mystery!Jackson professional serial number...

[Brooke]

Come on,, It has to be a Zero.. Thats the most likely explanation.

[Newc]

Maybe they were transitioning from the Charvels, which would have gotten a "C8" number, to the Jacksons, which were getting "J" serials, but they weren't sure of the sequence they wanted, then decided to hold everything for a 1990 release and start over with 0.

[Cuthbert]

Maybe they were transitioning from the Charvels, which would have gotten a "C8" number, to the Jacksons, which were getting "J" serials, but they weren't sure of the sequence they wanted, then decided to hold everything for a 1990 release and start over with 0.

Mmm, in these days I'm hunting a 650 XL, and as far as I remember it's a C9...nice guitar, I'm undecided if to tak her or not, the off white finish is amazing, but basically it's the same instrument I already have, I wanted a 750 but it seems impossible to track down...

It seems that the danish guy who owns this site:

http://audiozone.dk/

knows a lot of thing, as far as I understood he's a regular of the board...should I contact him?

[Cuthbert]

Come on,, It has to be a Zero.. Thats the most likely explanation.

It SHOULD be zero...fact is...it is NOT!

Therefore I'm trying to collect some infos about it, if anybody have another professional with the same "problem".

[Sunbane]

As for the "toothpaste" Charvels not having been introduced yet, remember that there was a concerted effort to separate Jacksons from Charvels. There could have easily been a "test run" of Jacksons that would compete with the Charvel Model 6/650XL - ebony on the Jacksons and rosewood on the Charvels, etc etc.

In my opinion, putting the toothpaste logo on the Charvels must have been a move to reinforce the connection to the Jackson brand, and not the other way around. The toothpastes appeared in the era when there were minimal differences between the brands, and as far as I can tell, it wasn't until much later (when the old logo reappeared) that they started working towards creating individual niches for them.

I find it highly unlikely that there would have been a "test run" of Jackson Pros in 1988. We would have heard of it long ago. They would have had different serials for one thing. If they released 3000 Jackson Pros in '88, we would definitely have heard of it, and seen many more of them. It just doesn't add up.

[pro-fusion]

In my opinion, putting the toothpaste logo on the Charvels must have been a move to reinforce the connection to the Jackson brand, and not the other way around.

Yes, that's exactly what it was. The Charvel brand had lost much of its aura by 1988-89, while Jackson was at its height of trendiness. EVH had long since abandoned his Frankenstrats for Kramers. Warren DeMartini and other early hair metal guys who played USA Charvels were on their way out of fashion, while Jacksons were really hip among the thrash metal guys who were the current rage. Plus, making Charvel be the 'budget line' really cheapened the brand. Ultimately, I think the "toothpaste era" only lasted a couple of years because a logo change simply wasn't enough to restore the Charvel brand.

The "toothpastes" are more desireable now only because J/C upgraded the hardware on them. They really are like getting a 'surrogate Jackson'.

It's really been only in the last five years or so that Charvel became much of a desireable brand name again. Ten years ago, USA stratheads could be had pretty damned cheap, and the Japanese Charvels were the lowest of the low at pawnshops everywhere.