It's Official - FMIC/Jackson is on Crack !

[sonicsamurai]

Some really good discussion here. I hope the brass at FMIC has the insight to actually read this(although I doubt it).

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you know i was actually thinming earlier today - whatever happened to the ask jackson thread?? i know jkmktguy left and another guy took over, but then it seems to have disappeared without trace. its a shame becasue i always thought it was good that we had those links with jackson an they actually listened to us.....

[MikeStrat]

its a shame becasue i always thought it was good that we had those links with jackson an they actually listened to us.....

It was a good thought but that's about it.

[guitarzan2]

It was a good thought but that's about it.

Exactly. While it was kind of cool to have an actual company guy here, truth be told, that company guy had zero power to influence the marketing moron VP's at FMIC like Ritchie Flieger who have no clue whatsoever.

[DC_rhoads82]

All we can hope is that enough people vote with their wallets. I'd never purposely be the kinda guy to say that people shouldn't buy this or that...but, this is borderline common sense. People that are remotely knowledgable about Jackson know that consumers are being overcharged for CS models (to atleast some degree). Nothing will happen until the company realizes that they are losing business because of these marked up prices (if anything will ever change at all). I love Jacksons and have owned everything from Jems to Les Pauls and PRS models, but Jacksons are what I've stuck with. As much as I love em, Jackson is not gonna get my $7000 for a guitar that could have been ordered for half of that. Sorry, but I'd rather pay off a year of tuition and books for my University degree. In my opinion, probably the most shameful thing is that these people that want custom shop Jacksons are so passionate about their Jacksons. These are loyal consumers and if you see some of the group shot pictures of the collections that these people have...Jackson has had a lot of business from them. It's a shame that loyalty to a company doesn't count for all that much to the corporate guys.

[HiOctane]

I myself am quite shocked at the pricing. I totally agree and am not insulted by your comments at all. I really do understand everyones feelings on this. It puts me in an awkward situation. I want to have the chance to paint more guitars. I would love to see my stuff on guitars in a much lower price bracket. It is hard to perpetuate a market in the range that they are presently pursuing. I don't really think it is my art that is making the guitars out of the pricing range that most would or could afford. Jackson's pricing guideline is really none of my business, but I do know it effects the level of demand for my work. I for one couldnt ever imagine paying what is being asked on these guitars. Perhaps, this is why I build and paint my own instruments and have been doing for years based upon my inability to afford a 3k instrument. I mean, who really can? I hope that things change in this pricing issue, and I will be discussing some of this with the management at NAMM. Great discussion that I hope maybe hits home at FMIC. I, for one, would love to have a Custom Shop guitar someday.

Mike,
A well-stated, fair and balanced opinion. Thanks for having the guts and honesty to share it in this forum. You are an amazing artist and I hope that you continue to practice your craft on guitars for years to come.

[Axewielder]

$5000 takes all the fun out of buying a guitar for most people. I got the opportunity to score a used but minty Mike Learn RR1 earlier in the year for half that, and I am quite happy at that price level. Even then I'm still a bit skittish about taking it out of the case lol.

[Nova]

Guess you dont know the difference between a custom shop and a korean run. specially for a MH-1000 since its a carved top, leftie and you probably added a ebony fretboard and transparent finish. Even though its expensive (ill take it for 1 1/2 grand less, and if my dealer get me that) the ESP custom shop is in high demand these days.

Of course I know the difference, and btw, this guitar wasnt for me, Im no leftie, and the guy who sent the custom form asked for the exact same components/features than a Mh-1000 would have so I guess he still chose rosewood for the frettboard, as for the finish, I have no idea. I know that the custom hand made guitar would have to cost a lot more, but in that case we are talking about 6600% of the original price, and I think it is abusive. The guy wont be buying the CS guitar, of course

[Scholomance]

Mike, I don't mean to knock your entire portfolio. However, I have a right to not like all of your work and I have a right to say so. I admit that I was kind of harsh towards you but it was merely because I am passionate about these guitars and recent practices by Jackson have thoroughly irritated me. Its just that a lot of the subject matter I've seen has not had much variety, and I can't say that this has all been your decision. This includes the other artists as well. I acknowledge that you do some of the nicest flames in the business and I like a lot of your colors and color combinations. As another artist, I just would like to see you do some different things. Even though a lot of the Jacksons are pretty much known to be metal guitars, and metal has its traditional graphic themes, there's a massive amount of other interesting subjects that could be done. I love dark & evil art but I also like the other sides as well. There are multitudes of different ages of art, genres, styles, and techniques. I'd like to see you and Jackson include more of them!

Scott

[Learn Guitars]

Art is so subjective. I appreciate your feelings as well. No hard feelings here, just needed to say something after having spent my entire Xmas holiday getting those guitars done and seeing your comment kinda kicked me in the nuts....Need a bigger cup. I personally tried to bust up the styles of the guitars that I put up this year for NAMM, but really appreciate your desire to see some deviation from the norm.

Best wishes,
Mike

[daisp]

Mike I have a few of yours and love them all..I can't wait for the blue celtic cross tele you're finishing up for me. Keep up the cool stuff, the Russian pilot is KILLER!


Phil

[cookiemonster2]

Skulls and zombies aren't my thing but I still enjoy looking at pictures of Mike Learn's work because whatever I've seen of his comes across as interesting in one way or another. I really liked the Uncle Sam/Uncle Fucker.

[Robert Burns]

Exactly !!! Between the continual price hikes and the history of screwing up Custom Shop orders, nobody is ordering custom pieces. There is NO backlog at the Jackson Custom Shop. They have priced themselves out of business. FMIC is a big company with a big shop with lots of employees. Current business practices are just plain dumb and don't make any sense financially.

God, I thought USA Dean prices were getting stupid when they got to $3K but get this, Dean recognized their USA prices were getting out of control since they were actually contracting out their USA production to US Masters. Dean saw the problem, recognized it and now has Dean Zelinsky and Jon Hill opening a new Custom Shop in Chicago to build in-house USA models. It will be interesting to see how they are priced. Dean Zelinsky told me personally that they were trying to keep costs down and would be making their own pickups in house and building some USA bolt-on models.

Even Dean is having an almost impossible time selling $3K custom guitars. The limitted 200 Dime DFH USA guitars got priced around $3500 and I ended up getting one after the initial interest in them brand new for $1995.

But seriously, who else out there is a legitimate option?

^^^^^^^^^^
GMW !