This one’s always popular: “How many guitars have you owned?” or “Show the ones you used to have” etc etc.
So here we go, in no particular order, these are most of the guitars I do not own anymore (so don’t ask to buy them, because I don’t have them).
Charvel Model 375 body with Warmoth Baritone Conversion neck.
Charvel Model 650XL
Another Charvel 650XL
1974 USA Gibson SG (pic is from the Ebay listing I won it from)
USA Jackson Custom Shop Strat with Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote graphic on front and back
Jackson USA Custom Shop King V in Ash
Agile 2500GT
USA Jackson Custom Shop Double Rhoads
This was a limited run made in honor of Robbin “King” Crosby (formerly of RATT) shortly before his death. He signed and numbered the backplates.
Jackson Rhoads mutt
This was an import Rhoads body I got off Ebay that had already been Camo’d, and I put a USA Jackson neck on it, made a military-stencil-style Jackson logo and bomb “inlays” (stickers), then sold it to some guy in Germany who probably still doesn’t believe it’s a real USA neck 
Jackson Professional Series Concert V 5-string bass
One of the best basses money can buy.
Jackson WRMG with Cracked Mirror inlaid top
This one’s got a bit of a story:
I bought the guitar as you see it from a friend on the JCF.
Truly a work of art.
However, being the Gear Whore I am, I sold it to another friend (hiya Chuk!) and shipped it via UPS.
A few days later, UPS doesn’t show up. So I call UPS, they don’t know what’s going on. I refund Chuk’s money and wait for UPS to send me a check for the insurance. I get the check and put it in the bank. About 3 months later, UPS rolls up in the yard and drops me off a large box - the same guitar! Someone wrote “Delivery Refused” on it. Chuk was home all day, he WANTED that guitar, there’s no way he woulda refused it.
So I’m sitting here with the guitar, having already been paid by UPS for it, and I let Chuk know I got it back, and if he wants it, same deal as before (though it was mutually agreed that the Post Office would deliver it this time).
However, there was the issue of UPS’ insurance money to deal with. I mean, technically, they bought it from me when they paid the insurance. So I call and explain the situation, and ask for an address where I can send them a check to pay back the insurance.
They said they’d send a truck to collect the guitar.
I said “No, dude still wants the guitar, I still want him to have it, I’m trying to pay you the insurance money back.”
2 weeks later they finally got me an address to send them a cashier’s check, and Chuk ended up with the guitar. UPS said they had never had anyone pay the insurance back - most people would have just kept/re-sold the merchandise - so they had to figure out where to send the money.
Danelectro DC-3 12-string (Korean, not original)
USA Jackson DR2
This series was a bit strange: USA-made body/neck with import hardware.
This was a more-affordable USA line, featuring easily-upgradeable hardware. They did the Dinky (DR2), Soloist (SL2), Rhoads (RR2) and I think one other, but can’t recall the model. They all had the blank ebony fretboards, which often confuses Ebay sellers into thinking they either have a rare USA Custom Shop model or a rare import model. Either way, they weren’t popular back then, and they’re not too popular today. So stop asking outrageous prices for them!
Jackson DR-7 and Jackson JTX
The DR-7 is the 7-string on the left. The JTX has, without a doubt, the thinnest neck Jackson ever put on a production model, including the King V. It also had jumbo frets for that almost scalloped feel. Sadly, unlike most other Jackson bolt-on necks, this neck will only fit this body, and even then, thanks to numerous design-revisions before the model was dropped, you might find threaded inserts in the heel instead of regular wood-screw holes, which makes it even more difficult to match it to a body. As well, you may find one that does have a traditional Jackson heel that will match up to any other Jackson body (Dinky, etc), or you may end up with one where the neck heel extends all the way to the end of the fretboard, meaning you have to hack a chunk off to mate it to a regular body. I’ve done this. It’s not fun.
USA Jackson Dinky with Color Dragon graphic and birdseye maple neck/board with ebony inlays
Pretty to look at, but birdseye maple is tonally dead. I replaced the Floyd, the nut, the pickups, re-set the neck in the pocket, but this thing just had no life in it. Only explanation: birdseye maple is so full of disease that it’s useless for tone.
