Old Charvel Help

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drewiv

drewiv

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I'm not very familiar with Charvels. My buddy brought this over for me to setup and try out and it is missing the screws from the nut lock (pictured). Does anyone know where I can get these? Anyone tell the year from the serial number? American made? The legend of the guitar is: he got it in the early 90's and was supposedly owned by a member of Survivor. I'm not sure of it's lineage, but I do know it's old because I remember when he got it. This thing has been sitting in it's case for, at least, the past 15 years. I appreciate any help from the Charvel crowd as I'm always willing to help on Ibanez guitars as that's my wheel house.

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That is a made in Japan Charvel Model series guitar. The Fort Worth, USA neckplate was confusing to say the least and many people believed they had USA Charvels when they had these guitars.

I am pretty sure what we are looking at is what was called the Charvel Model 2. It was originally a single humbucker guitar and it looks like someone added the neck humbucker as it's placement doesn't look quite stock. They also added the mini toggle to switch pickups. There was also a Charvel Model 3a that was available with two humbuckers like this one, but the neck humbucker was closer to the neck and it had a typical 3 way, blade switch in a different spot.

These are decent guitars but no where near as well made of guitars as the USA Charvels that came before them. The most recent one of these I sold was a Model 1 in mint condition and it went for in the high $300's.

The Kahler trem on this guitar you have here is pretty horrible. You might be able to source parts for it through Kahler USA as they are back in business. Otherwise, I would take the nut with you to a specialty hardware store and see if you can figure something out. I always go to a store that specializes in fasteners for race cars and other specialty pieces and I can find most hardware I am looking for there.

I hope this helps. I wouldn't bet my life on this info as I was never really into the Model series Charvels. They are decent to good guitars and the higher the Model series number was, the more expensive they were. The Model 5 and Model 6 were neck through body guitars that were very similar to the Jackson Soloists.
 
Based on the bridge, it's mid 80's vintage. I have a 1986 model 2 that came with that bridge and it didn't take long before I had it replaced. I think Curt is on to something with his theory of the neck pickup being installed after the fact.
 
Thanks guys. I noticed I wasn't very fond of the tremolo myself. I've never seen this model before and the spring load barely can handle the 10s he wanted put on it. I may dig around to find an additional spring. It's actually not a horrible player. I would change the pickups myself, I don't know what they are, but they are quite dry. He doesn't play it at all, he loves his first run G&L Tele. I had been bugging him for years to drag it out and he brought it over last week for me to get playable again. It still has the same set of strings it had on it 15 years ago. I know this because the B string was still broken, just like it was the last time I saw it in, say, 1995. It was pretty dirty when I got it and the fretboard needed serious oiling. I soaked it a couple time in lemon oil after I de-gunked it. Overall, I give it a passing grade as a guitar. Thanks again. I'll remove the locking nut and send him on a hardware store journey. Unless I can dig something out in my spare parts bin, but that would be a miracle at best.
 
Chubtone":wz9vcnzf said:
That is a made in Japan Charvel Model series guitar. The Fort Worth, USA neckplate was confusing to say the least and many people believed they had USA Charvels when they had these guitars.

I am pretty sure what we are looking at is what was called the Charvel Model 2. It was originally a single humbucker guitar and it looks like someone added the neck humbucker as it's placement doesn't look quite stock. They also added the mini toggle to switch pickups. There was also a Charvel Model 3a that was available with two humbuckers like this one, but the neck humbucker was closer to the neck and it had a typical 3 way, blade switch in a different spot.

These are decent guitars but no where near as well made of guitars as the USA Charvels that came before them. The most recent one of these I sold was a Model 1 in mint condition and it went for in the high $300's.

The Kahler trem on this guitar you have here is pretty horrible. You might be able to source parts for it through Kahler USA as they are back in business. Otherwise, I would take the nut with you to a specialty hardware store and see if you can figure something out. I always go to a store that specializes in fasteners for race cars and other specialty pieces and I can find most hardware I am looking for there.

