Jackson Kelly

The Jackson Kelly or KE is a heavily modified version of the Gibson Explorer produced by Jackson Guitars. The guitar has been in production since the early 1980s, and is available in several different formats. It was heavily popularized in the early to mid 1990's due to its use by the guitarist Marty Friedman of Megadeth.

History

It was designed by and named after Bradford Kelly, guitarist for Australian heavy metal band Heaven in the early '80s. It was later more popularized by Megadeth's guitarist Marty Friedman who had his own signature model at the time; "The KE1" and is the trademark guitar for Bernd Kost of Sodom who used a customized version of a regular KE2 as his main instrument for many years, which was later auctioned for charity purposes.

The Jackson Kelly has been available in several formats over the years, some having been removed from production such as the Marty Friedman signature model, the Jackson KE1, and the 'Professional' series.

Design

The Kelly typically features the classic Jackson pointed head-stock. The neck is generally of a very thin profile, featuring a standard 24 jumbo frets, a neck-thru design and is generally quite extended from the body. These factors grant the Kelly a very high level of play-ability, especially in genres such as heavy metal. The only exception to this is the 'JS32', an entry level model that has a bolt-neck and dot style inlays.