Jackson DXMG
Jackson DK2 Eerie Dess Swirl (Eerie Dess = Irridescent, in case you never figured that out)
Just the body, obviously. It had a few necks on it before I got rid of it. Nothing really memorable.
USA Jackson Soloist in Coral Sea (what Eerie Dess looks like before it’s Swirled)
And yes, it looks like coral in person.
USA Gibson Explorer
This was, at one time, a real-live USA Gibson Explorer from the 1980s. 1985, I think. Rear-routed, with a Kahler. Previous owner stripped it and refinished it in Minwax or something. I sent it off to a buddy who could do vinyl signage and he printed off some black and white circles ala Zakk Wylde (though at the time I coulda swore I saw an old pic of Rhoads waaaaay back when where he had a B&W bullseye something-or-other). He also filled in the Kahler route and mounted a traditonal stopbar/TOM setup, routed the board for block inlays, and ebonized the board (ebony dye). Looked great, needed a refret because it had fretless-wonder-frets on it, making it nearly impossible to play.
USA Fender Floyded Strat
1984 USA Charvel Star body with Warmoth boatneck
1990 Jackson Professional Series Warrior (otherwise known as a Warrior Pro)
USA Jackson Dinky with Color Dragon graphic
No, not the same as above, believe it or don’t. This one has a bit of a story behind it.
Somewhere along this guitar’s life, someone removed the neck and put it on another body with the same graphic, and put that guitar’s neck on this body. At the time I was suffering from an acute case of Puritanism, so I made it my personal mission to put everything back the way it was. It took several months and way more money than it should have, but finally I had them back the way Jackson intended.
And then I got over it.
USA Jackson Fusion in stunning Tie Dye
Jackson Warrior/Fusion mutt
Import Warrior body, USA Fusion neck. One of the abominations that set me on the path to becoming DrNewcenstein (Frankenstein/Newcenstein…get it? I make oddballs from various bolted-on and mismatched parts, etc i.e. “Frankensteining”)
USA GMP Roxie in Gatorburst
This was a trade arrangement I made with a friend; he had a guitar I wanted, he wanted this one from someone else, but wanted to snatch it up before it got away, and the time it would have taken PayPal to do all the money shuffling involved would have been too much of a risk, so I bought the GMP and we traded. I know some people think the world of these, but I just didn’t “get it” when I had it. “Brad” suggested that it was because the seller removed the mojo capacitor before sending it to me. Meh.
Group Shot from 2002
From left to right:
- Dano DC-3 12-string mentioned before
- USA Jackson Ash King V mentioned earlier
- USA Jackson Concert bass Student model (more on this later)
- USA Gibson Explorer before it was Bullseyed
- Jackson Warrior Pro in Red Pearl
- Jackson DK2 in Hot Rod Flames
- 1993 USA Gibson Les Paul Standard in Trans Red
Another group shot from around 2000 (back when we still used film in cameras)
From left to right:
- Dorado by Gretsch acoustic (beautiful tone but plays like crap - my slide guitar because the strings are a mile off the neck - I still have it, actually)
- Takamine G330S acoustic (still have this one, too, actually)
- Aforementioned Dano DC-3
- Mexi-Strat (used to record Blue Silk on my Brand New Day CD - see older blog entries)
- A different Jackson Concert V 5-string bass than the one shown above. I think. I’ve had 3
- Aforementioned Les Paul
- Aforementioned Warrior Pro
- Jackson KV-3 in Deep Metallic Purple, I think it was called. Chicks dug it when I used it live.
- Aforementioned USA Gibson Explorer - I printed out a USA Flag sticker and covered the top before it was Bullseyed.
- 1984 USA Gibson Flying V - rear-routed, Kahlered, mini-me frets. Always wanted one back in the 80s but could never afford one (hey, I was 12!). Years later, I got one. It sucked, really. Then I got another. It sucked, too. Those miniature/pretend frets are not funny.
