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As some of you know, RacerX and I had a tour of the factory in Corona yesterday. We each brought a friend, so there were only four of us. I'm just going to put a fairly random list of interesting/uninteresting tidbits that I remember. When Ron gets back from his vacation, he'll do it up proper with more answers and details than you can imagine. He was like Woodward and Bernstein all rolled up into one. He was relentless with his questions and had pen & paper ready the moment the tour began. You guys are gonna be grateful for him being there. Anyway, here are my ramblings:
- I arrived first to find that the receptionist and the Charvel/Jackson guys knew absolutely nothing of any kind of tour! Mike Kotzen, our tour guide, was on the freeway with a flat tire it turns out. After a few calls, Chip Ellis started our tour. Great guy.
- Everyone has to wear safety goggles while walking around. Ron looked awesome in his!
- I saw a bass body that was painted like the Union Jack, and when I asked if it was for Rick Savage of Def Leppard, he said yes.
- I asked if they would be willing to do the pseudo strat head for a custom shop order, like the one on the original PC1 or like the Charvel headstock you see as my avatar. The answer is a definite NO. Fender lets them use the real strathead design, so they have to protect that by not doing any pseudo designs.
- Mike Shannon was a friendly and super nice guy. He walked up to us while on the tour, guitar in hand, wanting to show it to us and tell us about it.
- The first shift in the factory begins at 4am.
- Tony Franklin, bassist from The Firm and Blue Murder, works there. He came walking in while I was waiting in the lobby. At the very end, we saw him again and Mike Kotzen confirmed that he works there.
- Mike Kotzen told us about a cool glow in the dark neck through Jackson that was just sent to Phil Collen. Phil had just emailed him and said it was his new favorite!
- In the corner where Pablo works, there were a few guitars hanging on the wall, some broken. There was a PC1 (just body and neck, no electronics or logo) painted exactly like the blue flames limited run that was done for the JCF.
- Chip Ellis, our tour guide, was the one who invented the Chameleon paint design for the PC1.
- The EVH guitars are all made by the Charvel/Jackson guys, 100%. We saw a bunch of necks and bodies in the wood working areas. I also saw an EVH cardboard guitar box in a trash can at the end of our tour. I wanted to ask if I could have since they were throwing it out, but chickened out.
- At one point, Ron tried to stuff my head into a de-duster compartment/thing on the way to the paint room.
- Speaking of Ron, he was very preoccupied with his hair/looks and kept asking for a mirror to check himself out.
- Basically the last stop for the guitars is where they put in the pickups, bridges, and do the setup. I think there were four people doing this. Right behind them are all these plastic compartments that hold pickups and stuff. I saw lots of loose Duncans, Floyds, etc, just ready for them to grab.
OK, I'll add more as I remember things.
Edited to add a shameless plug for my newest video. It's related to my trip to the factory, so here goes. This is a song that I've tried to record a few times, but just couldn't get it. I was making too many mistakes. Well, after spending over an hour walking around the Charvel/Jackson factory and seeing all those amazing guitars, and hearing all those amazing stories, I felt really inspired. I came home and immediately grabbed my Charvel. I was playing better than I have in recent weeks. I guess it was the Charvel mojo that rubbed off on me. No joke! I got a satisfactory take recorded and uploaded to youtube. It's not perfect, but it was good enough. I also posted this in the MP3 section.
- I arrived first to find that the receptionist and the Charvel/Jackson guys knew absolutely nothing of any kind of tour! Mike Kotzen, our tour guide, was on the freeway with a flat tire it turns out. After a few calls, Chip Ellis started our tour. Great guy.
- Everyone has to wear safety goggles while walking around. Ron looked awesome in his!
- I saw a bass body that was painted like the Union Jack, and when I asked if it was for Rick Savage of Def Leppard, he said yes.
- I asked if they would be willing to do the pseudo strat head for a custom shop order, like the one on the original PC1 or like the Charvel headstock you see as my avatar. The answer is a definite NO. Fender lets them use the real strathead design, so they have to protect that by not doing any pseudo designs.
- Mike Shannon was a friendly and super nice guy. He walked up to us while on the tour, guitar in hand, wanting to show it to us and tell us about it.
- The first shift in the factory begins at 4am.
- Tony Franklin, bassist from The Firm and Blue Murder, works there. He came walking in while I was waiting in the lobby. At the very end, we saw him again and Mike Kotzen confirmed that he works there.
- Mike Kotzen told us about a cool glow in the dark neck through Jackson that was just sent to Phil Collen. Phil had just emailed him and said it was his new favorite!
- In the corner where Pablo works, there were a few guitars hanging on the wall, some broken. There was a PC1 (just body and neck, no electronics or logo) painted exactly like the blue flames limited run that was done for the JCF.
- Chip Ellis, our tour guide, was the one who invented the Chameleon paint design for the PC1.
- The EVH guitars are all made by the Charvel/Jackson guys, 100%. We saw a bunch of necks and bodies in the wood working areas. I also saw an EVH cardboard guitar box in a trash can at the end of our tour. I wanted to ask if I could have since they were throwing it out, but chickened out.
- At one point, Ron tried to stuff my head into a de-duster compartment/thing on the way to the paint room.
- Speaking of Ron, he was very preoccupied with his hair/looks and kept asking for a mirror to check himself out.
- Basically the last stop for the guitars is where they put in the pickups, bridges, and do the setup. I think there were four people doing this. Right behind them are all these plastic compartments that hold pickups and stuff. I saw lots of loose Duncans, Floyds, etc, just ready for them to grab.
OK, I'll add more as I remember things.
Edited to add a shameless plug for my newest video. It's related to my trip to the factory, so here goes. This is a song that I've tried to record a few times, but just couldn't get it. I was making too many mistakes. Well, after spending over an hour walking around the Charvel/Jackson factory and seeing all those amazing guitars, and hearing all those amazing stories, I felt really inspired. I came home and immediately grabbed my Charvel. I was playing better than I have in recent weeks. I guess it was the Charvel mojo that rubbed off on me. No joke! I got a satisfactory take recorded and uploaded to youtube. It's not perfect, but it was good enough. I also posted this in the MP3 section.
I dunno if it's been painted yet. (it's gonna be bright green with black binding)
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