Are the USA Select and the Custom Shop guitars made by the same people at Jackson?

[church2224]

Do the same people who make the USA Select production guitars make the custom shop models? If not when did they start separating the two? Just wondering if my 2007 Soloist was "Custom Shop" or not...

[MetalDaze]

In general, yes....the difference being that the Selects are limited to the standard Select options and the Customs are, well, customizable.

[Larz]

Does the serial begin with a U or J ?

Just cause Pablo may have built a particular USA Select on his coffee break doesn't make it a custom shop.

[Newc]

IIRC FMIC/JCMI set aside "Master Builders" such as Shannon and Pablo to do all the Custom Shop stuff around 2004/5, while "the regular shmoes" built the USA Selects.

However, as Larz said, they may have had a hand in some USA Select stuff in their down time, though I seriously doubt they've had that much downtime.

[church2224]

Does the serial begin with a U or J ?

Just cause Pablo may have built a particular USA Select on his coffee break doesn't make it a custom shop.

It starts with U. I really do not care if it is custom shop or production. Just so many people are saying it is a custom shop model because it is a USA model. I do not care I love it no matter what lol

[church2224]

Also all USA models are hand built right? Some one was telling me Mike Shannon might switch to using CNC machines soon....

[Newc]

Well, there's this inflated tale going around that everything built before 1990 was custom-ordered, and hence Custom Shop. That tyale snowballs into "Jackson USA = Jackson USA Custom Shop".

While Jackson did not have a production line before 1990, they didn't sit around waiting for orders to come in before they built anything. Not everything before 1990 was initiated by a Custom Shop Order Form, as the tale implies.

For a time, these older models were referred to as "Custom" because of the features more than the impetus. A "Soloist Custom" had an ebony board and MOP inlays and binding, whereas a "Soloist Student" had a rosewood board, usually dot inlays, and usually no binding.

That further adds to the tale's growth and deformation.

[MetalDaze]

Actually some are built 'left'.

[church2224]

Actually some are built 'left'.

Oh that is good lol!!! Nice guitar man what year? I have never seen a lefty Kelly before, at least in recent years....

[MetalDaze]

Thanks, it's a 2006.

[church2224]

Thanks, it's a 2006.

Ok i started playing guitar on Christmas 2006 No wonder lols. But again that is one of THE sicked Kellys I have ever seen.

[Newc]

"Hand built" is another one of those "stories". "Hand built" invokes images of pushing a rasp or pulling a planer across the raw wood. Guiding a piece of wood through a powered bandsaw and using an electric router to cut/route/shape wood are not what most consider "hand built", at least not in the traditional sense.

CNC routing does the exact same job as guiding the wood or tool by hand, only faster and more precisely. Some say it's the miniscule hand-guidance that gives each guitar a mythical property commonly known as "mojo", but it's also the primary reason why you have to sort through several of the same model to find a good one, leaving the dogs to sit on the shelf. That's not good for company image or brand reputation.

[church2224]

"Hand built" is another one of those "stories". "Hand built" invokes images of pushing a rasp or pulling a planer across the raw wood. Guiding a piece of wood through a powered bandsaw and using an electric router to cut/route/shape wood are not what most consider "hand built", at least not in the traditional sense.

CNC routing does the exact same job as guiding the wood or tool by hand, only faster and more precisely. Some say it's the miniscule hand-guidance that gives each guitar a mythical property commonly known as "mojo", but it's also the primary reason why you have to sort through several of the same model to find a good one, leaving the dogs to sit on the shelf. That's not good for company image or brand reputation.

Hand built or not I have never heard this "Mojo", maybe it is because I am younger. All I ever care about is if is a quality instrument or not. Then again this could explain why I like a lot more guitars than most people do...

[tonemonster]

dammit Newc you ruint all the fun

I am not young by any means, but the generation ahead of me has a big deal about "mojo" and I think its BS. I have a hard time dealing with the crowd that thinks that the only guitars on the planet are Les Pauls, Strats, and Teles, and the only amp in the world is a marshall plexi. while they all have their place in music history, they are certainly not the grand high exhalted mystic pieces they think they are.

[DarkkWarriorr]

dammit Newc you ruint all the fun

I am not young by any means, but the generation ahead of me has a big deal about "mojo" and I think its BS. I have a hard time dealing with the crowd that thinks that the only guitars on the planet are Les Pauls, Strats, and Teles, and the only amp in the world is a marshall plexi. while they all have their place in music history, they are certainly not the grand high exhalted mystic pieces they think they are.

Well said, however most people don't know or haven't experienced what's really out there, so they keep building on the same notion they've been exposed to, just like the same crap they see on TV...