Jcf-yce

[jcs21]

I still have mine.

I think a few JCF-02 were sold by the original owners pretty quick after we got them if I remember correctly and those people aren't around anymore it seems, but I may be off.

It's too bad that it had to go, but there were certain people that wanted to pick at every little thing on them. Sully and the crew did a great job on them.

[roodyrocker]

I never did get a JCF-02 but I did get a JCF-01 from Lloyd (Guitarxpress.com) later down the line. In fact the one I have is the first of three prototypes, JCF-01 P1

[MetalHeadMat]

That JCF-02 is beautiful. Also if this is another YCE I'm in

[Madness]

Really is too bad these are no longer. That DK2LE is killer.

[Newc]

JCF01 was handled by GuitarXpress.
JCF02 went through Easton.

"Someone" went digging through private information regarding the profit Lloyd would have made. That information was made public and the shit hit the fan. IIRC, that almost killed the run entirely.

By some miracle (and a lot of hard work by Sully, Jeremy, Kurt, and ~K~ to smooth things over with Jackson), JCF02 was given the green light while RKC was still alive, but the same fucknut jumped in and dug up more private info that was none of his or anyone else's fucking business, which delayed the run until Robbin had passed away.

JCF01 was delivered to us for $1350. JCF02 was on-track for the same price, but because of the efforts of one asshat, we barely got them for just shy of $1700.

After that, the Admins decided it was too much trouble to continue the series.


Don't pray for another JCF-YCE, unless you have a particular dealer in mind whom you'd like to see lose their Jackson dealership, because that's what happened on the first two. Despite Easton's troubles after that, it didn't help his situation before whatever personal issues arose. As far as I know, he did a standup job on the JCF02s, just as Lloyd did for JCF01.

[shreddermon]

Well, if serious thought is ever given to re-invigorate the series, maybe one of the things to consider is very carefully choosing who may participate. @sshats who have a propensity of stirring the s**tpot probably shouldn't be given a spot. Also, I realize that may be hard to predict sometimes. So, then possibly give the admins or the overall group the ability to vote anyone who causes trouble off the island. Kind of like the platinum lounge rules. (Which I'm not a fan of.) However, I think the concept works much better with something like the JCF series involvement.

Just throwing ideas out there. WTF do I know?

[Tekky]

Really is too bad these are no longer. That DK2LE is killer.

Remember, as far as "these" and the DK2LE are concerned you're talking apples and oranges. Again, the DK2LE is NOT a JCF-YCE model. It was a limited run, which dealers are doing all the time. Just check the Limited Edition Guitars section. If you can find the same number of people on this forum that Jackson sets as their minimum order, to actually agree to the specs that you set, then you're in business.

[sully]

Are all the guys that were part of the JCFYCE still around here?

No, many have moved on.

there were certain people that wanted to pick at every little thing on them.

You ain't just whistlin' dixie. Part of the reason I took two days off of work (the entire batch wasn't shipped on the same day) to do the inspections (and case stenciling) was to be sure that all was well with the guitars, and to fix issues that could be fixed. That first day was a really long day, and I got NO help whatsoever from KE. I stenciled all of the cases and fixed all of the issues that needed to be fixed. There were paint issues (clear coat runs that I sanded and buffed out), some setup work, some slight ebony cracks that I filled in just to be on the safe side. And no, I'm not saying which guitars had them, either. I regret that I missed Greg's tuner mismatch, but to have people complain about part of the trem rout breaking through into the control rout was effing ludicrous.

Sully and the crew did a great job on them.

Thank you!

Really is too bad these are no longer. That DK2LE is killer.

That's NOT a JCF guitar.

Well, if serious thought is ever given to re-invigorate the series, maybe one of the things to consider is very carefully choosing who may participate. @sshats who have a propensity of stirring the s**tpot probably shouldn't be given a spot. Also, I realize that may be hard to predict sometimes. So, then possibly give the admins or the overall group the ability to vote anyone who causes trouble off the island. Kind of like the platinum lounge rules. (Which I'm not a fan of.) However, I think the concept works much better with something like the JCF series involvement.

Just throwing ideas out there. WTF do I know?

Pat, you raised a point that was something that we tried to do. You'll remember that we had a selection process, and we tried our best to involve those that were passionate about the guitars, had the money for the guitar, and were a productive part of the JCF community. That said, sometimes you run out of those people that actually want the guitar that we're trying to sell (especially with the larger JCF 02 count). On the other hand, the process would be called elitism, which I agreed with, but we did the best that we could.

