Jackson RR1 Randy Rhoads Signature Guitar
March 29th, 2006
Randy Rhoads designed this guitar and approved its prototype before he passed. It’s a shame he didn’t live to see this wonderful guitar come to production. Randy will forever be known as one of metal’s most talented and influential guitarists. So many of today’s guitar players were influenced by the man who made Ozzy and the Jackson RR1 Rhoads Signature screams just like Randy would have wanted.
The RR1 is Jackson’s most popular signature guitar, and not only for its name. The alder body and maple neck are built together in a neck-thru design. Neck-thru gives the guitar much more sustain than the cheaper bolt-on neck option.
The ebony fingerboard is decorated with the classic Jackson shark fin mother-of-pearl inlays. The headstock mounts die-cast tuners and Jackson logo inlay. In the bridge position there is a Seymour Duncan JB TB4 Humbucking pickup and in the neck there is a Seymour Duncan Jazz SH2N. For switching the RR1 Rhoads has a 3-way toggle switch. Since Randy incorporates tremolo into so much of his music the guitar has an original Floyd Rose Double Locking 2-Point Tremolo.
The unique body shape of this guitar is very popular among metal guitarists. This was Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom’s guitar of choice before he signed with ESP to create a signature of his own. The guitar is available in over 25 different finishes.
Feature Summary
- Alder body with maple top/Maple neck/Ebony Fingerboard
- 22 jumbo frets with shark fin inlays
- Seymour Duncan JB TB4 in the bridge/Jazz SH2N in the neck
- 3-way pickup switch
- 2 tone/1 volume control
- Floyd Rose Original double locking 2-point tremolo
- 25+ different finish styles
I have been eyeing up the RR1 Rhoads Signature guitar for a few months now. My current electric guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul standard. While it does get the job done, I would really like something with a neck-thru design and a tremolo bridge. Maybe once I pay my car loan off I will be able to afford it.
Read the other posts in this series:
- Guitar Reviews: March Metal Madness
- Fender Stratocaster Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Guitar
- ESP KH-2 Kirk Hammett Signature Guitar
- ESP Ninja 600 Michael Amott Signature Guitar
- Gibson Les Paul Zakk Wylde CAMO Signature Guitar
- Jackson RR1 Randy Rhoads Signature Guitar
- Dean USA Razorback Tribute Dimebag Darrell Signature Guitar
- ESP Alexi Laiho Signature Guitar
tagged buy guitar, guitar review, Jackson Guitars, march metal madness, metal, randy rhoads, signature series and tremolo
Related Posts
- Guitar Reviews: March Metal Madness
- ESP Alexi Laiho Signature Guitar
- ESP KH-2 Kirk Hammett Signature Guitar
- ESP Ninja 600 Michael Amott Signature Guitar Review
March 29th, 2006 18:51
I owned a V for several years. It was a joy to play standing up, but for jamming sitting down, it was the worst guitar you could own.
I had one of the cheap Jakson bolt-on Vees. But it was fun to play.
Jacksons have always been my favorite metal guitar. I think their higher-end models — from the MG models up — are some of the best guitars for the money. However, I wonder why so many artists jumped ship when Fender bought the company. If anything, the marketing of the brand got even better. They started up the Charvel line again and got Eddie Van Halen to drop his Peavey model to restart the 5150 line.
My problem with this guitar and the last one you reviewed is the price. For guitars that aren’t custom built, that are CNC routed and don’t carry anything special except an artist’s name they charge a lot of money for that.
April 9th, 2006 16:28
I have only ever played a V standing up, but I would guess that for sitting down you would still need to use a strap, or have the V straddle your leg. I have seen both Alexi Laiho and Zakk Wylde play them sitting down in videos, but I would guess it wouldn’t be as comfortable as a full body guitar over your leg.
I don’t think that because it’s a Fender company now that anything changed with the Jackson models. I did read though that Alexi moved to ESP because Jackson said it would take them a year to build him a new signature guitar when ESP promised 3 months.
With any signature guitar you are going to get a huge price markup just for having the name. In actual fact, I think having a signature series guitar is somewhat corny. I really don’t want to have a Zakk Wylde bull’s-eye cause that’s his guitar. A signature that doesn’t have a “signature look” might be ok, but then what’s the point of paying extra for the name. It’s sort of a circle.
That’s what I think is unique about the John Petrucci Music Man. It’s not just about the look, pickups, and bridge, its all about the sound and playability
February 1st, 2008 12:57
Thanks for sharing