Explain the Charvel models to me.

['63-Strat]

buying a custom shop for thousands more is much better than sanding a MIJ neck and getting it re fretted and changing the chrome knob to a brass one

??

Not sure what you mean... The Custom Shops are much more than just better neck finish, frets and a brass knob...

Steve

No doubt, he forgot the CS sticker and Chubtone secret handshake of Men who like Charvels.

The Pro Mods and MIJs are very good. The Custom Shops are better. It is up to the individual to determine if the increase in cost is worth it.

Also, the Pro Mods and MIJs are not ugly enough for me...

Steve

I have had to replace the switches on all three of my ProMods, they are not really top notch parts.

I want a CS Dinky and when I am ready will speak with the Charvel enabler around here, only thing not settled is the paint. Part of me wants a basic classic charvel finish but the 80s in me wants some sort of graphic.

It will not be as ugly as your stuff though.

like this ..

just had to repo it back from someone who was suppose to but it from me .. 85 San Dimas Rising sun body .. the person took my orignal neck off (see my avatar) and sold it on me has a promod neck it on now..

nothing screams 80s more than that guitar is for sale ....

Uh... that sucks. What's the story? I'd be really pissed.

 

[dulrich1227]

Uh... that sucks. What's the story? I'd be really pissed.

very abridged verision -
friend say he loves your guitar and wants to buy , you agree on price but friend is a little down on his luck and you let friend take the guitar on payment plan with no cash down...
friend plays guitar alot at gigs etc , all good still friend , some time goes buy ..
friend give you close to half of agreed upon price (mind you this was "friend" pricing LOL)
friend still out playing guitar, still no rest of payment, friend buys another guitar, friend says he wants to change the neck and will pay you the rest as soon as other loaded guitar body sells .. ok still friend...
friend still owes you money..
BAM! you suddenly see your guitar for sale on well known charvel site that you are a member .. PISSED WAS NOT THE WORD HOW I WAS FEELING .. owner of said site pulls ad, after a few calls and texts to now ex friend, give deposit back and get guitar back minus orignal neck and hardware, even the wrong floyd bar & strap locks .... UGH ...

with all that said though.... the japan made necks are nice .. but yea I AM STILL PISSED ...

 

[Chris O]

Doesn't the snakeskin come with SS frets? Seems like a sweet guitar.


Jim

Some did. Mine did not.

To the OP--

I've owned the Charvels of many men...and a few of my own. I have had 5 of the USA Production Model, 1 Japanese Pro Mod, and all 4 Warren Demartini models, along with COUNTLESS imports and a few of the 1995-ish USA Sears Headstock models.

FOR THE MONEY, the Japanese Pro Mod cannot be beat. The neck takes a quick rub down, but is/was arguably better than any of the USA's I had. The WDM's are impeccable. I can't pick on anything. The necks are simply awesome. That said, the Pro Mods are not too far behind. The hardware can be upgraded on the lower-priced models easily enough, and what is on there is good enough for 90% of us. Many men would argue with that, but the stuff does it's job. the rest is mostly cork-sniffery.

These guitars are incredibly versatile, and can cover almost any style you can come up with - they only LOOK metal...sometimes. Of course, that is somewhat dependent on your pickup selection -- the single Seymour RTM in my WDM's isn't what I would call ideal for some, but since I'm pretty one-dimensional in what I play, it's perfect.

The bottom line - it's hard to go wrong with any of the recent releases by Charvel. It really depends on how deep in your pockets you wanna dig, but you won't be disappointed regardless of the price point you choose.

 

[Chubtone]

Yes, to everything written above!

 

['63-Strat]

Uh... that sucks. What's the story? I'd be really pissed.

very abridged verision -
friend say he loves your guitar and wants to buy , you agree on price but friend is a little down on his luck and you let friend take the guitar on payment plan with no cash down...
friend plays guitar alot at gigs etc , all good still friend , some time goes buy ..
friend give you close to half of agreed upon price (mind you this was "friend" pricing LOL)
friend still out playing guitar, still no rest of payment, friend buys another guitar, friend says he wants to change the neck and will pay you the rest as soon as other loaded guitar body sells .. ok still friend...
friend still owes you money..
BAM! you suddenly see your guitar for sale on well known charvel site that you are a member .. PISSED WAS NOT THE WORD HOW I WAS FEELING .. owner of said site pulls ad, after a few calls and texts to now ex friend, give deposit back and get guitar back minus orignal neck and hardware, even the wrong floyd bar & strap locks .... UGH ...

with all that said though.... the japan made necks are nice .. but yea I AM STILL PISSED ...

