So who really does build Jackson and Charvel Guitars?

[church2224]

So I got into a conversation with this guy on Youtube who was talking about how after Fender bought out Jackson Fender began building the guitars themselves and quality dropped drastically. He said that all Jacksons and Charvels made before the buyout were perfect in every way and that no bad guitars were released at all, and how Jackson are horribly overpriced and that people should get Schecters.

He acted as if the same people who built Fenders built Jacksons and Charvels, but I told him that was not true as many of the people who built the guitars were the same people before the buyout and even Mike Shannon still worked there. He said I was completely wrong and the way that Jacksons and Charvels were made was the same way as Fenders.

I was under the impression that Jackson and Charvel's "Lowest Point" was back in the late 90s under AMIC and that there were some occasional bad guitars made in all eras of Jackson ownership, as from what I have read on here and the Jackson Guitar Palace, it never really mattered who owned Jackson and Charvel, they are who they are. Plus every time I go to a dealer I have been very impressed at the USA and pro Series Jacksons. Plus many dealers I talk to say Jackson and Charvel are very consistent builders.

I also read a post about a month ago by Racer X about how some of them visited the Factory before and their experiences, and this information coincided with mine as to who builds these guitars...

So am I wrong as to who makes the guitars or have I just ran into a Schecter Fan-boy?

[dg]

The only J/C guitars that have been made by Fender line employees were the recent USA Charvel production models: the San Dimas Style 1, Style 2, the SoCal, and some wildcard variations of those. Other than that, Jackson and Charvel have operated just like they did under their previous corporate parent company, which was Akai (AMIC). The USA Select Jackson, Custom Jackson, and Custom Charvel guitars are all made by employees of JCMI, most of whom go back well before the Fender buyout, and some of whom go all the way back to the Grover Jackson days. The Charvel Pro Mods are now made in the C/J Japan factory, Chushin Gakki, which is the same one they've been using since 1986, first to make import Charvels, then to make import Jacksons as well.

It's usually a waste of time to argue with anybody on Youtube, but I guess if you post the right info, there's a chance somebody might believe you.

[RacerX]

So I got into a conversation with this guy on Youtube who was talking about how after Fender bought out Jackson Fender began building the guitars themselves and quality dropped drastically. He acted as if the same people who built Fenders built Jacksons and Charvels, but I told him that was not true as many of the people who built the guitars were the same people before the buyout and even Mike Shannon still worked there.


I also read a post about a month ago by Racer X about how some of them visited the Factory before and their experiences, and this information coincided with mine as to who builds these guitars...

That dude is a fucking liar and doesn't know "shit from shinola" as my late (Virginian) stepdad would say. There was a fairly large group of JCFers and admins who took a tour around 2003 IIRC, and myself & Richard James took a tour of the Corona factory about 2 years ago: I took copious notes and Richard posted a review thread. We both back up what the earlier group reported and what should be common knowledge by now. dg's post in this thread is spot on, and so are mine on the subject. I really should find my notes and post on Richard's thread so we can refer everybody there.

It pretty much goes without saying that you can trust me (RacerX): I've been a Jackson owner since 1987 and I've been on JCF and the previous board, going back about 10 years now, been to numerous NAMMs and personally talked directly with numerous folks at and involved with JCMI. The short list of these folks would be Grover Jackson, Tim Wilson, Mike Kotzen, Pablo Santana, John Walker, Lee Garver, Dan Lawrence, Chris Cannella, Dr. Yuji (Japanese factory president). Usually when I talk to these nice folks, I report my findings to my brothers here at the JCF; here's a typical thread from 2006: http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/485...ht=NAMM+Kotzen

Some other industry folks I've talked with/hung out with would be Mike Learn, Chris Poland, Neal Moser, Dan Fastuca, Jack Frost, Metal Mike Chlasciak, and yes, I guess I can include ol' Ed Roman

[DonP]

So am I wrong as to who makes the guitars or have I just ran into a Schecter Fan-boy?

What you ran into is a cheat who trying to shill up the price of pre-fender Jacksons. They try this shit all the time and it always fails.