I hope this helps. I wouldn't bet my life on this info as I was never really into the Model series Charvels. They are decent to good guitars and the higher the Model series number was, the more expensive they were. The Model 5 and Model 6 were neck through body guitars that were very similar to the Jackson Soloists.
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Chubtone,

I agree the neck pickup looks to be added. If I remember correctly the model 2a had 2 pickups with a 3 way switch, 2 volume knobs, and tone knob. The Kahler was on 1986's, the JT-6 was on 1987's. Below is a picture of a model 2.
 

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Chubtone":vi52jcce said:
That is a made in Japan Charvel Model series guitar. The Fort Worth, USA neckplate was confusing to say the least and many people believed they had USA Charvels when they had these guitars.

I am pretty sure what we are looking at is what was called the Charvel Model 2. It was originally a single humbucker guitar and it looks like someone added the neck humbucker as it's placement doesn't look quite stock. They also added the mini toggle to switch pickups. There was also a Charvel Model 3a that was available with two humbuckers like this one, but the neck humbucker was closer to the neck and it had a typical 3 way, blade switch in a different spot.

These are decent guitars but no where near as well made of guitars as the USA Charvels that came before them. The most recent one of these I sold was a Model 1 in mint condition and it went for in the high $300's.

The Kahler trem on this guitar you have here is pretty horrible. You might be able to source parts for it through Kahler USA as they are back in business. Otherwise, I would take the nut with you to a specialty hardware store and see if you can figure something out. I always go to a store that specializes in fasteners for race cars and other specialty pieces and I can find most hardware I am looking for there.

I hope this helps. I wouldn't bet my life on this info as I was never really into the Model series Charvels. They are decent to good guitars and the higher the Model series number was, the more expensive they were. The Model 5 and Model 6 were neck through body guitars that were very similar to the Jackson Soloists.
Click to expand...
This is gospel...Curt nailed it.
 
rupe":2ykfrz2u said:
Chubtone":2ykfrz2u said:
That is a made in Japan Charvel Model series guitar. The Fort Worth, USA neckplate was confusing to say the least and many people believed they had USA Charvels when they had these guitars.

I am pretty sure what we are looking at is what was called the Charvel Model 2. It was originally a single humbucker guitar and it looks like someone added the neck humbucker as it's placement doesn't look quite stock. They also added the mini toggle to switch pickups. There was also a Charvel Model 3a that was available with two humbuckers like this one, but the neck humbucker was closer to the neck and it had a typical 3 way, blade switch in a different spot.

These are decent guitars but no where near as well made of guitars as the USA Charvels that came before them. The most recent one of these I sold was a Model 1 in mint condition and it went for in the high $300's.

The Kahler trem on this guitar you have here is pretty horrible. You might be able to source parts for it through Kahler USA as they are back in business. Otherwise, I would take the nut with you to a specialty hardware store and see if you can figure something out. I always go to a store that specializes in fasteners for race cars and other specialty pieces and I can find most hardware I am looking for there.

I hope this helps. I wouldn't bet my life on this info as I was never really into the Model series Charvels. They are decent to good guitars and the higher the Model series number was, the more expensive they were. The Model 5 and Model 6 were neck through body guitars that were very similar to the Jackson Soloists.
Click to expand...
This is gospel...Curt nailed it.
Click to expand...
Why I buy my Charvels from Curt ;)
 
can you show a shot of the back? Charvel didn't use those kind of switches. My guess is this was a single hum unit that someone added a neck hum to.

That is a POS Kahler Traditional trem...

The early model series Charvels are great guitars. I bought a bunch of them and added OFR's, replaced pots/pickups etc. Great solid foundation for customizing ;)
 
Just to add, I believe the Model 2's had basswood bodies and the necks had hard finishes on them (unlike the early originals, the newer pro mods and custom shops).
 
Shawn Lutz":90md2d8r said:
The early model series Charvels are great guitars. I bought a bunch of them and added OFR's, replaced pots/pickups etc. Great solid foundation for customizing ;)
Click to expand...

I agree 100% These guitars are a steal, especially the neck through model 5-6's. an equivalent new guitar would easily cost you over $1,000 and you can find 5 and 6's for $500 and up.

Another thing I like about guitars 20yrs old or more is the wood. As long as the guitar was taken care of, you are getting great sounding aged necks and bodies.
 
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