The Limp Bizkit guitarist worked with Jackson on a signature King V that strips away anything non-essential. It arrives after more than two decades of playing the brand’s instruments.
Wes Borland has a signature Jackson guitar for the first time. The King V KV, priced at $1,299.99, is the result of a long relationship with the company that started when Borland followed artist relations rep Mike Tempesta from Yamaha to Jackson years ago. He has used Jackson instruments ever since.
The guitar is built around a Seymour Duncan Invader bridge pickup, a one-piece maple neck-through with graphite reinforcement and a compound radius ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets. A recessed Floyd Rose 1500 series bridge keeps things stable. Borland’s priorities are clear. “Live, it just needs to be as bulletproof as possible,” he said. “I’ve been very rough with guitars over the years.”
The aesthetic fits Borland’s stage presence. He pointed to Jackson’s “over the top, shred-a-copter shapes” as something that aligns with his elaborate costumes. For him, the look is functional. It affects how he plays. The connection to Jackson goes back further. As a kid watching Megadeth’s “Go to Hell” video he fixated on Dave Mustaine’s King Vs and the shark tooth inlays. Years later, producer Ross Robinson gave him an early 1981 Randy Rhoads Jackson that remains in his collection.
The signature model strips away anything that might fail. After testing what he actually needs, Borland settled on volume, pickups, a locking tremolo and 24 frets. It is a guitar defined by what he could remove rather than what he could add. The Wes Borland King V KV is available now.
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The collective voice behind ROMBO Magazine’s news, reviews, features, and cultural coverage.
