The new Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe Monarkh DR12MG ties together form and function, all packed into an eye-catching Dark Rose stained, poplar burl top.
Diamond Rowe is the lead guitarist of Atlanta band Tetrarch, and one of the newest signature model artists with Jackson Guitars. Her Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe Monarkh DR12MG is available now, the poplar burl veneer on show for all to see. Equipped with Diamond’s choice of EverTune bridge, EMG 81/85 humbuckers and the unique Dark Rose finish, Diamond’s Monarkh is really something to behold.
“I’m still pinching myself a little bit!” begins Diamond, still buzzing from the announcement of her signature model.
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We begin at the body shape: the Monarkh. The Monarkh is Jackson’s take on a single-cut electric, and while they’re a really cool design, they’re not all that common amongst players.
“For me, that was a no brainer,” she explains, speaking to her choice of the body shape. “Ever since I was 11 or 12, other than my very first guitar that I had, which was a knock-off Telecaster, every guitar I’ve played on stage or toured with has been a single-cut.”
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“[I knew that] if I ever had the opportunity to have a signature, it would be that shape, which happens to be the Monarkh shape for Jackson.”
Diamond speaks further to the classic feel and look of the single-cut, adding that you can spec them out however you want, and they retain that classic feel and vibe.
Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe Monarkh DR12MG
“My Jackson journey is a little unique.” Diamond starts. “I’ve always been very aware of Jackson, it’s always been at the forefront of companies, especially in the heavy music genre.”
“I would say I first became aware of Jackson when we were younger and we were in high school. Josh my bandmate, used to played a white Jackson Rhandy Rhoads, and then also my all time favourite band is Metallica, so Kirk Hammet plays a Jackson for “Sad But True” every time they play it on stage.”
Diamond continues, explaining that her artist rep at EVH, Mike, had slowly introduced the idea of coming across to Jackson. Mike encouraged her to check out some guitars, and after receiving the guitars and loving them, the conversation about artist models began.
“Better late than never, I feel like it’s where I should be now.” she states.
“When I first started learning guitar, I learnt how to play to a lot of thrash, and Jackson reigned supreme with a lot of those players!”
We speak a bit to Diamond and Tetrarch’s music, with the thrash influence on show, but there’s modern metal and nu-metal influence as well. For such dynamic music, i.e. moving constantly between big heavy riffs and glitchy, pitch-shifted leads—does Diamond need a versatile instrument or a stable foundation to layer pedals and effects on top of? Maybe both?
“I am a lead player.” states Diamond confidently. She speaks further to the earlier days of Tetrarch where she’d play a lot more rhythm, albeit with a two minute solo somewhere.
“I realise I don’t play rhythms as much anymore, most of all the songs I’m doing some kind of lead, or melody or texture. It’s still really important for me to have an instrument that I can riff on, and play rhythm.”
“For me, touring wise, I don’t like super thin necks, I still want something that I can like—” Diamond pauses to make a stanky face, communicating more than could be said with words.
“That you can really hold on to.” I add.
“Yeah!” she laughs. “But at the same time, I need to be able to break off and play leads.”
The Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe Monarkh DR12MG began with a Custom Shop Jackson and a prototype, Diamond managing to nail most of the specs on the first try.
“We were actually in the studio,” Diamond begins, referring to a photo on her Instagram of the prototype and Custom Shop Jackson side-by-side. “What’s cool is that it got the first real test. Like, we did a shoot-out, what guitars are we gonna track these songs with? And it [her new Jackson] actually won in a blind test!”
“It was validating, I was like ‘Hell yes!’” Diamond smiles. “We ended up tracking all the rhythms and pretty much all the leads, except a couple where I use a Soloist, on that guitar. It’s cool, it passed the test for sure.”
Diamond also chose to add an EverTune bridge to her Monarkh, and I ask about her experience with it. For those unaquainted, the EverTune is a bridge system that generally doesn’t need to be tuned. A sophisticated mechanical marvel of springs that adjust and shift to keep the strings perfectly at pitch.
“I’ve been playing EverTune since 2018, so it’s been a minute.” she explains. “It’s really helpful for us, we tune to Drop A on a six string. So it’s really helpful for that. And tension too—I play really light strings, I play 10s and 11s.”
“It’s super stable, and the guitars are in the trailer for a couple days, and we’re travelling [through] different weather and humidity and stuff, it’s just super helpful. I have a tech that deals with it, so I wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore!” Diamond chuckles, speaking further to the EverTune naysayers who claim it affects the tonality of the sound. “But like I said I’ve been playing it for so many years, that I feel like the nuances that some people might say they can hear… no one cares!”
The Pro Series Signature Diamond Rowe Monarkh DR12MG feels like the beginning of something special between Jackson and Diamond Rowe, so I ask about any Jackson guitars she loves, looking for a hint at future signature models.
“I have a Custom Shop now, a new one, with a killswitch on it.” she begins. “I do a lot of killswitch stuff in solos now, that’d be really cool to incorporate on a future model.”
“Offsets [are] also catching my eye, so if I had to deviate from [a single-cut], it would be some sort of offset. But who knows, that could change in three days. Just taking it a day at a time. We’ll see, but with each release or tour, there’s always something that pops up that you want to try.”
For local enquiries, visit Jackson Guitars Australia.
