# Michael Keene's new Jackson Custom Shop Tele



## Black Mamba (Oct 9, 2014)




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## lukeshallperish (Oct 9, 2014)

i mean, im sure its nice but its just.......too much.


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## theoctopus (Oct 9, 2014)

Wow. That is one ugly guitar.


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 9, 2014)

I didn't know he was such a Tosin Abasi fan.


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## Rakija (Oct 9, 2014)

Made me throw up a little bit. His old Jackson was wayyyyyy nicer.


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## Church2224 (Oct 9, 2014)

Good idea, just executed poorly. Get rid of all of that abalone.


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## s_k_mullins (Oct 9, 2014)

Could have been worse, but could have been much nicer. 

Lose the inlays, and change the pickguard and pickup rings to black.


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## lukeshallperish (Oct 9, 2014)

It looks like his guitar has a bigger ego than he does.


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## lukeshallperish (Oct 9, 2014)

This is like the guitarists version of a compensation "lifted,super duper duty,50 ton, 40 HEMI, 100ft tire'd monster truck".


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## downburst82 (Oct 9, 2014)

I like it...


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 9, 2014)

What the .... happened to his Washburn? That thing was absolutely perfect. This looks like a mangled-up Abomicaster. Seriously. It's like someone got bored on Kisekae. 



MaxOfMetal said:


> I didn't know he was such a Tosin Abasi fan.



No shit.  This is like the 3rd custom Abasi clone I've seen so far.


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## JoeyBTL (Oct 9, 2014)

Looks like a tele and soloist had a little too much to drink one night and 9 months later...


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 9, 2014)

JoeyBTL said:


> Looks like a tele and soloist had a little too much to drink one night and 9 months later...



When done right, though, a Soloist Telecaster can be absolute sex.






EDIT: It's a Charvel, but you get the idea.


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## feraledge (Oct 9, 2014)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> When done right, though, a Soloist Telecaster can be absolute sex.



I fell in love with that guitar when music zoo posted it. But the only one more bummed about Keane's gaudy execution is my cherished Charvel Style 2.


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## feraledge (Oct 9, 2014)

More like The Tasteless, amiright?

White, black and gold never abalong together.


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## Metlupass2 (Oct 10, 2014)

Yuck....but to its HIS custom not mine.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Oct 10, 2014)

This must be their tour van:


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## SYLrules88 (Oct 10, 2014)

I love it! im always a fan of white with gold hardware.


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## Pat_tct (Oct 10, 2014)

so much bling...
if he likes it it's all cool but it wouldn't be my first choice aesthetic wise. I'm sure he will put it to good use though.


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## ElasticPancakes (Oct 10, 2014)

I like the headstock and I like the Tele shape the rest is fugly as all hell. Shoulda just gone Keene green and be done with it.


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## Possessed (Oct 10, 2014)

White + black + gold + Abalone + Black-Pearloid Pickguard = Fail


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## Edika (Oct 10, 2014)

That headstock and Floyd really destroy the aesthetics. If it hadn't those it could get away with the gold, abalone and black perloid pickguard. It would be a bit too much but still have a classicy look. Now it seems like the worst of both worlds. I guess that's how you push the boundaries...


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## Andromalia (Oct 10, 2014)

the color scheme is a bit weird. Black and gold is fine, white and gold is fine, but white, black and gold seem odd.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Oct 10, 2014)

White, black, and gold can work together in harmony:








Even with a maple board it doesn't look so bad:







Hell, it can even work on a tele, if you do it right:






The guitar in the OP, though, is not doing it right. So close, yet so far.


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## cronux (Oct 10, 2014)

this is just wrong on so many levels


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## Emperor Guillotine (Oct 10, 2014)

lukeshallperish said:


> i mean, im sure its nice but its just.......too much.


Marble pickguard, darker abalone, and gold hardware...

Eh...make the pickguard tortoise shell and maybe make the pickups gold as well?

Personally, I think to counter the "bright" color quality of maple, get rid of the gold and go for chrome hardware. The chrome would coordinate nicely with the traces of silver in the pickguard and in the inlays.


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## BucketheadRules (Oct 10, 2014)

I mean yeah, it's his instrument and he can have what he likes. And my respect for him as a guitarist and musician is enormous.

But f*ck me, what an ugly guitar.


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## Sdrizis89 (Oct 10, 2014)

I think this guitar is beautiful if you get rid of the gold hardware. There's too much going on. I love the idea of a dual hum tele with that headstock. The color scheme/pickguard/hardware needs to be sorted out differently though.


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## HighGain510 (Oct 10, 2014)

The guitar clashes a bit too much due to the specs he chose. It's cool to see that Jackson CS is so open to letting endorsees spec out whatever they want, but in some cases they really need to advise them a bit more on what is going to come out looking terrible. This was one of those cases.


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## gunch (Oct 10, 2014)

Tele + inline 6 headstock = Yes
This = NO

What is Keene even doing these days


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## decreebass (Oct 10, 2014)

It's not just the white, black, and gold that make it look weird - it's the pearloid black, the gold bezels on black pups, the gawdy abalone, the whole thing.

