I lived in Phoenix circa 1985 and remember The Guitar Shop in Scottsdale was the only authorized Charvel/Jackson dealer in Arizona. You ordered the guitar to your specs, paid for it, and then waited about 6 months to be built. Just under 2000 of the original San Dimas guitars were built before the move to Ontario in March 1986.
i gotta be honest as a 27 yr old guitar player, sammy hagar is the man! great guitar player, awesome singer and songwriter! even love his solo stuff!!!
Sammy had scorched the earth during the Voice Of America tour. Firmly securing his place as a guitar God and multiple Hit writing song writer. I didn’t love Van Hagar, but loved the bands separately. I’m glad Sammy made some good money though. Thanks for sharing!
Sammy rules. Always loved that guitar and wondered what happened to it. I remember him playing it at the Meadowlands NJ run of shows they did on the 5150 tour. And yes, Sammy was/is known for giving his guitars away to friends. Notably, his famous yellow Kramer he played through the OU812 years and after VH. He gave that one away to Guy Fieri. Great vid. Thanks for posting. 👍💯🎸
Sam and Ed play guitar together in the 5150 tour, and when they played together it was great. they should have done it more, I think the only time after that that they did it was on finish what you started when Sammy's playing acoustic while Ed played Electric. But they should have done it more because they sounded great together playing guitar.
Great video of this piece of Sammy history. Sammy grew up in my childhood hometown of Fontana California. He is still very loyal to his roots, for decades afterward would often show up at local restaurants for his favorite fare and also would do benefit appearances for benevolent purposes. He remains a very down-to-earth guy despite his success and accomplishments
This guitar marks one of the most monumental events in rock history... The moment the mighty Van Halen put aside the jams, found their true calling, and became adult contemporary.
Couple of points of clarification: it’s Gary PIHL, like peel not ‘Phil’. Gary was a very early Jackson endorsee and used them in Hagar’s band and in the band Boston. Also, that Kelly is not a 1984. In 1984 the Kelly’s were still the XL size w/ the razor blade cutouts. They stopped doing the cutouts and decreased the overall size (just like this guitar) in 1985. The rear strap button was put up that high, because the original guitars had that cutout in the way. They moved them to the center pretty quickly for balance. 🤘😎🤘
Did you ever think that they may have checked the serial number to confirm the year? Also, the '84 catalogue clearly lists the Kelly model, regardless of the extra cutaways or not. Finally, there was 3 Kelly body sizes. The King Kelly, a medium version and the version today that was suggested by Marty Friedman.
@@JacksonAxe Putting your condescension aside; the guitar is a 1985/86. The Kelly’s in 1984 were ALL the extra large size. Most had the cutouts, which they stopped due to finishing issues. They felt, at the factory, that they couldn’t maintain a Jackson quality finish in the cutout areas. It was too labor intensive to wet sand and buff the cutouts. So they eliminated them, but kept the XL size. There were very, very few produced in both the XL size, w/ no cutouts. The catalog you refer to shows one picture of a Kelly, (Bradford Kelly’s guitar) with the cutouts. They were produced this way until 1985, when they decreased the size, about 1” off the “butt” of the guitar. That size is what Sammy’s guitar is. And yes, I’m aware that in the mid 90’s they decreased the size again to accommodate the diminutive Marty Friedman. I currently own a King Kelly w/ the cutouts and I have previously owned a 1985 and many other Jackson Kelly’s. Did you ever think that I may have known what I was talking about and that’s why I replied?! 😉 ps. I purchased my 1985 Kelly, black w/ white pins and Floyd from my friend, Rob Witte in Switzerland. The same collector who used to own Sammy’s guitar. 🤣
@@Metalcop5150 What about the serial? You haven't addressed the serial...and, you're talking to someone that ALSO knows his shit. Can you PROVE no Kelly's were made in '84 without the cutouts? Do you have the build sheets from that era? As for 'condescension'.... you're telling people that own a guitar that they are not smart enough to check the serial for a year of manufacture?
