Anyone own BOTH USA and MIJ Charvel So Cal's?

[Gainiac]

If so, any preference??

and I MEAN BOTH.
Dont chime in with your stupid favorite guitar unless you have experience with BOTH...

 

[maiden_fan]

I have the San dimas model of each. I prefer the USA, but I think the MIJ may actually be built better! The only difference is the MIJ has a slightly thicker finish on the neck, a bit thinner neck (on mine anyway) and the fingerboard edges are rolled.

 

[Guitar G]

I have a USA So-Cal, a USA San Dimas, and a Jap ProMod San Dimas wild card (3 p/u's, recessed trem). The best of the 3 is the USA So-Cal, with the USA and Jap San Dimas a close second. The neck on the Jap model feels faster with the rolled edges. It did have more of a finish on the neck when new. For all three, I sanded the back of the necks to get to raw wood and did the Tru-Oil thing. It makes the necks feel like sex.

Amazing guitars for the money. I'd say get one, whether a USA or a Jap build. Great guitars.



Greg

 

[chumbucket]

Lotsa bang for the buck no matter which one you get.

 

[splawner]

USA No doubt!!

 

[gibsonash]

Got the two and sold the MIJ because : USA is the best !

 

[Erock]

Have owned 3 MIA, 3 CS, and 6 MIJ. All great guitars IMO. I like the oil they use on the MIA necks more in appearance, but prefer the feel of the MIJ necks over the MIA. It just feels like more time was spent on finishing work. The actual body finishes also look like more time was spent getting it perfect. The best sounding guitar of the bunch is a CS, but my white SoCal MIJ is right behind it. I honestly wouldn't hesitate to grab either a MIJ or MIA after owning both, would just depend on the deal I was getting.

 

[zewango]

The MIJ I have is some serious bang for the buck. The neck is killer.

 

[Gainfreak]

Like Both Models they vary brother. You should know first hand since you were the one who swapped out my USA neck to the Japanese Body. The MIJ neck that I got with my MIJ Charvel was a huge piece of shit IMHO, but I have since played others that were just as good as the USA's. These are most definitley try before you buy guitars IMHO.

 

[Toshiro]

Have owned 3 MIA, 3 CS, and 6 MIJ. All great guitars IMO. I like the oil they use on the MIA necks more in appearance, but prefer the feel of the MIJ necks over the MIA. It just feels like more time was spent on finishing work. The actual body finishes also look like more time was spent getting it perfect. The best sounding guitar of the bunch is a CS, but my white SoCal MIJ is right behind it. I honestly wouldn't hesitate to grab either a MIJ or MIA after owning both, would just depend on the deal I was getting.

^this. I have a USA SoCal and 2 MIJ necks.

 

[rupe]

There isn't much difference overall IMO. I liked the feel of the finish MUCH better on the US version but the Japanese necks have had consistently better fretwork. The rounded fret ends and rolled fretboard edges on the imports are fantastic, custom shop quality attributes. Sand the finish off the back of the neck and re-oil...done.

 

[Cflat96]

Do we have to currently own both to post? If so, I apologize ahead of time.

I currently own two MIJ Charvels. A SoCal that I swapped the body out for a SanDimas body, and a Wild Card #4 Dead Calm Aqua.
I've owned a USA Charvel, and have played a bunch of them. In many cases, right next to MIJ ones.

There is not much difference. The differences have been mentioned already. The MIJ have rolled fingerboard edges, a different(thicker and darker) finish on the neck, and seems to me nicer fret work. The MIJ necks feel faster, too.
One pain in the ass thing about the MIJ San Dimas(to me), is that the pickup routes are so shallow and they are direct mounted. This means that the pickup is jammed up close to the strings and you can't really adjust it. I routed my San Dimas deeper and installed pickup rings, and I'm happier for it.

Of all the MIA and MIJ Charvels I've played, I would seriously recommend you play before you buy if at all possible. They can be hit or miss. Both versions. I don't think I've found one to be more consistent than the other in this regard.

Also, do not forget to try changing blocks to steel or brass. This makes a bigger difference than pickups. Steel for brighter, harder, louder, more PING, more highs and lows. Brass for filled out musical mids that have more bloom and more bell like.

 

[theonetruematt]

I don't own either but I've played about 4 MIJs and one USA and was trying to decide which to get myself.

I work at a music store so I played several MIJ San Dimas and So Cals that came through, love them and was just trying to narrow down which model/color I wanted to order for myself when we found a 2009 USA San Dimas that had been on layaway for a loooong time. One of the other sales guys snatched it up but I got to play it and it was very nice. So I started thinking maybe I should see if I can track down another one in the chain. I wasn't able to directly A/B them so I started to wonder if the USA one was better.

Finally decided I'd take either if the features/color/price was right. I'm planning to order a MIJ and here's why:

I don't like the colors of the USA ones still floating around new (Sea Sick and Magenta), and I can get a new MIJ much cheaper. My coworker is gonna pay at least $200 more for the USA one than he would for a MIJ. I definitely didn't think if there was any tiny difference in the USA one that it was worth more money than the MIJ. And I played a couple of the MIJ ones almost daily until they sold. My fav guitars in the store.

So my vote goes for: whatever is the right price and combination of features (ie: the style/pickups/color). I did some searching on other forums and haven't seen anyone able to agree one or the other was consistently better.

 

[BYTOR]

I have a red, a purple, and a white So Cal USA and a baby blue San Dimas USA. Great guitars

Had a black MIJ So Cal that I sold, but it was a very good guitar. The USA's are the shit though

 

[Gainiac]

I want to Thank you ALL for your input.

I have 2 MIA's that I've personally tweaked and And also had the trems recessed (cause i'm f'n crazy that way) and they're prolly my favorite go-to guitars of all my toys, and happily, a great 'matched set' for tone an playability, something I'd ALWAYS wanted, where if you break a string and grab another one you dont have to run STRAIGHT to the amp and re-tweak the EQ section... Great guitars..

Back when I was working at 'NAME DELETED' shop, out of curiosity, I'd brought in and compared one of my so-cals to a Dimartini, brought out a micrometer 4 neck measurements, and couldnt find a THING different between the 2 models. and tone, neck feel, playability? the Socal made me think I'd saved myself a ton of cash over any given 'usa' model Charvel at the time (C.Shop nothwithstanding, natch...) and my pickguard guitar had more bite and growl. I was quite happy indeed!
BUT.... I'd heard some questionable things about the MIJ's, differences in the neck, +/-, I'd given Gainfreak a hand with a few issues he had with one, and having another friend who'd asked for my opinion on em, was apprehensive to give an opinion based on ONE bad mij experience. it made sense to inquire of all you Metalheads before who'd had more MIJ experience than I.
Thanx again, Gents!!