The King V is an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

made by

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002, which manufactures Jackson-branded guitar ...

Origin and history

The Jackson King V was originally named after

Robbin Crosby Robbinson Lantz Crosby (August 4, 1959 – June 6, 2002) was an American guitarist who was a member of glam metal band Ratt, earning several platinum albums in the US in the 1980s. Crosby died in 2002 from a heroin overdose. Early life Crosby ...

Ratt Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego, California, in the 1970s, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is bes ...

, his nickname being "King". Crosby popularized the guitar throughout the 1980s, however the guitar he played most often was his Double Rhoads guitar, a modified design of the

Jackson Rhoads The Jackson Rhoads is a model of electric guitar, originally commissioned by guitarist Randy Rhoads and produced by Jackson Guitars. Origin The Concorde Randy Rhoads' first Jackson prototype was the white, pinstriped, asymmetrical Flying V- ...

guitar. King V model surfaced as a downsized version of the Double Rhoads, which was designed and targeted for shorter, more ordinary person (Crosby was 6.5 feet/198 cm tall, hence the nickname "King").

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

frontman

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

eventually became the guitarist most identified with using this model. After creating a custom King V for Mustaine (completed October 10, 1986), the company later began mass-producing a Dave Mustaine Signature Series King V, which featured 24 frets (as opposed to the typical 22 frets) and would become one of their best selling guitars. This line continued into the early 2000s, when it underwent massive changes and became the Y2KV, a guitar based much more heavily on the Gibson Flying V. Mustaine then sold his entire personal collection of Jacksons, and subsequently signed endorsement deals with

ESP Guitars is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and Bass guitar, basses. They are based in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, with distinct product lines for each market. ESP Company manufactures instruments ...

in 2003,

Dean Guitars Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass guitars, and acous ...

in 2007, and

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Family Brands in 2021. (

Epiphone Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his f ...

, Kramer)

Variants of the King V

Listed below is the range of King V models in chronological order.

San Dimas/Ontario custom-shop era (1980s–1990s)

; Double Rhoads : The Double Rhoads was a symmetrical version of the

with two longer horns, the first one was ordered from Overkill guitarist Dave Linsk. While the guitar was made,

guitarist

saw it and wanted a similar guitar. Jackson built him two, one red and one black (he later got his white DR). Circa 10 Double Rhoads' were built and never in mass production before the design was changed with smaller wings and became the King V, the first King V was silver with black bevels. ; King V Custom : From start to 1985 this was the name for a King V with sharkfin inlays, neck binding and ebony fretboard. Pickup and bridge options were anything the purchaser wanted. ; King V Student : Same as above, but with dot inlays, no binding, and rosewood fretboard.

Ontario mass production era (1990s)

; KV1(Artist Signature Series) : The KV1 is a Dave Mustaine signature model and is the first commercially-sold model of the King V. Previously known as the King V Pro, the KV1 supersedes the King V Pro and eliminated the Cherryburst finish in favor of a natural Korina wood finish. The tuners were replaced with LSR locking tuners as well. The end-points were shortened from the prototype created for

as it was created as a "Double-Rhoads" which has a longer point than this model (The "Double-Rhoads" has 2 equal length long points). All other variants below stemmed from this design including 24 frets. USA-made versions of this guitar are highly coveted by metal guitarists and are typically difficult to locate ones for sale. No longer in production. ; Y2KV (Artist Signature Series) : The Y2KV is a Dave Mustaine signature model and differs from all other King Vs in that it has rounded ends which seem similar to that of the

Gibson Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed ...

. No longer in production. ; KV2 (USA Series) : The KV2 is a variant of the King V which comes under the 'USA Select Series' of

. The body is made of alder and is intersected by a

neck-thru Neck-through-body (commonly neck-thru or neck-through) is a method of electric guitar construction that combines the instrument's neck and core of its body into a single unit. This may be made of a solid piece of wood, or two or more laminate ...

quartersawn maple neck with ebony fingerboard. It has Neck and Bridge humbucking pickups, both from

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and bass pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in America. Guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and Cathy Carter Duncan foun ...