@@JacksonAxe Ok, one look at the guitar tells me it’s a 1985. That was when they transitioned away from the cutouts and to the ‘mid sized’ Kelly’s, which this one is. So I messaged my friend, the TX Collector, mentioned in the video, who owned this guitar and sold it to Pete, the owner of Swiss Picks. He tells me the serial# is J06xx, which you can clearly see in the video. According to the logs, J0406 was the LAST Jackson made in 1984. So a J06xx number would put production mid 1985, just like I said it was. Which is why I commented with the clarification. I didn’t mean to insult the current owner of the guitar, or the guy reviewing it. It just seemed like Pete was given incorrect info when he purchased the guitar and he’s passing it along. No harm no foul. I won’t comment unless I’m 100% with my info. ✌️ Rock on, my friend. 🤘😎🤘
In the magazine , Edward Van Halen with the white Spector bass , Ed played bass on Sammy's solo album right after 5150 album was done , maybe he used that Bass
Great video. Love Sammy. Grover didn't get along with Neal Schon either. Schon decided he wanted to get into the guit making in 1985-86. Grover got the contract to build the _Schon Guitar_ for him. They had a falling out. 200 were built. This is my favorite of all time guitar. Had _Schon_ on the headstock in the Jackson script. Unique "Ferrari tails" tailpiece. One comes up for sale about once a year. I wanted one so bad I built my own. You can see it and others on my channel. Kind of a mystery guitar. Only a few out there. Not many people liked the style, but I love it. Supposedly Gibson built 2 prototypes before Grover got the contract. The Holy Grails. Anybody seen em around?
When I worked at Jackson in the late 80s I remember the falling out between grover and schon,there was a few racks of unfinished schon guitars in the compound room,they were painted but not rubbed out (,polished).. rumor was grover caught schon with his wife joan
@@rikjones5924 No shit! I thought maybe Grover was just hard to get along with or an issue with the guitars. I tried my best to recreate the Schon but with a few differences. I used a 5 bolt on neck but blended the heel really smooth. I made the pickguard a little different at the bridge area. I made my own knobs out of some aluminum. Big, low and fat and frenched them into the body kinda PRS. Believe it or not, I was able to find online a vinyl layout pattern kit with supposedly the correct specs. I applied those to some MDF to make a builders layout pattern. It's pretty close. But I got a question, did Grover have a supplier or whatever for the Ferrari Tails tailpiece? I looked everywhere so I decided to make my own out of 1/4 square bar stock. I'm super proud of that because it looks so damn good. Anyway cool info and thanks for your reply. Oh, and did you ever hear anything about Gibson making a couple prototypes? Maybe just a myth.
@@michaelmoore7975 the ones that were at the Ontario factory had no hardware on them,they were painted and clear coated but not wired are assembled,to be honest I never seen any hardware for them.
I remember seeing some of those pics in magazines. I bet that is a nice playing guitar. I had a 94 Dinky that I bought new and the neck is what I remember most. Nothing never talk about Sammy playing or his sound,overshadowed by Eddie.
@@ZIMMSGUITARS Hey Mr Zimmermann, I watch your Channel for a couple of month, like your stuff , sorry about my bad,, english,, I m old German Schredder, repairing and building Guitars since ealy 80tis keep on rocking 🎸 greatings from Mad Mecanic Mike 🎸💥🎸
For me it is not necessary to chose one over the other, because it is two very different bands Van Roth and Van Hagar. Sometimes I dig the Roth band best and other times the Sammy band, but if I had to chose I'd go with Sammy because he's the better vocalist, but I don't have to chose when Ed's involved it's all good.
Incredible guitar, looks amazing! But I disagree, Ed's tones didn't improve as the records went on. His tone in the DLR era is superior to his Van Hagar tone. In the Van Hagar era it was too studio polished whereas his early VH tone (the brown sound) was just the best in my opinion!
Completely agree. EVH’s tone peaked w/ the 1984 album, in my opinion. Or Fair Warning, if you prefer. It’s not that his tone was ‘bad’ after that, it was just different. More gain, more compressed and more processed. Probably coincided w/ the demise of his original Marshall and the ultimate switch to Soldano before his 5150 line came out. My .02 🤷🏻♂️
@@tylerkraemer That's one of those 'to each their own' type of scenario. Most think that his original tone, up until the 1984 album "is" the quintessential Van Halen sound. I do agree with you, that his tone on Balance was very good. He had just started using the signature 5150 and (still) Soldano amps, I believe? No matter what, it always sounds like EVH. I'm just an old school Unchained tone guy!!
