Guitaripedia

Every guitar has a story.

Jackson

Soloist

Grover Jackson took the Strat shape and ran the maple neck straight through it. Jeff Beck’s was pink.

A hotel room, the mid-1980s. Grover Jackson shows up with a brand-new guitar and a Pignose, a little battery amp about the size of a lunchbox, so Jeff Beck can plug in on the spot. The guitar is shaped like a Stratocaster. Everything else about it is Jackson.

Introduced
1984
Type
Solidbody electric
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

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1987 Jackson Soloist archtop: pointed Jackson headstock, flame maple, dual humbuckers, Floyd Rose. A Soloist, not a Rhoads V, not a JEM, not an RG.
A 1987 Soloist archtop. Photo by Jimshine; perspective correction by GreyCat. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.Owner photograph of a 1987 Soloist archtop against a tree. Neck-through superstrat — not a Jackson Rhoads V, not an Ibanez JEM, and not an RG550.

The short version

  1. 1980

    First, a V

    Jackson’s first guitar is Randy Rhoads’s V. The superstrat comes after.

  2. 1984

    The first official Soloist

    Finished on 28 August in San Dimas. A few later-numbered ones were done earlier.

  3. 1984

    Pink, for Tina

    Jeff Beck gets Grover-built Soloists. The pink one ends up signed by Tina Turner.

  4. 1985

    Jackson pickups

    Seymour Duncans come out, and Jackson’s own pickups go in.

  5. 1986

    Ontario

    The shop moves to Ontario, California.

  6. 1990

    Off the order form

    The Soloist stops being custom-order only and becomes a production USA guitar.

  7. 2021

    End of the Select era

    The long-running USA Select Soloists leave regular production.

  8. 2025

    Built in Corona

    The American Series Soloist gets a refresh, Jackson’s first made-in-Corona flagship.

Side A

A1

A Strat that wanted to go further

Jackson’s first guitar was a V, the one Randy Rhoads drew. It was too wild for the Charvel name, so Grover Jackson put his own name on it. After that, the shop turned to something that sounds almost tame by comparison: a guitar shaped like a Stratocaster.

That was the point. Plenty of players loved the Strat. They liked how it looked, how it sat against the body, how it felt to grab. What they wanted was more of it. More frets, a hotter bridge pickup, a whammy that came back in tune. The Soloist was the answer, standardized in 1984. It still looks like the guitar you already know from across a room. It isn’t one.

A2

One piece of maple, head to tail

The big idea is how it’s put together: neck-through. On a Strat, the neck bolts on to the body with four screws, and there’s a chunky heel where they meet. On a Soloist, the neck is a long piece of maple that runs right through the middle of the body, with the body wings glued on the sides. No heel in the way. Your hand just keeps going up the neck, all the way to the 24th fret.

The first official Soloist was finished on 28 August 1984 in San Dimas. (A few with later numbers were finished about a week and a half earlier. Serial numbers and calendars don’t always agree.) Until 1990 every one was built to order. There were two grades, Custom and Student, but they’re Gibson-style names, not a quality drop. Custom got bound ebony with sharkfins or dots. Student got rosewood and dots. You could have a Floyd Rose, a Kahler, or a fixed bridge. Early on the pickups were Seymour Duncans. From early 1985 Jackson wound its own.

A3

Pink, for Tina

Jeff Beck, the Strat man’s Strat man, was an early customer. Grover built him Soloists in 1984 and 1985, and he delivered one to a hotel room with a Pignose so Beck could try it right there.

The first was pink. Beck asked Tina Turner to sign it, so it’s known as “Tina.” Then came orange spares. His had three Seymour Duncan pickups, two single coils and a humbucker, a five-way switch, ebony, and a thin 1 5/8-inch nut. One orange guitar had a Floyd Rose. Another had a Fender-style trem and a pickguard Beck had doodled himself.

Jeff Beck could have played anything. For a while there, he played a pink Jackson.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • 24

    Frets. Three more than a vintage Strat, and you can actually reach them.

  • 1984

    The first official Soloist was finished on 28 August.

  • 1 5/8"

    Nut width on Jeff Beck’s Soloists. Thin.

  • 1990

    Until then, every Soloist was built to order.

Side B

B1

Borrowed Charvels and a sparkle finish

After Pyromania, Def Leppard’s producer, Mutt Lange, put a Charvel in Phil Collen’s hands. Grover sent him a red Charvel in 1984, then a customized Soloist in a sparkly, crackly black and silver. It’s “the one you see in the videos,” as Collen put it, and he says he used it on Hysteria too. Keep the other half of that story, though: his Strat with a humbucker, Felix, did the Hysteria rhythms and many of the solos.

