List of custom shop "No goes"

[AK47]

Yeah I was trying to be funny about the socialist European statement, as I am European as well as an American citizen, I should edit it out but I cant.

[slayer]

Your truely custom shop guitar will eventually have to be made by a very small luthier, probably unknown to most of the public and probably local. Those are the dudes that will do anything as long as you keep a tight lip about it. One guy that will probably make something that may be out of bounds is John Hill or Hill Guitars, but that was a year ago when I talked with him, he may even be a little nervous. Basically, he wouldn`t put his name or logo on the guitar I know if I want a certain guitar, I will get it done and not worry about patents or any other suck nonsense. There is always someone out there willing to make you what you want Jack.

[Scholomance]

Maybe they do it now, but I was told by two different dealers that Jackson would not do abalone binding/purfling on my guitars, even though nearly every other shop does it. Then John Walker told me they would do it, so I'm a bit confused on that one. They've done everything else I've asked though.

[AK47]

16. No primer only guitars leave the CS- FMIC wants to make it hard for you to go against there wishes of ordering a guitar with a paint or graphic you want.

As for the Mark Morton sig I believe it has a coat of satin over the primer but its a one time type deal, you cant order the guitar with primer only.

[xenophobe]

16. No primer only guitars leave the CS- FMIC wants to make it hard for you to go against there wishes of ordering a guitar with a paint or graphic you want.

As for the Mark Morton sig I believe it has a coat of satin over the primer but its a one time type deal, you cant order the guitar with primer only.

Yes, but you may be able to order other guitars in a flat satin... that would be ready for custom paint elsewhere.

[AK47]

Updated list:

Official No's:

1. Artist Similar guitars- means you cant place an order exactley like your favorite artist's guitar.

2. Jackson Strat Heads- Was a yes earlier but just for a couple months.

3. Custom Jackson Logos- You can chose any historic Jackson logo but you cant make your own.

4. 21 Fret Charvel necks- was a yes but the capatilizing on the legacy series killed that CS option this year.

5. Custom serial numbers- No using your initials and a number or any other cute ideas you use Jacksons from now on.

6. No similar inlays- Meaning even if the image is not copyrighted and the symbol appeared on another artist or brands guitar its a No.

7. No sub contractors- Lets say you have an inlay guy you want to use Jackson will not ship the guitar to them till it is finished in the past they would accomodate your needs.

8. No buffalo horn inlays- means what it says.

9. Any Copyrighted images

10. No Gibson shapes- Firebird, Explorer

11. No VVVs or Disruptors.

12. No Baritone Scale lengths- They did at one time

13. No offensive graphics- Thanks to our PC friends for helping stamp out the hate being spread by guitar graphics. Must be PC.

14. No Round horn V's- Like the Y2KV or Robin Crosby style Vs.

15. No primer only guitars leave the CS- FMIC wants to make it hard for you to go against there wishes of ordering a guitar with a paint or graphic you want.

16. Jackson camo prints only- I trided explaining camo prints are not copyrighted but its a no go must use Jackson's Cow print.


One last thing I would like to add if I ever ran a Corporate power house like FMIC I would need a few good "Yes men" and Vitamin G would need not apply as he would have the job... he he he

Sorry, I just had to put that he seams to be the only one who is cool with all these rules...

[shreddermon]

Isn't #14 a part of #10? Just sayin.

[xenophobe]

Updated list:

Official No's:

1. Artist Similar guitars- means you cant place an order exactley like your favorite artist's guitar.

5. Custom serial numbers- No using your initials and a number or any other cute ideas you use Jacksons from now on.

6. No similar inlays- Meaning even if the image is not copyrighted and the symbol appeared on another artist or brands guitar its a No.

9. Any Copyrighted images

10. No Gibson shapes- Firebird, Explorer

11. No VVVs or Disruptors.

14. No Round horn V's- Like the Y2KV or Robin Crosby style Vs.

15. No primer only guitars leave the CS- FMIC wants to make it hard for you to go against there wishes of ordering a guitar with a paint or graphic you want.

If I was in charge of a large corporation, these make sense.

1, 6 and 11 are basically the same thing. No artist or copyright infringements. Makes sense on a corporate level.

10 and 14 are basically the same as well. Copying competitors designs also make sense.

