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Charvel/Jackson: Tales From The Shop 1983-1987

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  • Charvel/Jackson: Tales From The Shop 1983-1987

    At NAMM this past weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with several original Charvel/Jackson Employees who were there in the early days from '83-86 and they shared TONS of stories/anecdotes...

    "Tales From The Shop'...if you will. I laughed my ass of at most of them but here's one that was taken very seriously and STUCK with all of them.

    This one dates from '84 or '85...none of them could recall exactly.

    The Lavender Telly
    One day Mike Eldred was working at the last station on the line doing a final setup on a neck-thru Lavender colored Jackson Telly. Suddenly Mike froze in place. Then He snatched up the guitar quickly and headed across the shop floor directly to Grover's office with the guitar in hand.

    About 5 minutes passed, then PA Loudspeaker in the shop crackled and a loud booming voice said 'Attention: ALL Employees to the shop floor...mandatory Company Meeting NOW!'

    Soon Every Employee in the shop was standing around Grover. He was holding the Lavender Telly in his hands. He said very sternly

    "I want every one of you to look at this guitar, our product, a FINISHED guitar at the end of the line and about to go out the door. Somebody tell me what's wrong with it....Pass it around"

    The guitar was passed around to each employee to look at/inspect. Everything looked in order, fretwork was excellent, the finish was good, it played well, there were seemingly no flaws...no one could see any obvious defects.

    With the guitar back in Grover's hands he says loudly 'WELL?? NOBODY saw anything wrong??

    Then he held it up high and pointed at the neck at the 12th fret "See this Inlay?" and then he turned it sideways to reveal the side dots perfectly in place ...AT THE ELEVENTH Fret!!!!

    Without another word he walked over to the nearest bandsaw, put on a pair of safety glasses and proceeded to cut the guitar into many pieces....right thru strings, pickups and whatever else was in the path of the blade.

    After it was completely shredded he turned off the saw and declared loudly. "Meeting OVER, now get back to work and stop FUCKING AROUND!"
    Kahler...Killing guitar values DEAD since 1981.

  • #2
    Classic
    Haters gonna hate
    Dilluting the brand one MUTT at a time.

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    • #3
      fail

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      • #4
        I'm thinking a trussrod might not play nicely with the bandsaw blade. The beauty of that story though is it shows you the mentality of the company and why it was (IMO) the best in the world at that time. It's all about QC..
        Last edited by Hellbat; 01-25-2012, 08:34 PM.
        GTWGITS! - RacerX

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Hellbat View Post
          I'm think a trussrod might not play nicely with the bandsaw blade. The beauty of that story though is it shows you the mentality of the company and why it was (IMO) the best in the world at that time. It's all about QC..
          Depends on the blade. Metal cutting bandsaw blades are commonplace.
          In memory of Gary Wright 9/13/2012

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          • #6
            nice

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            • #7
              Man that would have been a cool guitar to own.

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              • #8
                Mistakes happened back then, too. Cool story. Got any more to share?

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Hellbat View Post
                  I'm think a trussrod might not play nicely with the bandsaw blade.
                  A guitar's truss rod, or the JCF's "Trussrod"?
                  _________________________________________________
                  "Artists should be free to spend their days mastering their craft so that working people can toil away in a more beautiful world."
                  - Ken M

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Axewielder View Post
                    A guitar's truss rod, or the JCF's "Trussrod"?
                    D'oh! I'm not cleanin' that up!
                    In memory of Gary Wright 9/13/2012

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Axewielder View Post
                      A guitar's truss rod, or the JCF's "Trussrod"?
                      Well, generally, bandsaw blades don't play nicely with anything...
                      GTWGITS! - RacerX

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                      • #12
                        That's classic. Would love to hear some more stories.

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                        • #13
                          Love it. Too bad that kind of mentality isn't around anymore.

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                          • #14
                            Awesome story! But we want more!
                            "Your work is ingenius…it’s quality work….and there are simply too many notes…that’s all, just cut a few, and it’ll be perfect."

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                            • #15
                              I have lots more....and will share them periodically.
                              Kahler...Killing guitar values DEAD since 1981.

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