To be honest, it looks like a Carvin gone bad; when i ordered my first Carvin instrument, the SB5000 5-string bass, I ordered a crazy random selection of options:





I just wish I would have known it was gonna be such a righteous piece of ash - cause then I might have tried to make a simpler and more elegant configuration. As it stands, it's a weird looking bass. I get a lot of compliments, but I think that's cause people can see past the ugly abalone/brown tortise shell/black/cream/natural trainwreck


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## fortisursus (Oct 10, 2014)

Nix the birds eye fretboard, abalone block inlays, and tortoise shell with some understated options and I would dig this. Then again it's not my guitar! If he digs it that's all that matters. This probably looks crazy on stage though (in a good way).


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## Emperor Guillotine (Oct 10, 2014)

Sdrizis89 said:


> I think this guitar is beautiful if you get rid of the gold hardware.


Actually, you know what?....replace the gold hardware with chrome and get a chrome covered EMG 81/85 set in there and this thing would be "golden".


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## ghostred7 (Oct 10, 2014)




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## Blood Tempest (Oct 10, 2014)

That headstock on a tele does NOT work. RUH! And yeah, overdose on gold and abalone. I'm sure it probably sounds great and plays just as well, but what an eye sore.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 10, 2014)

The worst things I find about it are the 3x3 headstock and how squished together the bridge and neck pickups are due to the 24-fret positioning. Throw on a 6-in-line pointy headstock and give it 22 frets and it would be a lot more tolerable for me.


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## rjg3000 (Oct 10, 2014)

I feel like it could have worked without the Abalone, a more conservative pickguard, and a smaller bridge. The floyds take up so much space on a guitar, it would have looked much nicer with a tunomatic or even a hipshot or something.


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## Blood Tempest (Oct 10, 2014)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> The worst things I find about it are the 3x3 headstock and how squished together the bridge and neck pickups are due to the 24-fret positioning. Throw on a 6-in-line pointy headstock and give it 22 frets and it would be a lot more tolerable for me.



+1


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## porknchili (Oct 10, 2014)

Of course, Michael Keene would get a guitar that relfects the inner Michael Kenne-ness in everything Michael Keene and his band, "Michael Keene and the changing faceless".

In all seriousness, I like everything on that except the head stock size and its layout.


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## MikeH (Oct 10, 2014)

As a Tele lover, this makes my pants sad. Definitely missed the mark on that one. Oh well. Diff'rent strokes.


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## Cloudy (Oct 10, 2014)

wayyy too much going on with that guitar lol.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Oct 10, 2014)

decreebass said:


> To be honest, it looks like a Carvin gone bad



Hahaha, it's funny you should say that, because that's one of the first things I thought when I saw it, too .

Remember, kids: Just be cause you _can_ get an option, doesn't always mean you _should._


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## canuck brian (Oct 10, 2014)

I wonder if he placed the order a few months ago, got pushed ahead of the guys waiting over 2 years for their guitars like other Jackson endorsers are currently doing.

Also - damn ugly guitar.


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## VinnyShredz (Oct 10, 2014)

kinda tacky but to each his own... I can never t o t a l l y hte a Jackson git


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## Randy (Oct 10, 2014)

Pickguard AND a contrasting pickup ring ontop of it?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 10, 2014)

Randy said:


> Pickguard AND a contrasting pickup ring ontop of it?



It's pretty common. Dave Murray's famous Strat has that and Kirk Hammett's modded-to-all-.... Gibson V had a similar style.


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## Thorerges (Oct 10, 2014)

Floyd and abalone are completely unnecessary. Besides that, nice idea.


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## canuck brian (Oct 10, 2014)

Thorerges said:


> Floyd and abalone are completely unnecessary. Besides that, nice idea.



Except that he uses the floyd.


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## Konfyouzd (Oct 10, 2014)

Looks like he let Tosin design it...


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## Thorerges (Oct 10, 2014)

canuck brian said:


> Except that he uses the floyd.



He went for everything, but the floyd means you got extra cosmetics which just don't fit. Guitar looks super tacky.


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## HurrDurr (Oct 10, 2014)

I think it's actually pretty cool. Knowing him, he probably purposely had it made this way to set off all the haters. He loves haters.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 10, 2014)

HurrDurr said:


> I think it's actually pretty cool. Knowing him, he probably purposely had it made this way to set off all the haters. He loves haters.



I'm sorry, but getting a guitar custom made to piss off a few internet trolls sounds like the dumbest idea ever. 

Unless I'm missing some subtle sarcasm.


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## CTID (Oct 10, 2014)

HurrDurr said:


> I think it's actually pretty cool. Knowing him, he probably purposely had it made this way to set off all the haters. He loves haters.



This is a custom for Michael Keene, not Lucas Mann.


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## Konfyouzd (Oct 10, 2014)

Meaning it'll *actually* get played?


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## vilk (Oct 10, 2014)

Am I the only one who thinks the aesthetics of that guitar do not fit his playing style in any way?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 10, 2014)

CTID said:


> This is a custom for Michael Keene, not Lucas Mann.