Bad ass guitar. More like Sammy is short. ha lucky if he is 5'5" haha I regret not buying one of these when I was a kid in the 80`s, a guitar shop had a few hanging on the wall.
@uncleremus64. I spell it Lawn Guy land, grew up there. L.I. has 2 different counties Nassau and Suffolk.The people have different accents from there which is quite amusing.
Recording did NOT get better. What? Fair Warning was the peak, the pinnacle of EVH tone. Then it went to radio friendly pop and piano. Van Halen was Diamond Dave Eddie Alex and Michael. Any and every rock musician, big name guitarist or major band will say the same thing. The first 4 albums are HISTORY MAKING! Then came 1984 still Dave. Sammy won the Van Halen lottery ticket be honest and real. I like the Sammy era only because its Van Halen. Without Dave quitting Sammy WOULD NOT be in the RHOF or even be this well known. He should thank Dave everyday. He also should of never wrote about Eddie in a bad light and he still mentions it passively. Do I like Sammy yes I think he's a good guy and a good fit for Eddies musical direction at that time. Extensive catalog of good songs just not world hostile take over songs.
Roth can't sing, Sammy had no problem taking over for him. Dave can never remember the lyrics and a lot of times he sounded horrible and when he got back with VH he couldn't sing at all. It's too bad but I think he just didn't bother keeping up on his vocals and taking classes or whatever he might have needed to keep up on it. just didn't give a s***.
Hagar’s music STINKS…no “balls” in anything he does…it always comes across as phony corporate horse shit…as a singer, TECHNICALLY way better than Roth, but I’d take Roth 150% of the time over Sammy…Dave oozes real rock n roll…there’s not a few who TRULY do/did….Slash….Tom Petty, etc
![เปิดบ้าน โคตรสวย ป๋องกพล รู้จักตั้งนาน เพิ่งรู้ว่ารวย!!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tmgCF_2HfYI/mqdefault.jpg)
RIP Bradford Kelly. Designer of the Kelly model. One of the best guitarists live you could hope to see. Saw him play live so many times.
in the beginning...
When did he die ?
I assumed he was a girl
I lived in Phoenix circa 1985 and remember The Guitar Shop in Scottsdale was the only authorized Charvel/Jackson dealer in Arizona. You ordered the guitar to your specs, paid for it, and then waited about 6 months to be built. Just under 2000 of the original San Dimas guitars were built before the move to Ontario in March 1986.
Had the Ferrari red, Kelly custom in mid- late 80s. Traded it for the Jeff Beck soloist custom strat style. Awesome guitars. Wish i had both back!!! 🎸
i gotta be honest as a 27 yr old guitar player, sammy hagar is the man! great guitar player, awesome singer and songwriter! even love his solo stuff!!!
Sammy had scorched the earth during the Voice Of America tour. Firmly securing his place as a guitar God and multiple Hit writing song writer. I didn’t love Van Hagar, but loved the bands separately. I’m glad Sammy made some good money though. Thanks for sharing!
Original Van Halen was awesome but Van Hagar was awesome also great songs for sure love Sammy rip king Edward
Sammy rules. Always loved that guitar and wondered what happened to it. I remember him playing it at the Meadowlands NJ run of shows they did on the 5150 tour. And yes, Sammy was/is known for giving his guitars away to friends. Notably, his famous yellow Kramer he played through the OU812 years and after VH. He gave that one away to Guy Fieri. Great vid. Thanks for posting. 👍💯🎸
Sam and Ed play guitar together in the 5150 tour, and when they played together it was great. they should have done it more, I think the only time after that that they did it was on finish what you started when Sammy's playing acoustic while Ed played Electric. But they should have done it more because they sounded great together playing guitar.
Such a cool piece of history! Thanks for sharing!!!
Great video of this piece of Sammy history. Sammy grew up in my childhood hometown of Fontana California. He is still very loyal to his roots, for decades afterward would often show up at local restaurants for his favorite fare and also would do benefit appearances for benevolent purposes. He remains a very down-to-earth guy despite his success and accomplishments
Kelly was a local icon down under , those of us who saw him play were very lucky.
