NGD: Charvel SoCal

[TWPietz37]

First and foremost, I want to thank Art (232cap) for an excellent transaction. He got the guitar out in under 24 hours and it was packed very well.

On to the guitar... I have owned a number of Charvels and Charvel inspired guitars, including original San Dimas stratheads, pointies, parts monsters, GMWs etc. For the price, this is an excellent instrument and I can't imagine a production model guitar coming any closer to capturing the vibe of the originals.

I've only played it for a few minutes thus far but it looks, sounds and feels great. Needless to say I am very impressed. If you are looking for an 80's rock machine on a budget, I highly recommend picking one of these up.

A quick picture:

And just for fun, a few of the Charvels and GMWs I have had the pleasure of owning at one point or another. Unfortunately I have long since sold all of these but they were all cool in their own way.

 

[Digital Jams]

NOICE!

I have pretty much forgotten the higher end stuff, my Charvel works very well for me

 

[Gainfreak]

I just bought one from Curt and although It might be tough for me to say this, it quite possibly has the best tone out of all of my super strats.....hands down

Great guitars for the money.....hell, great guitars period

Congrats!

~R~

 

[ttosh]

 

[fuzzyguitars]

would it be bad for me to say that i would love to have that guitar with a routed floyd and emgs?

 

[tweed]

NICE!!

 

[TWPietz37]

would it be bad for me to say that i would love to have that guitar with a routed floyd and emgs?

If you're referring to the new ones, not at all. If you're talking about the blue one with the brass v-trem then there's probably already a lynch mob comprised of Charvel enthusiasts waiting on your front lawn

 

[RockNRun]

^^^Same here, I JUST got back from the only store in GA that is a Charvel dealer and NEARLY left with one JUST like the OP (CONGRATS btw and damn fine herd)!

I only played a few of the 8 or so he had (both, SD and SoCal) that appealed to me and narrowed them down to two, the other being the seasick green SD, which happens to look much better in person, the color is so different than what is pictured on the Charvel site, not nearly as stark. Newayz, now I REALLY want that guitar, major gas, was considering walking out to grab my credit card even, but get this, the salesman (an old friend of mine) talked me OUT OF IT, lol! He said to hang loose because as we know, the 7th batch hits soon and he's getting "several in 2 or 3 weeks and I'd be silly not to check those out first"....damn skippy!


One question though, I didn't see it on the specs sheet...considering the SD comes with a JB in the bridge - is the stock vol pot a 250k or 500k? Makes a diiference (w/that PU in Alder). Thanks.

My dream guitar after seeing and playing those Charvels today would be a San Dimas Style 2-2H in Trans Red Ale...yum.

Peace

 

[Chubtone]

I just bought one from Curt and although It might be tough for me to say this, it quite possibly has the best tone out of all of my super strats.....hands down

Great guitars for the money.....hell, great guitars period

Congrats!

~R~

I agree with you about the tone. I have 3 of these guitars out of 6 batches, soon to be 4 out of 7 batches. For a while I was all about the Suhr's and it would be crazy to say that these are better made or better quality guitars than the Suhr's I had. But tonally, I don't think these guitars are lacking at all. As a matter of fact I strongly prefer the tone of these over the Suhr's I had, but those were basswood/maple tops so not a fair comparison. Still though, those were $3k guitars. Even when I switch between my holy grail 1984 Charvel and one of these I am hard pressed to determine which one sounds better.

 

[Gainfreak]

I just bought one from Curt and although It might be tough for me to say this, it quite possibly has the best tone out of all of my super strats.....hands down

Great guitars for the money.....hell, great guitars period

Congrats!

~R~

I agree with you about the tone. I have 3 of these guitars out of 6 batches, soon to be 4 out of 7 batches. For a while I was all about the Suhr's and it would be crazy to say that these are better made or better quality guitars than the Suhr's I had. But tonally, I don't think these guitars are lacking at all. As a matter of fact I strongly prefer the tone of these over the Suhr's I had, but those were basswood/maple tops so not a fair comparison. Still though, those were $3k guitars. Even when I switch between my holy grail 1984 Charvel and one of these I am hard pressed to determine which one sounds better.

Curt,
The one you just sold me sings like a bitch and I was literally blown away by the tone and playability. The setup was also perfect right out of the gate lol!
Let the truth be told that I was saving up for a Suhr but I have no desire to do so after getting the Charvel. To be quite honest with you, I'm going to sell off most of my 80's guitars and you should be hearing from me soon

 

[slo100]

I'm looking to get a pair of these guys soon. A So-Cal and a San Dimas.

I owned 2 very early Charvels bought from Gracins in either 79-80 or very early 80's.
For 80's rock nothing got it as well as Charvels. No Suhr, Anderson, etc.

 

[Gainfreak]

I'm looking to get a pair of these guys soon. A So-Cal and a San Dimas.

I owned 2 very early Charvels bought from Gracins in either 79-80 or very early 80's.
For 80's rock nothing got it as well as Charvels. No Suhr, Anderson, etc.

Carl,

Gracin's was where I got my 83 Charvel from. It was the first time I saw the pointy headstocks . They had a few Stratheads leftover but they had graphics on them. One was done up like a heineken bottle and the other was painted like the King crimson album.
Gracin's was a great store.

As far as getting the Charvels, Id be willing to bet that you will not be dissapointed especially if you get one with a resonant body.

 

[slo100]

I'm looking to get a pair of these guys soon. A So-Cal and a San Dimas.

I owned 2 very early Charvels bought from Gracins in either 79-80 or very early 80's.
For 80's rock nothing got it as well as Charvels. No Suhr, Anderson, etc.

Gracin's was where I got my 83 Charvel from. It was the first time I saw the pointy headstocks . They had a few Stratheads leftover but they had graphics on them. One was done up like a heineken bottle and the other was painted like the King crimson album.
Gracin's was a great store.

As far as getting the Charvels, Id be willing to bet that you will not be dissapointed especially if you get one with a resonant body.

I had 2. One was a pinkish salmon color, the other I forgot. One had 2 hums, the other had 1. Both had Strat headstocks and no Floyd.
Gracins was an awesome store. I bought a Mesa combo there and my friend bought hers there, and still has it.

 

[mchn13]

would it be bad for me to say that i would love to have that guitar with a routed floyd and emgs?

back-routed and blackouts here lol. tho i could probably just put a suhr aldrich in it and be done.