He seems douchy enough to actually do it. I mean, he went with Etherial of all builders. 

If he wanted to truely piss off people, he'd go with SoCal/BRJ guitars.


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## Mwoit (Oct 10, 2014)

That looks so ridiculous that I like it a lot. 

I wouldn't get one personally but if I was borrowing it and rocking it live, hell yeah.


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## neurosis (Oct 10, 2014)

I always wondered why Jackson and Charvel put the pointy headstocks on their tele models. The original tele didn't sport a round flat headstock "just because". 

Why not design a proper rounded headstock using these as a template? They would retain the brand's character while finding a better way to balance the design. Or do they just not give a damn? The result doesn't look like a parts caster because of any other choice made here. The headstock just destroys it. 

I think the nicest custom tele shape I have seen on this forum was a few years ago, when the dude in Whitechapel got that ESP. 

On another hand... Tosin's guitar looks badass. 

Keene will rip on this thing though. And that is a good thing.


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## NickS (Oct 10, 2014)

Like others have said, I almost love it, but there is just too much going on. I'd totally rock that if I had the opportunity though

But what I was really hoping for when I mis-read the thread title was a Michael McKean custom Jackson (you know, the lead singer/rhythm guitarist from Spinal Tap).


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## CTID (Oct 10, 2014)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> He seems douchy enough to actually do it. I mean, he went with Etherial of all builders.
> 
> If he wanted to truely piss off people, he'd go with SoCal/BRJ guitars.



Well I was more referencing the fact that his (Lucas') last playthrough video, and RoS's last music video, he was wearing a hat that said "I love haters"


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## loqtrall (Oct 10, 2014)

Blank fretboard, white truss rod cover and pickguard, perfect guitar.


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## Thorerges (Oct 10, 2014)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> He seems douchy enough to actually do it. I mean, he went with Etherial of all builders.
> 
> If he wanted to truely piss off people, he'd go with SoCal/BRJ guitars.



Keene is the very definition of a douche.


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## Black Mamba (Oct 10, 2014)

Thorerges said:


> Keene is the very definition of a douche.



How?


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## RickSchneider (Oct 10, 2014)

feraledge said:


> More like The Tasteless, amiright?




Nailed it. Jesus that thing isn't nice to look at


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 10, 2014)

Black Mamba said:


> How?



I'm curious as well. I've heard claims that he's hard to work with, though.


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## maliciousteve (Oct 11, 2014)

Looks like a cheap Chinese rip off of a Jackson


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## BucketheadRules (Oct 11, 2014)

Konfyouzd said:


> Looks like he let Tosin design it...



... after giving him four litres of absinthe.


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## BucketheadRules (Oct 11, 2014)

decreebass said:


> As it stands, it's a weird looking bass. I get a lot of compliments, but I think that's cause people can see past the ugly abalone/brown tortise shell/black/cream/natural trainwreck



I think all you need to do is change the pickup covers for black ones, and it'd look pretty great actually.


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## My Aspirations (Oct 11, 2014)

This things awesome looking. Not really anything I would change on it.


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## ChrispyFinch (Oct 11, 2014)

I only have a qualm concerning the recent changes in The Faceless.
If his change to this guitar is any foreseeable link to any change about to happen to The Faceless AGAIN then I cant be bothered with even trying a new album.
Akeldama=good
Planitary Duality=good
Autotheism=babies crying and keene trying to sing like Devy.

I like teles but this looks like a Cadillac


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## SixStringFury (Oct 11, 2014)

OW! my eyes!


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## mikernaut (Oct 11, 2014)

...comes into thread expecting a cool "Keene" green tele, eyes are met with an abortion of colors and option choices that grate like a cheese grater on ones owns genitals.


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## McKay (Oct 12, 2014)

Is he joining KISS?

For fairness' sake though, this is still nicer than most customs posted on this forum.


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## simonXsludge (Oct 13, 2014)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I didn't know he was such a Tosin Abasi fan.


My first thought exactly. Someone was trying to make a guitar as gaudy as Tosin's.


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## HurrDurr (Oct 13, 2014)

I'm sure he reads through this thread daily whenever he's feeling a bit down. Nothing like a good, hearty laugh to lift the spirit.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 13, 2014)

simonXsludge said:


> My first thought exactly. Someone was trying to make a guitar as gaudy as Tosin's.



He outdid it in spades.


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## Dana (Oct 13, 2014)

that thing is the greasy italian dirtbag of guitars.


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## Insinfier (Oct 13, 2014)

Ditch the gold and inlays and I'd hit it.


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## noob_pwn (Oct 13, 2014)

When I first saw this guitar I didn't really like it. The more I see it, the more I dig it. If the headstock was different I'd be stoked on it.


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## GenghisCoyne (Oct 13, 2014)

Can we talk about how foggy the pictures are?


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Oct 13, 2014)

Holy shit


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## Insinfier (Oct 13, 2014)

GenghisCoyne said:


> Can we talk about how foggy the pictures are?



Yes. Plastic lens too ....ed up. Time for a new phone. Hopefully not gold.


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