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At NAMM this past weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with several original Charvel/Jackson Employees who were there in the early days from '83-86 and they shared TONS of stories/anecdotes...
"Tales From The Shop'...if you will. I laughed my ass of at most of them but here's one that was taken very seriously and STUCK with all of them.
This one dates from '84 or '85...none of them could recall exactly.
The Lavender Telly
One day Mike Eldred was working at the last station on the line doing a final setup on a neck-thru Lavender colored Jackson Telly. Suddenly Mike froze in place. Then He snatched up the guitar quickly and headed across the shop floor directly to Grover's office with the guitar in hand.
About 5 minutes passed, then PA Loudspeaker in the shop crackled and a loud booming voice said 'Attention: ALL Employees to the shop floor...mandatory Company Meeting NOW!'
Soon Every Employee in the shop was standing around Grover. He was holding the Lavender Telly in his hands. He said very sternly
"I want every one of you to look at this guitar, our product, a FINISHED guitar at the end of the line and about to go out the door. Somebody tell me what's wrong with it....Pass it around"
The guitar was passed around to each employee to look at/inspect. Everything looked in order, fretwork was excellent, the finish was good, it played well, there were seemingly no flaws...no one could see any obvious defects.
With the guitar back in Grover's hands he says loudly 'WELL?? NOBODY saw anything wrong??
Then he held it up high and pointed at the neck at the 12th fret "See this Inlay?" and then he turned it sideways to reveal the side dots perfectly in place ...AT THE ELEVENTH Fret!!!!
Without another word he walked over to the nearest bandsaw, put on a pair of safety glasses and proceeded to cut the guitar into many pieces....right thru strings, pickups and whatever else was in the path of the blade.
After it was completely shredded he turned off the saw and declared loudly. "Meeting OVER, now get back to work and stop FUCKING AROUND!"
"Tales From The Shop'...if you will. I laughed my ass of at most of them but here's one that was taken very seriously and STUCK with all of them.
This one dates from '84 or '85...none of them could recall exactly.
The Lavender Telly
One day Mike Eldred was working at the last station on the line doing a final setup on a neck-thru Lavender colored Jackson Telly. Suddenly Mike froze in place. Then He snatched up the guitar quickly and headed across the shop floor directly to Grover's office with the guitar in hand.
About 5 minutes passed, then PA Loudspeaker in the shop crackled and a loud booming voice said 'Attention: ALL Employees to the shop floor...mandatory Company Meeting NOW!'
Soon Every Employee in the shop was standing around Grover. He was holding the Lavender Telly in his hands. He said very sternly
"I want every one of you to look at this guitar, our product, a FINISHED guitar at the end of the line and about to go out the door. Somebody tell me what's wrong with it....Pass it around"
The guitar was passed around to each employee to look at/inspect. Everything looked in order, fretwork was excellent, the finish was good, it played well, there were seemingly no flaws...no one could see any obvious defects.
With the guitar back in Grover's hands he says loudly 'WELL?? NOBODY saw anything wrong??
Then he held it up high and pointed at the neck at the 12th fret "See this Inlay?" and then he turned it sideways to reveal the side dots perfectly in place ...AT THE ELEVENTH Fret!!!!
Without another word he walked over to the nearest bandsaw, put on a pair of safety glasses and proceeded to cut the guitar into many pieces....right thru strings, pickups and whatever else was in the path of the blade.
After it was completely shredded he turned off the saw and declared loudly. "Meeting OVER, now get back to work and stop FUCKING AROUND!"
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