Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. 1983 Jackson Star!

[@thecrappyguitarist9597]

Chris never gets the credit he deserves. Highly underrated guitarist. He had a killer tone.

[@keithhampton9700]

And a real tolerance for Alcohol! REAL!!

[@seagullpoet]

He did hang out with EVH.

[@bucknasty69]

I remember reading an interview where Chris Holmes said all he used to get his wicked tone was his Jacksons going straight into a stock early 70s metal face Super Lead! No mods or anything, just a cranked Marshall. It’s crazy the amount of gain those early 70s Super Leads had on tap.

[@kylestiller1035]

Has*

[@staceytindle1225]

Dude is a fun hang too....man I even learned new profanity kickin' it with him lol

[@MichaelDouglasSkewes]

Chris Lived in my garage after he got thrown out by Lita. So, this guitar was in my garage ,along with the Yellow Star, and a Rhoads guitar. He also had 3 Marshall Stacks that he got straight from Eddie Van Halen. Chris had known Eddie forever, Eddie would give Chris his amps when he would finish a tour ,so if you listen close ,you can hear the amps are modified ! I played those all the time while he lived in my garage for several months . We had a band called Rat Bastard which we actually put together after Psycho Squad! I've known Chris since 1982,too many stories to even start telling! That is a cool guitar ,but actually wasn't his favorite. Still its cool to have. If you ever want to sell it let me know!

[@bls8959]

Ya I'm sure he did..just like Randy Rhoads was ur best friend

[@krismarchant2913]

​@@bls8959watch the mean man documentry and eat your words mate his telling the truth

[@krismarchant2913]

This is awesome mate that must of been cool as his a bloody good bloke id who id imagine him not loveing this cause its a through neck star his others like thwle more famous yellow charvel was bolt on

[@NeekFreek5150]

​@@bls8959 This guy is the real deal.

[@Shaylok]

His favorite might have been the one Lita Ford destroyed. Don't know what Holmes had against her washer and dryer, but a bat seems woefully inadequate for the task. He really should have used a sledgehammer.

[@JWyaMovieTime]

If I owned this guitar, knowing Chris' story and all the ups and downs he's been through in life, I'd track him down and offer it to him for free. He's not hard to find. Dude deserves to have this awesome piece of history. It's crazy that the man responsible for the sound of WASP had to sell his guitar to pay a fine at County Jail. Sick business.

[@WillieSurvive1]

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[@petepunckowski]

Dude, I paid the amount of a really nice Corvette for this and I'm not rich .. Sure, I'll gift it back for free.. Wake up..

[@krismarchant2913]

Agree his on instagram he should be en endorsed i have much better jacksons but id trade one for this so i could give it to him

[@rikjones5924]

Chris is really cool,met him at Jackson,the blood star Jackson has a van Halen history to it..I was told the Ibanez bridge piece was from Chris's Ibanez that Eddie vh borrowed to record women and children first and when Ed went on tour Chris went to eds house and his mom let Chris pick it up.the bridge was missing and the original pickup so Chris ordered a new bridge piece installed it and a few months later when ed got home he gave Chris that bridge back to him then Chris had it installed on the blood star

[@remingtonsteele3581]

I feel you man, but I spent 8K USD to give a guitar player I admired ( I won’t mention) to give it back to him. I contacted his wife. Gave it to him after the show on PERMANENT LOAN, so he couldn’t sell it again. Well, he won’t talk to me anymore and I’m told he sold it, and he’s Ashamed to talk to me. I think sometimes we care more than they do. That was hard earned after tax dollars, my time, and sweat to buy that prototype/ artists guitar.

[@golgothaassassin5035]

Chris's tone is what got me into playing guitar, truly a legend. Great guitar..... I wish more kids were picking up guitars and learning to play, but also creating their own custom guitars and tone. The world is lacking in new bands today.

[@jeffrussell777]

Once Lita Ford was at Guitar Center in El Cajon San Diego for Create amps....and I went up to her after her talking to everyone....and asked Her about Chris....the look on her face can't be put into words as she said .." Chris has Problems" ...then I ask her about the dogs Chopper and Crusher....and She lite up with LOVE!