Scott Ian of Anthrax says he bought a Soloist around 1984 and played it on Fistful of Metal, though that record came out before the first official Soloist was finished. Then Jackson endorsed his bandmate Danny Spitz instead of him, so he went off to ESP for a few years. Around 1988 he came back to Soloists, including his NY guitar, which is fretless from the 14th fret up. Don’t ask me how you solo on that.

B2

Still the shape you know

In 1986 the shop moved to Ontario, California. A pickup winder named Abigail Ybarra, who had come over from Fender, was winding Jackson’s pickups by then. The Soloist had a Fender person making its sound.

The long-running USA Select Soloists left regular production in 2021. Today’s American Series Soloist is built in Corona, with a Floyd Rose, two humbuckers, and 24 stainless frets.

Hold one up and it still reads as a Strat from across the room. Then play it. Your hand goes past where a Strat’s neck would stop, the trem comes back in tune, and nothing gets in the way. It’s the shape a lot of players already loved, carried further than it had ever been allowed to go.

Put this on

You’ve read about it. Now hear it. Here’s what this guitar sounds like, and what to listen for.

  1. Def Leppard · 1987

    Hysteria

    Phil Collen says his sparkly Soloist, the one in the videos, is on this album too. Fair warning, though. Felix, his Strat with a humbucker, did the rhythms and many of the solos, “Animal” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me” among them. So the Soloist is only part of what you’re hearing.

    Find it on YouTube

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • 1984

    Jeff Beck

    “Tina,” a pink Soloist

    Grover built him a pink one, then orange spares. He asked Tina Turner to sign the pink one.

  • 1984

    Phil Collen

    A sparkly black-and-silver Soloist

    Def Leppard’s guitarist went from a borrowed Charvel to a custom Soloist, “the one you see in the videos.”

  • 1984

    Scott Ian

    Soloist

    Played one on Anthrax’s first album, left for ESP, and came back to Jackson Soloists around 1988.

  • 1984

    Grover Jackson

    The shop

    Ran the shop that built it, and delivered Beck’s in person.

  • 1985

    Abigail Ybarra

    Pickup winder

    Came over from Fender and wound pickups for Jackson from 1985.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

Jackson’s neck-through superstrat — Soloist, not a Rhoads V, and not an Ibanez JEM.

Body
Solid alder wings on a neck-through maple core
Neck
Neck-through 3-piece maple with graphite reinforcement; Jackson Speed Neck; gloss color-matched
Fingerboard
Rolled ebony, inverted mother-of-pearl sharkfins, 24 jumbo stainless, 12"–16" compound, Luminlay side dots
Scale
25.5" (648 mm)
Pickups
Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 (bridge) and ’59 SH-1N (neck), HH
Hardware
Floyd Rose 1500 double-locking trem; Gotoh MG-T locking tuners; black
Electronics
Volume, tone, 5-way blade
Finish
Snow White, Lemon Ice, Satin Black; color-matched pointed 6-in-line
Nut
Floyd Rose 1500 locking, 1.6875" (42.86 mm)
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

Current production typical = American Series Soloist SL2 DX (USA, Corona; jackson.com, 25 August 2026). Catalog $2,629.99. Foam-core case included. This is the living USA flagship Jackson is shipping as a Soloist — not JS, not Pro, not MJ, not a leftover USA Select SL2H. Wikipedia: USA Select SL1 / SL2H left regular production 2021. Dealers may still list SL2H; that is not this table.

Construction

Jackson Soloist is Grover Jackson’s neck-through superstrat, standardized 1984. Not a Stratocaster with a pointy headstock. Not an Ibanez JEM (monkey grip, lion’s claw, Tree of Life — ibanez-jem). Not the 1987 mass RG550 (ibanez-rg550). Superstrat is a genre label, not a Jackson SKU.

Not a Rhoads. The company’s first guitar was the Concorde / Randy Rhoads: a metalized V, 1980, built because the shape was too radical for the Charvel name. Guitar World (30th-anniversary Soloist piece): after that V, the shop turned to the superstrat. Rhoads is a V. Kelly and Warrior are other Jackson silhouettes. Do not hang a flying-V, offset-V, or Kelly on this plate. Do not create a second slug for those shapes.