I think that the YCE was a great idea in it's original spirit. For those that are new, and those that forgot, it's intent was to pay tribute to historically important/iconic guitars in the Jackson/Charvel history. It wasn't to just have a limited run of a custom shop order with a JCF serial number on it. Sadly, I doubt that there's any way that the run could live again in it's original intent due to the "no artist similar" guitars. That rule was softly enforced on JCF 02 - it was to have Robbin's signature on the headstock, but we would have needed to get the executor of his estate to grant permission. We knew who to go to, but didn't feel the need to put a stick in that hive, so we let it go. It really got in the way of some guitars that we were considering, specifically Vinnie Vincent's pink/silver V, and Jeff Becks "Tina Turner" soloist; this was in strong consideration for JCF 04 (03 was going to be a Charvel - specifically the Heinekin strat. We had the original paint stencil, but K and I were not up for that battle, especially after JCF 02 had been so difficult)

Then there was the issue that the JCF runs would have been competing with (or inspiring) the limited runs that were happening. We had some concern about JMIC "stealing" the ideas that we had submitted; especially considering that we had better knowledge about the specs of the old guitars (sometimes screw counting pays off!). One could easily make the argument that the silver 25th anniversary double rhoads was a JCF 02 copy, as the 25th run started happening after JCF-02 construction began. We were told that that JMIC was planning on releasing their own run, and it may or may not be in the same color. KE told me that and fueled the "idea theft" possibility and stated that they used to do that kind of thing from time to time. I tend to believe that it was inspired by the JCF run and they decided to be cool and do a different color, which I appreciate. Let's face it, Mercedes Silver wasn't a color that you'd think of for a 25th anniversary Jackson. The apropriate colors would be either White, Black, or Ferrari Red.

Then we had the issue that JMIC wasn't going to let us have the serial number anymore, and there was no way around that one.

I'm sure there's many more things that I'm forgetting, but those issues would have prevented the run from happening in it's intent.

And then we had the local issues; getting 30 people to get involved in the run was a bit difficult, as was keeping the pricing quiet (newc, you're a little low on the JCF 02 pricing), and then the screw counting; holy cats, that got crazy sometimes.

Looking back at it all, I have mixed feelings about it. I LOVE the fact that I got to be involved in two very special custom runs of some historic guitars. I enjoyed getting to work directly and indirectly with the company and some of the same people that built the iconic guitars of my teenage heroes. The two guitars were great; I remember being so impressed with how great the two not only played, but sounded; both were very unique, and sounded how a custom guitar should. That said, I don't have either of mine anymore, although at times, I wish I still did (my '02 is different from the others, and it has my signature in blue sharpie in the trem cavity). But either way, they are two amazing guitars, for sure.

The other side doesn't miss the complaining, the corporate red tape, or the stress of being partially responsible for a guitar that someone is going to potentially complain about, whether it's a real quality issue (a few JCF 01 guitars were sent back to Jackson), or an imagined one (see my rout comment above).

Sorry for the novel, but there's some more insight.

Sully

[Madness]

Thanks for clearing that up guy's. I have always thought that the DK2LE was a JCF YCE. Whoops!

[mattsmusiccenter]

I remember quoting JCF02 and if I recall correctly Easton only made about $50.00 per guitar at the price he sold them for. I certainly don't know all the facts involved but I know he ran into financial problems and selling at a profit margin like that probably didn't help. By the time setups and credit card fees were deducted, he probably lost money on that run.

JCF01 was handled by GuitarXpress. JCF02 went through Easton.

JCF01 was delivered to us for $1350. JCF02 was on-track for the same price, but because of the efforts of one asshat, we barely got them for just shy of $1700.

[sully]

I remember quoting JCF02 and if I recall correctly Easton only made about $50.00 per guitar at the price he sold them for. I certainly don't know all the facts involved but I know he ran into financial problems and selling at a profit margin like that probably didn't help. By the time setups and credit card fees were deducted, he probably lost money on that run.

probably. iirc, the guitar wound up at a price of about 2400.

sully

[Mr.Shreddy]

JCF01 was handled by GuitarXpress.
JCF02 went through Easton.

"but the same fucknut jumped in and dug up more private info that was none of his or anyone else's fucking business, which delayed the run until Robbin had passed away.

.

THAT is messed up. It sucks that Robbin didn't get to see the final production. I never knew that it was because of one guy either. - well, he'll live with that for the rest of his life now.

[Axewielder]

What's the back story on the JCF 01? Those look like the RR1 shape to me if I'm not mistaken. Why wasn't the LTD/concorde shape spec'ed out instead?

[sully]

What's the back story on the JCF 01? Those look like the RR1 shape to me if I'm not mistaken. Why wasn't the LTD/concorde shape spec'ed out instead?

JCF-01 was a tribute to the 1983 "NAMM Rhoads" that was lost for many years. it had a traditional RR-1 shape.

sully

[Mr.Shreddy]

Yup. There was a story of it in guitar world a while back. Some guy sold it at Namm without realizing who's it was.