“It was a very different challenge”: Periphery’s Misha Mansoor talks composing Jackson’s Virtuoso Mega Shred
The guitarist shreds alongside Marty Friedman, Dave Davidson, Debbie Gough and Clint Tustin for Jackson’s new campaign.
Marty Friedmann, Misha Mansoor, Dave Davidson, Debbie Gough, Clint Tustin for Jackson’s Virtuoso campaign. Credit: Jackson
Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor has discussed how he composed an original track to promote Jackson‘s new Virtuoso American Series model.
The new guitar was launched recently in a campaign fronted by Mansoor, former Megadeth shredder Marty Friedman, Revocation’s Dave Davidson and two rising stars in the form of Heriot‘s Debbie Gough and ERRA’s Clint Tustin. In a new promotional video, the group are seen playing the new Jackson in turn, each soloing in their own individual style across a longer, evolving track called the Virtuoso Mega Shred.
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Now, Mansoor has gone into more detail about how he put the composition together.
“It was a very different challenge from what I have to do normally,” he said during Jackson’s Shop Talk press conference. “Being an instrumental song, you want it to be interesting enough to where it doesn’t sort of overstay its welcome… But mainly I wanted to write sections for each of the artists that would show that like, ‘Hey, I’ve done my homework. I think that you would have fun with this,’ and then try to make that all flow from beginning to end.”
The Virtuoso follows the launch of the Jackson American Series Soloist last year, marking the next chapter in the brand’s investment in American-made guitars. The Soloist was Jackson’s first US-manufactured guitar for over two decades.
Among the Virtuoso’s standout features are an alder body featuring a contoured “hand-shake” heel to ensure ergonomic comfort during long sets, and an HH pickup configuration featuring a Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 humbucking bridge pickup and ‘59 SH-1N neck pickup. Its control layout consists of a five-way blade switch and dome-style knobs for volume and tone, while it also boasts a Floyd Rose 1500 Series double-locking tremolo bridge system for reliable tuning stability throughout.