Grover Jackson Roswell Rhoads
The factory that made all of Jackson’s Japanese-made imports had a domestic (Asian-market-only) line called Grover Jackson. Most of the models they had were identical to the ones available everywhere else (i.e. the DK-2, KV-3, RR-3, etc etc) but sometimes had minor (or major, depending on your perspective) differences. The Roswell was one of those models that had something different from the regular Professional line: a stopbar tailpiece instead of string-through, dot inlays instead of the crop circles, and the standard Jackson 6-inline headstock (the Professional model had a wooden version of the USA “blunt harpoon” headstock). I don’t know why. Presumably because Amir Derakh designed that head for the Disruptor, which cannot be built without his permission? I don’t know.
At any rate, I had both the Professional series Roswell and this Grover Jackson model at the same time, and I can say without hesitation that the GJ model played better and sounded better. Go figure.
Jackson Roswell Pro
By comparison, here’s the one made available to the US market.
Jackson Professional Series DK-2 in HRF with Dinky Reverse neck
You’ve seen those Jackson Dinkys covered in what looks like Krylon FleckStone paint? This neck came off one. I hated it. It was thin enough, but man, it felt like it was a mile wide. I swear there was 1/4″ from the edge of the board to the E strings. But, some people dig ‘em.
Anyway, this body was originally H-S-S, but, as was Jackson’s tradition back then, they left the middle single back far enough that the neck could be routed for a humbucker and you’d end up with the same spacing between the middle and the outer pickups. Pure genius!
So yeah, I took a Dremel and routed out the neck pickup slot for a humbucker, then replaced the original neck with this one, and made some “inlay” stickers with some do-it-yourself window decal stock. I didn’t want sharkfins, and couldn’t really do flames well enough to match the body, so I made angular dripping blood. Looks ok from a distance. If you’re drunk and don’t care.
Here’s how it looked originally:
Charvel Star (import)
Quite possibly one of the rarest import Jackson/Charvels you’ll ever see.
The only place I ever saw one was on Musician’s Friend’s website shortly after I got this guitar, and even then it was an old archive page that disappeared soon after (I’m guessing Google found an old Trash Can on their site they forgot to empty?)
Anyway, from what I can tell, it was made in Korea in the late 90s/early 2000s as a MF/GC dealer exclusive. The neck was made of something not-quite-maple, as I could flex it back and forth while holding a D Major chord. I drilled a hole in the body for a 3rd knob (because I had installed a Jackson JE-2000 bass EQ circuit in it) and the texture of the wood looked a lot like Cedar, so I’m guessing Cedro.
Anyway, the stock mystery pickups kicked major ass, which is simply unheard of unless you’re talking about a Matsumoku. I rewired the 3-way toggle so the pickups were out-of-phase with each other when in the middle position, and the bass EQ circuit lent it a really funky guitar tone that way. Compressed and jangly, like INXS’s “Need You Tonight”.
USA Jackson Student Concert bass
Original 1980s USA. Mmmm-mmm.
Got this cheap and the original circuit was toast. Called JCMI in Ft Worth and got a replacement. Awesome. Then FMIC bought them out.
USA Jackson Archtop Soloist
Beautiful guitar. 5-A Quilted Maple top that danced like fire and matching headstock. All-mahogany construction. F’edEx dropped it and split the tip of the headstock. I was able to glue it back on, but still. This one’s in France, last I heard.
USA Jackson Jazz’R in Amber Lager Burst
One of the most beautiful guitars I’ve ever seen, and sounds and plays even better.
I was lucky enough to get this one back recently 
JCF-01 USA Jackson Custom Shop “83 NAMM” Rhoads
This was a special run of 25 that was put together by the JCF. It was supposed to be a replica of one of the first Rhoadses made after Randy’s death, which was displayed at the ‘83 NAMM show in Anaheim, but sold by Grover Jackson’s wife (still unclear as to whether it was supposed to have been sold or if it was just a display). Unfortunately at the time this was made (2001/2002), no one knew where that guitar or the black one was, and those involved had vague memories of a nearly-20-year-old build (many of the early work orders were lost in a fire, and an early logbook was stolen some years prior).
