IRON MAIDEN’s ADRIAN SMITH Discusses His Refreshed JACKSON USA Signature Guitar Models (Video)

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Jackson today announces the refresh of IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith's signature lineup with a key upgrade to both the USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SD and USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM models. IRON MAIDEN is one of the most successful and influential metal bands ever, and Smith's molten yet melodic guitar work has long been a driving force behind their distinctive and dynamic sound. With timeless songwriting and thrilling live performances, MAIDEN continues to record, tour internationally and rock stadiums everywhere with electrifying prowess and unwavering heavy metal passion. Designed for Smith's demanding studio and live needs, the USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SD and USA Signature Adrian Smith San Dimas SDM feature a resonant, lightweight alder body and a bolt-on quartersawn maple neck with a hand-rubbed urethane back finish for smooth playability and a pair of graphite-reinforcement rods that refuse to budge, no matter the environmental stress it's exposed to. Featuring 22 jumbo frets and dot inlays, the 12"-16" compound radius fingerboard is the ideal platform for heavy chording and fast, ripping solos. Considering MAIDEN's relentless touring regiment, Smith wished to update these models with a heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel to make neck relief tweaks much more convenient. "The nice thing is I pick one of these guitars out of the box and it's like putting on a comfortable pair of jeans," said Smith. "Right away, I am totally comfortable with it, but it has the new feature of the adjustable truss rod thumbwheel so instead of having to take the neck off, you can just adjust it, which is a great feature." A DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 humbucker in the bridge adds the perfect blend of power and tone, with thick, boosted mids, big lows and fat highs, while Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Single-Coil Strat middle and neck pickups deliver authentic, noise-free Stratocaster snap with incredible dynamic and magnetic response. A five-way blade selector switch along with single volume and tone controls open up endless tonal possibilities, while the Floyd Rose Original double-locking tremolo system keeps the guitar in tune through the roughest playing, set after set. "I'm really sensitive about tuning," said Smith. "I drive everyone crazy when we are recording because if it isn't dead in tune it upsets me but with the locking trems and everything else, it sort of answered my prayers because it meant I could play a whole show with the same guitar and keep perfectly in tune." Groomed for high performance, these signature axes are wrapped in a classic Snow White finish with a licensed Fender Strat headstock and black hardware. The SDM features a maple fingerboard and black pickguard, while the SD features an ebony fingerboard and white pickguard. Watch Smith discuss his Jackson guitars below. For more information or to find an authorized Jackson dealer, visit www.jacksonguitars.com. Smith was born in Hackney, East London, on February 27, 1957. He joined IRON MAIDEN at the end of 1980. Adrian is the bandmember who has collaborated on the most side projects outside of IRON MAIDEN, as well as writing and recording a series of albums in the early '90s, before rejoining the band. IRON MAIDEN has sold 100 million albums, and tour the world playing to millions of fans. Onstage, Adrian uses Jackson and Gibson guitars. Offstage, he is an avid tennis player. However, his main hobby is fishing.