[diablomozart]

yep...when i was at namm i spoke directly with mike shannon myself...nice guy...he took measurements of one of my guitars...it's the same people building them...the ones who want you to believe fender changed everything are the ones who want to artificially inflate the price of a guitar they want to sell...d.m.

[texasfury]

......

[Newc]

... or have I just ran into a Schecter Fan-boy?

No, that's what most people know as "ass-clown". Or "ass-hat". Or some variation of "ass-" something. Hole. Head. Face. etc etc.

Also commonly known as "Fucking Moron", "Dipshit", "Loser", "Pinhead" (not to be confused with Pinhead from Hellraiser), "Stupid Ass", "Idiot", "Window Licker", etc etc.

[Devotee]

Wha? I coulda sworn it was the Fort Worth post office employees that made my Model 3A!

Did they ship it as well?

[bratfink]

No, that's what most people know as "ass-clown". Or "ass-hat". Or some variation of "ass-" something. Hole. Head. Face. etc etc.

Also commonly known as "Fucking Moron", "Dipshit", "Loser", "Pinhead" (not to be confused with Pinhead from Hellraiser), "Stupid Ass", "Idiot", "Window Licker", etc etc.

He probably plays CrabCore as well!

[Newc]

Crabcore, Shoegaze, Knobslurp, one of those.

[church2224]

That dude is a fucking liar and doesn't know "shit from shinola" as my late (Virginian) stepdad would say. There was a fairly large group of JCFers and admins who took a tour around 2003 IIRC, and myself & Richard James took a tour of the Corona factory about 2 years ago: I took copious notes and Richard posted a review thread. We both back up what the earlier group reported and what should be common knowledge by now. dg's post in this thread is spot on, and so are mine on the subject. I really should find my notes and post on Richard's thread so we can refer everybody there.

It pretty much goes without saying that you can trust me (RacerX): I've been a Jackson owner since 1987 and I've been on JCF and the previous board, going back about 10 years now, been to numerous NAMMs and personally talked directly with numerous folks at and involved with JCMI. The short list of these folks would be Grover Jackson, Tim Wilson, Mike Kotzen, Pablo Santana, John Walker, Lee Garver, Dan Lawrence, Chris Cannella, Dr. Yuji (Japanese factory president). Usually when I talk to these nice folks, I report my findings to my brothers here at the JCF; here's a typical thread from 2006: http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/485...ht=NAMM+Kotzen

Some other industry folks I've talked with/hung out with would be Mike Learn, Chris Poland, Neal Moser, Dan Fastuca, Jack Frost, Metal Mike Chlasciak, and yes, I guess I can include ol' Ed Roman

I trust you opinion more than anything Racerx, just wanted some conformation of it all.

I was thinking all of the information this guy gave me was false. I also talked to a Jackson dealer in Richmond about this information and his information coincided with all that Racerx said, which is good. Seems like a lot of people pride themselves in selling and owning Jacksons, I guess it is because Jackson has such a rich heritage.

Crabcore-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgRscz3-Ymc

[toejam]

So I got into a conversation with this guy on Youtube who was talking about how after Fender bought out Jackson Fender began building the guitars themselves and quality dropped drastically. He said that all Jacksons and Charvels made before the buyout were perfect in every way and that no bad guitars were released at all...

LOL AMIC (Akai Musical Instrument Corp.) practically ran Jackson into the ground. Indeed, there were bad guitars released.

[Animus]

LOL AMIC (Akai Musical Instrument Corp.) practically ran Jackson into the ground. Indeed, there were bad guitars released.

They did such a good job with their sampler line they had to branch out into guitars to run aground. ;-)

[eaeolian]

LOL AMIC (Akai Musical Instrument Corp.) practically ran Jackson into the ground. Indeed, there were bad guitars released.

Oh yeah. There are some horrific mid-90s guitars out there.

[Inazone]

I love my AMIC-era USAs, but they sure let some duds slip through. I had two USAs (a few years apart) with wrong-sized locking nuts, another whose trem post inserts were pulling right out of the body, and bad pickup toggle switches on two or three. All the issues were able to be corrected, but all should have been caught by QC.

Pre-Fender is just one more era in J/C's history. In the grand scheme of things, the changes will not prove to be all that significant.