1988 - Jackson King V Custom "White HSS"
According to some stories Dave's first King V was one of his black Megadeth logo guitars. I don't believe that. I'm sure that when Dave got the endorsement deal he first got a couple of more regular Jacksons to get started and later on got more personal custom options. What You see here is most likely an early 86 Jackson Custom Shop King V which at first glance looks like Dave's later signature models. There are many differences though - 22 frets vs. 24, Kahler Pro tremolo instead of Kahler fixed bridge, HSS pickup layout instead of 2H...
This guitar was all white but Dave used various stickers on it. He also took off the mini-switches and apparently shaved the neck profile thinner leaving the backside with a natural finish. You can see it wasn't a factory job by the way the neckjoint was done. It also seems there was white left on the edges - not just the binding. For his following Jacksons Dave wanted 24 frets, thin neck profile, Kahler APM3300 fixed bridges, 2 volume knobs, tone and a 5-way blade switch resulting in a guitar that we've come to know as his signature model.
The "White HSS" King V had Jackson pickups with Jackson plastic covers. HSS ( humbucker + 2 single coils) pickup layout is a very rare option on King Vs.
Interesting fact is that James Hetfield had a King V a year before Dave and it was also white - ivory to be exact. That one was serial J0706 and completed 5-24-85. Check out the log entry and some pics of it here.
This guitar has been seen on various magazing photos from the So Far So Good... So What era. It also appears in the music video for "No More Mr. Nice Guy". Below is a collection of screenshots from that appearance. Young Dave sees the guitar on display at a guitar shop, gets excited, buys it and starts playing it in his room...
