Show your USA Soloists

[Gibsonmac]

[ZZB]

Holy crap Gibsonmac! That's unbelieveable!

[Gibsonmac]

Holy crap Gibsonmac! That's unbelieveable!

Thanks Bro! I'm in the process of ordering a sister to it, this time it's gonna be black trans flames and an arched top!! can't wait

[pro-fusion]

Just got my newest one today. Meet J0726. Born June 5, 1985:

[dobieboy]

Here is my '85!

That's what I'm talking about!!!! Fantastic Can I ask where you bought it originally?

[AndyK]

That's what I'm talking about!!!! Fantastic Can I ask where you bought it originally?

Thanks. The story is, I had a white Charvel in '85, and a friend of mine had a guitar just like this Jackson. Years went by, and I sold the Charvel, but always liked and wanted a white Soloist.

I spotted this one on ebay about 8 years ago, and it was original - no fret wear at all, just must have sat in it's case for 15 years. The white paint was kind of yellow and faded and looked bad. So, I sent it to GMW and had it refinished to it's original pearl white, changed the pickups, and now it's awesome, and just like the one I wanted in '85.

PS==Pro Fusion, your blue guitar was probably made on the same day as mine - my serial number is J0734!

[pro-fusion]

PS==Pro Fusion, your blue guitar was probably made on the same day as mine - my serial number is J0734!

Mine was finished on June 5, 1985, and yours was finished on June 7. Their work order numbers are quite a ways apart, so yours was probably ordered a few months after mine. Interestingly, they were both made for the same store, Audio Light & Musical in Norfolk, Va.

God, I love having those log sheets available on the Internet! http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/jackson-logbooks.htm

[AndyK]

Mine was finished on June 5, 1985, and yours was finished on June 7. Their work order numbers are quite a ways apart, so yours was probably ordered a few months after mine. Interestingly, they were both made for the same store, Audio Light & Musical in Norfolk, Va.

God, I love having those log sheets available on the Internet! http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/jackson-logbooks.htm

Very cool - both made the same week in the summer of '85! I was a Junior in college. Those logs are a great resource!

[pro-fusion]

Very cool - both made the same week in the summer of '85! I was a Junior in college. Those logs are a great resource!

I graduated from high school in June 1985. I was more into Les Pauls at the time and probably wouldn't have been that interested in owning J0726 back then. Not that my crappy playing back then warranted such a nice guitar, anyway.

One thing I find interesting about the 1983-85 log sheets is all the mom-and-pop stores in out of the way places that were selling custom-shop Jacksons at the time. A lot of them were made for Guitar Center, which was only in California at the time, and Sam Ash, but you also see places like AL&M in Norfolk (my J0726), Apple Music in Portland, Akron Music, Marshall Music in Michigan (my J0456), etc. Musical instrument retailing was a lot different back then, eh? Many of those stores are still around, but when you go to their web sites, they all sell cheapo starter crap almost exclusively.

I read somewhere that Grover Jackson had contacts with a number of these smaller stores before he joined Charvel, and that helped get J/Cs into the shops when nobody knew who they were.

[AndyK]

Yeah, I agree that the list of custom shop dealers was more diverse back then. Although, I have no idea how big or small these stores are/were! I bought my guitars from Sam Ash (or, to be exact, Paul Ash in Brooklyn) back then. I remember checking the store daily when I was expecting a guitar shippment from Charvel! When I saw a box from Glendora, I knew my guitar was back!

I can't believe that was 25 years ago! Hey, this summer is our guitar's 25th birthday!

[pro-fusion]

I can't believe that was 25 years ago! Hey, this summer is our guitar's 25th birthday!

Very true. They are now officially "classics"--or at least they will be as of June.

It's also time for my 25-year high school reunion, but I'd rather not think about that.

[AndyK]

Ha! we are aging along with our guitars...go figure!

[Acesofbelkan]

Heres my soloist, Nothing too crazy just a good ol' sl2h!

[AndyK]

Heres my soloist, Nothing too crazy just a good ol' sl2h!

Nice classic black!

I like the new Soloists, except for the recessed Floyd. The mother of pearl Jackson insert is sweet. And I found the quality to be top notch on my SL-1's that I've owned.

[roccotanto]

wow......lots of great soloists in this thread!

i have owned quite a few of them over the years, currently am soloist-less......but i'm trying to fix that......got my eye on one right now.

i really love the san dimas era soloists, they are my faves. i had a recent SL2H bengal that was pretty nice, but i didn't like it as much as the vintage ones.