This guitar marks one of the most monumental events in rock history... The moment the mighty Van Halen put aside the jams, found their true calling, and became adult contemporary.
Love that Van Hagar era Sammy guitar!
The History in that guitar...WOW! Congrats on the Vid & being able to play it Dane....Sounds awesome!
Cool ax. I only saw Sammy play this a few times on the 5150 tour. He used the Rhoads V a lot more.
Couple of points of clarification: it’s Gary PIHL, like peel not ‘Phil’. Gary was a very early Jackson endorsee and used them in Hagar’s band and in the band Boston. Also, that Kelly is not a 1984. In 1984 the Kelly’s were still the XL size w/ the razor blade cutouts. They stopped doing the cutouts and decreased the overall size (just like this guitar) in 1985. The rear strap button was put up that high, because the original guitars had that cutout in the way. They moved them to the center pretty quickly for balance.
🤘😎🤘
Did you ever think that they may have checked the serial number to confirm the year?
Also, the '84 catalogue clearly lists the Kelly model, regardless of the extra cutaways or not.
Finally, there was 3 Kelly body sizes. The King Kelly, a medium version and the version today that was suggested by Marty Friedman.
@@JacksonAxe Putting your condescension aside; the guitar is a 1985/86. The Kelly’s in 1984 were ALL the extra large size. Most had the cutouts, which they stopped due to finishing issues. They felt, at the factory, that they couldn’t maintain a Jackson quality finish in the cutout areas. It was too labor intensive to wet sand and buff the cutouts. So they eliminated them, but kept the XL size. There were very, very few produced in both the XL size, w/ no cutouts. The catalog you refer to shows one picture of a Kelly, (Bradford Kelly’s guitar) with the cutouts. They were produced this way until 1985, when they decreased the size, about 1” off the “butt” of the guitar. That size is what Sammy’s guitar is. And yes, I’m aware that in the mid 90’s they decreased the size again to accommodate the diminutive Marty Friedman. I currently own a King Kelly w/ the cutouts and I have previously owned a 1985 and many other Jackson Kelly’s. Did you ever think that I may have known what I was talking about and that’s why I replied?! 😉
ps. I purchased my 1985 Kelly, black w/ white pins and Floyd from my friend, Rob Witte in Switzerland. The same collector who used to own Sammy’s guitar. 🤣
@@Metalcop5150 What about the serial?
You haven't addressed the serial...and, you're talking to someone that ALSO knows his shit.
Can you PROVE no Kelly's were made in '84 without the cutouts?
Do you have the build sheets from that era?
As for 'condescension'....
you're telling people that own a guitar that they are not smart enough to check the serial for a year of manufacture?
@@JacksonAxe Ok, one look at the guitar tells me it’s a 1985. That was when they transitioned away from the cutouts and to the ‘mid sized’ Kelly’s, which this one is. So I messaged my friend, the TX Collector, mentioned in the video, who owned this guitar and sold it to Pete, the owner of Swiss Picks. He tells me the serial# is J06xx, which you can clearly see in the video. According to the logs, J0406 was the LAST Jackson made in 1984. So a J06xx number would put production mid 1985, just like I said it was. Which is why I commented with the clarification. I didn’t mean to insult the current owner of the guitar, or the guy reviewing it. It just seemed like Pete was given incorrect info when he purchased the guitar and he’s passing it along. No harm no foul. I won’t comment unless I’m 100% with my info. ✌️
Rock on, my friend.
🤘😎🤘
@@Metalcop5150 Well, I should've looked harder, because if I'd known the serial was visible I'd have kept my mouth shut. 😂
It's so cool that you guys shared a big piece of history.
In the magazine , Edward Van Halen with the white Spector bass , Ed played bass on Sammy's solo album right after 5150 album was done , maybe he used that Bass
Reminds me of my old Kramer focus 1000 days....they jad many unique axes back then.single pick is still the best tone .love your channel!!!
Great video. Love Sammy.
Grover didn't get along with Neal Schon either. Schon decided he wanted to get into the guit making in 1985-86. Grover got the contract to build the _Schon Guitar_ for him. They had a falling out. 200 were built.