The final design was based on a photo taken at the show, and what bits and pieces the Jackson people involved could remember. It had an alder body, maple neck, ebony board, MOP inlays, stringthrough/TOM, and the neck profile of a ‘57 Chevy front bumper. I’m serious, this thing was fat. If you ever run across a Jackson Firebird with a bolt-on neck, that’s the same neck profile.
Jackson JX-10
Made in India. Nice pickups (Duncan Designed), and I love the 3×3 headstock, but otherwise, a waste of wood.
USA Jackson Dinky+PC1 mutt in B&W “Crosby” Dragon
Not sure how I wound up with a USA Dinky body and not the neck, but at any rate, I scored a PC-1 neck (the older version before Stratheads were allowed). It worked really great on this body, but the board looked a bit plain, despite being quilted maple, so I got some rub-on transfer paper from a place online and found some Kanji characters for topical words like “Music” and “Strength” and “Love” and “Harmony” and whatnot, and printed them out and stuck ‘em on. Looked nice, if I do say so myself.
The guy I sold it to said he had them rubbed off in the first 5 minutes
Here’s another shot of it:
Jackson Kelly mutt
Jackson Performer-series Kelly body with Trans Red flamed maple top and a neck I’m not quite sure of. I know it was a Jackson, but I can’t recall what model I got it from. Anyway, I printed out some sharkfin inlay stickers and did the old zig-zag pattern. They’re supposed to be red, but the camera flash washed them out to pink
Jackson KE-3 in Crimson Swirl mutt
Got the body from Ebay, and it was abused. Tips were chipped, somebody stomped the knob into the face.
Jackson KV-3
As seen previously at great distance in the group shot above.
As you can see, it’s been sold. A really long time ago.
USA Gibson Les Paul Custom
Basket case LPC of highly suspicious past.
Serial number was 11111 (”hey, it’s my “Number 1″ guitar” )
Paint was in serious trouble, neck was sanded bare and not even oiled, middle pickup had been added, had almost no binding on the neck, head was beat like a dog, and the fretboard and inlays looked brand-f’ing-new. Definitely a 70’s LPC with the pancake body.
Had mini-me frets GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
Charvel Model 2 body (black) with Warmoth neck
Charvel Model 2 body (white) with Warmoth neck
And a big fat fake Charvel logo. I hate those “realistic” fake logos. Always looks like you’re trying to rip someone off. I wanted mine to look ridiculous enough that you knew I wasn’t trying to pass it off as legit, even to myself.
Fender Mexi-Strat
Can’t recall if this was the same one as in the group shot above or a different one.
Montoya Les Paul knock-off
I won’t even call it a “copy”. My first guitar, bought from my best friend way back in 1984? I had it Kahlered, like a dumbass.
Fender “Blackie” Mexi-Strat
Was going to do a Dave Murray sig treatment on it (DiMarzio humbuckers, Kahler trem, maybe even Floyded) but then realized just how much I disliked Strats.
Jackson Soloist Pro
If you ever run across a 1990 Jackson Soloist Pro with a bare neck and really crappy paintjob on the front, it’s probably this one.
Jackson Professional PC-3 in Chlorine with Floyd!
These came in 2 flavors: Floyded and Wilkinson’d. You want the Floyded one because double-locking beats single-locking any day of the week.
But what you don’t want is the Chlorine. See that beautiful quilted top? You can only see it when in direct sunlight or through the flash of a small nuclear device.
Jackson Phil Collen Archtop Pro
One of those that I wish I still had - partly because it played phenomenally, partly because they go for cha-ching these days.
Dig that arch of the front horns and back of the body:
And the arch of the top:
Jackson Pat Lachman PL-2 prototype
Holy crap this thing sucked balls.
Jackson USA Roswell Rhoads
Yes, I had one. No, they’re not worth it. If you want an aluminum guitar, buy a Dobro or National Res-o-phonic and play you some old-fashioned slide, because this thing is a wall decoration only. Luckily I picked this one up cheap because the previous owner’s niece stepped on it and broke the neck (how the hell this happened, I really don’t want to know. Chick musta been Spider-Girl, or Baby Bigfoot).
Anyway, I was also lucky enough to score an original replacement neck from the Jackson Ft Worth HQ. Still haven’t found that damn truss rod wrench. Sorry, Brett.
