Jackson Custom Shop shutting down?!

[MetalDaze]

They've been around that before. It got much better (sub a year) but now it's right back up there again.

Perhaps a sign the economy is turning around?

[Learn Guitars]

The custom shop is very much alive... I can say that as a contractor for them. You are getting some odd information.

[xenophobe]

With a wait time of 2 years, the Custom Shop might as well close.

No doubt, Jackson has some talented individuals working for them, however it's a clusterfuck and it's only gotten worse.

[Newc]

Hey, good shit takes time. Mike and Pablo have to have time to go piss.

Basically we've got two choices: they get so few orders that Quality is hit-or-miss like it was back in Ye Olden Days or they get so many orders that they can actually stay in business, and a few bedroom shredders have to hold their load for a bit longer.
You can have it right, or you can have it right now.

[xenophobe]

You can have it right, or you can have it right now.

When it takes 9-12 months before a builder even sees your build sheet, something is wrong.

And it's not like Fender can't find competent luthiers capable of excellent custom work. When demand grows, you hire more people.

Jackson isn't a one man shop that builds custom one-offs one at a time. 2 years is bullshit.

[Newc]

FMIC can find them, yeah, but what are they willing to pay? And if they're that good, who says they're not being put to work building Strats for John Mayer and Teles for John 5?

As well, I personally would not want some old-fashioned Puritan who only knows Gibson and Fender anywhere near a Custom Shop Jackson because the first thing that goes through their head is "oh noes, it's one o them pointy geetars that plays the Devil's Music!", and the second thing that goes through their mind is "that ain't how Leo or Orville woulda wanted it".

Finding a qualified luthier who grew up accepting Jackson guitars as credible, quality instruments, and not just some kiddie Hair Metal worn-out fad bullshit, is probably rather difficult. Those that have come and gone from Jackson over the years are probably either working for another brand entirely or are doing their pissy little one-man custom shop trip, and would probably not be interested in working for Jackson again.

It took 18 months to get my WarAngel, and 19 to get the 7-string. I found other things to do in that time besides watch for the truck.

[RacerX]

Jackson isn't a one man shop that builds custom one-offs one at a time. 2 years is bullshit.

Well, it's a 4 man shop then

We all need to keep in mind that your negative past experience(s) with the Jackson CS has (and continues) to color your opinion - not that that's a bad thing.

I'm with Newc on this one though.

[xenophobe]

Jackson isn't the Faberge of the guitar world. They're not really a boutique builder either.

Fact: Jackson lies about the status of guitars on a regular basis.

And seriously, Newc, you act as if it's impossible for anyone but those 4 to make Jacksons. The skill level required isn't Godly like you would possibly imply. Nobody really cared who was working in the Custom Shop before they were owned by Fender. It doesn't really matter now either as long as they stick to the recipe. Customs used to be made in the same line as standard production. Now they're not. They're not any better for it.

Honestly, any intelligent and hard working American skilled with either woodcrafting or automotive painting could easily be trained to perform any of the duties and I would be fine with that.

I honestly don't care about the price. The prices are fine, they can raise them for all I care. They need to work on their turnaround time and be held accountable for their estimated delivery times. Now they're saying 2 years. That's fine, but when they say 6-9 months and end up being 2 years, that's disgusting.

EDIT: And about those 4... I seriously don't care about "master build" or not. It didn't matter before when they tried milking extra money for it, it doesn't matter now.

EDIT2: You don't need someone like Stradivarius hand crafting necks and bodies. Also, the real work of a luthier, the neck, is mostly CNC machined with final hand sanding. Trained monkies could probably be taught how to assemble a guitar. Most of the intricate work that you need a real luthier for isn't needed for making a Jackson. Necks are CNC'd, bodies are CNC'd. All they need is a shaper and sander and someone who knows how to lay down a coat of paint... and someone like Mike Learn when you need actual artistic paintwork done and someone like Shannon or Pablo when you need a custom body done, otherwise it's not all that difficult to make a guitar when you have all the specific tools, templates and equipment to make them.

And I'm not crapping on Jackson quality. I'm a huge Jackson fan. I'm crapping on their infrastructure. Their ability to track an order is absolutely horrendous.

[BYeh1]

When it takes 9-12 months before a builder even sees your build sheet, something is wrong.

And it's not like Fender can't find competent luthiers capable of excellent custom work. When demand grows, you hire more people.

Jackson isn't a one man shop that builds custom one-offs one at a time. 2 years is bullshit.

+1 Well said!

[withmyshadow]

will it be faster if I don't need custom body shape or custom paint job? it seems like it should be or could be.
the standard variations with body wood, trem, pickup route could really be handled with the production USA line. I'm just dreaming about a archtop dinky, string thru with EMG-X's...

[xenophobe]

will it be faster if I don't need custom body shape or custom paint job?

Nope.

[busdriver]

The second dealer who apparently is THE guy to see when it comes to Jackson in Germany told me....

I'm curious who he is

[Animus]

Perhaps a sign the economy is turning around?

Or they just cut the staff down so there's less people making them.

[1stSFG-A]

Perhaps a sign the economy is turning around?

No. It's a sign of how poorly and ineffectively Jackson is managed.

With a wait time of 2 years, the Custom Shop might as well close.

No doubt, Jackson has some talented individuals working for them, however it's a clusterfuck and it's only gotten worse.

This has been my experience with my three CS orders. I thought it was the dealers, but after going through 3 separate dealers with the same problems continuing, it became obvious where the issues were.

When it takes 9-12 months before a builder even sees your build sheet, something is wrong.

And it's not like Fender can't find competent luthiers capable of excellent custom work. When demand grows, you hire more people.

Jackson isn't a one man shop that builds custom one-offs one at a time. 2 years is bullshit.

Exactly. This all boils down to highly ineffective management. You can be an awesome at whatever is you do, which in this case is guitar building, but that doesn't mean you're awesome at running a business.

Jackson has had lots of problems in the past, and to anyone who has ever dealt with the CS, it's glaringly obvious why. The future probably holds just as many problems for Jackson as the past did.

So you can build a decent guitar. Good for you. But if you can't manage your business, then no matter how great your builds are, you'll quickly find yourself out of business. Jackson has had this lesson taught to them several times in the past, and yet they still haven't learned.

[vampire dark]

guys I've been reading this discussion and hope one could let me know.Do other custom shops such as Dean guitars(which I believe that are cool by the way) take that long to build a CS order or is it just Jackson and Charvel?:think:Bear in mind that I am asking cause new at the guitar thing and own only a chip Ibanez