, which are both the JB model. This model has 24 frets and a 2-point double locking

Floyd Rose The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking vibrato arm for a guitar. Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1976, the first of its kind, and it is now manufactured by a company of the same name. The Floyd R ...

tremolo and is constructed in the US. The KV2 is one of the 4 USA Select Series guitars (alongside the KE2, RR1, and WR1) built with the "Jackson Speed Neck" profile, a slim neck thickness for a fast playability. ; KV2T (USA Series) : The KV2T is a variant of the King V which comes under the 'USA Select Series' of

. The body is made of mahogany and is intersected by a three piece

quartersawn mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard. Later made the alder body and quartersawn maple neck, with ebony fingerboard, too. It has neck and bridge humbucking pickups, both from

, with a JB in the bridge and a '59 in the neck. This model has 24 frets but what is unique to this particular model is that it has a string through body, 'shark eye' fretboard inlay, an abalone Jackson logo on the headstock, the headstock itself is an SLS type rather than the traditional concorde Jackson headstock and has Sperzel locking tuners. Also to note is that the body is a flat top and lacks the bevels of the other Jackson King Vs. The guitar is also a 24" scale rather than the 25.5" scale that other Jackson King Vs have, though it was originally produced in a 25.5" scale. ; KV3 (Pro Series) : The KV3 was produced in 1996-2001 in Japan. Features Duncan Designed pickups, Jackson JT580LP Tremolo, 22 frets, 1x volume, 1x tone, 1x 3way toggle, sharktooth inlays, bolt on maple neck, poplar body. Mother of pearl inlaid rosewood fret board. The jack output was situated upon the upper wing, just like in more expensive series. No longer in production. ; KV4 : Since 1999 (Korean Series) / 2001 (USA Series), features Seymour Duncan JB Model SH-4 and TB-4 pickups, Floyd Rose Licensed Jackson JT580LP Tremolo, 24 frets, 1x volume, 1x tone, 1x 3way toggle, pearloid sharkfin inlays, maple neck-thru alder body w/ rosewood fretboard. No longer in production. ; KV5 : This is a Japanese made 'mid range' variant for the King V. The body is made of Alder and is intersected by a

quartersawn maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. It has Neck and Bridge humbucking pickups, both from

. This model has 24 frets and a 2-point double locking

tremolo. No longer in production.

FMIC Jackson brand era (2000s–)

; KVX10 (X series) : Early models were poplar w/ a bolt on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and an adjustable bridge string-through-body design; post 2006 models are poplar. the pickups are Duncan Designed HB-103B in the bridge position and an HB-102N in the neck position. The standard model has 24 frets w/ sharkfin inlays and a Floyd Rose Licensed Jackson low profile tremolo. This model's first year was 2001 and was built in India for that year only. Subsequent models are all built in Japan. Indian bolt-on Jackson has a NHJ serial (I(N)DIA, (H)ARMONY, (J)ACKSON, as Indonesia already took the I coded serial), while the MIJ continued to use their sequential serial starting with 96, 97 or 98. The KVX10 use a jack mount plate on the bottom wing next to the cavity. ; JS30KV (JS Series) : The JS30KV is a variant of the King V which comes under the 'JS series'; the entry-level series of

. The body is made of Indian Cedro, connected to the maple neck, which is

bolt-on Bolt-on neck is a method of guitar (or similar stringed instrument) construction that involves joining a guitar neck and body using screws or bolts, as opposed to glue and joinery as with set-in neck joints. Methods The "bolt-on" method is u ...

