Japanese Jackson questions?

[UrgehalFan1983]

As i understand it, until the mid 1990s. Japan had a factory that produced Jacksons for the mainstream American and world market which was known as Jackson Professional. When that mid 90s came, they were suddenly hit with a non renewal of the Jackson name. So they had to start using Grover Jackson and later Jackson Stars to satisfy Japanese fans who were (rightfully) enthralled and in love with the brand.

My first question i guess is, why did the renewal of the Jackson brand name not push through?

Second, when the standard Jackson name was given up, who in Japan took over the name? Was it also a musical company or another company of another industry and business altogether?

third, Why the name change from Grover Jackson guitars to Jackson Stars Guitars?

Fourth, ALL GROVER JACKSONS and STARS are made in Japan aside from the custom shop and artist models which were made in the USA factory am i right?

fith, why did the factory of Jackson in Japan shut down? was it simply because of the Tsunami and its aftermath? I mean they could always relocate to another location?

sixth, Jackson Professional is not always synonymous with Jackson Pro series right? i Mean in teh sense that the current Pros are no longer Japanese? They are now made in Indonesia as far as I know. As far as i know all Professionals were strictly Japanese made while Pros ceased being Japanese made in a time of i dont know when. But the similarity between Pros and Profs is that they are both USA and World market guitars.

Lastly, since FMIC told me themselves that Jackson were very poor at keeping records, how are we Grover Jackson and Jackson Stars owners supposed to get authenticity of our guitars?

thanks guys for listening to my questions. Keep rocking on!! We are all Grover's children.

[Number Of The Priest]

I can probably only provide responses to two of your questions. I will leave the remainder to more qualified personnel here.

sixth, Jackson Professional is not always synonymous with Jackson Pro series right? i Mean in teh sense that the current Pros are no longer Japanese? They are now made in Indonesia as far as I know. As far as i know all Professionals were strictly Japanese made while Pros ceased being Japanese made in a time of i dont know when. But the similarity between Pros and Profs is that they are both USA and World market guitars.

The Professional Series and Pro Series are "synonymous" in the sense that both always represent the highest level of non-American-made, production model Jackson guitars available to the international mass market. Made in Japan from 1990 - 2011. After that, bolt-ons are made in Mexico and neckthrus are made in Indonesia.

Lastly, since FMIC told me themselves that Jackson were very poor at keeping records, how are we Grover Jackson and Jackson Stars owners supposed to get authenticity of our guitars?

The JCF will always be the largest central location for people with enough knowledge to authenticate guitars, so feel free to ask.

[Mudlark]

1) I don't know, but I'd guess they couldn't come to an agreement on a contract because of money. Money is often the issue.
2) My understanding is the guitars continued to be produced in the same factory as the world market models, Chushin Gakki.
3) No idea.
4) They were all Japanese made except for a small number of USA made models which had USA on the headstock. The Japanese factory had a custom shop program that produced the customs.
5) Not sure. I've heard bankruptcy.
6) It's confusing stuff. The Professionals began in '90. The top of the line PRO's had USA model specs. Ebony board, pearl logo, Schaller tremolo, quarter sawn neck etc..
but, there were also lower priced Professionals during '90-5.

In '95 the top of the line PRO models were discontinued, but the lower priced Professionals continued until '97-'98. '97-8 was the year the 'Professional' logo was dropped, but the Professional series continues to this day*.

7) I can only suggest checking the Japanese musical dealers and finding someone that's old enough to know which direction to point you in order to find some info.

* Not sure if the term 'Professional' series has been used recently, so I should've said 'the Pro series continues to this day'.
You could check the old catalogues online to see what they've been called through the 2000's. Pro Series, or Professional Series.

[xenophobe]

Jackson is a US brand made by Charvel in Glendora, CA by Grover Jackson for the Randy Rhoads prototype. In 1986 they moved to Ontario, CA. In Japan, the trademark "Jackson" is already taken. To sell guitars in Japan they needed to label guitars "Grover Jackson" or "Jackson Stars". This includes both custom and production USA models and MIJ guitars sold in Japan. Chushin Gakki, the factory that made Charvels and Jacksons went bankrupt because FMIC didn't want to renegotiate the standard production deal they had which was losing Chushin Gakki money due to a swing in exchange rates, so Fender changed manufacturers. The owner of Chushin Gakki closed and from what has been reported lost badly on the deal. That's what I can answer.

