40 YEARS OF JACKSON GUITARS

As Jackson celebrates its 40th anniversary, we chart its history from custom repair shop to the number one supplier of rock and metal guitars

- Jonathan Horsley

The evolution of Jackson Guitars goes hand in hand with that of rock and metal itself. There has always been a symbiotic relationship between the design of the electric guitar and the scene it serves, but come the end of the 70s, that was to become ever more pronounced.

Guitar playing was on the cusp of radical change. After a febrile period during which the big beasts of rock barrelled into long-form progressivism, their ever more ambitious compositions expanding upon rock’s template, guitar culture was intensifying. Rock was intensifying. Metal was becoming a culture. Stratocasters were still cool, but players were now learning that they, indeed, had limitations.

The players of the 60s and 70s used workarounds to get the sounds that they wanted. Treble boosters and fuzz pedals were essential ingredients in getting the gain needed for a harder brand of rock; the next generation were no different, only their demands were about to met by he new generation of high-performance electric guitars with thinner necks, compound radius fingerboards, super-hot pickups and floating vibratos from Kahler and Floyd Rose.

Of course, it was only logical that the guitars had to change. Where better place than a mod-shop to make that change happen?