This is my favorite of all time guitar. Had _Schon_ on the headstock in the Jackson script. Unique "Ferrari tails" tailpiece. One comes up for sale about once a year.
I wanted one so bad I built my own. You can see it and others on my channel.
Kind of a mystery guitar. Only a few out there. Not many people liked the style, but I love it.
Supposedly Gibson built 2 prototypes before Grover got the contract. The Holy Grails. Anybody seen em around?
When I worked at Jackson in the late 80s I remember the falling out between grover and schon,there was a few racks of unfinished schon guitars in the compound room,they were painted but not rubbed out (,polished).. rumor was grover caught schon with his wife joan
@@rikjones5924 No shit! I thought maybe Grover was just hard to get along with or an issue with the guitars.
I tried my best to recreate the Schon but with a few differences. I used a 5 bolt on neck but blended the heel really smooth. I made the pickguard a little different at the bridge area. I made my own knobs out of some aluminum. Big, low and fat and frenched them into the body kinda PRS.
Believe it or not, I was able to find online a vinyl layout pattern kit with supposedly the correct specs. I applied those to some MDF to make a builders layout pattern. It's pretty close.
But I got a question, did Grover have a supplier or whatever for the Ferrari Tails tailpiece? I looked everywhere so I decided to make my own out of 1/4 square bar stock. I'm super proud of that because it looks so damn good.
Anyway cool info and thanks for your reply.
Oh, and did you ever hear anything about Gibson making a couple prototypes? Maybe just a myth.
@@michaelmoore7975 the ones that were at the Ontario factory had no hardware on them,they were painted and clear coated but not wired are assembled,to be honest I never seen any hardware for them.
@@rikjones5924 That's ok. Still a good story. Thanks!
Those Schon's are ugly as hell
Seeing that Guitar Player 87 magazine and Sammy had to finish a record contract with a solo album reminds me of the song When the Hammer Falls
Curious how an original designed pickup can also be an active pickup. Would have like to have seen inside the control cavity.
Cool video, don't think I've ever seen the guitar before in any magazines from back in the day. Cool that the owner has that photo documentation.
Amazing to see that! Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video!! Thanks guys!
What a cool guitar! Kelly's are so cool.
Great video. Thanks 🤘
Thanks for watching!
Gary Pihl (pronounced "PEEL"). Gary Pihl. Pihl.
Duly noted..
I remember seeing some of those pics in magazines.
I bet that is a nice playing guitar. I had a 94 Dinky that I bought new and the neck is what I remember most.
Nothing never talk about Sammy playing or his sound,overshadowed by Eddie.
Very Cool Zimmy !!
I love both iterations of VH. Both Dave & Sammy were great in the band.
But… Sammy was a true musician. Dave was more of a front man.
Sammy's tone was a Crate red voodoo
Gary Pihl, not Phil.
Headbangers and leather!!
Nice Video, cool Informations , nice talking, beautiful 6 Gunner ❤️🎸❤️
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@ZIMMSGUITARS Hey Mr Zimmermann, I watch your Channel for a couple of month, like your stuff , sorry about my bad,, english,, I m old German Schredder, repairing and building Guitars since ealy 80tis keep on rocking 🎸 greatings from Mad Mecanic Mike 🎸💥🎸
For me it is not necessary to chose one over the other, because it is two very different bands Van Roth and Van Hagar. Sometimes I dig the Roth band best and other times the Sammy band, but if I had to chose I'd go with Sammy because he's the better vocalist, but I don't have to chose when Ed's involved it's all good.
My issue with Sammy joining up with VH was the loss of Sammy's solo band, so it resulted in one less band.
Sammy said he lost this Guitar and had to have a Copy made because he missed this Guitar so much 💯🔥❤️🔥💥🌟💫✨⚡🪽👑
Incredible guitar, looks amazing! But I disagree, Ed's tones didn't improve as the records went on. His tone in the DLR era is superior to his Van Hagar tone. In the Van Hagar era it was too studio polished whereas his early VH tone (the brown sound) was just the best in my opinion!
Completely agree. EVH’s tone peaked w/ the 1984 album, in my opinion. Or Fair Warning, if you prefer. It’s not that his tone was ‘bad’ after that, it was just different. More gain, more compressed and more processed. Probably coincided w/ the demise of his original Marshall and the ultimate switch to Soldano before his 5150 line came out. My .02 🤷🏻♂️
I love the original brown sound but I think his tone on Balance was the best.
