much like a regular flying Vee.....never mind how far they put the fretboard into the body (yeeesh)!!!

Hence it got refined into the shape it's had since the second one made by Grover/Mike Shannon.

[Genebaby]

I wouldn't say he hate it, but he decided it was not quite what he had envisioned, and reports of it still resembling a Flying V led to the refinement. The first was basically a prototype that he played and showed to the world.

[Genebaby]

I have this book but it's one of many I haven't gotten around to reading yet.

[doublev2]

The last time I saw Vinnie was in a music store on Ventura Blvd called Guitar Guitar. This would probably have been late '92 or early '93. I was headed to Chicago and Washburn and Vin was headed to Nashville to work with Felix Cavaliere. Is Vinnie still in Nashville? Also who is this guy making the guitars...I tried to look the name up and could not find anything. I knew Vin and Anne Marie broke up and later heard about her sad end and I've always wondered what happened to the girls. They would be grown now but when I last saw them they were 2 ~ 3 years old. Do you know who raised them and are they alright?As I said before a lot of the questions about specific guitars I just don't have info about. Just too many years.As I must have already alluded to I think Vinnie was one of the most talented guys I ever came in contact with. He just has such great musical sensibilities and that's why I was so disappointed in the Invasion stuff. I hated most of it. I knew Vin before the Kiss deal and he was a much different guy. I was not a Kiss fan but I think in Vinnie's eyes he made them credible. I mean they had already been a huge phenomenon but as far as I was concerned it was 95% show and 5% music. Vin made them real and that was the problem. You have to understand that it's the Gene and Paul show...period...and Vinnie wanted credit for his making the band valid musically. I think it's possible that they would have eventually allowed him more credit but he had no patience for that. It was oil and water. As I'm sure you know Vinnie is a huge Jeff Beck fan and to this day I still marvel at his ability to play Beck records note for note album side by album side. This was a large part of the relationship between Vinnie and Gene. I'd go to Kiss rehearsals andVinnie and Gene would be playing Beck songs waiting of Paul. So they had this mutual admiration for Beck but it wasn't enough to overcome Vinnie's pushing to hard to soon...deserved or not.I think the pressure of Kiss kind of snapped Vinnie. I can remember that the guys in the Invasion used to laugh at him behind his back because he was so out of control... it was sad not funny. About the time he left Kiss he came to the house one Sunday and right in the middle of dinner he had a panic attack. That's when I knew for sure he was in trouble.The only thing I can say about the first Rhoads guitar is that I'm sure it was not made for Randy. After the first guitar, the white one, we made three blanks. One is the black one that Randy got just a little over two months before his death and I know exactly what happened to the other two. There may have been some additional blanks that got made in the gap between Randy's death and the release to the general public but they would not have been made for Randy per se. The guitar that has been described as being made for Randy is the gold one with the non fine tune Floyd. I have a pretty clear recollection of Vinnie not being able to get the guitar in tune. Floyd still had a band in those days and happened to be recording out in the San Fernando Valley so we got in the car and went there. Floyd looked the guitar over and gave Vinniesome tuning tips and that was it. Also it would have been impossible for that guitar to be made for Randy because we didn't even know about Floyds until after Randy passed away...that's absolute.I'm jumping around a bit and I've got to go soon but one of your comments involved some guy named Dave Andrews...I don't know who that is. Unless someone can refresh my memory I'd say take whatever he says with a huge grain of salt.You asked for the good, bad, and ugly...I cannot think of a single person I've ever known in the music biz that was able to piss so many people off as Vinnie. I mean this may be his greatest talent and as I've said before I think Vin is a giant of a musical talent. As a salacious example a few years ago a New York based music biz attorney told me that Vinnie Vincent did not exist anymore because he'd had a sex change and was now going by Vivienne Vincent. Now as outrageous as that is, and I didn't believe it, this attorney is a pretty conservative guy but with Vinnie's uncanny ability to not just piss off but enrage and infuriate ...some would say rip off...he was able to turn this attorney into a negative publicity agent...unbelievable and tragic!!I'll leave you with that.gj

[1031]

As a salacious example a few years ago a New York based music biz attorney told me that Vinnie Vincent did not exist anymore because he'd had a sex change and was now going by Vivienne Vincent. Now as outrageous as that is, and I didn't believe it, this attorney is a pretty conservative guy but with Vinnie's uncanny ability to not just piss off but enrage and infuriate


Or Virginia lynn..? or what ever it is.