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Rhoads didn't spend long on this earth. The neo-classical guitar prodigy was plucked from Quiet Riot to join Ozzy Osbourne's band in 1980, contributed to just two albums and was pulled from the wreckage of a light aircraft at the tender age of 25.

If there is a silver lining to this tale, it's that before his death Rhoads collaborated with the Californian luthier Grover Jackson to design his own signature model. Originally known as the 'Concorde' (before a more refined version was renamed the Randy Rhoads), the resulting guitar was not only Jackson's first production electric but it was also the model that put the company securely on the map.

Overview

According to TG's calculations, the RR24 we're testing here is one of eight Randy Rhoads models on Jackson's books. And based on a perusal of the price sheet, it sits somewhere between the USA Select Series RR1T (at £2,099) and the entry-level JS30RR (at £249).

Granted, TG has never had our hands on the bells-and-whistles RR1T, but we were blown away by the JS30RR and RR5 models and we're expecting serious justification for the price hike of the RR24. Is this model really four times better than its bargain basement equivalent? Seriously?

Obviously, you can't mess around with the basic appearance of the Randy Rhoads guitar (the design is pretty much defined by its characteristic shape), so Jackson has given its design team yet another afternoon off and set the band saw in its Japanese factory to 'business as usual.'

The result might be derivative to anyone who has flicked through a Jackson catalogue over the past three decades, but this model is dynamite in its own right, with a vicious upper bout that makes the body look like a Flying V with a hernia, bevelled edges all round and the trademark six-in-line headstock that Rhoads supposedly designed himself.

The RR24's body material is the same as the top-spec models (solid alder), but inevitably the colour options are more limited than the Graveyard, Snakeskin and Pile O' Skulls finishes that you'll find in the US Select Series.

Frankly, TG thought this particular black and yellow colour scheme made the RR24 look like the kind of wasp that you really wouldn't want turning up at your family barbecue, but at least the inlays of this axe should go down well with Jackson purists, with those MOTO shark fin position markers punched into a bound ebony board and at regular intervals along the two-octave rock maple neck.

The neck

Ah yes, the neck. One of the unique selling points of the RR24 model over its lower-priced siblings is that it features a neck-thru-body construction. This means that the neck doesn't stop when it hits the body; it forms an integral part of it. It's not much to look at (although in this case the heel is admirably svelte as a result), but it should translate into lengthy sustain and bring a subtle edge to the tone of the alder.

Perhaps even more importantly, the rugged nature of this neck format should help compensate for the potentially fragile kinking of the headstock. A metal guitar without a floating vibrato is like a porn star without a schlong, and while there's a comparable model for people who find that sort of thing a bit of a faff (the RR5 at £869), Jackson has equipped the RR24 with a classic Floyd Rose double-locking two-point trem finished in black.