@@tylerkraemer That's one of those 'to each their own' type of scenario. Most think that his original tone, up until the 1984 album "is" the quintessential Van Halen sound. I do agree with you, that his tone on Balance was very good. He had just started using the signature 5150 and (still) Soldano amps, I believe? No matter what, it always sounds like EVH. I'm just an old school Unchained tone guy!!
I had that magazine!
Super cool!
Several pictures with the guitar it has a floyd rose ..would this not be a copy?
Every picture in this video the guitar has the Kahler?! 🤔
Its not the Kelly its his roads guitar it has two volume knobs!
I wish your store had shipping thru mail companies not only pick up local.
sorry
Great vid.
Dood sounds like Pauley shore.
Thanks Dood !!
McDonald's Kelly..LOL!
The Kahler kills it. Would be perfect as a hardtail or Floyd.
Hell no. Kahler all day any day. I retrofitted my own Performer Kelly with a Kahler, got rid of the stupid Floyd.
the KAHLER is the superior machine and can do anything the others can except the flicker sound
@@ralphsmith2683 The Kahler can also do the subtle Bigsby thing far better than a Floyd. So much smoother, too.
🤟😁👍A real Red Rocker
Bad ass guitar. More like Sammy is short. ha lucky if he is 5'5" haha I regret not buying one of these when I was a kid in the 80`s, a guitar shop had a few hanging on the wall.
is this for sale?
It may go up for auction later this year..
Great guitar 🎸 ✌️🤘🏴🇦🇺
His voice sounds just like Steve Vai. Is he from Long Island?
@uncleremus64. I spell it Lawn Guy land, grew up there. L.I. has 2 different counties Nassau and Suffolk.The people have different accents from there which is quite amusing.
Yep.. I'm from Nassau County, Lawn Guy Land.. but not Carle Place. :)
@@petepunckowski Cool 😎 I grew up in good ole Levittown.
@@petepunckowski Ha ha. That's great. Thanks for the reply. Be well, brother.
I'm from Bethpage. I used to drag race on the Turnpike in the late 80's/Early 90's. Hung out at Tri County, SPIT. :) @@davidkastin4240
I chipped my 1985 Jackson in the same spot.
McDonald's...I'm Lovin' It.
rad!
I love your guitar
Recording did NOT get better. What? Fair Warning was the peak, the pinnacle of EVH tone. Then it went to radio friendly pop and piano. Van Halen was Diamond Dave Eddie Alex and Michael. Any and every rock musician, big name guitarist or major band will say the same thing. The first 4 albums are HISTORY MAKING! Then came 1984 still Dave. Sammy won the Van Halen lottery ticket be honest and real. I like the Sammy era only because its Van Halen. Without Dave quitting Sammy WOULD NOT be in the RHOF or even be this well known. He should thank Dave everyday. He also should of never wrote about Eddie in a bad light and he still mentions it passively. Do I like Sammy yes I think he's a good guy and a good fit for Eddies musical direction at that time. Extensive catalog of good songs just not world hostile take over songs.
more iron man than macdonalds...
Roth can't sing, Sammy had no problem taking over for him. Dave can never remember the lyrics and a lot of times he sounded horrible and when he got back with VH he couldn't sing at all. It's too bad but I think he just didn't bother keeping up on his vocals and taking classes or whatever he might have needed to keep up on it. just didn't give a s***.
I always hated his red and yellow combo. All I think is ketchup and mustard.
Could you please remove the =vh= logo from ur thumbnail?? Hagar is NOT Van Halen. Thanks.
It was used on the Van Halen 5150 tour..
Sammy guitar wrecker Hagar......
That is a Rockers guitar, just by looking at it ! Wonderful
Hagar’s music STINKS…no “balls” in anything he does…it always comes across as phony corporate horse shit…as a singer, TECHNICALLY way better than Roth, but I’d take Roth 150% of the time over Sammy…Dave oozes real rock n roll…there’s not a few who TRULY do/did….Slash….Tom Petty, etc
Take it easy......
Skeletor plays a Jackson kelly