[@xdisciple2776x]

This is awesome! Chris is my favorite member of Wasp always has been, when I got to meet him many years ago he was so humble and gracious to the fans Blackie wouldn't even take a second for fans he took off in a vehicle right after the show was over didn't even hang out with a single fan Chris stayed for the fans.

[@petepunckowski]

Anyone who's met Chris loves him and has nothing but nice words.. and yet... HE calls himself Mean Man. LOL

[@cancelbubble6535]

Cool piece of 80s rock memorabilia. I'd try to get a hold of Chris (maybe even Grover Jackson) to see if he could do an interview talking about the guitar.

[@stevejacko87]

Chris’ guitars he uses now he’s hollowed out the back so his wireless fits in the body of the guitar! I don’t know why more people haven’t done that! I did expect to see this on this one but maybe that was a later addition! Would love to see him playing this one again though! We’ve just finished a U.K./Ireland tour, with a sold out show in London, and it was great to be back on stage with Chris again!

[@drloqutis2492]

Brad Gillis did it first

[@nicholasgargano7396]

@@drloqutis2492 prince had it done to his tele in very early 80s

[@bucknasty69]

Glad to hear Chris is doing well and hitting the road!

[@ginajames4564]

@@drloqutis2492 Kiss had wireless units built into their guitars back on their 1977/78 tour.

[@barryengle12666]

Holy Christ, NO..... Hollowing out your guitar body??? For shitty wireless?? Sorry, I am not a fan of using wireless. Never had enough money for one that sounded real great, or felt good enough playing and my guitar cables have always been great, and no frequency interference ever.. This is a horrific suggestion

[@randywissler9923]

One of those guitars that you instantly recognize and know who's it was. Like Frankenstrat, George Lynch's "Bones" and Randy Rhoads black and white Polka dot flying V

[@everettrhay4855]

Or Dave Murray’s black strat.

[@randywissler9923]

@@everettrhay4855 and Angus's SG Gibson. Can't believe I forgot that one too. Lol

[@crushingalldeceivers]

I had posters all over my bedroom with this guitar in it. Iconic metal guitar along with piper's cool BC Rich.

[@michaelbujanda8785]

I remember seeing Chris Holmes posing with this guitar in 1984!!!! In Circus and Hit Parader magazines!!!! And Creem magazine was another Rock publication I'd seen this guitar in!!!!! Wow it was a Jackson after all!!!! I thought it was a Charvel back in the day!!!! LOL!!!! I was just 13 years old in 1984!!!! (Now 51years) didn't know any better!!!!!😂😂😂😂 Thanks for sharing!!!!! As far as I'm concerned Chris Holmes was what made W.A.S.P. cool to me!!!! He was the sparkle and fire in that band!!!!😀😄😊🙂 Plus Chris always preferred playing on these explore shaped or Randy Rhoads pointy guitars!!!!

[@cliffanderson7544]

Was never a wasp fan, but as a guitarist myself I alway was a fan of Chris Holmes. \m/

[@PolarBearPredator]

This is the coolest guitar in Heavy Metal history. Chris Holmes is a legend.

[@fabianleonardo5516]

If that guitar was mine i'll returned to the original owner, Chris is a true heavy metal guy, God bless you Chris, come to Italy

[@petepunckowski]

No... no, you wouldn't. :)

[@WestShoreMan]

Chris lives near you in Cannes, France.

[@fabianleonardo5516]

@@WestShoreMan i have to investigate more 😄, he' s one of my guitar heroes

[@drunk247]

I would too. After about a year,lol! Just to see the look on his face when he hits that first chord would be worth it for me.

[@fabianleonardo5516]

@@drunk247 sure man, life its not just money and material things, and to see chris face with a big smile and happy after all the ugly things thats hapen to him, for me its the best

[@CalmBrook]

W.a.s.p. in early days were jumped out from Mad Max/The Warriors movie! What a band!!

[@TrevyTrev-andTheFunkyPets]

Never thought of that comparison, Mad Max of metal.

[@bugstomper4670]

Some of their videos have clips from Mad Max.

[@DeadmeatDarkdaylight]

AWSOME!!! That paint job story was insane

[@mikeyID]

Super cool Dane, thanks for sharing that piece of history

[@worgothcgd]

Thank you so much for featuring a product of W.A.S.P and Chris Holmes.

