Richie Sambora Jackson Strat

[ulijdavid]

I am looking for some help from the experts. I have a customer that wants to do a Richie Sambora Jackson Strat replica. There are very few pics of the guitar out there.

When starting to lay this out, the horns seem longer and skinnier than a normal strat, but not as pointy as a Soloist or Dinky. From the information I have gathered, this guitar was made just before Kramer swooped in and stole the endorsement deal - not that Jackson was really endorsing anyone. Can anyone out there point me to a good picture of this body type and what it is? Is this what was considered a San Dimas Strat style? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[j2379]

thats the way all c/j strats are as far as I know. It's not very noticeable unless you have them side by side w a fender. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a hole from a volume knob under that star either.

[ulijdavid]

I would say you are correct in regards to the normal volume knob position.

[Grandturk]

That's a pretty cool one. I'd choose matching pickups and no stars.

[shreddermon]

Apologies, I'm not a Sambora follower nor do i know much about the guitar except seeing it in old 80s music videos. (Whooa-oh! Living on a prayer! LOL)

Seriously, though... Without a logo, how do we know it's a Jackson? (Or a Charvel, for that matter?) I mean, sure if looks like it might be. But without a logo or serial number, how do we know?

I'm not doubting the guitar's authenticity - just want to understand how we know it's origin and history?

[Grandturk]

I'm not doubting the guitar's authenticity - just want to understand how we know it's origin and history?

I don't know the whole story either, but there are a lot of clues in the details that it was a Jackson/Charvel - that would be easy to fake now, but looking at old pics seems pretty legit

But why no logo? Interesting. I'd like to know the story behind it as well. I liked the RS Strat models Fender came out with I think in mid 90's. Decked Floyd and dimarzio. .

[shreddermon]

Well, there might be a simple answer to "why no logo?" - because of the strathead. If this guitar was mid-to-late 80s, that was around the time J/C got the C&D from Fender to stop using the strathead design. And this effectively happened.

However, since Fender's US legal position didn't necessarily extend internationally, they continued to do stratheads for overseas guys. (Ex. AS's Jackson stratheads.) So they still occasionally built them, but not for US customers. Maybe they made an "exception" for Sambora if he requested one, and left off the logo to avoid the legal issues?

That's totally pure conjecture on my part, so take it with a very heavy grain of salt. LOL

[Grandturk]

I was thinking it was slapped together from parts. Woodburn neck and a strat body.

I'd like to know what year the pics were taken. I'm not familiar enough with BJ to figure the dates.

[Banjowarrior]

It looks awfully like it in the videos for Livin' on a Prayer and You Give Love A Bad Name. So that would date it to 1986 or earlier.

[Axewielder]

Shitty volume knob location? It MUST be a Jackson!

This is news to me that this guitar is a Jackson strat. Very intriguing. Wouldn't it be great to see a pic of the back of the body.

So as far as those 80's Jackson strat shapes go, there was the "Strat", which was pretty consistent, the "Dinky", which was a little less consistent, and then these odd variations between the two that didn't even have names.

[ulijdavid]

I had no idea that this was potentially a Jackson. I have dealt with this customer for many builds. He has quite the collection of 80's tribute guitars. I believe he "knows his stuff". He had sent me screen shots from youtube of this guitar during live performances. He specifically did screen captures of the back of the guitar. The rear electrical cavity had the familiar Jackson/Charvel cavity cover.

I am by no means a Sambora fan boy. But.....I did see Bon Jovi open for the Scorpions a long time ago (Love at First Sting?). I love Matthias Jabs and think he is a great melodic player. But, his extended solo was long and drawn out, whereas Sambora did a completely super melodic jam type solo thing that just blew Jabs away.

I am actually glad this guitar (whatever it is) is getting some intrigue here - its been a little dull lately on the JCF.

[neilli]

It was sold as a Jackson by rockstarsguitars.com: http://www.rockstarsguitars.com/cate...ambora/page/3/ I don't recall the details of the how or why, but that guitar and the black single hum were both Jacksons.

[Axewielder]

I'm going with regular 'ol strat as the body shape here after looking at all the pics. The closest I can get to that hardware layout is my pink one:

http://www.axewielder.com/Pink_Strat/Body_01.jpg

http://www.axewielder.com/Pink_Strat/Back_01.jpg

[shreddermon]

I was thinking it was slapped together from parts. Woodburn neck and a strat body.

I'd like to know what year the pics were taken. I'm not familiar enough with BJ to figure the dates.

It looks awfully like it in the videos for Livin' on a Prayer and You Give Love A Bad Name. So that would date it to 1986 or earlier.

Right. So that would be too early for a woodburn neck. Those were done in the early 90s.

I did see Bon Jovi open for the Scorpions a long time ago (Love at First Sting?). I love Matthias Jabs and think he is a great melodic player. But, his extended solo was long and drawn out, whereas Sambora did a completely super melodic jam type solo thing that just blew Jabs away.

I saw that same bill - probably around 83-ish, I think. BJ was still pretty new then, I had no idea who they were when going to the show. I was in like the 2nd or 3rd row. The keyboard player for BJ was trashed beyond all belief, drinking Jack Daniels on stage while playing. I remember him hosing us with spray from his bottle when their set was done. Douche! LOL. Scorps were great, though. One of the best live shows I remember.

[Vass]

My wife and I went to see BJ 7-8 years ago-my observations were 1) JBJ may be straight but he hit the gaydar hard- turning his back to the crowd and sticking his ass out and wiggling it, all the weird posing... Not that there's anything wrong with that! and 2) Sambora is absolutely the talent in that band.