08/28/2023
In quiet slumber sits the old “Mothership of Jackson/Charvel Guitars”.
While I was in DFW over the weekend for a memorial service of a dear friend, I was checking into a hotel near by, and decided to drive by the old workplace. 4710 Merchantile Drive, Fort Worth TX was the corporate headquarters and distribution warehouse for AMIC (Akai Musical Instrument Corporation). For those that don’t know, AMIC was the parent company of Jackson/Charvel guitars before they were bought out by the Fender Musical Instrument Corporation.
In this building everyday, were the best, most fun people in the music biz. All of the laughing and shenanigans, screaming and cursing, best and worst days were spent here.
All of the Jackson/Charvels from factories around the world were shipped here for QC and distribution to dealers around the globe. All of the guitar parts that you bought were from this building. If you called Jackson asking what you could find out about your guitar by serial number, you were calling here. R&D, new model line ups, marketing catalogs and adds all done here. All warranty repairs and inhouse QC fail repairs were done here. We set up, authorized and payed our warranty centers around the country from here. The NAMM show guitars were taken apart and prepped here, and on and on… you never knew who was going to walk in your office. A coworker, or a rock star. It seemed normal at the time, but was anything but normal when looking back.
While Tim Wilson and his crew in Ontario CA at the USA/Custom shop built some of the best guitars money could buy in their day, Donnie Wade (VP) and a handful of people here in Ft Worth like my old friend Kevin Easton and many other incredibly telented people on the guitar side took care of the rest. Akai and their departments, staff and products were here as well (hence the company name (Akai musical Instrument Corporation). All great people that I enjoyed tremendously. While my story is a relatively short one in Jackson/Charvel history, I have many happy memories of traveling across the world to correct QC issues at the factory, and forming relationships with people in many companies from all over.
I was just a kid, ambitiously climbing the corporate ladder. I lost myself somewhere along the way. It took some time to find myself again. In a way looking at this empty building with no sign, no lanscaping, just a shell of it’s former self was introspective. The world stands still for no one. Happy Monday everyone.
