CS Jackson Strat Head Orders? Hell Yes!

[roodyrocker]

Its always great to have the option however, I'd order the standard Jackson pointy headstock. It's the best looking headstock ever made

[xenophobe]

This is a 180 degree turn around from last year.

I guess the cat is out of the bag.

Last year, after much confusion trying to find the right person to contact, I emailed Fender Corporate Legal Dept with a complaint. I told them about an order of mine that had been rejected. I told them that Fender owned Jackson and licenses some stratheads to Jackson on specific models. I told them that I couldn't order a Jackson Strathead to my specification, and that I was a loyal Jackson fan, so I was about ready to drop $8k on an unlicensed ESP Strathead. I also showed them my '89 Jackson CS and I wanted something similar and it was rejected. Fender Legal did NOT like the fact that I was going to place a high dollar CS order with a competitor using their trademark unlicensed, just so I could get a strathead the way I wanted. I then received an email from Robert at Fender, who does all the approvals for CS orders. He was told to let me order whatever I wanted. Instead of taking advantage of that, I just ordered the guitar I wanted.

I wasn't going to tell anyone the specifics of this, because I didn't want Fender Legal to be flooded with similar requests.

So that's how all that happened.

I knew that Fender is a large corporation, and I knew there had to be a way to use that to my advantage. I scored, though I had no clue that it would open the doors for everyone. Even though that exclusivity is now gone, it doesn't matter. I'm glad to have paved the way!

Now, when I want a CS Quote, I email Fender and CC my dealer, Matt. He doesn't even need to say a thing. He was impressed with not having to do anything at all with my CS Extreme Demon order and all he did was "watch the emails fly". And I got a really complicated order mostly sorted out in about 3 days. It was very surreal and very empowering.

[leftykingv2]

8K on an ESP with a strat head??? That must have been something special to get a price tag like that.

[euronymous]

8K on an ESP with a strat head??? That must have been something special to get a price tag like that.

Their price tag is always insane. You pay much less for a CS jackson soloist with kahler than jeff hanneman signature.

[neilli]

...I emailed Fender Corporate Legal Dept with a complaint. I told them about an order of mine that had been rejected...

Awesome work Mike!

I'm a great believer in contacting people direct, to see exactly what can be done rather than just accepting the blanket-company-policy-stance, and while of course it's not going to be 100% successful all the time, it's worked out well on a number of occasions for me. Treating people with respect and showing understanding of the circumstances goes a long way. Combine that with being 'creative' within the framework I've had to work in and I've got some cool guitars out of it that otherwise were deemed 'impossible' (Firebird, TMNT graphic, custom PC1)..

[MetalDaze]

Its always great to have the option however, I'd order the standard Jackson pointy headstock. It's the best looking headstock ever made

I completely agree, but I wanted at least one and not have someone else's name on the headstock!

The only reason I could come up with for FMIC not allowing these was them trying to make sense of the Jackson/Charvel brands. Jacksons are pointy and Charvel is traditional (although we certainly know that's not true to history). So, some product manager or marketing guy decided that differentiation was needed to tell them apart and that's where they drew the lines. I could see someone there saying, "if we allow Strat head Jacksons, those crazy metal heads will want one with a Gretsch head next!"

[Scooter]

Love it! seems the circle is now complete. Strat head C/Js. Lovin it

[vector]

Missed the option to have a Strat head on my upcoming CS Star...

because it's already under construction!!!

[leftykingv2]

Their price tag is always insane. You pay much less for a CS jackson soloist with kahler than jeff hanneman signature.

I know! The last time I saw one of those Hanneman sigs it was going for well over five grand! They're fucking crazy trying to sell what is essentially an M-2 with different inlays for over 5K! That's one reason companies like ESP and Gibson don't get my business anymore. You'd have to be a mouth breathing moron to pay that kind of money for one of those. It's a joke in my opinion. Just like Gibson with that 12K J. Walsh sig kiss my hairy bean bag!

