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OK, there's a bit of background here which I figured is worth including, but I figure most will just skip to the pics towards the end 
Anyway, the story of this guitar begins back in early 2010: At that time Brian McDonald was marketing manager for Jackson, and I’d got to know him through pm-ing here, probably initially to bug him about how horrific a job his predecessor did in terms of fan PR, and from that came discussion about the then un-announced Adrian Smith signature model, and then general conversations about music, the Custom Shop etc. We’d actually had a conversation about the ‘last Jackson firebird’ which some here might remember – it was shown at NAMM (I think just after FMIC took over), and as I recall it was a dark sunburst with a black ‘step’. Apparently, that ended up with the singer from SOAD, never to be heard of again. Anyway, following (yet another) debate here about the chances of getting Jackson to build the ‘forbidden’ Gibson shapes, I asked Brian what the off-the-record scoop was and he said that while the V and Explorer were a definite no, there might be some wiggle-room for the Firebird. He suggested that I put some specs together, he’d get the Custom Shop to build it, and then he’d try to get it past FMIC legal. Brian was actually trying to get the Firebird (or a Jackson-ised version) into the product line, which was how he was able to get it built, and the plan was that he was going to get the second one, if the powers that be would permit it... D'oh!
So, I started to spec the guitar out. I didn’t want anything wild, just a classic Jackson Robbin-bird in white. HOWEVER, it needed to be as far visually from a Gibson Firebird as viable in order for it to have the best chance to avoid the wrath of the lawyers. So, I nixed the reverse head (obviously a Gibson Firebird has a ‘reverse’ headstock, or at least one with 6 tuners along the bottom edge). I also decided to go for Flip-Flop inlays, mainly because I like them, but also because I figured that there was no way that anybody would see the guitar from a distance and mistake it for a Gibson. Otherwise, it’s all pretty unremarkable to be honest (alder body, maple neck, Floyd, Duncan custom, 80’s logo etc):
Anyway, 6 months or so later (those were the days!), Brian sent me some progress pics of the guitar:
Once it was complete, it was shipped to FMIC HQ in Arizona (where Brian was based) for the legal review. Things didn’t look hopeful and the guitar stayed there for months. It actually appeared in the background of a David Ellefson video interview, but the body was hidden by Dave, so you could just see neck (distinguishable by the inlays). But unfortunately, eventually the legal people said ‘no’ and the guitar was stuck there in limbo (thankfully, it didn’t go to the chipper!!). It was apparently used as a ‘prop’ for discussions on what changes could be made to satisfy legal for any future Firebird-eque guitars, but I’m not sure if it was part of the design process for the kelly-bird bass or not. Anyway, Brian remained hopeful that he could get the guitar to me eventually, but it wasn’t going to be any time soon. But then Brian told me that he was quitting FMIC....
...and so I was like “fuuucccckkkk, that’s it then”. The guitar’s going to be stuck there, I’ll have lost my ‘in’ and any connection to the guitar, and it’ll probably just disappear. But a short time later, I got a message from Brian to the effect of “It was my last day today and guess what they gave me as a leaving present?!” And he attached the following pic:
So the trail wasn’t dead, but at the same time, the guitar had been given to Brian as a leaving gift – it was certainly not my place to ask him to sell it to me, though I’m sure I dropped a few very subtle and gentle, but always classy(!) hints. Some of you already know this, but Brian is a super nice guy (who loves him some Iron Maiden!), and a couple of months later, we figured something out and the guitar arrived in Vancouver. This is a nearly 3 years ago now, but it wasn’t appropriate to post about it when both Brian and the guitar were a recent escapees...(and yes, Brian has given me the OK to post this thread!)
I have to say, it’s a really great guitar. Sure, there’s something of the ‘forbidden fruit’ thing that makes it cool to have, but it’s actually a really great guitar. It plays really nicely, has a pretty much perfect neck for me, and it sounds huge. And that’s all you can ask right?...