Not a Dinky, and not a Charvel San Dimas. Jackson’s bolt-on superstrat cousin is the Dinky. Charvel was the bolt-on San Dimas shop Grover was already running. Collen (MusicRadar): Mutt Lange’s loaner felt like “a Dinky… San Dimas”; the Soloist he then ordered is neck-through. Keep bolt-on Jackson superstrats labeled here so nobody invents jackson-dinky as a second Soloist page. JS Series catalog heroes fetched this pass are Dinky / Rhoads / Kelly / Warrior, not a JS Soloist SKU.

1984 San Dimas / Glendora. Wikipedia: first official Soloist, serial J0158, completed 28 August 1984 (some later-numbered guitars finished about a week and a half earlier). Custom-order until 1990. Two original platforms, same construction quality: Custom (bound ebony, sharkfins or pearl dots, bound headstock) and Student (rosewood — Brazilian 1984–early 1985 — pearl dots, no binding). Names are Gibson-style grades, not a quality drop. Bridges: Floyd Rose, Kahler, or string-through Tune-o-matic. Seymour Duncan stock until very early 1985, then in-house Jackson winds. guitarinside / Jackson serial tables: non-Rhoads custom neck-throughs use J** serials; Rhoads use RR. Do not date a Soloist from an RR stamp.

Ontario, 1986–. Factory moved from Glendora/San Dimas to Ontario in 1986. Default trem becomes the Asian JT-6 Jackson-licensed Floyd (clamp behind the nut); genuine Floyd (through-neck locking nut) and Kahler remain options. Archtop Soloists (JA serials) appear: mahogany, flame maple, often Tune-o-matic. Abigail Ybarra (ex-Fender) wound Masterwound pickups there from 1985. Production U-prefix USA Soloists from 1990; J continues on Custom Shop.

USA Select vs American Series vs MJ vs Pro vs X. Classic production flagships were USA SL1 (HSS, 5-way) and SL2H (HH, 3-way toggle, Original Floyd, quartersawn maple, alder). Wikipedia: those USA Select SKUs discontinued as production 2021 as MJ Series (Japan) Soloist SL2 arrived. Living USA line is American Series, “first made-in-Corona flagship” (jackson.com; Fender newsroom 26 March 2025 refresh of SL2 DX). American SL2 DX: Floyd 1500, not Original; 5-way HH; stainless jumbo; inverted sharkfins. MJ SL2 (Japan): alder, 3-piece maple neck-through, Duncan JB + Jazz, Gotoh GE1996T, 3-way toggle, catalog $2,569.99 this pass — Japan flagship import, not Corona. Pro Series SL2A/SL2Q MAH: mahogany, neck-through, Floyd 1000-class, catalog $1,199.99. X Series SLX DX: Indonesia (or mixed Asian), poplar, neck-through + scarf, Floyd Special, Duncan Designed HB-103, catalog $699.99. All of those are Soloists on this plate. None of them is a JEM.

Floyd vs Jackson Floyd. Early custom: German Floyd Rose or Kahler. Ontario default JT-6 is a licensed unit, not a Grover-era German Floyd. USA Select SL2H: Original Floyd. American SL2 DX: Floyd Rose 1500. MJ: Gotoh GE1996T. X: Floyd Special. Read the nut and the baseplate; do not say every Soloist has an Original Floyd.

Phil Collen PC1 is a later bolt-on mahogany/maple signature with DiMarzios — Soloist-adjacent, not this table.

Players

Do not recruit Rhoads V users, Kelly/Warrior users, or Ibanez JEM/RG players. Satriani is Ibanez JS, not Jackson. Vai is JEM. Kirk Hammett’s living signature platform is ESP KH — do not steal KH-series onto this plate unless a named guitar is sourced as a Soloist. Not sourced here.

Jeff Beck. Grover-built San Dimas Soloists, 1984–85. Pink “Tina” (Beck asked Tina Turner to sign it after Private Dancer sessions; Wikipedia). Guitar Player, November 1985: pink first guitar, then orange spares; Seymour Duncan Alnico II HSS, 5-way, ebony, thin 1 5/8" nut. One orange with Floyd, one with a Fender-style trem and a Tele-bass-ish pickguard Beck doodled. Christie's catalog (Glendora 1984 Soloist lot) is Grover delivering in a hotel room with a Pignose — artist-owned, not a production comp. Flash / Musician cover outtakes show the orange guitar. Do not call Beck’s Yardbirds guitar a Soloist; that Esquire lives on fender-esquire.

