The Jackson Warrior - For Rock n Roll Guitaritsts
By 1989 the Jackson Guitar company was the foremost producer of the world's most wanted guitars. Drastic and unparalleled, the Jackson superstrats were mimicked by every guitar manufacturer, including B.C. Rich, Kramer Gibson, Fender and Ibanez.
Grover Jackson, the founder of Jackson Guitars, left the company in late 1989. Despite this, the Warrior design was being created by Mikey Wright - a R&D designer with an innovative guitar body model that would take the Jackson lineup to unimagined heights and astonish the guitar population with a design that drastically departed from Jackson's entrenched "superstrat."
The first Jackson Warrior rolled off the production line in 1990 only to be discontinued a year later. With no less than 5 pointy appendages (four on the body, one at the headstock) the Warrior was amply named. The design has been called aggressive and obnoxious.
Two versions were produced in 1990. The Warrior was made in the USA and the Warrior Pro was made in Japan. Both versions were the same, except that the Pro was made in a foreign country.
Jackson offered the following paint colors on the Pro models: Snow White Pearl, Ferrari Red, Pearl Yellow, Candy Blue and Midnight Black. The plain Warrior had even more colors available: Pearl Yellow, Fire Crackle, Snow White, Metallic Electric Blue, Metallic Black, Candy Red, Tie Die, Eerie Dess Swirl, Ferrari Red, Pearl White and Midnight Black.
In 2001, a decade since the original Warrior was produced, Jackson re-released the Warrior model. They retail for about $1,200.
The overseas made Warrior retail for about $400 and are simple bolt on models with a wide range of pickups. The USA made Warrior is more expensive, reflecting the Duncan pickups, Floyd Rose tremolos and other superior qualities. The US model however, doesn't have the active circuitry, slanted fingerboard and pickup as the previous models did.
Despite the minor changes to the original design, these new Warriors are on par with the original models and the quality of the manufacturing is excellent.
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You can buy
Jackson Guitars online at excellent prices - whether it is new, used, hard to find and vintage. Vincent Roarden has a large selection of Jackson Guitars for sale online including
Warrior Jackson Guitars, Kelly and Soloist.