JACKSON CONCORDE
Randy Rhoads’ gift to guitar design
Photo:s Getty Images / Fender
Shortly after joining Ozzy, Rhoads had an idea for a radical guitar design. Wayne Charvel had sold his business to Grover Jackson, so Rhoads went to Jackson to build the guitar, a white, pinstriped asymmetrical V with a Strat tremolo system. It would have neck-through construction like a Gibson Firebird, where the neck and centre of the body are one piece of wood, with ‘wings’ glued onto the sides to make the rest of the shape. The entire guitar was made of maple. Grover didn’t think the design fitted the Charvel brand. Instead, they designed a new headstock, an angular take on the Gibson Explorer, and made the first Jackson.