Post by Ron ThompsonPost by Gary HendershotI still recall the '80s pretty well, but don't ever recall seeing or
hearing of a Jackson "Jeff Beck" model. It's certainly possible that he
played a nice top-notch Charvel / Jackson strat-a-like model in the '80s.
Yeah, a really pink one he used for a short time. It wasn't a Jeff Beck
model at all that I remember, just a Soloist.
--
rct
The opinions above are mine and mine alone.
I think he used it for recording some of the 'Flash' album around 1985 or so.
The album got poor reviews but has some nice-if brief- solos. Beck *may* also
have used a Seymour Duncan 'convertible' amp, if I remember the interviews and
hype correctly.
That was probably the height of shred mania and Jeff's judgment as far as
equipment may have been somewhat impaired -or at least influenced by the music
scene of the day.
I know he was talked into trying a commercial album with a singer and one of
the hot dance groove producers of the day, going for some hits. Still, his tone
and solos are fine- if a bit atypical- on that album. It's the songs and
probably the main singer which don't make the grade, imo.
The album did produce a minor hit, the reunion of Jeff and Rod Stewart on
"People Get Ready." IIrc it was a one-off session and Beck played a strat or
tele and came up with one of the great guitar lick-hooks of his career (there
have been several). At the time I heard he went through a rockman straight
into the board, but I think the story has changed over the years. On the music
video for the tune, Beck 'played' his old tele, but that doesn't really mean
anything.
The hit single set up what supposed to be a reunion tour for Jeff and Rod, but
it wasn't a reunion of the Jeff Beck Group (or something similar) that Beck
thought it would be. It was Jeff's band opening for Rod's regular band, then
Beck being invited out for a few tunes during Rod's headliner set.
This only lasted a couple weeks before Beck walked out on the tour. I don't
know if he played the Jackson on those few shows or not. The tour never made it
this far.
Steve