Jackson San Dimas-era Star in Shattered Glass
Best version of Shattered Glass ever. I don’t know who thought that yellow trim they use these days was a good idea, but it isn’t. Every Shattered Glass finish should look like this. It’s awesome.
By the way, if anyone knows where this body went, lemme know. It’s easy to spot as the Floyd route looks like hell underneath, it’s got 2 knobs and one pickup (should only have one knob), and there’s what appears to be a GMW Guitarworks or Neil Moser business card for a shim in the neck pocket under the finish.
USA Jackson SLS
The 1997 model. Came to me with DiMarzio Evos in both slots. Didn’t like them or the neck on this guitar. Sad, because it was otherwise great.
USA Jackson Fusion in SnakeSkin
Mmmmm, beautiful Southwestern Chicken finish.
USA Jackson PCS Rhoads
Seen here with the aforementioned Grover Jackson Roswell and the JCF-01 Rhoads.
Fender VH-1 EVH thing they did
No idea when this was made. Fender apparently had a licensed run of these some years before the Charvel EVH Art Series thing?
Anyhoo, you remember I said I hated Strats? Yeah, this one didn’t help.
Warmoth Soloist-body Strat
Despite the fact the Jackson Soloist denotes the neckthrough, and Dinky denotes the bolt-on, Warmoth calls this particular body shape the Soloist. Stunning 5-A quilted maple top that looked like you could dive in and emerge on a beach in the Bahamas.
I mean, pics just don’t do it justice.
Too bad the sculpting of the back made it unbearable to play. Fail.
Jackson USA Warrior “Pearl Harbor”
I’d been seeing these in various collections, and mostly the girl was always the redhead, but then I started paying closer attention, and someone pointed out the one in the 90/91 catalog featured a blonde. Then I saw this one with a brunette in a flowered sarong, whereas the others were always wearing a black see-through teddy. Then it hit they had been doing somewhat of a theme with these to match various Air Stations - California, New York, and Hawaii (Pearl Harbor). Could be, may not be. Who knows? No one’s talking, so I’m free to make this stuff up. Anyhoo, she ain’t the prettiest, but she had a great rack.
DiMarzio Strat mutt
Not sure if this was a Charvel-made body or not. Reaffirmed my conviction about not liking Strats.
Jackson Professonial Series Kip Winger sig bass
I was never a huge Winger fan. I saw him playing bass for Alice Cooper on the Raise Your Fist And Yell tour, that was it. Never did like his solo stuff. Seemed too much like a 30-year-old man writing teenage breakup songs. Compositionally, the songs were very good. Lots of changes, not droning the same old 3 chords over and over. Much better than the stuff Whitesnake was doing as far as that goes, IMO. Still didn’t like it.
But this bass. This bass kicked ass. Solid Lacewood body and neck. Later this model became known as the Futura, and lost the Lacewood, as well as the neckthrough.
WRXT + Dinky neck
3×3 headed neck from a GC-exclusive Dinky model on a Warrior XT body.
WRXT + USA Jackson neck mutt
Here’s one you’re not going to see again.
Jackson WRXT body in Trans Red with a USA Jackson neck with MOP block inlays.
This one’s floating around Germany as well.
Jackson Warrior Pro in Snow White
You just can’t find a more killer axe than the original Warrior Pros.
Jackson Y2KV import
Yes, I said import.
Bolt-on model available only in the USA Flag finish, and only with a rosewood board. Wish I still had it, as they go for stupid money these days.
But like the USA Roswell, it’s better suited to hanging on a wall, because it’s incredibly unplayable.
USA Jackson Jazz’R
In Natural finish. I never liked the Natural finish. Pics in magazines and online just make it look so blah and boring. But this one, in person, danced like fire. I’d still prefer a burst or Trans, like Blue, or Green, or Red, or Orange.
Jackson KVX10 mutt
3×3 headed neck from a GC-exclusive Dinky. Worked much better on this body IMO.
Needed a Floyd.
DKMGT with KVX10 neck
And the neck from the aforementioned KVX10 worked great on this body. Action was super-shredder-low.
