USA Custom Select - your thoughts?

[ralph]

Yeah, it was a pity cause those guitars were cool ideas,

the Camo soloist was a sweet idea, Jackson version of Hanneman's ESP, which itself is based on a soloist!!

[neilli]

Oh yeah, Jason had a bunch of problems too...

[ralph]

Really? Then who was it that placed like 5 orders in as many years and every one had something horribly wrong? :scratch:

I believe that was Forum member AK47
From memory:
Camo soloist with incorrect logo
Blood splatter KV with incorrect nut and oiled neck
Charvel with bowed birdseye neck
white KV with wrong logo, then rebuilt with wrong control layout

[neilli]

Mine had some issues...

[Newc]

Really? Then who was it that placed like 5 orders in as many years and every one had something horribly wrong? :scratch:

[shreddermon]

That's why Shreddermon's Customs always get fucked up.

:think:

Newc, I suspect your understanding of Jackson's sales and marketing decisions may be only as good as your recollection of my custom shop orders. Which is to say, not very good. LOL

For the record, I have ordered several custom shop guitars through the years. To the best of my recollection, exactly ONE was screwed up. And, even then, the custom shop did a great job on the guitar itself. However, it was damaged in shipping and -more importantly - Jackson's lengthy and inadaquate service in rectifying the issue came up woefully short. Hard to blame the custom shop guys for that. In any event, Jackson eventually did a major mea culpa, and made things right for me. So props are definitely due there.

Otherwise, exactly none have been "fucked up". That's just a bizzare statement. All of my custom shop guitars have been absolutely great.

[VitaminG]

a DK1 with passives & no battery box? mmmm....

[Newc]

Now replace that with "You can have a Dinky body in black, maple neck, bound ebony board, 24 frets, mop fins, Floyd, regular headstock, and your choice of inlaid logo or decal"


As for "market research", they do plenty of that. They know we're all assholes, so whatever we say we want, they do the opposite for that reason. That's why Shreddermon's Customs always get fucked up. "Hey, this is one of those JCF guys, right?" "Yeah." "Put the Kahler nut on it."

[Newc]

I don't know how many NASLs were made, but they were made for about 3 years (2000-2003 from the serials I've seen) and came in several price and spec ranges - from dots on rosewood to mop+abalone on ebony. All were neckthrough, and all were mahogany. I've seen relatively few on the used market. Maybe 7 total (of which I've owned 5, and still have 4).

That tells me they sold reasonably well, and those that have them are keeping them, just like with the Candy Plum and Pagan Gold SoCals. I had 3 or 4 of the Tangerines from the first run over the couple of years they were around, but have only seen a handful of the others. Same goes for the Slime Green Style1. I know they were made in limited numbers, but retention is high.



As for the Collen Archtop, that was more of a cost/labor issue, as I understand it; they were very time-consuming to make because of all the carving/arching on the front and back, and they made very little money in return.

The KellyStar was just an ugly fucker


I'm wondering if the SLnT will be an option in this new program. Would make sense. They could serve the relative handful who want those models without committing to a full-batch production run. Remember, if you add a given model into the production schedule, you lengthen the schedule overall, so if you stick an SL1T batch (of 12?) after the regular SL1 batch and before the SL2 batch, the SL2 batch run is pushed farther back. Waiting 3 or 4 months for an SL2 then becomes a 5-6 month delay. Customers with money burning holes in their pockets won't wait. You know how musicians are - we're broke and we like it, money in-hand is money wasted on bills and shit

[Ward]

Such a great flick.

[RacerX]

Remember that scene from The Jerk where he's working the carnival and telling the guy which prize options he has?

[xenophobe]

You also have to consider, they can't give you everything and shouldn't. There has to be a reason for one to opt for a full CS guitar.

[neilli]

I can see where you're coming from on that Matt, and absolutely, sometimes you wonder if they have done any market research testing at all. But in my opinion it's not at all bad in the last few years:

In terms of Charvel, the SoCals seem to have been a success as were the EVHs. Not sure how well the Warren Ds have done, but I know TMZ shifted a ton of their 'oiled' guitars. I've not heard much good about the 'desolation' guitars though.

Jackson have had their downturns of course, not least the limitations of what the legal people will and won't sanction, the fuckups from the CS and the RIDICULOUS 2 year wait. But I'd say overall, the Jackson side of things is much improved over what it was 10 years ago. The artist roster is looking much more healthy, the production range seems to being streamlined (getting rid of stupid things like the SL1T for a start) and yes, it seems a shame (not least historically) to loose the Japanese production, but then I'm sure back in 86 people hated that Charvels were made in Japan, and likewise the same in 1991 when Jackson went 'overseas'.

And you have to consider that (at least I assume) they won't stop making stuff if people are buying it. And by that token, just not enough people were buying the NASL (and the XTRR, PC Archtop, PC Supreme, Kelly Star etc etc).

[Newc]

Well, some of it is based on past experience. We know they like to take away things we like and force-feed us things we don't.

First the JacksonStars semi-customs are taken away, then the NASL is dropped from that series (a tragedy for me personally), then the entire line is phased out, removing the only option for a 24 fret Rhoads. Then we get a limited run 24 fret RR import that has limited features, and then it's dropped completely.

We finally get USA-made Charvels, but no Strathead option, and they're all 24 frets and called "San Dimas ReIssues". That flops and we get a half-baked "anniversary" model that doesn't sell because of the 1-hum v-trem layout that maybe 10 people wanted. Finally we get another run of USA-made Charvel Strathead Strats and a Tele, but no Star option aside from CS, then they're moved to Japan with no price reduction, and still no production run Star, then finally the entire Charvel line is rebadged Shecters, where we finally get a non-Charvel Strathead Star. If I wanted a Shecter/ESPee Star....

Frankly I'm surprised they kept the DK2M alive so long, since it seemed to be doing well, but even then it's been changed from black fins to offset dots. FUCKING DOTS. People must really hate the Warrior, since it's still available, and even neckthrough now.

So based on past experiences, I predict they'll drop the whole "semi-custom" idea pretty quick, or at least severely limit the options, and the affected model. Remember that scene from The Jerk where he's working the carnival and telling the guy which prize options he has? That's what I envision. Or the Ford Model T routine.

[shreddermon]

Which could easily be addressed by reformulating prices again, or simply holding them steady for a couple of years for demand to catch back up.

Boy, we are one big forum of Monday morning quarterbacks sometimes, aren't we? LOL