Charvel Model
History of the Jackson Soloist Electric Guitar by Vincent Roarden
The Soloist was an electric guitar made by the company Jackson and was a model that combined the old and the new, changing how electric guitars were made. While early designs were made available to select customers in the early 80s, the production of the Soloist officially started in 1984.
While Grover Jackson, the Jackson Guitar Company’s founder, was managing the Charvel Guitar Company he produced a number of custom electric guitars for a small group of clients. These guitars were the prototypes of what would become the Soloist Jackson Guitar and were authentic custom designs.
With the serial number J0158, the first official Soloist was finished on August 28, 1984. By the time J0158 arrived, the factory had a basic spec outline used as a default on all guitars ordered and only altered when specifically requested by the customer.
For the 1980s custom era, the standard classifications were the Student and Custom model. Student models can be identified by rosewood fretboards and dot inlays. Custom models feature ebony boards, sharkfin inlays, and binding on the headstock and neck.
The early designs of the Jackson Soloist included Charvel like features such as vintage tremolos, Explorer-like headstocks and Stratocaster-shaped guitar bodies. You could often see premium wood in these designs and often a Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo bridge. The Jackson Soloist was well loved by those in the heavy metal and rock scene, like many of the Jackson company’s guitars.
Customers were offered any option in designing their very own Soloist. Having custom made features means that there are many examples of Soloist which have other design traits than outlined above. Often, such alternate features included different fretboards or binding on the Student model.
Other guitar companies (eg. Martin, Gibson and Fender) went on to copy the Soloist design. The Soloist designs ensured that the market was ready for the next generation of electric guitars, many of whom became more famous than the Soloist itself. These guitars include the ESP M and Ibanez RG series, which would not have been a commercial success if it was not for the Soloist burning new ground early in the 80s.
The Soloist is possibly the most under appreciated guitar of the eighties. Different from many guitars, the Soloist became radical through construction, paired it with the relaxed and well-known Fender shape with Gibson neck specs, frets, and electronics. It was the perfect synergy of old and new creating an ultimate product exceptional in tone and feel from anything else.
About the Author
Genuine, hard to find, as well as new and vintage Jackson Guitars are listed for sale in Vincent Roarden’s internet shop. You will find a large range of Jackson guitars, including Dinky Jackson Guitars, King V, Rhoads and Dinky.
Charvel Model 6
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Charvel brings professional quality to new price points. (Charvel factory of International Music Corp.)(guitars): An article from: Music Trades $5.95 This digital document is an article from Music Trades, published by Music Trades Corp. on October 1, 1991. The length of the article is 3545 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation DetailsTitle: Charvel … |
January 27, 2012 9:47 am 
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