Jackson Guitars, the brains behind World of Warcraft and British metalcore stalwarts Malevolence have used the Download Festival stage to unveil a one-of-a-kind electric guitar.
Guitarist Konan Hall is an avid fan of the wildly popular role-playing game, and for the band’s recent secret set at Britain’s premier rock and metal festival, he wielded an eye-catching Jackson Pro Plus XT Kelly KE HT6 – an unapologetic baritone beast, which had been inspired by Hall’s in-game character.
It’s a dream guitar for many World of Warcraft fans, and features full-body artwork that depicts Thraiin – a Dwarf Paladin that had been customized by the guitarist.
Hall and the two firms worked closely together on the guitar’s design, the artwork meticulously crafted by Blizzard Entertainment’s in-house creative team. While Thraiin can be seen on the body, his eyes alight with menacing intent and a glowing orb in the palm of his hands, the background is inspired by his fictional home planet, Azeroth.
In true gamer fashion, there’s also a bonus easter egg on the guitar’s back, which pays homage to the dwarf’s weapon of choice: a blood-curdling battle axe.
Beneath the custom artwork is a nyatoh body with a three-piece thru-neck design. It also offers a 27” scale; compound radius, 24-fret ebony fretboard; and cloaked Sharkfin inlays, which sit atop a graphite-reinforced neck construction. It’s built to thrive in the heat of the battle.
Seymour Duncan’s classic metal Sentient/Nazgul humbuckerbucker pairing provides tonal savagery by forging “full-throated power, fat and chunky rhythms, and muscular lead tones” with ceramic magnets.
Elsewhere, luminlay side dots guide riffs through the darkest regions of Azeorth’s landscape and singular Gain and Tone knobs keep on-board controls streamlined.
“World of Warcraft and music are two of my favourite things,” says Hall. “Playing with the Jackson guitar on stage will remind me of the hours I spent in the taverns of Azeroth.”
Tragically, the guitar doesn’t look to be getting a production model. Instead, it will make a series of appearances on stage with the fast-rising metal stalwarts safely in the hands of its rightful owner.
The release continues a long-standing Fender tradition of video game collaborations. Having worked with Fortnite and Final Fantasy across multiple releases, it dropped a Monster Hunter Telecaster last year.
Meanwhile, Hall’s bandmate Josh Baines featured on the new metal-ified Cult of the Lamb video game soundtrack alongside the likes of Matt Heafy, Scott LePage, and Javier Reyes. It found him carving out odd-time signature riffs and rubbing shoulders with his heroes.
