To celebrate Iron Maiden's fantastic achievement of fifty years guiding heavy metal, Fender and Jackson are releasing four new limited-edition models. These are a Fender Dave Murray Stratocaster, a Fender Steve Harris Precision Bass, a Jackson Adrian Smith Pro Series, and a Fender Custom Shop Andy Hicks Masterbuilt Dave Murray Stratocaster.

Adrian Smith has been on a bit of a nostalgia trip recently, using his Ibanez Destroyer that he recorded Number Of The Beast with and his "Grey Lady" Lado Earth from the World Slavery tour, so it's fitting that he's got this awesome Jackson model with the matching headstock coming out, matching the look of the one he used whilst recording Somewhere In Time back in 1986.
This guitar sits beautifully between his cheaper X Series models and his full-fat USA Signature. Adrian's main guitar live is still his Jackson USA model and this guitar has many of the same features, giving it the edge over the X Series model. You can get to the heel-mount truss rod easily, it has the alder body (as opposed to poplar), and a quartersawn maple neck. It has the hand-rubbed urethane neck, as Adrian loves the feel of necks worn back a bit, and this echos that smooth feel. He's also likes the Eric Clapton worn-in maple look, which this will give over time. He also loves having the Fender Strat sound on the neck and middle pickups whilst being able to provide the Maiden heaviness with the bridge pickup. The pickups in this mirror the pickups in his USA signature - DiMarzio Super Distortion DP100 in the bridge, and Samarium Cobalt Noiseless in the middle and neck. I think this version of his guitar looks killer, with the maple being tinted and with the white headstock. It's worth noting that the Floyd on this version is also top mounted, rather than recessed like the X Series version. These won't hang around and nor should they - Adrian has been delivering his killer playing and writing for decade after decade, inspiring many of us to start and continue playing. The guitar also features a cool 50th Anniversary neckplate.