OK, I'll throw in one of my Charvel stories... I've told this one here before a long time ago, but many probably haven't heard it...
In '82 just after Randy Rhoad's death, I went to the Charvel manufacturing location with a buddy who was going to buy a bass (he had sold enough weed to come up with the cash. I unfortunately was a starving student at the time and just had a Dimarzio parts guitar). At that time, you could call to let 'em know you were coming and then get a tour, look at what they had in stock and grab something at a slightly cheaper than retail price.
So, we get to the place and we almost immediately get a nice welcome from Grover Jackson himself. My buddy tells him he's looking to grab a bass and Grover asks if we want to get a tour of the place. We went through the whole place, got to see a bunch of cool graphic Charvel bodies drying and then Grover asks if we want to see a couple of Randy's guitars that were still in paint. We go in and there are two Rhoads Vs, one built for a vintage tremolo and the other string-through/LP type setup. Both were in the midst of being painted black. Grover is telling us that he died before they could finish those two for him. Man... I wonder who ended up with those two guitars... My guess is Grover must have kept them. It was kinda a somber moment... us standing there reverently looking at these two guitar that had been destined for one of our heroes... "Well... let's take a look at what we have in stock", says Grover...
We go to the place where they store the finished guitars and there is literally a wall of cases. My buddy starts checking out basses and there are 5 or 6 that he's playing. I'm standing there, happy for him, but miserable that I'm too poor to get anything. Grover asked me if I wanted to play some guitars and I tell him I have no money to buy anything. "So what, play anything you want!", he says. I got to play an EVH B&Y and a couple others that I don't remember. All strat heads and vintage tremolos as I remember. Oh, hell, what I wouldn't give to have a few of the ones I played that day now!!!
So my buddy ends up picking out a metallic red P-Bass clone (He still has it to this day. Just had it re-fretted and setup by my luthier), which he got for a great price, but I don't remember exactly what it was... We're getting ready to take off and Grover thanks us, but then he goes, "Oh hey, you guy's want to meet Ozzy's new guitar player? He's here picking out a few guitars on Ozzy's tab."... Do we want to meet Ozzy's new guitar player? Hmmmm... Lemme see... HELL YEAH!
So we go into a room where this dark haired latino looking dude with a perfect EVH haircut is sitting in front of an old Marshall with a red/white Charvel Bullseye just BLAZING away. The guy was a phenomenal player, did a lot of fast legato and tapping stuff that had my jaw dropped. He stops and Grover introduces us to him as Mark Torien (yes, the same guy who turned into a blond DLR clone as the singer of the Bullet Boys), Ozzy's new guitarist. The guy shakes our hands and asks us what we think Ozzy will think of the Bullseye, randomly ripping in between discussion. He's a nice guy, real animated. Finally, he goes, "Hey you guys want to hear a new Ozzy song? This one is called Bark at the Moon." And sure enough, the guy starts playing what we eventually would all know as the song when it was released. I know people will argue with me about this, but I heard what I heard and he said what he said. I dunno who wrote the song, but he was playing it. He stops after the chorus and we say our goodbyes and Grover walks us out. I have to say, Grover could not have been a cooler guy and more welcoming to show us what he was up to. Great hang...
So fast forward and Jake get announced as Ozzy's new guitarist. Me and my buddy were confused, but later heard through the grapevine that Mark had been dropped because of some drug issue. This is, of course, complete speculation, but he was out. So, one night we head to the Roxy to go check out Ratt, and sure enough, there is Mark Torien in the Warren spot, playing that red/white bullseye Charvel he'd been playing at the factory. He was filling in because Warren couldn't play for some reason... I guess Ozzy let him keep the guitars...
Steve
Appreciate you sharing them.