Phil Collen (Def Leppard). MusicRadar (Soloist 30th): Mutt Lange puts a Charvel in his hands after Pyromania; Grover sends a red Charvel 1984, then a customized sparkle-crackly black/silver Soloist — “the one you see in the videos,” which Collen also says he used on the album. Keep the other Hysteria fact on the table: Collen’s Felix (Strat with a humbucker, per Eddie Van Halen’s advice) did the Hysteria rhythms and many solos (Animal, Pour Some Sugar on Me). Do not flatten Hysteria to “the Soloist record.” Later PC1 is bolt-on mahogany/maple, DiMarzio Super 3 — a signature, not this SKU.

Scott Ian (Anthrax). MusicRadar 2022: bought a Soloist around ’84; played one on Fistful of Metal. Jackson first endorsed Danny Spitz, not Ian; ESP filled the gap; he returned to Jackson Soloists c. 1988 (including the NY guitar fretless from the 14th fret). Living Jackson relation is the Corona American Series SL3, not a Rhoads.

Guitar World’s 30th-anniversary roster also names Brad Gillis, Chris Broderick, David Ellefson, Chris Beattie. Ellefson is a bass player in that list — do not file him as a Soloist guitar. The others are magazine-list known-to-play, not named-studio documents here.

Rarity

Current American Series, MJ, Pro, and X Soloists are regular production, not rare. Jackson does not publish yearly Soloist unit counts. None invented.

1984–89 custom-order San Dimas/Ontario J-serial Soloists are finite but were a working custom shop, not a numbered JEM777 LNG cap. Serial tables date a guitar; they do not count a run. Student vs Custom is trim, not a census split. Graphic Ontario finishes are common in that era, not automatically scarce.

USA Select SL1/SL2H: out of regular production (wiki 2021); plentiful on the used market relative to 1984 customs. 30th-anniversary limited run (Guitar World) is a labeled limited, not a substitute for unpublished factory totals.

A Rhoads RR-serial V is a different object. Do not use Rhoads production numbers as Soloist scarcity.

Value

Informal estimate, 25 August 2026. Not an appraisal.

Ask vs sold. Reverb Price Guide pages bot-walled this pass. No invented median. Beck’s Christie's Soloist is artist-owned, not a comps tape. Collen’s video Soloist and Felix are named objects, not street.

New street. Living USA SKU American Series SL2 DX: $2,629.99 (jackson.com; Music & Arts, 25 August 2026). Hardtail SL2 DX HT $2,519.99. MJ SL2 Japan $2,569.99 (jackson.com). Pro SL2A/SL2Q MAH $1,199.99. X SLX DX $699.99. USA Select SL2H dealer leftover asks still cluster ~$4,400–$4,500 (Music Zoo Gloss Black $4,399.99; Chuck Levin’s / American Made Guitar Snow White $4,499.99) — not a current factory flagship price, and not this table. JS Dinky street is a different guitar.

Used modern. Equipboard (updated 5 June 2026): USA Select SL2H new listings $4,399.99 with used available $2,500; owners’ used band often cited ~$2k–$3k. Live Reverb asks for labeled SL2H this pass ~$3,000–$3,700 (Transparent Green ask $3,000; 2022 White mint ask $3,495; Graffiti Yellow sold listing was an ask, not a captured hammer). American Series used: no clean 2024–26 sold sample isolated. X/Pro used sits under those new streets; don’t invent a midpoint.

Vintage / collectible. 1984–86 San Dimas asks this pass: 1984 black $5,200 (price-dropped from $5,999.99); 1985 black mint $5,299; 1986 San Dimas $3,950 (from $4,499) and another $4,249. 1987 Ontario black sparkle $4,875 ask. Treat as asks. Reverb’s “Pre-Production Soloist 1981–1989” guide band was not readable here. Working: clean San Dimas customs typically ask above current American Series street; first-year 1984 and named-graphic customs sit at the top of that tape. No named 2024–26 hammer captured this pass except celebrity lots, which are not comps.

No Burst tier. A mint 1984 Student with a Kahler still trades as a used superstrat, not LNG money.

See also

  • jackson-rhoads — the offset V that started the Jackson brand; not a Soloist
  • ibanez-jem — Vai’s 1987 signature superstrat with the grip and the claw; not this guitar
  • ibanez-rg550 — 1987 mass sibling of the JEM; bolt-on Wizard, not a Jackson neck-through
  • charvel-san-dimas — bolt-on San Dimas superstrat from the same shop family; not a neck-through Soloist
  • fender-stratocaster — the superstrat’s parent layout

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.