Jackson King V


The King V is an electric guitar made by Jackson Guitars.

Origin and history

The Jackson King V was originally named after Robbin Crosby of Ratt, 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 guitar. King V model surfaced as a down-sized version of the Double Rhoads, which was designed and targeted for shorter, more ordinary person.
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine eventually became the guitarist most identified with using this model. After creating a custom King V for Mustaine, the company later began mass-producing a Dave Mustaine Signature Series King V, which featured 24 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 then Dean Guitars.

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
; King V Custom
; King V Student

Ontario mass production era (1990s)

; KV1
; Y2KV
; KV2
; KV2T
; KV3
; KV4
; KV5

FMIC Jackson brand era (2000s -)

; KVX10
; JS30KV
; Jenna Jameson Model
; 25th Anniversary Model
; Demmelition King V
; King V KVXMG
; Corey Beaulieu USA Signature KV6