Huge thanks to Brian for making this guitar a reality!!
Anyway, the story of this guitar begins back in early 2010: At that time Brian McDonald was marketing manager for Jackson, and I’d got to know him through pm-ing here, probably initially to bug him about how horrific a job his predecessor did in terms of fan PR, and from that came discussion about the then un-announced Adrian Smith signature model, and then general conversations about music, the Custom Shop etc. We’d actually had a conversation about the ‘last Jackson firebird’ which some here might remember – it was shown at NAMM (I think just after FMIC took over), and as I recall it was a dark sunburst with a black ‘step’. Apparently, that ended up with the singer from SOAD, never to be heard of again. Anyway, following (yet another) debate here about the chances of getting Jackson to build the ‘forbidden’ Gibson shapes, I asked Brian what the off-the-record scoop was and he said that while the V and Explorer were a definite no, there might be some wiggle-room for the Firebird. He suggested that I put some specs together, he’d get the Custom Shop to build it, and then he’d try to get it past FMIC legal. Brian was actually trying to get the Firebird (or a Jackson-ised version) into the product line, which was how he was able to get it built, and the plan was that he was going to get the second one, if the powers that be would permit it... D'oh!
So, I started to spec the guitar out. I didn’t want anything wild, just a classic Jackson Robbin-bird in white. HOWEVER, it needed to be as far visually from a Gibson Firebird as viable in order for it to have the best chance to avoid the wrath of the lawyers. So, I nixed the reverse head (obviously a Gibson Firebird has a ‘reverse’ headstock, or at least one with 6 tuners along the bottom edge). I also decided to go for Flip-Flop inlays, mainly because I like them, but also because I figured that there was no way that anybody would see the guitar from a distance and mistake it for a Gibson. Otherwise, it’s all pretty unremarkable to be honest (alder body, maple neck, Floyd, Duncan custom, 80’s logo etc):
Anyway, 6 months or so later (those were the days!), Brian sent me some progress pics of the guitar:
Once it was complete, it was shipped to FMIC HQ in Arizona (where Brian was based) for the legal review. Things didn’t look hopeful and the guitar stayed there for months. It actually appeared in the background of a David Ellefson video interview, but the body was hidden by Dave, so you could just see neck (distinguishable by the inlays). But unfortunately, eventually the legal people said ‘no’ and the guitar was stuck there in limbo (thankfully, it didn’t go to the chipper!!). It was apparently used as a ‘prop’ for discussions on what changes could be made to satisfy legal for any future Firebird-eque guitars, but I’m not sure if it was part of the design process for the kelly-bird bass or not. Anyway, Brian remained hopeful that he could get the guitar to me eventually, but it wasn’t going to be any time soon. But then Brian told me that he was quitting FMIC....
...and so I was like “fuuucccckkkk, that’s it then”. The guitar’s going to be stuck there, I’ll have lost my ‘in’ and any connection to the guitar, and it’ll probably just disappear. But a short time later, I got a message from Brian to the effect of “It was my last day today and guess what they gave me as a leaving present?!” And he attached the following pic:
So the trail wasn’t dead, but at the same time, the guitar had been given to Brian as a leaving gift – it was certainly not my place to ask him to sell it to me, though I’m sure I dropped a few very subtle and gentle, but always classy(!) hints. Some of you already know this, but Brian is a super nice guy (who loves him some Iron Maiden!), and a couple of months later, we figured something out and the guitar arrived in Vancouver. This is a nearly 3 years ago now, but it wasn’t appropriate to post about it when both Brian and the guitar were a recent escapees...(and yes, Brian has given me the OK to post this thread!)
I have to say, it’s a really great guitar. Sure, there’s something of the ‘forbidden fruit’ thing that makes it cool to have, but it’s actually a really great guitar. It plays really nicely, has a pretty much perfect neck for me, and it sounds huge. And that’s all you can ask right?...
Huge thanks to Brian for making this guitar a reality!!
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