USA Gibson Faded V
I’ve had 2 of these, hoping the first one was just a fluke.
Nope.
Killer KG-Pirates
I think that’s what model this was. It wasn’t the Prime, but it wasn’t the bottom of the barrel model.
Great player. Shoulda kept it. But I’m a Jackson Zealot, so it had to go.
Yet Another USA Jackson Jazz’R
I’ve had 3 of these total. Wish I’da kept all 3. This one had a more rounded neck profile, and was a NAMM display model, while the other 2 had a hard v profile. The rounded profile definitely works best.
USA Jackson KV2
Thought for sure I had a full-shot of this one.
USA Jackson WR-1 in Bolted Steel
Same here. Oh well. Seen one 24 fret sharkfin inlaid 6-inline neck, seen ‘em all.
Jackson SLS3
Nice guitar, but could’ve been not-so-thin. I did replace the black hardware with satin chrome.
JacksonStars NASL J2
Some years after the Grover Jackson Asian-market-exclusive brand came about, they came up with an upscale brand range called Jackson Stars. These were the USA-quality top-of-the-line models that were tightly regulated from being imported into America. Among their features were several ranges of the same model at various price levels, and with various cosmetic changes, as well as an entirely new model - the New Archtop Soloist, or NASL.
This model was available in 3 versions: the NASL-110, NASL-135, and NASL-160. The model number reflected the MSRP: 110=110,000 Yen, 135=135,000 Yen, 160=160,000 Yen. Roughly equal to $1100, $1350, and $1600. All 3 models featured all mahogany neckthrough body/neck, with the 110 having an unbound rosewood board and dot inlays, solid finishes, and stopbar/TOM bridge. The 135 had available flamed maple tops with trans finishes, matching headstocks, unbound striped ebony (or rosewood, I was never clear on that) boards, and stopbar/TOM. The 160 had flamed maple tops and trans finishes, as well as graphics options, and ebony/striped ebony boards (ebony that’s not uniform black), bound head and fretboards, and Schaller double-locking trems (same model as the Jackson JT-590, but Schaller-logoed).
These models also featured a different body cut than the traditional Jackson Soloist or SLS, where the cuts were centered over the neck pickup instead of directly between them as with the SL and DK and SLS. They were also closer in design to the ‘97 SLS, with their thinner-than-a-Soloist body. However, they are still thick enough in the center for a recessed short-block Floyd, they just have a gradual taper toward the ends, but not as drastic as the Ibenhad Saber or Jackson Stealth.
The 135 and 160 also featured the model-exclusive inlays of MOP and Abalone.
Around the time of the FMIC takeover, they streamlined the JacksonStars NASL line and left only the top 2 models - the 135 and 160 - and renamed them the J1 and J2. The J1 had all the features of the 160 (flamed tops, trans finsihes, graphics options, Floyd or stopbar/TOM, bound ebony boards, and model-exclusive inlays), while the J2 only came in solid colors, but otherwise had the same features. Both models also had an “E” option, for EMGs.
The one pictured above was a J2-E. I don’t really like EMGs, so I swapped them for Duncans. And since the guitar came with black hardware (which I really do not like black hardware on a black guitar - it just looks like you’d rather not even be on stage), I replaced everything with gold versions.
I have 4 other NASLs, but for some reason I just couldn’t bond with this one, even after putting a ton of extra money in the new hardware and pickups. Ah well.
The USA Charvel Pro Mods:
I had my fling with them, then got over it. I kept one, though.
Charvel So-Cal in Candy Tangerine
I’ve had 3 in this color.
Gotta have a Black one. Thought about putting a white pickguard on it for a Dave Murray tribute, but sold it instead. I wanted to concentrate on the limited color models first, since Black was going to “always be there”.
Candy Green
First neck to be sold on Ebay came from this one. $482.
I still have the body, and it now sports a Japan-made Pro Mod neck.
Slime Green S1
With the cream and chrome from a Snow White S1.
Which of course got the black gear from the Slimer.
Candy Tangerine (left) and Pagan Gold (right)
Candy Plum, Candy Green, and Pagan Gold - it’s Mardi Gras!
There’s more, but I can’t find the pics.
