Jackson Randy Rhoads

Infobox Guitar model|title=Jackson Randy Rhoads
caption= Jackson Randy Rhoads Pro Series RR3
manufacturer=Jackson Guitars
period=1982 - present
bodytype=Solid
necktype=Neck-thru and bolt-on
woodbody=Different, often alder
woodneck=Different, often maple
woodfingerboard=Different, often ebony
bridge=Fixed, Floyd Rose tremolo or tune-o-matic
pickups=1 or 2 humbuckers
colors=Various, including custom finish graphics

The Jackson Randy Rhoads was the electric guitar that was originally commissioned by guitarist Randy Rhoads, and is now produced by Jackson Guitars.

Originally, this guitar was to be called the The Original SIN. His second Flying V, which was black with a silver pickguard and string-thru body bridge, was going to be called the Concorde. Randy re-designed these newer 'Concordes' or production models with a longer "horn" because he felt too many people were relating his white Pinstripe V to a Flying V. His V's both had maple bodies with maple thru body necks. Also, the smaller amount of wood on the treble side of the strings could be done to give more treble to those strings. This guitar features Grover locking tuners and a pair of DiMarzio humbucking pickups, a Super Distortion (bridge) and a PAF (neck). The SIN had a standard blocked vintage-style tremolo.

It features a pair of humbucking pickups (not always the case, as seen on the Kevin Bond Signature model and new RR24 model), and often a Floyd Rose tremolo. The guitar usually has 22 frets, but in certain series, it is featured as a 24 fret model. The headstock is typical Jackson and some series have a reversed headstock for a slight upcharge.

This model was Jackson Guitars' first model. It was, and still is, a very popular model that put the Jackson name on the map. When Rhoads commissioned his guitar from Charvel, company president Grover Jackson had his name put on the headstock of the custom model instead of Charvel. Grover originally produced two prototype Concordes for Randy and made the pieces for a third, but didn't assemble them, waiting for Randy to give feedback about the tone and play of the prototypes before completing the third guitar. Tragically, Randy was killed in a plane crash before he could give Grover any feedback about the guitars.

Users

Vinnie Vincent of Kiss was the first guitarist to be offered the guitar by Jackson after Rhoads' death (Rhoads had received two of his own models one in black and one in white(with gold hardware), and never really became famous for it at the time), Vinnie Vincent used it on the Kiss Creatures of the Night and Lick It Up tours from 1982 until 1984. Once Vinnie left Kiss he modified the Rhoads V design, adding a second shadow V at an offset angle behind the front V. Jackson made at least 3 of these Vinnie Vincent modified Rhoads Vs from 1985 to 1988 for Vinnie (and about 25 others were custom ordered and sold) and later the design was copied by Carvin, Ibanez and Washburn Guitars for Vinnie Vincent.

In 2001, Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala (currently guitarists of Children of Bodom, but at the time Latvala was in Sinergy alongside Laiho) had a deal with Jackson to produce their line of signature RR's, which had specs of alder bodies, bolt-on necks, 24 frets with a rosewood fretboard, black with yellow bevels, and a Jackson JT580LP Floyd Rose bridge. This guitar was called the Jackson Randy Rhoads L/L (L/L stands for Latvala/Laiho). However, neither guitarist was allowed a copy for his own use, and both only got to play the guitar for promotional purposes.

Other famous users of this model include:
*Adrian Smith (of Iron Maiden)
*Dan Spitz (of Anthrax)
*Enrik Garcia (of Dark Moor)
*Kirk Hammett (of Metallica)
*Marty Friedman (former Megadeth)
*Kevin Bond (of Superjoint Ritual)
*Kai Hansen (of Helloween and Gamma Ray)
*Matthew Tuck (of Bullet for My Valentine)
*Sam Totman (of Dragonforce)
*Alexi Laiho (of Children Of Bodom)
*Daron Malakian (of System Of A Down - only in the studio)

Models

Jackson currently has 12 different models in production. Below is a list under the Series which Jackson Guitars has classed them.

USA Select Series

The basic model in the USA Select Series is the RR1. The RR1 is made of alder with a maple neck-thru design neck. The fretboard has 22 jumbo frets and is made from ebony. The RR1 is equipped with two Seymour Duncan humbuckers and a Floyd Rose original 2 point double locking tremolo at the bridge. The RR1 has four variations:

*RR1 : The standard Randy Rhoads guitar.
*RR1T: An RR1 with an adjustable string-through-body bridge.
*RR1 Left-Handed: Left Handed version of the RR1.
*RR1T Left-Handed: Left Handed version of the RR1T.

Pro Series

There are currently five different models of the Jackson Rhoads in the Pro Series:

*RR3: The RR3 has a body made from alder and a neck made from maple. The neck is bolt-on and has a rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets. This model has neck and bridge Seymour Duncan humbuckers and a Floyd Rose licensed, low profile, double locking tremolo.

During 2007, a limited run of 200 were made in white with black pinstripes, similar to the finish found on the RR5. These featured the Seymour Duncan pick-ups and Floyd Rose tremolo of the standard RR3.

*RR5: The RR5 has a body made from alder and a neck made from maple. The main difference between this and the RR3 is the neck-thru design featured on this model. The RR5 also has gold hardware and an adjustable fixed bridge.
*RR5FR: The RR5FR is the same as the RR5 except it has a Floyd Rose FRT-O2000 tremolo bridge, black hardware as opposed to gold and comes in black, ivory or pink pearl finishes.
*RR24: The RR24 has a body made from alder and neck made from maple. It has an Ebony fretboard with Sharkfin inlays. The difference between these inlays as opposed to the RR1 and other Jacksons is that they are made with MOTO material, often referred to as "Mother of Toilet Seat". This model is mainly different from both the RR3 and RR5 because it is a 24 fret guitar. It has a neck-thru body construction and comes with an Original Floyd Rose. The model has only one pickup (EMG 81) in the bridge and a single volume control. This guitar is very similar to the custom made RR-LL models ordered by Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala, of which only 60 were made and all sold in Finland (excluding to Laiho and Latvala, who both had their own unique custom RR's made). Unlike the RR24, they had bolt-on Rosewood necks, Mother of Pearl inlays, gold colored hardware, a Jackson JT580LP Floyd Rose bridge and were made of very high quality construction in Japan. Laiho and Latvala later switched to ESP Guitars in 2003.
*RR24M: The RR24M is the same as the RR24, but has a maple fretboard as opposed to the traditional ebony fretboard.

Pro Series Artist Signature

The only artist signature model for the RR is the Kevin Bond signature. This model has 22 frets, is made from mahogany and has a neck-thru body. The Humbucker is a Seymour Duncan "Iommi" humbucker. The bridge is an adjustable string-through-body with a Schaller fine-tuning tailpiece. The Jackson logo is blood red.

X Series

The X series RX10D has a basswood body with a maple bolt-on neck. The Rosewood fingerboard has 22 frets. The pickups are both Seymour Duncan Designed humbuckers. The bridge is a Jackson double locking tremolo.

JS Series

The JS30RR is from the entry level group of Jacksons. The body is made from Indian cedro and has a bolt-on maple neck. It has two Jackson pickups and an adjustable string-through-body bridge. The rosewood fretboard has an unusual, for RRs, 24 frets.

ee also

Jackson Guitars

External links

* [http://www.jacksonguitars.com/ Jackson Guitars' official website]