Dave Mustaine and Jackson Guitars have a long history together. Mustaine originally started using Jackson back in 1987, but ultimately left the company sometime in 2003 to join the ESP Guitars roster. Mustaine’s main contribution to Jackson was the Mustaine KV1 (Mustaine says it was “the first 24-fret Flying V in existence”), which itself was an iteration of the company’s classic King V.
According to Mustaine in an interview with Reverb, one of the deciding factors in his departure was that Jackson seemed to be giving everyone an endorsement at the time: “I saw the girl that was working there. She was the A&R rep. She gave a guitar endorsement to a drummer, and I thought, ‘Man, this is not where I want to be.’ So I left.”
An article dated February 21, 2003 published on Blabbermouth heralds problems in Mustaine’s relationship with Jackson, as the Dave Mustaine Jackson Signature Y2KV signature was discontinued mid-run after Mustaine and Jackson’s owner FMIC (Fender Musical Instruments Corporation) couldn’t come to an agreement.
So this is where things get strange. Mustaine then states in that same interview that he tried to buy Jackson three times – once with Cathy Duncan of Seymour Duncan fame, once with a guy named Joe Ensor, and once with someone named Lloyd Prinz. Mustaine doesn’t mention Prinz in this interview, but he did in a tweet dated May 19, 2018.
“I tried to buy Jackson,” said Mustaine in the interview. “I tried to buy Jackson with Cathy Duncan, from Seymour Duncan. I tried to buy it with a guy named Joe Ensor. After [Jackson] had jerked me around for a couple of times, that was the other variable in me leaving. When you are spending money on attorneys and doing due diligence, and all this stuff, and it’s just a wank, that wasn’t cool.”
It’s not clear what Mustaine’s timeline was on trying to purchase Jackson any of those times. Jackson was founded in 1980 and remained independent until 2002, when they were bought by Fender. So I’m guessing if Jackson was bought in 2002, at least one of Mustaine’s attempts came prior.
Anyway, we’re still waiting for that Dave Mustaine Les Paul.
