Charvel Custom Shop, what is this thing??

[mooncobra]

look at this at guitar center used, look at the shape of the headstock, deep scalloped frets what exactly is this, is it a real custom shop? If you ordered a custom shop, could you tell them you wanted a different shaped headstock? Steve, this question is mainly for you!! You are da man when it comes to Charvel, so what is the verdict on this thing?

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Charve ... -Guitar.gc

 

[gtrwun]

I know you arent talking to me Mike, but I gotta pipe in and say that thing is damn ugly. One of the ugliest ive ever seen? And whats with that Barney Fife headstock? It's just allllllllllll wrong! Ha!

 

[Shawn Lutz]

There was a time before Fender bought Jackson and a C & D on the strat headstock so they couldn't build strat headstocks even from the custom shop. After Fender bought Jackson they eventually brought back the strat headstocks. GMW also got hit with a C& D from Fender which forced Lee to come up with his 2 new headstock desgins.

I'm not 100% sure if this is a custom shop piece or not but it is an odd ball that is for sure

 

[gtrwun]

There was a time before Fender bought Jackson and a C & D on the strat headstock so they couldn't build strat headstocks even from the custom shop. After Fender bought Jackson they eventually brought back the strat headstocks. GMW also got hit with a C& D from Fender which forced Lee to come up with his 2 new headstock desgins.

I'm not 100% sure if this is a custom shop piece or not but it is an odd ball that is for sure

I had an early San Dimas II Koa that had the "non fender" headstock they used before the Fender buy out, but I dont recall it being that ugly. Maybe its just this particular guitar. I'd be really surprised if this is in fact a real custom shop build. I'm leaning towards what Reza said.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

I've been in the C/J game a long time and one thing is certain, when you think you have it all figured out some exception to the rule comes into play.

remember if its a custom shop they'd do whatever the customer requests within reason. I doubt anyone asked for that headstock but scallops and neck wood are not out of the realm of possibilities

 

[Chester Nimitz]

 

[mooncobra]

I know you arent talking to me Mike, but I gotta pipe in and say that thing is damn ugly. One of the ugliest ive ever seen? And whats with that Barney Fife headstock? It's just allllllllllll wrong! Ha!

something seems really weird and odd about it?????????????

 

[gtrwun]

I know you arent talking to me Mike, but I gotta pipe in and say that thing is damn ugly. One of the ugliest ive ever seen? And whats with that Barney Fife headstock? It's just allllllllllll wrong! Ha!

something seems really weird and odd about it?????????????

yeah...very odd, but like Shawn said, I guess it's not beyond the realm of possibility that this is some kind of one off weirdo piece.

 

[SFW]

The headstock is the same shape as my late 90s early 2000s Charvel Journeyman.

 

[gtrwun]

^^^^^^^ thats the same headstock as my San Dimas II had. It just look funny in those pics, maybe because of the wood it appears to look different to my eye.

 

[311boogieman]

It looks different to me too - closer to a strat headstock


But damn that guitar is

 

[Anonymous]

Ah yes... the ballsack headstock... Not quite a strat, but in the mid-late 90s, the custom shop thought people might buy it after Fender "Cease and Desisted" them... Ah... no... don't dig it...

I believe that is a legit Charvel Custom Shop guitar from sometime around 2006-2008 after Fender took over, but it could even be later. That looks like an early "resumption of production" neck plate, before they started doing the 3D ones like the original '80s serialized production guitars.

I've seen some weird stuff come out of the new Custom Shop since Fender took over, so I'm not surprised by the ballsack, the scalloping or the finished neck. They would do whatever someone ordered really back then if you worked with them. Logos look like modern custom shop. Not that they couldn't or haven't been copied. The large headstock logo - I've seen stuff like that on new Charvels.

They make one-offs sometimes for NAMM, etc, that are nothing like what you would expect from Charvel (based on the '80s guitars anyway), so it could be just one of those oddities, or it could be a custom order. I bet it is just a custom shop one-off though - no one would order that headstock from the 90s... I don't know of anyone who makes necks with that headstock - not that someone couldn't get a one-off, but I doubt it... I don't think its a fake...

Looks like a quality guitar with some super nice looking neck wood. I vote that it is an odd, but legit, one-off Custom Shop Charvel from the early post-Fender period...

Steve

 

[mooncobra]

The headstock is the same shape as my late 90s early 2000s Charvel Journeyman.

similar yes, but look at the pic just of the headstock, it has the current custom shop logo up above the charvel logo, weird huh?

 

[Racerxrated]

If you look up Charvel San Dimas SDIV, it looks like the purple one i have from 1995 but someone had it customized after the fact. The neck plate and headstock are a giveaway that its probably from this era, 94-96 built in the Jackson Custom shop. So maybe a previous owner sent it back to have the custom paint job, or a private party painted it but I'd bet that's the case. Really great custom shop guitars but no way its worth that..I paid 649 for mine 2 months ago. Also GC.com. These guitars are great players though, very similar to a Jackson PC1.

 

[Racerxrated]

On second thought, never mind. Steve's right, gotta be a one-off maybe for someone who wanted a 94-96 remake of sorts. The neck plate is similar to mine but different. Crazy stuff.

 

[Anonymous]

On second thought, never mind. Steve's right, gotta be a one-off maybe for someone who wanted a 94-96 remake of sorts. The neck plate is similar to mine but different. Crazy stuff.

That ain't a '90s guitar...

Steve