[ncr]

Sorry for being late, but here some info from japanese sources:
1) Kyowa-Shokai was distributor of J/C guitars in Japan 1986-1995, Chushin Gakki was subcontracted to manufacture Charvel and, later, Jackson Professional guitars.
2) Kurosawa Gakki (another japanese music corporation) had registered trademark for "Jaxon" since ~1970-1975 AFAIK and in 1995 had started some kind of trademark trolling because of similarity between Jackson and Jaxon (even now you can find Jaxon guitars in japanese stores and auctions, weird logo for J/C fan).
3) Kyowa-Shokai opted to stop being J/C distributor because of that trademark trolling and also because Grover himself left J/C (according to old Itaru Kanno interview).
4) Chushin Gakki decided to become distributor themselves, changing local japanese brand to Grover Jackson, Team G.J. and, later, Jackson Stars. Even US-made Jacksons, imported and distributed not through Kurosawa Gakki, must change brand to GJ/JS.
5) In 2007 Yamano Music Co became J/C distributor in Japan, taking sales and marketing from Chushin, that's why J1/J2 were EOLed and TN01/02 were introduced. Later in 2009 Yamano settled all business with Kurosawa Gakki obtaining original brand name back, here you can find the court decision (google translator will help). Btw, there were batch of Jackson Stars TN model with original Jackson logo in 2009, kinda rare axes, I've seen only few.
6) Old Jackson Stars models were EOLed since 2010, Chushin Gakki went bankrupt in the end of 2011 thanks FMIC and dollar/yen course.

Hope it will help.

[xenophobe]

Sorry for being late, but here some info from japanese sources:
1) Kyowa-Shokai was distributor of J/C guitars in Japan 1986-1995, Chushin Gakki was subcontracted to manufacture Charvel and, later, Jackson Professional guitars.
2) Kurosawa Gakki (another japanese music corporation) had registered trademark for "Jaxon" since ~1970-1975 AFAIK and in 1995 had started some kind of trademark trolling because of similarity between Jackson and Jaxon (even now you can find Jaxon guitars in japanese stores and auctions, weird logo for J/C fan).
3) Kyowa-Shokai opted to stop being J/C distributor because of that trademark trolling and also because Grover himself left J/C (according to old Itaru Kanno interview).
4) Chushin Gakki decided to become distributor themselves, changing local japanese brand to Grover Jackson, Team G.J. and, later, Jackson Stars. Even US-made Jacksons, imported and distributed not through Kurosawa Gakki, must change brand to GJ/JS.
5) In 2007 Yamano Music Co became J/C distributor in Japan, taking sales and marketing from Chushin, that's why J1/J2 were EOLed and TN01/02 were introduced. Later in 2009 Yamano settled all business with Kurosawa Gakki obtaining original brand name back, here you can find the court decision (google translator will help). Btw, there were batch of Jackson Stars TN model with original Jackson logo in 2009, kinda rare axes, I've seen only few.
6) Old Jackson Stars models were EOLed since 2010, Chushin Gakki went bankrupt in the end of 2011 thanks FMIC and dollar/yen course.

Hope it will help.

Amazing details. Thanks for posting all that!

[VitaminG]

Sorry for being late, but here some info from japanese sources:
1) Kyowa-Shokai was distributor of J/C guitars in Japan 1986-1995, Chushin Gakki was subcontracted to manufacture Charvel and, later, Jackson Professional guitars.
2) Kurosawa Gakki (another japanese music corporation) had registered trademark for "Jaxon" since ~1970-1975 AFAIK and in 1995 had started some kind of trademark trolling because of similarity between Jackson and Jaxon (even now you can find Jaxon guitars in japanese stores and auctions, weird logo for J/C fan).
3) Kyowa-Shokai opted to stop being J/C distributor because of that trademark trolling and also because Grover himself left J/C (according to old Itaru Kanno interview).
4) Chushin Gakki decided to become distributor themselves, changing local japanese brand to Grover Jackson, Team G.J. and, later, Jackson Stars. Even US-made Jacksons, imported and distributed not through Kurosawa Gakki, must change brand to GJ/JS.
5) In 2007 Yamano Music Co became J/C distributor in Japan, taking sales and marketing from Chushin, that's why J1/J2 were EOLed and TN01/02 were introduced. Later in 2009 Yamano settled all business with Kurosawa Gakki obtaining original brand name back, here you can find the court decision (google translator will help). Btw, there were batch of Jackson Stars TN model with original Jackson logo in 2009, kinda rare axes, I've seen only few.
6) Old Jackson Stars models were EOLed since 2010, Chushin Gakki went bankrupt in the end of 2011 thanks FMIC and dollar/yen course.

Hope it will help.

great info

[Number Of The Priest]

That has to be the most informative first post ever... and from someone who registered nine years ago!

[ncr]

Sorry, I'm usually just reading, especially import serial number thread, it helped me a lot 9 years ago with all that GJ/JS dating and classification. Since 2009 my hobby is collecting information about domestic japanese models, so if there are any questions - probably I can answer them. Mainly about model specifications, identification and all that stuff.