[Chad]

I know! The last time I saw one of those Hanneman sigs it was going for well over five grand! They're fucking crazy trying to sell what is essentially an M-2 with different inlays for over 5K! That's one reason companies like ESP and Gibson don't get my business anymore. You'd have to be a mouth breathing moron to pay that kind of money for one of those. It's a joke in my opinion. Just like Gibson with that 12K J. Walsh sig kiss my hairy bean bag!

ESP Custom Shop stuff is definitely pricey. I remember back in the mid-90s when customs were just a base $150 charge over the stock production models + options. But even then options were pricey.

[leftykingv2]

5K is an insane amount of money for a piece of alder with a maple neck and a rosewood board. I don't care if Jesus Christ was the luthier who built it. They might as well hold a gun on you when you order one for that kind of money. My friend Todd has three custom shop ESP's and they're nice guitars without a doubt but none of them are anything special. He's got over 15K in three guitars and to be honest I don't think any of them are better than a regular stock SL1 or SL2H. Just my opinion.

[Hellbat]

Missed the option to have a Strat head on my upcoming CS Star...

because it's already under construction!!!

Nice man. IMO stars look better with a pointy anyways.

[xenophobe]

8K on an ESP with a strat head??? That must have been something special to get a price tag like that.

Any non-market CS you order from ESP Japan will be $8k. ESP recently raised their prices and their completely hand crafted guitars start at $8k no matter what you're asking for. FWIW, non-market ESP CS orders are far more technical than US-market CS orders, which are severely dumbed down.

Awesome work Mike!

I'm a great believer in contacting people direct, to see exactly what can be done rather than just accepting the blanket-company-policy-stance, and while of course it's not going to be 100% successful all the time, it's worked out well on a number of occasions for me. Treating people with respect and showing understanding of the circumstances goes a long way. Combine that with being 'creative' within the framework I've had to work in and I've got some cool guitars out of it that otherwise were deemed 'impossible' (Firebird, TMNT graphic, custom PC1)..

Yeah, well after being rejected by TMZ and Matt getting a couple of rare concessions, I still wasn't happy. I figured Jackson is now owned by Fender, a very large corporation with thousands of employees. Having worked the corporate world a couple of times, I knew there had to be another way to get what I wanted. So I started thinking about the best way to go about it. Using dollars and sense. lol. I stressed the fact that I already owned an unlicensed Jackson Strathead, which I showed them pictures, then told them that I was about to place the order for a non-US Market ESP... To my surprise, this long shot worked.

Both Matt and the Fender/Jackson CS guy were amazed. In the decade or so of Fender ownership, nobody had thought about doing something like this. And yes, I was very well aware that the chances of getting a yes were slim.

I didn't realize that it would open the door for other orders, but this policy has rejected CS orders of mine for a decade of trying to submit a Jackson Strathead every couple of years in desperation.

I won't describe my CS Strathead, it'll look pretty average, but a couple of the features are things that haven't been done or haven't been done in a long time.

And sorry to anyone that would ask, I won't give out the email address. I'm still worried that I'm not gonna get what I ordered and I don't want this person bombarded with email questions.

[leftykingv2]

FWIW, non-market ESP CS orders are far more technical than US-market CS orders, which are severely dumbed down. How so????

[Chad]

FWIW, non-market ESP CS orders are far more technical than US-market CS orders, which are severely dumbed down. How so????

ESP used to have four different custom shops in Japan (I think). If I'm recalling correctly, the Technical House and Craft House stuff is insanely detailed on the stuff they would do. Whereas the more standard stuff mostly went through the other two custom shops (including most (all?) U.S. orders). I'm guessing that is what he's referring to. But seems like I heard with their recent brand restructuring they moved all custom shop construction to one building, so I don't know how it all pans out currently.

Even if it retails for $8K, they can still produce a turd. Guitars still have to be judged one-by-one. I think of the guy on the ESP forum who ordered an ESP Custom Shop 7-string Tele and had all sort of problems and the guitar ended up being totally dead and a dud. That was a guitar that cost several thousand dollars and I think he ended up selling it to a fellow forumite for $1,400 or so.

That's why I'll never buy order a Custom Shop guitar from anywhere.