[@deathmetalmachine]

I like Chris Holmes mentality if it ain't getting done do it your damn self and Chris Holmes got it right when it came to blood spatter on a guitar 👌🏻

[@tedrollins935]

U need to get that back to chris!! I cant think of anybody more deserving of that piece of metal history😊😊😊

[@wesleyzimmerman94]

And something about Swiss Picks I'd like to add is that if someone wants to try them AND support a good cause, Jason Becker signature pick are sold direct by his family on eBay

[@dainhuston]

Cool story about the guitar the Ibanez bridge and It’s not all beet up chips dings don’t count those are labor of love. Long Live Rock & Roll 🤘😎🤘

[@Michael-us6gm]

This isn't the very first Jackson Star. There was at least one other built before it, which I got from Grover Jackson back in early 1982. Several years ago, there was an interview with Mike Shannon where he mentioned that he believed there was a neck-thru Star built between the first two Rhoads guitars, but it didn't get a Jackson logo on the headstock. MIne has the same headstock shape as the first Rhoads (slightly narrower, with a more noticeable curve on the underside) and no logo, so its possible this was the guitar he was referring to...

[@petepunckowski]

Yeah, I messed up.. There's a couple Jackson Stars prior. What I should have said is that this is the 1st with a Graphic. :)

[@TruthSurge]

godz... the string angles coming out of the nut slots... bad design flaw. You could make a string tree with rollers that would compensate that by keeping the strings straight as they go across the nut. I guess they didn't worry about that back then. But that would definitely affect tuning stability, I would think. Unless it was a non-stick nut material which it may be. 3:36 uh, take an ohm meter and measure the resistance? I'm sure there is a tool to measure the amount of magnetism, also? That'd give ya a clue but if it's a "loud" pickup, then ok. You don't need to turn your preamp up as high. And you can also back the pu away from the strings so it's not as loud and probably gain a bit more clarity if it sounds too muddy. Cool axe murderer paint job. Geez, those frets are so flat I would conclude that they were filed level more than once but maybe he just liked them super flat. How he bent them... that'd be a mystery. 11:35 uh, ROW maybe? I see an optometrist in someone's future.

[@rickycompton2610]

Killer Piece of Metal ,History Zimms what a nice Guitar

[@pedraw]

Chris was going through some cancer treatment earlier this year. I haven't seen an update from him in quite a while. I find authentic artist instruments quite interesting. If they could talk............................................Thanks to the owner for bringing this in and letting everyone have a look.

[@stevejacko87]

Chris is back out touring again we’ve just finished a U.K./Ireland Tour and we did some mini gigs in Canada in September as a part of a promo tour showing his documentary and doing a Q&A session. He’s had the all clear and will just need check ups every now and again! He never lost his sense of humour and is getting back to full strength every day!

[@funkster007]

@@stevejacko87 That's so awesome. Chris is definitely one of the few wild rockers who beat the odds. Wishing him the best!

[@BrianSGuitars]

Thanks for showing us this Dane!

[@cyberlip666]

I have a little story about this guitar. I bought Randy Piper's BC Rich Pipester guitar directly from Randy in 2001. About a year later the guy that had put me in touch with Randy to do that deal called me and told me Chris was looking to sell his blood covered Star, and they were giving me first crack at buying it. It wasn't a good time for me to swing it financially so I had to pass, and I've always lamented 'man, I could have owned the pair'. I didn't know the story about Chris needing to sell it to pay some kind of jail or bond fee lol. It adds to the lore and cool factor and had I known that I may have moved heaven and earth to make the purchase happen. Oh well lol

[@allendean9807]

Will this ever make it back to Chris? What a wonderful gesture it’d be….. just make sure he wills it back to you

[@petepunckowski]

If he even played Phoenix, I'd be sure to have him use it onstage. :)

[@KrunchyTonez617]

​@@petepunckowski what if he asked for it back? Lol

[@stephaneauger1036]

love n respect for Chris- and grest job to do a video on this great guitar ! wow ! thank great job 10/10

[@ZIMMSGUITARS]

Thanks!

[@RJsCave]

Very cool guitar. I had that album. I won it in seaside heights nj on the boardwalk.

