Help identifying a Made In USA Rhoads

[Chrismb99]

and just to repeat what's been said -
just about every guitar Jackson made was "one of a kind". You're not going to find your guitar posted on some website (it was a paper catalog back then) where you could buy one of a thousand that is exactly alike.

You had the basic the shape to work with - the Rhoads, an uneven V.
Everything else was what the customer wanted.


*students were a bit more standard simply because they were the plain guitar. most people weren't going to order a "no frills" guitar, and then spice it up with a bunch of "frills".

Oh okay, I see. Thanks for the info. So now that I know that, it doesn't seem like many people ordered them with "student" specs around '87-'90 or so... was $1100 a fair deal? Do these usually go for lower than a "custom" spec from this time? It's a beautiful guitar and is in really great condition for the age. The classic jackson inlays are cool but I really like the look of the dot inlays on these things.

[pianoguyy]

and just to repeat what's been said -
just about every guitar Jackson made was "one of a kind". You're not going to find your guitar posted on some website (it was a paper catalog back then) where you could buy one of a thousand that is exactly alike.

You had the basic the shape to work with - the Rhoads, an uneven V.
Everything else was what the customer wanted.


*students were a bit more standard simply because they were the plain guitar. most people weren't going to order a "no frills" guitar, and then spice it up with a bunch of "frills".

[pianoguyy]

they all had "different" tremolos because -
Floyd Rose had a deal with a New Jersey guitar manufacturer (Kramer) which excluded the trem from being put on a lot of the competitors. So, very few brands used them.
If you find an old Jackson with a Floyd Rose (original, from the factory) it meant that the customer went out and bought a Floyd Rose on the open market and sent it to Jackson to be installed on the order
*fyi, this was before the internet. So, it wasn't as easy as clicking the "buy it now" button on eBay.

It wasn't until 86/87 that some of these other trems started popping up.

[metalhobo]

prior to around 1996 you're not going to see your exact guitar in a catalog (unless it was actually the guitar from the catalog) because, like I said previously, all usa's from that time were build to order. it's a student rhoads. that bridge looks correct for the time period. logo placement is variable from guitar to guitar, even today.

ontario definitely made student/custom rhoads, as well as soloists and KVs.

[Chrismb99]

it's a Student RR. all usa jackson guitars at that time were essentially custom ordered was no "production" line. the "student" vs. "custom" designation was used to identify basic levels of trim, with the student models having rosewood boards, dot inlays, no binding, and the custom models having ebony boards, shark inlays, and binding.

$1100 seems like a fair price for a student RR in decent condition.

With the dot inlays I thought maybe a student model too but I can't find a Student RR anywhere made past 1986... not even in the catalogs. They're all made in San Dimas from 1986 and before. All with different tremolos, too.

This is truly the most similar model I can find (year, no binding, dot inlays, fretboard material, "Jackson Made In USA" HS logo placement, neck thru) minus the two tone finish instead of a metallic black, active pickups, and black hardware instead of gold, it is the most similar... But definitely not in the price.
https://reverb.com/item/33330861-198...ck-bevels-ohsc

[metalhobo]

it's a Student RR. all usa jackson guitars at that time were essentially custom ordered was no "production" line. the "student" vs. "custom" designation was used to identify basic levels of trim, with the student models having rosewood boards, dot inlays, no binding, and the custom models having ebony boards, shark inlays, and binding.

$1100 seems like a fair price for a student RR in decent condition.

[Chrismb99]

New to this forum and to the Jackson family, so hi everyone!

I've been looking into a new guitar for a little while now, researching and whatnot, but couldn't decide between a Kelly or Rhoads... finally settled on this Made In USA Jackson RR?? dated 1989 for sale on reverb. The serial number (RR2603) actually checks out to a 1990 model out of Ontario, CA. I can't seem to find pictures of one completely identical in any archived catalogs or pictures on Google. This made me think that, possibly, this is a custom shop so I decided to grab it.

https://reverb.com/item/21377423-jac...show_sold=true

I did talk the seller down to $1100 which seems to me like a killer deal for a USA made Rhoads of this age and in this condition anyway.... Can anyone identify this thing? Could it possibly be a custom?