FUUUUUUU......

Yeah I'd be super pissed, sorry to hear that. No good deed goes unpunished sometimes it seems.

 

[irondeth21]

Somebody posted on usa charvels that the legacies are supposed to drop to $999 since they are really not selling. Poster said he bought a candy stripe one for that price and the splatters are supposed to drop. Somebody else there also said they swung by the music zoo and played a bunch of splatters and the fret work was awful on them. Just passing on what was posted. Lots of good info at that site.

I LOVE my USA San Dimas pro mod btw!

 

[Digital Jams]

Wow that neck selling story sucks!!!!! Sorry to hear that.

I would go for a Warren snake but..

1. I would want chrome hardware so that would make it CS.....

2. Curt would be telling everyone digiyambag does not have a REAL San Dimas Dinky body and would laugh at me.

The story Curt told how he and Mike Shannon hashed out the real Dinky profile was way too cool to pass up, I want that profile.

 

[joepete77]

so cal model and san dimas are the two main models, same basic guitar just one has a pickgaurd with dimarzios and the other has no pickgaurd and seymours. Recently they have the pro mod series which are japanese. I went to samash with high expectations for the jap pro mods, they had four in stock new, two of which had faulty toggle switches. Kind of makes me wonder about their quality if they are breaking on the showroom floor. For the money u will spend on the jap pro mods u can find a nos or slightly used usa production model for the same price or even less, although I dont care for the black hardware. Also as said above I think that the grover jackson custom shop run at music zoo are really nice and a great deal and price.

 

[Anonymous]

Somebody posted on usa charvels that the legacies are supposed to drop to $999 since they are really not selling. Poster said he bought a candy stripe one for that price and the splatters are supposed to drop. Somebody else there also said they swung by the music zoo and played a bunch of splatters and the fret work was awful on them. Just passing on what was posted. Lots of good info at that site.

I LOVE my USA San Dimas pro mod btw!

I own a Legacy from Music Zoo and it has stellar fret work. They will SLOWLY drop the prices until they all sell, but I predict it isn't gonna be $999 for a long while. $1299 is a bargain for the Legacy I got... I was happy to pay $1499 for it...

NO way that the poster bought a new Candy Stripe for $999 - that is pure bullshit...

Steve

 

[Chris O]

It was after trade.

 

[Chris O]

so cal model and san dimas are the two main models, same basic guitar just one has a pickgaurd with dimarzios and the other has no pickgaurd and seymours. Recently they have the pro mod series which are japanese. I went to samash with high expectations for the jap pro mods, they had four in stock new, two of which had faulty toggle switches. Kind of makes me wonder about their quality if they are breaking on the showroom floor. For the money u will spend on the jap pro mods u can find a nos or slightly used usa production model for the same price or even less, although I dont care for the black hardware. Also as said above I think that the grover jackson custom shop run at music zoo are really nice and a great deal and price.

FWIW, every USA Pro Mod I had except one also had switch issues. No idea why, but it truly sucks. My Japanese Pro Mod did not, but I didn't have it long.

ALSO...my WDM Snake has THE SAME problem.

USA/Japan...makes no difference. It is a little irritating.

 

[irondeth21]

The switch on my usa pro mod sucks too. When it's in the middle position it drops out of place, if I flick it straight to the neck or bridge position's it hold fine so I never got around to changing it out.

 

[Bronco]

Wow that neck selling story sucks!!!!! Sorry to hear that.

I would go for a Warren snake but..

1. I would want chrome hardware so that would make it CS.....

2. Curt would be telling everyone digiyambag does not have a REAL San Dimas Dinky body and would laugh at me.

The story Curt told how he and Mike Shannon hashed out the real Dinky profile was way too cool to pass up, I want that profile.

Hell yeah, thank God for Curt; I thought I was the only one who noticed a difference.