[@rv6205]

did you stop at midway for a cheesesteak too ???...or lucky leos ??

[@alext7860]

Appropriate place to win it

[@ShredChannel]

Damn dude, kudos to you for documenting this guitar and making a video!

[@andrewbecker3700]

I do distinctly remember him using a similar one with a Budwieser logo on it. If I'm not mistaken he'd come out with a football helmet on! Hilarious shit. One of a kind.

[@TylerJohnstonGuitar]

The Star has always been a cool guitar shape for me. EVH threw a Danelectro neck on his Charvel Star.

[@dgenerated]

That choice of neck always struck me as odd, but Eddie was known to experiment (which is an understatement) and hack guitars apart and mix and match necks and bodies and pickups etc, but still.. I wonder what it was about the Dano neck? I know EVH guitars makes a replica of this guitar (or did) at some point..

[@TylerJohnstonGuitar]

@@dgenerated A lot of guys gravitated to the Dano necks because of how flat the fretboard is. They became pretty popular with slide guitarists for that same reason. EVH could probably fly around a neck like that. I recently talked to a guy who said his Dano has a Brazilian rosewood fretboard and it’s super slippery and easy to play. They seem like a blast to play.

[@dgenerated]

@@TylerJohnstonGuitar Makes sense then considering the flat neck.. I used to have a 90's reissue of a "Danelectro Convertible" which looks to have the same type of neck, though I don't remember how the neck felt exactly, though body-wise it was a thin hollow body with a lipstick pickup, so not much "shredding" was done on it lol.. But it was fun to play (acoustic or with an amp) and wish I had kept it, but hindsight is 20/20 unfortunately.. It was a neat little fun guitar to play and no matter who came by, someone would end up strumming it!...

[@TylerJohnstonGuitar]

@@dgenerated Oh absolutely, everything Danelectro makes is either fun to play or there’s something fun about it. I’ve been collecting their pedals, I’d love to find one of the guitars for a good price, but scalpers are everywhere nowadays. I saw a Convertible pop up on OfferUp a few years ago, should’ve pulled the trigger on it.

[@shawncozad8565]

Moving the strap button up leaves room for the cord to be routed through the strap like it should

[@JBG949]

My former neighbor's dad was the accountant for Wayne Charvel and Grover Jackson back in the day and his father got him a early black cherry metallic Charvel superstrat single humbucker non Floyd rose but Strat bridge with a unusual raw bone nut with a Duncan JB! It was a EVH vibe 100% Killer for the time but for some reason these early San Dimas guitars don't seem to hold up well with the finish and hardware..🤔 he still has his guitar but his Fender HM strat held up way better despite only a few years difference between the two

[@jameshill2389]

Very cool. Be great if it could get back to Chris. I'm sure he'd like to have it back in his possession.

[@DogDaze66]

That guitar should be in a museum

[@blackiesattack]

Agreed! Or back with Chris!

[@Olwehn]

Really cool guitar! Remember seeing it as a kid on the cover of F like a beast, their best song, still have that EP in white vinyl.

[@IanOnTheDL]

I always love hearing the stories of lesser known famous guitars. I appreciate you guys sharing this

[@greggheslin2724]

Lesser know only bc he wasn’t a fairy little princess like 90% of them.

[@cduronm]

Been wondering about the whereabouts of this guitar for years…thanks for the post and the memories….

[@Scottocaster6668]

I like the yellow one he has with the metal bracket by the volume pot. It looks so badass. If I owned it, I'd give it back to Chris. Thanks for sharing this 👍.

[@ZIMMSGUITARS]

That was a fun guitar to play...some guys have all the luck

[@erockscott1184]

I had the extreme luck of playing one of John Entwistles basses...his red Buzzard bass...the scale and neck was so big I couldn't play it lol...all the fret markers lit up with a button...way cool experience and the body was cracked also apparently from John throwing it on the stage floor

[@rockdaddy2168]

Wow. What a piece of history.

[@dwb131313]

That’s so cool. I have an 83 San Dimas Explorer Charvel. I wish there was more stuff on KZbin about the old stuff. People hide it away.

[@paulosicne8498]

So this guitar looks so great and gory because of Chris Holmes. That's so cool to know that it was Chris who made the guitar look like a bloodbath, instead of the initial idea of the guitar painter to just have smaller blood sprinkles on it. I've always loved Chris Holmes' and Randy Piper's guitars.

