The Jackson Rhoads Guitar

It´s a sad thing to discover a great talent after they´re dead.  This happened to me with Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne´s guitarist.  I remember the day - March 20th, 1982.  I was waiting for my bus home from work and reading Sounds magazine, a great source of information on hard rock.

There was an article on the guitarist´s death in a flying accident the previous day. (Won´t go into more detail, it feels wrong).  I´d heard many guitarists praise Randy's talent - not least Ozzy Osbourne.

Randy first came to attention in his own band Violet Foxes.  He then joined Quiet Riot and was hailed as a great guitarist.  He gave up teaching guitar at his mother, Delores´, music store, when Quiet Riot, already playing LA hotspots like Whiskey a Go Go and the Starwood Club, were signed to a Japanese label and released two albums. 

Randy wasn't your typical rocker.  Brought up  Catholic, he´s been described as “God-fearing”.  He didn't partake of the usual  rock 'n' roll lifestyle, preferring to seek out classical guitar tutors in whichever city he played in to learn more about his passion - classical guitar.

Finally, he auditioned for ex-Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne (definitely your typical rocker!) and got the job while he was warming up! Most Ozzy fans acknowledge that Randy saved Ozzy's career as he had hired one of the hottest rock guitarists on the planet, something the man himself has never forgotten, mentioning Randy to this day.

Not long before his tragic death, Randy hooked up with a then not-so-famous guitar builder named Grover Jackson to design a guitar nicknamed the Concord.  Randy used it on his final tour and further redesigns resulted in the Jackson Rhoads, also known as the Jackson Shark´s Fin.  At the time Grover was working for Wayne Charvel of Charvel Guitars and didn't want to put the Charvel logo on Randy's guitar.

So he put  his own name.  Jackson.

Sadly, Randy died before he got to play his very own  Jackson Rhoads guitar.

But the guitar lives on!

In the wake of this tragic loss, Grover asked KISS guitarist, Vinnie Vincent, to represent the guitar.  And so Vinnie became the first guitarist to bring this awesome guitar to the attention of the rock guitar fraternity.  He did the guitar great justice back in 1982, playing it with sheer ferocity and skill, and taking the instrument to its sonic limits.

The stunning gold Shark´s Fin.

The Jackson Rhoads is now an iconic design and Randy Rhoads has become an iconic figure in rock music.  Music magazines are still dissecting his work and giving credit to his pioneering, neoclassical rock musical abilities.

But back to me at the bus stop.  I caught the bus, went home and, though I wasn´t a fan of Osbourne, I bought some of his albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.

Randy Rhoads instantly became one of my heroes.  (I´ve so many guitar heroes it´s ridiculous).  His solos ascended, then with a rapid flick of his Les Paul toggle, he caused a stuttering effect before descending again.  It was like a P41 Mustang hitting its ceiling, stalling, then diving back earthwards.

P41 Mustang

Then, in 1983 there was a snippet of KISS´s Creatures of the Night Tour on TV and I saw – or more exactly heard - Vinnie Vincent make some incredible sounds with a fantastic gold guitar.  It was a Jackson Rhoads Shark´s Fin, so radical back then that I started pestering McCormack´s music store in Glasgow  to get me one!

30th Anniversary reissue Shark´s Fin, updated with Floyd Rose tremelo with fine tuners. Only 30 created!

Well, they´d never heard of it. (And I suppose I´d have looked pretty pathetic with a Shark´s Fin guitar in the Prince Charlie pub in Westmuir Street, anyway). However, four years later Mr. McCormack was planning a trip to a music trade fair in Germany and I asked him to find out about Jackson guitars.

Scotland´s first Jackson Charvel

Next thing I know he has a Charvel (same company - long story, maybe for a future post) .......

....... the very first Jackson Charvel to arrive in Scotland.

And I got it!

I still have it - it's 27 years old now! 

My Charvel is so well-built it´ll probably outlive me.  

So while it was sad that I didn´t appreciate Randy Rhoads while he was still alive, I remember him now every time I strap on my Charvel.