5 and 15 are similar, because no custom serial numbers or unfinished guitars means keeping track of inventory and consistency in serial numbers makes it easy on possibly warranty returns. And the no custom serial number isn't a big deal to me. I can't get a custom car from Ford, GMC or Chrysler and request a custom VIN.


All the others that you list though, I completely agree are stupid. And I don't like the policy of the ones I quoted, they do make sense on a corporate level.

[AfterForever]

Wasn't their slogan "if you can dream it, we can build it" or something..

[RobRR]

Wasn't their slogan "if you can dream it, we can build it" or something..

I think now a days its more like "If you can dream it, we can probably build something somewhat close to it, but its gonna cost ya..."

Its almost like they have the "were doing you a favor by building this" mentality now... despite the fact that were giving them, what, $4000+?

[Vlover]

Reading all of this, If i want the guitar i want, I'll just by various different guitars and mix and match parts, and learn how to paint guitars, I already learned how to wire. Save me thousands of bucks and I could gain a new skill.

I assumed that the Custom Shop Generator was simular to how you work with their custom shop.

[Carbophos]

Artist replica issue is pretty unclear to me.
I can understand if some famous artist comes up with very original design and that's the part of his image, and Jackson promises not to copy it anymore. It's a part of artist relations. For example you could NEVER order the copies of Judas Priest guitars from Hamer. Even 10-15-20 years ago. (I know the dude who tried)

But a lot of artists do choose some regular options. FFor example Dave Mustaine "#1" KV1. No-one can order Mercedes Silver KV with Kahler bridge now?

Or going further - Adrian Smith did appear in Jackson catalog with black KV2. So they should be discontinued?

So how deep in absurd can we get?

[VitaminG]

One last thing I would like to add if I ever ran a Corporate power house like FMIC I would need a few good "Yes men" and Vitamin G would need not apply as he would have the job... he he he

Sorry, I just had to put that he seams to be the only one who is cool with all these rules...

I'm no Yes Man, and I didn't say I was cool with all these rules. All I'm saying is that a lot of what you are (repeatedly) complaining about are limitations faced by all guitar manufacturers, which is why I posted the link to Tim's list of Custom Shops. It's not the early 80s anymore and all these builders are at risk of being dragged into court if they rip off someone else's design. It's funny all the posts I've seen on the JCF of outrage at everyone from Hondo & Vester to JB Player & ESP ripping off Jackson, but some folks here still think it's okay for Jackson to use Gibson designs.

What if Jackson was to start building guitars regardless of the legal risks? Should they start building in their increased legal fees into the cost of the guitars? And how many Explorers or Roundhorn Vs would they get out of the shop before an injunction forced them to quit building them anyway? Hopefully you'll be amongst the few who received their guitars before anyone noticed, and then you couldn't bitch about Jackson not building whatever you dreamed. You could blame it on The Man for not letting them build them anymore.

Instead of worrying about why Jackson won't build you a '53 Broadcaster replica with a Charvel logo or a single hum Explorer with a Joe Camel graphic, what people should be worrying about now is their recent atrocious QC track record.

Isn't #14 a part of #10? Just sayin.

1, 6 and 11 are basically the same thing. No artist or copyright infringements. Makes sense on a corporate level.

10 and 14 are basically the same as well. Copying competitors designs also make sense.

5 and 15 are similar,

now now, gents. Don't let redundancy get in the way of constructing a longer, more impressive list.

[sully]

G is my hero. i nominate him for emperor.

[YetAnotherOne]

And how many Explorers or Roundhorn Vs would they get out of the shop before an injunction forced them to quit building them anyway?

Possibly quite a bunch. I've heard the GMP guys had a few discussions with Gibson's legal team about their Firebirds and Explorers but they were never enjoined from building either because Gibson decided that the GMP designs were dissimilar enough that they had little chance of stopping them. I asked about Pawn Shops which are damn close to LPs but Gibson apparently never bothered to challenge them on those.

Granted Jackson/FMIC is orders of magnitude bigger and therefore a more liekly target for legal action but Dean, Hamer and others still sell Gibson-esque designs seemingly without incident. What has happened at Jackson is precisely what most here feared would happen when FMIC bought the company. It's disappointing but it's definitely not a surprise.