A Mystery Kelly XL

[goose666]

Howdy there folks!

I'm quite new to the forum, and registered to ask this question specifically.

I procured a Jackson Kelly XL (used) from a friend of mine a year or so ago. He didnt have a whole lot of background info on it, as he bought it used as well.

But here's the scoop: Kelly XL Professional, bolt on 24 fret neck with mother of pearl sharktooth inlays. Floyd Rose licensed double-locking tremolo, jackson stock pickups (not sure of the model) with a 3 way toggle switch and one volume knob. and a sparkle purple finish. The serial number is J-005938. Ive read that this serial number indicates that this guitar should be an american made PRO model with a thru-neck, but thats not the case, as wikipedia (i know, not exactly a reputable source) states, my guitar is an import.

I've searched the serial # lookup on jackson.com and it doesnt seem to have any info. after that i called fender, and contacted a rep who did a serial lookup on his end, and he found nothing as well. this leads me to believe that my guitar was made before the fender bought out jackson, but i'm not totally sure. the last bit of research i attempted was lugging it into guitar center, and the guy behind the counter (who admittedly, like most of his guitar center employee brethren, didnt know much) and even he couldnt find anything. I'm at my wits end with finding out about this guitar, and i'm a guitar nut... i like to know my axe's history.

if somebody could help me out, at least point me in the right direction, that would be absolutely incredibly AWESOME! Thanks again for your time!

Rock Always,

Goose666

[toejam]

Welcome to the forum. The Kelly XL and XLR (reverse headstock and sharkfins) were made between '94 and '95, possibly '96.
http://audiozone.dk/cm/displayimage.php?album=61&pos=6

[rjohnstone]

The serial number is J-005938. Ive read that this serial number indicates that this guitar should be an american made PRO model with a thru-neck, but thats not the case, as wikipedia (i know, not exactly a reputable source) states, my guitar is an import.

I've searched the serial # lookup on jackson.com and it doesnt seem to have any info. after that i called fender, and contacted a rep who did a serial lookup on his end, and he found nothing as well. this leads me to believe that my guitar was made before the fender bought out jackson, but i'm not totally sure. the last bit of research i attempted was lugging it into guitar center, and the guy behind the counter (who admittedly, like most of his guitar center employee brethren, didnt know much) and even he couldnt find anything. I'm at my wits end with finding out about this guitar, and i'm a guitar nut... i like to know my axe's history.

Welcome... now to clear up a few things.
There is no such thing as an American made PRO.
There are two kinds of serial numbers.
Import, which Jackson DOES NOT track and US, which Jackson DOES track.
I won't go into them all, but we'll talk about your "J" serial and what the number of digits after the letter J mean.
Jxxxx (4 digits) = US and found on Neck thru guitars. Jxxxxxx (6 or more digits)= Japan and found on neckthru imports and bolt-on imports that do not have a neck plate.

Throw a pic up of this bad boy. Kelly XL's are nice fiddles.

[straycat]

Pics will help greatly.Love the 90's import Kelly's.
The whole pre-Fender thing means nothing for the most part.They are still made by the same people US and import.
Fender bought Jackson in 2000.
Pro and professional are two sparate lines.

[RacerX]

Welcome goose. I used to own a Kelly XL, as has Toejam (XLR). Your guitar was made in the Japan factory in the mid 90s.

Fender bought Jackson in 2000.

No. 2002.

[Spivonious]

I used to have one as well.

There's not much more to say about your Kelly.

[RacerX]

Howdy there folks!

I've searched the serial # lookup on jackson.com and it doesnt seem to have any info. after that i called fender, and contacted a rep who did a serial lookup on his end, and he found nothing as well. this leads me to believe that my guitar was made before the fender bought out jackson, but i'm not totally sure. the last bit of research i attempted was lugging it into guitar center, and the guy behind the counter (who admittedly, like most of his guitar center employee brethren, didnt know much) and even he couldnt find anything. I'm at my wits end with finding out about this guitar, and i'm a guitar nut... i like to know my axe's history. Goose666

No mystery about it, but you sure went through a lot of hassle to get no info haha.

[Vass]

And to be clear- The early 90's professional models are very well thought of by most. I think I saw someone say that post 94 something changed about the entire line, but I don't know exactly what or if it actually did.

Vass

[jdr94]

i wont repeat what they've already said, but thats a great guitar. i own a XLR which i got from another member here and will actually be picking up a black kelly XL in about 12 days.