Jackson Legend Series Limited Edition Randy Rhoads CD1 Electric Guitar, Ebony Fingerboard, Vintage White with Black Pinstripes

The Jackson Legend Series Limited Edition Randy Rhoads CD1 takes a V shape that used to mean ordering from the Jackson Custom Shop and builds it in Korea as part of the Legend Series. It is dressed the way a Rhoads guitar should be: a Vintage White body traced in double black pinstripes, gold hardware throughout and a black headstock face with a gold Jackson logo. Under the paint it is a serious player — neck-through maple, a bound ebony board, and a Seymour Duncan '59 and JB pair.

The CD shape, out of the Custom Shop

Until now the CD body has been a Custom Shop proposition, priced and built accordingly. The Legend Series version keeps the long, sharp-pointed wings and puts the pinstriping exactly where it belongs: two black lines following the outline of the body, and a matching pair running down the centre between the pickups to the bridge. The body is alder, finished in gloss Vintage White, and the neck is colour-matched to it.

A Seymour Duncan '59 and JB

A Seymour Duncan '59 sits at the neck and a JB at the bridge, both black humbuckers framed in gold rings. The pairing has been a favourite for decades because the two pickups do opposite jobs well: the '59 gives open, clear lead lines and chords that still ring with the gain turned up, while the JB brings the extra output and mid-range bite for heavy rhythm and solos that cut. Each pickup has its own volume and tone knob — four gold knurled controls on the lower wing — and a three-way toggle on the edge of the upper wing selects neck, both, or bridge.

Vintage-style trem, locking tuners

Instead of a Floyd, the CD1 runs a gold six-saddle vintage-style synchronised tremolo. It gives you vibrato with a softer, more traditional feel and makes restringing quick. To help it stay in tune, the strings pass over a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut, which lets them slide back into place after a bend or a dip, and wind onto Jackson sealed die-cast locking tuners that clamp each string without extra wraps around the post.

Neck-through maple, bound ebony

The neck is three pieces of maple with graphite reinforcement and runs right through the body, so there is no bolt-on heel in the way when you reach for the top frets. The ebony fingerboard is bound in cream, inlaid with pearloid blocks and fitted with 22 jumbo frets on a 12"–16" compound radius: comfortable for chords at the nut, flat enough up top for wide bends. Scale length is 25.5" and the nut is 42.86 mm wide.

Black and gold up top

The pointed six-in-line headstock carries a black face with the Jackson script in gold, set off by gold tuner buttons. It is the detail that makes the whole guitar look like it came straight off a 1980s stage. A Jackson CD1 foam-core case, shaped for this body, is included. Set up in-store by Guitar World Australia's techs before it ships to you, so it plays perfectly the moment it arrives.