Jackson has announced the Pro Series Signature Wes Borland King V KV, the Limp Bizkit guitarist's first-ever signature model, built around a Seymour Duncan Invader pickup, recessed Floyd Rose 1500 Series bridge and a neck-through maple construction.
Wes Borland has finally got his own signature Jackson, and the Pro Series Signature King V KV is exactly the kind of guitar you’d expect from one of nu-metal’s most visually and sonically distinctive players.
A single volume control, one Seymour Duncan Invader SH8 pickup at the bridge, a recessed Floyd Rose 1500 Series bridge and 24 frets – Borland’s philosophy is pretty clear. “It’s taking me a long time to figure out what I need as a guitar player,” he says. “For me, you just need volume, pickups, locking tremolo system and 24 frets, that’s it. Live, it just needs to be as bulletproof as possible.”
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The Invader SH8 is a logical choice for this kind of guitar, being a high-output ceramic pickup with a lot of low-end weight. It sits well in the King V’s neck-through construction — a single piece of maple with graphite reinforcement that keeps things stable under the kind of heavy punishment a Limp Bizkit set involves. The compound radius ebony fingerboard runs 24 jumbo frets, with upside-down pearloid shark fin inlays and Luminlay side dots that glow under low-light conditions.
Jackson’s Product Development Manager Peter Wichers explains how the headstock came about, saying: “When our artist rep Mike Tempesta introduced Wes to some Jackson Custom Shop guitars, he picked a left-handed King V and modded it for his right-hand playing, which left the headstock logo upside down. He loved it, so we kept it. That happy accident became one of the most iconic details of the whole build.”
“You know Jackson is fun, the over the top, shred-a-copter shapes and my outrageous stage costumes pushing the boundaries, this fits in more with that. The way people dress, it affects how you behave, and I think it also changes how I play guitar,” says Borland.
The guitar also features Jackson locking strap pins, which, given Borland’s reputation for being rough on gear, seems like a very reasonable inclusion.
The Jackson Pro Series Signature Wes Borland King V KV is available now. More at jacksonguitars.com.