[@andyhayes7828]

That guitar was in every Circus and Hit Parader nagazine in 1984 and 1985.

[@neilvetter662]

Metal Edge 🤟

[@nicolasbeaudry6158]

FANTASTIC POST IM IN AWE💯

[@1crunchy2]

the Jackson logo was done by Larry's lettering in Glendora the decal wasn't developed yet.

[@petepunckowski]

Todd !! Great to hear from you! Mad respect to one of the original crew !!

[@edwardprzydzial]

love that guitar to go along with randy pipers pipe guitar... back on the first tour!

[@eaglewarrior8707]

Cool. Me and Chris share the same sound.

[@Razrback]

awesome piece of rock n roll history

[@AaronG72901]

Thanks for showing this Iconic guitar!!!!

[@DirtySouthConnection803]

I love this particular guitar that he played on a lot of killer songs. It's a symbol of my youth. Chris understood/understands the importance of TONE! Being such good friends with EVH, I'm quite sure had a major influence, on his sound. What I would've given to be a fly on the wall, when those two were hanging out, back in the day! RIP KING EDWARD!🤘

[@nicolasbeaudry6158]

Some model as DEATH. ( the great and mighty CHUCK SHULDINER) it’s a beautiful metal machine it’s so badass I’m 50 and remember seeing him playing it 🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻🔥

[@JesseLeeKing]

I need to try swiss picks I've heard great things about em

[@fixingthingswithstrings]

Amazing! WASP was that IT band for me growing up as a kid, great video!

[@bravo2789]

So cool! Great Video!

[@anttikoponen9647]

Very nice video!!! First W.A.S.P.-album line-up was the best. I wonder if Chris still had/played his 1975 Ibanez Destroyer on first W.A.S.P....

[@Ultra-Collector]

Nice vid Dane! Love the Wasp Holmes stuff! BTW i still see the BC Rich and the Charvel behind you at the end when you’re playing the Holmes guitar! Still interested my man!

[@sonicpickups]

Regarding the pickup request on the build sheet, it called for Double Row Adjustable, meaning the pickup was to have two rows of screw polepieces. Why the pickup ended up with two slug rows is a mystery maybe only Seymour (Duncan) can answer.

[@rolandolimon2260]

He sold it under unfortunate circumstances, as a real fan I would offer to sell it back to him .

[@scottanderson4175]

That is so cool and Chris was incredibly tasteful and extremely underrated 💪

[@ourword3112]

Tasteful?

[@BillyZakk]

Was never really in to WASP, but I sure like hearing stories about guitars And this was a cool one

[@joeaxe]

that is cool, Chris did that dark red! They should sell that pickup too.

[@petepunckowski]

Hi Joe.. I pulled the pickup. It's a Jackson J90-C that Chris took out of his Black/White V. (Written on bottom. :)

[@kissdiaries]

Very, very cool!

[@thierrytitus5980]

Fantastique guitare Merci de nous l'avoir montré de près !! Thierry a French fan

[@JaniceLalla]

cool guitar and playing

[@stevenimeson902]

So rad!!!

[@richardmestas7690]

That was great! I always wondered how customer guitars were done

[@leroylong78]

So, I know that Chris himself has stated that he likes his frets short and wide because he infact squeezes so hard that with tall frets he goes sharp... I cant remember the interview but that would explain the low yet wide frets and would also explain why they arent beat up. His fingers and strings hit wood before any real force is applied to the fret wire.

[@craiglemelin4176]

Wow so different so cool 😎😎😎.

[@marditerekia5084]

So Awesome and Raw...chris Holmes rulz..🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥..with WASP

[@jswazz9264]

For everyone saying you oughtta give it back to Chris… maybe you all would want to pony up to cover the buyer’s cost.

[@petepunckowski]

Thank you for saying that !!! This didn't come cheap.

[@Malama_Ki]

Abso-damn-lutely !!!! This guy needs to set up a go-fund-me and a set price with extras going to Chris. Me and many more would gladly kick in.

