Impending Charvel Day

atrox

atrox

Active member
My one band, Contrarian is a paid gig for me. It's essentially a studio project with some shows sprinkled in when it's possible to do so. Also, some of you are aware that i'm obsessed with Charvel. This will make 5 total.

I typically get paid with gear over money, since any extra money i get in usually goes to gear anyway.

Anyway... here is my payment for recording our next album (which isn't even done with pre-production yet).

2009 USA Charvel SoCal in Candy Plum. I have been looking for one of these for a while now. They are rare, but it it the opposite side of the color wheel from my 2009 USA Candy Tangerine SoCal.... I can't help it... I'm a professional designer. :idk: These two will look amazing together :LOL:

It's weird, because i like what some would consider classy, some would consider boring, but i like black, gray or natural guitars only typically. These two colors i have lusted after for years however. Glad to finally have them.

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It will look brilliant next to this guy
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Here is the current gang before Purple gets here.
MIM Style 2 in Ash, MIM Style 2 Seven string in Okoume, 2009 MIA San Dimas, 2009 MIA Candy Tangerine SoCal (with MusiKraft neck)
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Pentatonic":1b5l5ig3 said:
Grats on the new axe! Man....I love those colors! :rock:

I was looking at those SoCals before I picked up my ESP. How do you like them?
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The necks are made for my hands. I dig the specific compound radius Charvel uses and the very very slightly wider heels. They feel really natural to me.
 
Pentatonic":3ogdcrl0 said:
Which Floyds are those sporting? Assuming Gotoh?
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I'm pretty sure these particular USA ones are OFR. I replaced them in my Black and Tangerine ones with Schaller's though. I prefer them.
 
Nicely done! Love the Charvels as well. I have a couple of custom shop units that I also really enjoy playing. As you said, their compound radius necks are so comfortable to play.
 
Love the shade of purple. Looks perfect with the black hardware and maple board (and I don't usually even like maple boards).
 
Awesome man! I wish I still had my Charvel from around 2008 in slime green. USA made and a great guitar! I'm obsessed with Charvels too. :)
 
Very nice! I had a Candy Green So Cal that I sold a few years ago and I hate myself for it. Haven't picked up a San Dimas or So Cal that has been as good since.
 
Congrats! I have the same USA Candy Plum SoCal...I've had 2 Customs, 7 other USAs and 2 MIJs and this Plum easily outplays them all. Such an easy player, and it sounds really good..I got lucky with it. 3 yrs ago I picked up a candy blue San Dimas and it played almost the same, but it had a chunk out of the back and I returned it. Only paid 550 for it, and realized my mistake since it played so well...kicked myself ever since..but jumped on this Plum and never looked back. Mine is also mint...just love it.
 
Congrats, always loved that plum finish and yes, very nice match with the tangerine :rock:

romanianreaper":1nifpcy5 said:
Awesome man! I wish I still had my Charvel from around 2008 in slime green. USA made and a great guitar! I'm obsessed with Charvels too. :)
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Still got my 2008 slime green, actually was just playing it this morning. Definitely a killer guitar!
 
First off... This guitar is gorgeous and it's kinda really awesome... BUT...

Hahaha. This guy is lucky that i'm a tech, because anyone else would have sent it back. I told my band guy to ask for some money back, but in the end, i put about $60 labor worth of work into it (maybe $5 in parts though), so i i just said fuck it.

Regardless, the guitar is beautiful and plays as well as my other Charvels after a quick setup. Paint is dead mint.

Now the story....

First clue. Sent via Post Office with 30-something Marvin Gaye stamps on it. Came in great condition, but i thought it was odd and funny.
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I didn't get a pic of the custom Charvel case, but it's a fantastic case. Very rugged and pretty on the inside.

I didn't even play it initially, because i could tell right away that the neck needed adjusting and it had 11's on it, which i wouldn't even bother with, so i'm inspecting it. Notice the toggle switch is loose, but no biggy, but i turn it over to inspect the back and i hear "clunk". Literally sounded like some one put fishing weights under the pickguard or something.

So the guitar is completely apart and i remove the pickguard. NO SPRINGS ON THE PICKUPS. They are just flapping around willy nilly. Then i see electrical tape and and this 250k pot...

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At this point i plug it in and start testing the pickups. Toggle switch is wired backwards, but it doesn't matter because there was so much solder on it that it was either shorting itself out or sometimes making both connections (bridge and neck at the same time no matter what position). So proceed to replace the pot and rewire the pickups (as well as add springs). I don't have any short 3 way toggle's in stock right now, so that will have to wait, but i did manage to remove some solder from the original toggle and make it work sometimes. If i smack it just right. :LOL:

I went and set it all up and it's fantastic.

Here is a fact. The base they use for the Plum is gold. It's silver on my Tangerine.
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So... I'll replace the toggle this weekend. I did manage to play it for about 2 minutes when i hit the toggle just right for the bridge pickup to work. Sounds great. :LOL:

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Had a similar experience with the ESP I just purchased.

The guitar came in with Seymour Duncan blackouts. When I plugged the guitar in the sound was weak. Really weak. Took it apart and the battery connector literally fell apart in my hands. The pickup leads were twisted and TAPED together (ie, no solder), and the rest of the solder joints looked like they had been completed by a 5 year old. Basically I ended up stripping it down to parade rest and re-soldering every connection just to get it working right.

If I didn't have some guitar tech skills I would have sent it right back. Hard to believe something so simple could be so botched up....and worse, that someone thought it was OK to sell it like that on Reverb.
 
Rock Bodom":32vx0qab said:
Congrats, always loved that plum finish and yes, very nice match with the tangerine :rock:

romanianreaper":32vx0qab said:
Awesome man! I wish I still had my Charvel from around 2008 in slime green. USA made and a great guitar! I'm obsessed with Charvels too. :)
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Still got my 2008 slime green, actually was just playing it this morning. Definitely a killer guitar!
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Bastard!!!! LOL! Man, I loved that guitar when I had it. I sold mine to some 20s something kid years ago but was a cool experience for me. He showed up with his girlfriend to get the guitar and he was starstruck by it and just so excited when he saw it in person and went on and on about it. It was like I was passing the Charvel torch. LOL
 
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