History of Charvel Jackson

[Iron1]

This is a pretty cool article. Especially neat, for me at least, to see Veneman's music was the first commercial buyer of Charvel/Jackson Guitars since I bought my first real guitar at Venemans and spent hours and hours there back in the day.

Repair Shop Sparked a Revolution

[spilla]

I read the fuck out of a book full of these sort of stories, thanks for the share

[jacksonplayer]

It's a cool article. Some of the Wayne Charvel parts might be a little disputed.

I remember the San Dimas Charvels in the local store...that was all way above my pay grade as a 15-year-old!

[Webdood]

I had that 83 catalog they showed and remeber that group shot add with several people cut off or hidden.

5 watt world does video histories and it would be cool if they did a video on this.

[Iron1]

I had that 83 catalog they showed and remeber that group shot add with several people cut off or hidden.

I was (very briefly) in a band with Brian Jay in the late 90s - so I looked for him immediately in that pic... #cutoff... ha.

[Chris]

I cropped the names out of the pic, though they were in order anyway. I definitely remember this ad. How many can we name without cheating?

[Chris]

Here's a handy chart, fill in as you can.

Back row:

1. Blonde dude
2. Black dude
3. Mullet fist dude
4. Permed white glove dude
5. Cutoff fist dude

Middle:

1. Michael Sweet
2. Dude who looks like sid vicious
3. Jake E. Lee
4. Vinnie Vincent
5. Vai
6. Pointy dude
6. Open Mouth dude

Front:

1. Front white dude
2. Front black dude

[Überschall]

I bought my San Dimas Charvel and my first Jackson from the aforementioned Vennemans Music.

[Chris]

I bought my San Dimas Charvel and my first Jackson from the aforementioned Vennemans Music.

You left out "In the time of Jesus".

[bigdave]

Here's a handy chart, fill in as you can.

Back row:

1. Blonde dude
2. Black dude
3. Mullet fist dude
4. Permed white glove dude
5. Cutoff fist dude

Middle:

1. Michael Sweet
2. Dude who looks like sid vicious
3. Jake E. Lee
4. Vinnie Vincent
5. Vai
6. Pointy dude
6. Open Mouth dude

Front:

1. Front white dude
2. Front black dude

I had that ad on my wall as a kid The only ones I couldnt name when I saw this post where "Mullet fist dude" and "Front black dude".

[Mike]

I bought my San Dimas Charvel and my first Jackson from the aforementioned Vennemans Music.

My white '88 Dinky was originally ordered by them.

[Iron1]

I bought my San Dimas Charvel and my first Jackson from the aforementioned Vennemans Music.

The black RG in my avatar came from Vennemans. Bought it the day they put it on the wall and loved that thing for 20+ years. But, it didn't hold a candle to any of my Jacksons...

[Mike]

Here's a handy chart, fill in as you can.

Back row:

1. Blonde dude
2. Vic Johnson from The Bus Boys (now in Sammy Hagar's band)
3. Mullet fist dude
4. Bryan Jay from Keel
5. Cutoff fist dude

Middle:

1. Michael Sweet
2. Amir Derakh from Rough Cutt
3. Jake E. Lee
4. Vinnie Vincent
5. Vai
6. Marc Ferrari from Keel
6. Other Rough Cutt Dude

Front:

1. Steve Lynch from Autograph
2. Spacey T. from Sound Barrier

That's all I remember.

[Mike]

I was (very briefly) in a band with Brian Jay in the late 90s - so I looked for him immediately in that pic... #cutoff... ha.

There are bonus points to this story if he was playing the Twilight Zone guitar.

[Iron1]

There are bonus points to this story if he was playing the Twilight Zone guitar.

I honestly don't remember. It was a very weird deal. He, John Dette and Greg Christian had this Machine Head Meets Testament thing going, with label and tour interest when Greg first left Testament. I joined and like a month later John quit, sold his drum set and joined the San Diego Sheriffs dept. Greg packed up and moved back to the Bay Area and that was that... I mostly hung out with Greg - very cool guy. Brian was cool, but a bit tightly wound. He had some really funny and/or interesting stories of being in Keel, hanging out with Gene Simmons and watching it all evaporate when Keel fell apart.

[jacksonplayer]

I probably bought at least one guitar at Venneman's before they closed, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. The music store scene in the DC region was pretty cool before GC took over.

[Blazon_Stone]

I cropped the names out of the pic, though they were in order anyway. I definitely remember this ad. How many can we name without cheating?

I can only name Steve Vai and Vinnie Vincent

And then we have "Stryper guy" and "Sound Barrier guy"

The rest I have no idea just by looking at their face but probably would recognize names or bands

[Mike]

I probably bought at least one guitar at Venneman's before they closed, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. The music store scene in the DC region was pretty cool before GC took over.

I still have several pieces of gear I bought there, including my Ovation. I miss having good music stores.

[Iron1]

Isn't Chuck Levin's still around?

[bigdave]

5. Cutoff fist dude = Oz Fox from Strypr

[Mike]

Isn't Chuck Levin's still around?

Yeah, but it's kind of a shadow of its former self as far as guitar goes. Pro Sound is a much larger part of their business these days.

[Chris]

The real question is "Are any of the dudes in this photo dead?"

[Mike]

The real question is "Are any of the dudes in this photo dead?"

To my knowledge, no, surprisingly.

[Dominic]

Thanks for posting, I look forward to reading that, especially having heard Grover's version recently (which I posted about here).

I've seen the pic many times over the years, might even have it in old US guitar mags in my collection.

[spilla]

I read the fuck out of a book full of these sort of stories, thanks for the share

Looks like this is from a book Superstrat: Jackson, Charvel, and the Birth of the '80s Rock Guitar by Tony Bacon or at least based on it as the article was written by Tony Bacon. I've been trying to get a copy of this for a while now. After reading and really enjoying The Birth of Loud i wanted a similar book to continue the history of electric guitar building.