[@krismarchant2913]

I.would i have much better customshop jacksons that id trade to give it back to him its the right thing to.do

[@krismarchant2913]

​@@petepunckowskiwould yoi sell or trade it for and equally expensive guitar?

[@petepunckowski]

And.. I'm curious as to what you think it's worth .@@krismarchant2913

[@elsargentodevinilo6230]

This is Great!!!! What would be the price of this guitar, if it was put for sale?

[@petepunckowski]

Around 27K USD

[@neilvetter662]

@@petepunckowski W.A.S.P

[@petepunckowski]

@@neilvetter662 Yeah, I might sell it..

[@tommyibanez3958]

Is that Pete from Swiss Picks giving the info? Dude's an encyclopedia

[@petepunckowski]

Tommy !! Yep, I'm onboard for these videos.. We have some more videos coming soon!! Hope you're well. Miss you, man!!

[@tommyibanez3958]

@@petepunckowski Niiiiiice! Miss you too, Pete.

[@nationalduo4945]

Great Video !

[@guitarstorms]

Very cool video thanksfor sharing bro....

[@robertspreitzer8126]

Oh you’ll sell it and like it. Every man has his price.

[@petepunckowski]

Yeah, I'm not saying I couldn't be persuaded if the situation was right.. :)

[@kristopherkrahl1597]

Sweet axe! Always epic stories when Chris was/is involved! I remember everyone thought he was kidding around in that movie "The decline of western civilization, part 2"...but some of us knew better! 🤣

[@seagullpoet]

You should of played “ LOVE MACHINE “ chords.

[@angusorvid8840]

Awesome video! I'm curious about that Duncan. That ax is a real metal machine. Chris would use tons of gain. I think he had Lee Jackson modded JCMs. If you listen to Live in the Raw you can hear the kind of massive gain he used live.

[@Krullmatic]

This dude is a total Garth from Wayne's World! They still make Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup.

[@lzryd]

Great video. Killer tone. Imma look into duncan distortions pickups for that thicc af tone. According to Chris, his LA buddy EVH borrowed his Star after Eddie had hacked his own Star apart tinkering and had lost its killer tone. So if true (We all know storytellers) then this guitar appears on a Van Halen album. I think he said VH 1.

[@jaybirdk7414]

You sure that wasn’t the Ibanez Destroyer? I know that became the “shark” guitar featured on the cover of Women And Children First, but Ed played the Charvel Star (with Danelectro neck) when they toured behind Fair Warning.

[@lzryd]

@@jaybirdk7414 Yeah come to think of it I bet ur right.

[@laryedus]

I want to see the yellow one!!!

[@sydneysheppard4979]

Chris your band blows away anything blackie is doing..keep getting well man!! We can't wait to see you brother!! F## k blackie!!

[@rikjones5924]

I remember him sending his yellow Jackson star back to Jackson a few times to repair the neck,i took it spart once and very interesting,had something like play doh holding in the humbucket

[@rikjones5924]

Lita threw out his Budweiser jackson

[@jerrynelson9873]

You should give that to Chris

[@petepunckowski]

Yeah, I hear ya.. but since it cost me .. pretty much the amount of a nice Corvette, it's not feasable to play Santa Claus with it. :)

[@JohnDoe-wy7py]

This is fantastic

[@wayneshelby2392]

Chris Holmes is my idol nothing cooler than whatching him raise his guitar over his head and shake it in the wild child music video there nothing cooler

[@DeuceSimmonsOfficial]

What a beautiful Guitar for one of the most underrated Players

[@strikeouttwo7295]

Brigde and Block banez Artist / Musician MC Series.

[@earthquakemagoon2505]

That's no ordinary guitar... That's a 'race-car guitar'!! 🎸😀👍

[@MikeJBlues]

Cool guitar 🎸

[@richardflora7940]

Love to be able to buy Jackson made in USA for that now

[@DogDaze66]

Yes this should be given back to The Mean Man. It would be only right. Make it happen !

[@brucepoinsett4150]

Too bad Lita destroyed the Budweiser star

[@JimVaught-qm6gf]

Yeah, well… I think he brought it on himself by f***ing up her new washing machine or something. They fought a good bit.

[@joshpress9798]

Super cool

[@MARK-r6c3k]

Very Cool. 👊😎

[@hollywoodjoe3259]

True rock star