Akira! - 1996 Jackson Kelly Made in Japan – Chushin Gakki MIJ Electric Guitar
Akira! - 1996 Jackson Kelly Made in Japan – Chushin Gakki MIJ Electric Guitar
1996 Jackson Kelly Made in Japan at Chushin Gakki
Meet Akira, a 1996 Japanese-made Jackson Kelly built during the celebrated Chushin Gakki era of Jackson production, featuring the unmistakable offset Kelly body, 24-fret maple Speed Neck, dual Jackson humbuckers and a Jackson JT-500 licensed double-locking tremolo.
Akira arrived at The Stray Chord after almost three decades of use, carrying plenty of genuine battle scars alongside a badly adjusted tremolo, dry fingerboard, tired fretwork and neglected setup.
Rather than erase his history, his restoration focused on preserving the character he had earned while returning the guitar to full playing condition.
Following extensive cosmetic restoration, complete fretwork, tremolo rebuilding and a professional setup, Akira was successfully rehomed for £475.
About Akira
The Jackson Kelly is one of the company's most distinctive designs, combining an aggressively offset body with the fast neck and high-output electronics that helped establish Jackson as a defining name in rock and metal guitars.
Akira was manufactured in Japan in 1996, during the period in which many Japanese Jackson instruments were produced by Chushin Gakki.
His solid poplar body is paired with a hard rock maple Jackson Speed Neck and rosewood fingerboard carrying 24 medium-jumbo frets.
The electronics are appropriately straightforward for a performance-focused Jackson. A pair of Jackson humbuckers is controlled by a three-way selector and master volume, providing powerful rhythm sounds alongside articulate lead tones.
A Jackson JT-500 licensed double-locking tremolo provides the pitch manipulation expected from a 1990s Jackson while allowing the strings to be locked at both ends for improved stability during more aggressive tremolo use.
Almost three decades of playing had left their mark on Akira, particularly around the Kelly's notoriously vulnerable points. Those scars became part of the restoration rather than something to disguise completely, retaining the character of an instrument that had clearly been played rather than preserved as an ornament.
Restoration & setup
Akira required considerably more than a routine setup when he arrived.
His JT-500 tremolo was sitting incorrectly, the neck and fingerboard had dried significantly, the frets showed years of wear and the pointed Kelly body carried numerous chips and knocks.
During his rehabilitation at The Stray Chord he received:
- Complete professional setup
- Body thoroughly deep-cleaned
- Damaged areas around the Kelly body points carefully repaired
- Finish repairs colour-matched to the surrounding bodywork
- Original battle scars sympathetically retained where appropriate
- Multi-stage machine polish
- Protective carnauba wax treatment
- Hard rock maple Speed Neck correctly adjusted
- All 24 medium-jumbo frets levelled
- Frets recrowned and polished to a mirror finish
- Fret ends inspected and refined
- Rosewood fingerboard deeply cleaned and conditioned
- Fingerboard edges carefully rolled
- Three-way selector cleaned and serviced
- Volume control cleaned and serviced
- Jackson humbucker heights individually balanced
- JT-500 licensed tremolo completely stripped and serviced
- Tremolo knife edges carefully dressed
- Saddles individually adjusted
- Tremolo spring tension correctly balanced
- Bridge returned to the correct position relative to the body
- Action lowered and optimised
- Full intonation
- Fresh Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings
- Final electronics and playability inspection
The result was not a cosmetically erased museum piece, but a properly rehabilitated 1990s Japanese Jackson retaining the marks of its previous life while playing as a serious performance instrument once again.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Jackson |
| Model | Kelly |
| Year | 1996 |
| Country of manufacture | Japan |
| Factory | Chushin Gakki |
| Instrument | Solid-body electric guitar |
| Body shape | Kelly |
| Body | Poplar |
| Neck | Hard rock maple Speed Neck |
| Fingerboard | Rosewood |
| Frets | 24 medium jumbo |
| Pickups | 2 × Jackson humbuckers |
| Controls | Master volume |
| Pickup selector | 3-way |
| Bridge | Jackson JT-500 licensed double-locking tremolo |
| Strings when rehomed | Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom |
| Rehomed for | £475 |
Akira's adoption
💙 REHOMED 💙
After almost three decades of service, Akira's wounds were dressed, his weapons rebuilt and this old ronin was ready to fight another day.
He has now chosen his next home and is no longer available for adoption.
His page remains permanently in The Stray Chord Rehomed Archive, documenting the restoration of this 1996 Japanese Jackson Kelly and providing a reference for players researching MIJ Jackson guitars from the Chushin Gakki era.
Rescue • Restore • Rehome