Jackson custom shop issues

[EMPIRE520]

Hello, new to the forum but glad I found it!


My question is really more a request of feedback or advice.

I have ordered a USA soloist from the custom shop through a local Jackson dealer In January. The guitar came in to my surprise in March. But the color was wrong and the headstock logo was wrong. So we reordered the guitar, and it came in Friday... again... the wrong color. Were going to attempt a 3rd try... but this time I have requested they allow me to proof the color and the headstock before assembly and shipping. No word yet on if they will agree or not.

Is this a common issue with the custom shop? Is the paint staff color blind? Maybe its me maybe I miss-interpret the color transparent purple as a different color them what they offer. The color chart on thier site lists transparent purple as the correct color I'm looking for yet my guitars keep coming back maroon or what I could only assume is "transparent crimson"

Has anyone dealt with this before? Can anyone lend some helpful advice as to how to remedy this issue? Are there any Jackson USA staff on this forum?

Thanks in advance

[euronymous]

You never heard the term 'Jackson random shop' before lol
Some people get it perfect the first time, some people have to let it rebuild couple of times! It really depends on LUCK!!

[Newc]

I bought a guitar from a friend. The picture of him holding it in his driveway was a beautiful trans purple. When I got it, it was trans brown. I kept it, played it, but decided a 1-hum hardtail awesome Strat wasn't my bag, so he bought it back. He took a picture of it when it returned. It was indeed brown when he got it back.

Shit happens with paint, especially transparents.

However, I'm looking at my trans purple Monarkh SC. It's purple, like in the pics. Mostly.

Are you viewing your new guitar in indoor lighting? Did you look at it in sunlight? Has your PC monitor been calibrated to show colors as they actually appear and not what looks vibrant and unnatural?

[EMPIRE520]

You never heard the term 'Jackson random shop' before lol
Some people get it perfect the first time, some people have to let it rebuild couple of times! It really depends on LUCK!!

haha no I hadn't heard that before but definately describes my experience so far

I bought a guitar from a friend. The picture of him holding it in his driveway was a beautiful trans purple. When I got it, it was trans brown. I kept it, played it, but decided a 1-hum hardtail awesome Strat wasn't my bag, so he bought it back. He took a picture of it when it returned. It was indeed brown when he got it back.

Shit happens with paint, especially transparents.

However, I'm looking at my trans purple Monarkh SC. It's purple, like in the pics. Mostly.

Are you viewing your new guitar in indoor lighting? Did you look at it in sunlight? Has your PC monitor been calibrated to show colors as they actually appear and not what looks vibrant and unnatural?

haha no I have not had my moniter 'calibrated' haha yes I'm viewing them in person. I will post some pictures shortly

[Catharpin]

Tell them you want to match Pantone 2685C purple. It's a solid color but has what your looking for.
That was how I solved my quest for trans purple where all the samples looked either red/maroon/magenta or blue.

[shreddermon]

I have personal experience with this. Yes, the Jackson custom shop's interpretation of "transparent purple" often tends towards the red-ish side of purple. IMHO, the color swatch on their website is not an accurate depiction of how I've seen them actually do this color at the custom shop. And transparent guitar finishes fade over time, so any purple will likely tend to get even more red-like with age.

if you want the color to be accurate to what you're assuming/imagining, you MUST send them pictures to match when placing the order. This is especially important for trans-top finishes. Even then, the vagaries of computer monitors may show a different hue there than what you see on your own screen. So you may want to further request them shooting color samples before approving the build. I've had to do this for a recent order, which is still in process. They mailed me painted scrap wood samples from which to approve, and to send back for them to copy from in person.

It will all be worth it in the end. Good luck.

[neilli]

+1. Like Pat I've had issues with them getting the colour right. Part of it can be related to the colour you choose and the natural colour of the wood itself, but also the vagueries of monitor settings at all stages can compound the issue.

I was told that the best way around it was to send in a hard-copy photograph depicting the colour you want, as that takes the monitor issue out of the equation. Then, as pat said, the thing to do is request them to provide colour tiles of what they think you want, and ideally a few shades around it, and then you can approve it. (for what it's worth, I kept the tile from one order I approved 4 years or so ago, and have recently sent it back to them as I want another guitar in the same colour).

[EMPIRE520]

so here is the sample color I sent them from their own MIJ line

[EMPIRE520]

and this is what I got delivered the first time.....



I wanted a 100% sized neck logo, and they fought me tooth and nail saying that they cannot fit a 100% size logo on a reverse headstock. So I sent them tons of pics proving that to be false, they finally agreed if I agreed to shortening the truss rod cover and go to a single screw truss cover, so I did....



here you can see the logo is not 100% its 80%, yet still have the single screw cover. ....oh look at the ID tag.. transparent purple? no my friend.

[lepard]

If you want anyone in the Jackson or Fender Custom Shop to understand anything you order, you better do a work order in Spanish.

[xenophobe]

You need to order without a truss cover on a rev headstock to get the 100% logo.

As for trans finishes, yes, either send in a hard copy, tell them a specific calibrated color like a Pantone or specific paint color code, like PPG Ebony Black for cars, or request samples.

[neilli]

As I understand it, I was the first person to fight tooth and nail to get a 100% logo on a rev head under the Custom Select programme, and yes, they can absolutely do it on guitars with no trussrod cover. And yes, they had to do the logo 3 times on the first guitar and twice on the second even though it was questioned and then confirmed at the work order stage in both cases. This is the first time round on the first guitar:



and this is the final:



And this is the end result of the second order:



Now I see the pics again, the pink logo seems to be bigger than the seafoam, but whatever size it might be, I'm happy with the logo on the green, even if it's not 100%!


I've said for a long time that you have to spell out EVERYTHING when you order a custom Jackson, and you should assume nothing. Send in sample pics, mockups, whatever it is to explain anything that's even slightly non-standard. I

I've also said for a long time that while the process may be frustrating, when mistakes have occurred they have always made things right and the guitars have been fantastic. The problem is in the process / QC, rather than the ultimate end result.

[Jackson8090s]

the image you gave from their import line VS what you got, not even close... color blind , has to be! How do you get burgundy from barney purple? The monitor excuse may have worked back in 2000, I wouldn't buy that excuse now. I think lepard was spot on.. as a matter of fact go look at the tour of their custom shop , Mexicans everywhere.

Ha-ha!

[Mudlark]

How do you get burgundy from barney purple?

:dunno:
That's embarrassingly bad.

[Wizard of Ozz]

Unfortunately I've seen this exact same thing from the CS. Purple comes out with too much red in the mix. Send a few different samples, then request a pieces of wood (same species as the top of the body) be sprayed and clear coated and then emailed to you for approval. I've had this happen to other customer orders from other builders. Suhr is very hard to nail down on the consistentcy of his trans-finishes as well.