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Guitar World
Guitar World
Entertainment
Matt Owen

“Continuing upon the metal legacy pioneered by the immortal Randy Rhoads”: Jackson pays homage to Rhoads’ iconic Concorde model with overhauled Made in Japan models

Jackson has launched its latest Made in Japan model – the MJ Series RR24MG, which once again pays tribute to the legacy of the late electric guitar legend, Randy Rhoads.

Joining the brand’s existing collection of Rhoads V models, this latest entry arrives in two new finishes, and ushers in a handful of appointments that won’t be found on the two existing Japanese-made Rhoads models.

The key differences are in the hardware and pickup departments. The previously released flagship Rhoads RRT – which was treated to a Snow White finish earlier this year – came equipped with Seymour Duncan pickups and an anchored tailpiece.

Here, though, the souped up RR24MG swaps out those Seymours for a set of EMGs – 81 bridge and 85 neck – and drops the tailpiece in favor of a more metal Gotoh GE1996T Series double-locking tremolo.

(Image credit: Jackson)
(Image credit: Jackson)
(Image credit: Jackson)
(Image credit: Jackson)

It goes without saying that these new specs will open up a whole array of sounds and playing styles previously unavailable to the MJ Rhoads range – ones that are closely associated with the late guitar hero.

A word on those new finishes, too, because they also seek to channel authentic Rhoads aesthetics. The first is a Gloss Black with Yellow Pinstripes variant – a classy combo of colors indeed – but Jackson has also paid homage to Rhoad's iconic Concorde model by way of an additional Snow White with Black Pinstripes iteration.

(Image credit: Jackson)
(Image credit: Jackson)

Indeed, the latter has turned out looking remarkably similar to Rhoads’ first-generation Jackson Concorde – which too featured a white with black pinstripe finish and a tremolo system – minus the pinstripes that ran inline with the neck.

Electronics, hardware and appearances aside, the RR24MG features an alder offset V body, a through-body three-piece maple neck with graphite reinforcement, and a 12”-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard.

(Image credit: Jackson)
(Image credit: Jackson)
(Image credit: Jackson)
(Image credit: Jackson)

24 jumbo frets, pearloid sharkfin inlays and Luminlay side dots can also be found, as can Gotoh die-cast tuners and Dunlop dual-locking strap buttons. As for controls, master volume and tone parameters are joined by a standard three-way selector switch.

The RR24MG is available now for $2,999.

Head over to Jackson for more information.

The Rhoads model received its most radical makeover earlier this year, when Suicide Silence’s Mark Heylmun partnered with Jackson to create a brutal seven-string metal machine.

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