In 1980, Grover Jackson met Randy Rhoads, who had recently joined Ozzy Osbourne's new band as lead guitarist. Charvel guitars became renowned for its use of creative graphics, unfinished maple necks, and various innovative appointments. This modernized Stratocaster configuration (commonly referred to as the superstrat) was particularly well suited to the heavy metal style of music that was very popular at the time. The income from these sales provided the Charvel shop with additional tooling and experience that gave Jackson the footing required to grow the Charvel brand.īeginning in the late 1970s, Charvel popularized custom revamps of the Fender Stratocaster design - often consisting of a Strat-shaped body with a single humbucking pickup and Fender style tremolo bridge systems. During this time BC Rich, SD Curlee, and Music Man approached Charvel to contract manufacture various wood parts. After filing for bankruptcy, Wayne Charvel sold what was left of the company to Grover Jackson in 1978, and ceased all working associations with the brand name.Īfter purchasing the company Grover Jackson tooled to produce guitar bodies which he sold to Mighty Mite and Dimarzio, using the proceeds to fund an expansion into making necks. Charvel guitars were constructed from wood components outsourced to Boogie and Schecter bodies, and various Charvel and aftermarket hardware. When Asian companies began copying Charvel's parts and selling them at a discount, Charvel decided to begin building complete guitars. The shop earned a solid reputation among performing artists for its repair work, custom finishes, and upgraded parts manufacturing. Concerning USA neckthrough models, starting in 1989/90, these models were given serial numbers that start with the letter 'U'.After working at Fender for three years in the early 1970s, Wayne Charvel started 'Charvel's Guitar Repair' in 1974 to refinish and repair out-of-warranty Fender instruments. UPDATED SECTION: Concerning Jackson import models, specifically the neckthrough models, the serial numbers for models starting in 2000/2001 dropped the leading 'J' from the serial number, and are now 7 numbers with no letter.

Sometime in 1997 or 98, Jackson removed the 'Professional' marking from the headstocks, along with all other model-specific markings (Performer, Concept, etc etc).

Because of their high quality, the Japanese-made Professional models were outselling the USA models from 1990-1994, and in 1994 the Professional line was revised to further separate them from the USA models. This is most noticeable in the neckthrough models, though the bolt-on models were also equal to their USA counterparts. A brief history of the Jackson Professional line: In late 1989/early 1990, the Jackson Professional line was started, and these were made with the same materials and construction quality as their USA counterparts.

Wayne charvel serial numbers