. The fingerboard is made from Rosewood. The guitar has 24 frets and

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

humbucking pickups. The bridge is an adjustable string-through-body, Jackson JT390 specification. This model is built in Indonesia.
: A next generation version of the JS30KV are the JS32T King V (same as JS30, but sharkfin inlays) and the JS32R King V (same as JS32, but with

Licensed Jackson Low Profile JT580 LP Double Locking 2-Point Tremolo). ; Jenna Jameson Model (Custom Shop Limited Run) : The

Jenna Jameson Jenna Marie Massoli (born April 9, 1974), known professionally as Jenna Jameson (), is an American model, former pornographic film actress, businesswoman, and television personality. She has been named the world's most famous adult entertainme ...

model is an altered KVX10. The model is limited edition and features a Jenna Jameson graphic on the body, her signature below one of the

humbuckers A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in d ...

and a copy of her 'Heart-breaker' tattoo inlaid at the 12th fret. This model features an adjustable string-through-body bridge and slightly superior

like the older KVX10 model (pre-2006). No longer in production. ; 25th Anniversary Model (Custom Shop Limited Run) : The 25th Anniversary Model was announced to coincide with Jackson Guitars' 25th Anniversary, 2006. Two guitars were released, one a limited edition Kelly, the other a limited edition King V, up-sized to Double Rhoads dimensions. The King V comes in Mercedes Silver only and is hand-signed by Mike Shannon, Senior Master Builder at the Jackson Custom Shop. The body is made from Poplar and is intersected by a quartersawn maple

three-piece neck. The fingerboard is made from ebony and has 22 frets. The guitar has neck and bridge humbucking pickups, both made by

. The bridge is an original

2 point double locking tremolo. This guitar was built in the Jackson custom shop and only 25 units were made. ; Demmelition King V (Artist Signature Series) : The first signature model since the Y2KV, the Demmelition King V is the signature model of guitarist

Phil Demmel Phil Demmel (born April 2, 1967) is an American musician who played lead guitar in the heavy metal band Machine Head between 2002 and 2018, making him their longest running member in that position. He has also performed in other bands such as V ...

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

. Demmelition King Vs however are not built like traditional King Vs, as they have two cutaways in each wing on the guitar (used to only be available as custom shop option only). The guitar has an alder body, a maple neck, a 24 fret ebony fretboard with mother of pearl sharkfin inlays, an original Floyd Rose tremolo, EMG 81 active pickup at the bridge and an EMG 60 active pickup at the neck. The Demmelition King V is also factory tuned to Drop B tuning, the same tuning Demmel uses on most Machine Head songs (some are in C# Standard, such as

Aesthetics of Hate "Aesthetics of Hate" is a song by American heavy metal band Machine Head from their sixth studio album, '' The Blackening''. Written by vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn, the song is a retaliation to an article written by William Grim. Grim wro ...

). It is available in five color schemes (black with silver bevels, white with black bevels, red with black bevels, gold with black bevels and black with white polka dots). ; King V KVXMG (X Series) : KVXMG has a basswood body, neck through-body construction, maple neck and active EMG 85 and 81 humbucking pickups. Other features include Floyd Rose Special double-locking two-point tremolo, 24 jumbo frets, and three-way blade pickup switching. Available in Black, Kawasabi Green and Snow White. ;

Corey Beaulieu Corey King Beaulieu (born November 22, 1983) is the guitarist of American heavy metal band Trivium. At live shows, he also performs backing and, sometimes, lead screaming vocals. Biography Personal life Born in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, Beaulieu i ...

USA Signature KV6 (Artist Signature Series) : This is a signature model for

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the ...

's lead guitarist

. It has 6 and 7 string models. It has alder body with flame maple top body, quartersawn maple neck with neck-thru-body neck joint, 24-fretted ebony fretboard with pearloid sharkfin inlays, Seymour Duncan AHB-1B (bridge) and AHB-1N (neck) pickups and Original Floyd Rose tremolo system and it comes in Transparent Red Burst, Transparent Black Burst and Gloss Black colors. The new version has a mahogany body with quilt maple top and comes in Winterstorm color.

External links

Official Jackson Guitars Website
{{Jackson Guitars K