OPINION: Newer Charvels are not very good. Neither are SD JBs

braintheory said:
For the longest time I had only tried MIJ, MIM and non-custom USA Charvel’s. Tried lots of them, was unimpressed and never got the hype as to why Charvel is so popular until I got a Custom Shop one and now I have 5 Charvel’s (2 recent Custom Shops and 3 vintage San Dimas’s). Mine all sound and play great. My 2019 Custom Shop Sassafras I think is my best playing and sounding of the bunch. That being said my very best playing guitars I have are my Ronin, 2 Novo’s, and ESP Custom Shop Korina V. The Ronin is probably the 2nd best guitar I’ve ever had behind my ‘57 Les Paul Jr and hands down the best non-vintage guitar I’ve played
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I've had 3 customs, 3 originals(you have one of them) and my 2 USAs from 08/09 outplay any of them. Granted, I went through about 20 of the USAs and 5 MiJs to find these lol. The one advantage the originals have is the tone...all of them have had fantastic complex rich tone that rivals any LP or other custom shop (Suhr, TA) that I've ever played. The 2 USAs I have do have good but not great tone. But playability is #1 for me. The customs also had good tone, but not better than the 2 I have now. There are some gems in that 08/09 line.
 
“I hate everything about this guitar except the way it looks, let me keep throwing money at it”

Is not a solid plan. If I were you, I would do a parts build and get a neck shape you actually like.
 
Racerxrated said:
I've had 3 customs, 3 originals(you have one of them) and my 2 USAs from 08/09 outplay any of them. Granted, I went through about 20 of the USAs and 5 MiJs to find these lol. The one advantage the originals have is the tone...all of them have had fantastic complex rich tone that rivals any LP or other custom shop (Suhr, TA) that I've ever played. The 2 USAs I have do have good but not great tone. But playability is #1 for me. The customs also had good tone, but not better than the 2 I have now. There are some gems in that 08/09 line.
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For me Tone is everything and playability is a nice bonus. I have yet to try a single Suhr or Anderson that had great tone to my ears be it plugged in or unplugged. I agree, my ‘80’s Charvel’s have a tone that’s as good or better than most Les Paul’s I’ve tried except for of course the ‘50’s and ‘60’s ones. Playability wise though my Ronin is hands down the #1 for me. If you had asked me maybe 2 months ago before I got that, my Novo’s and ESP Custom V, I would’ve said Charvel is still king there. Still love my Charvel’s though and for sure will keep 2 or 3, but don’t need them all. Gotta decide now which ones. Ronin’s can be a bit ugly looking, but I don’t care
 
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SoooRad said:
“I hate everything about this guitar except the way it looks, let me keep throwing money at it”

Is not a solid plan. If I were you, I would do a parts build and get a neck shape you actually like.
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Haha that how I feel about those high end PRS’s. They certainly look beautiful at least
 
I don't like my guitars to have all the flame tops, binding, abalone, pearl inlays, and all that other stuff people like. I like my guitars to look simple and tough. Like the Charvel San Dimas. Like a Harley Davidson. No need to change the look or style. It's timeless. I don't like it when guitars look too over designed. I like them to look unassuming. That's why I love the San Dimas. I WILL make this guitar work!
 
I've played a couple of them.

Honestly they feel like any import superstrat guitar does 🤷‍♂️ for both good and ill.

I think there are way better options.
 
I don't have huge hands, but the ESP, Wolfgang and Ibanez necks are just too thin or flat for me(ESP/Wolf too thin, Ibanez too flat). The Charvel has enough back to it that it's just right. I do have another 84 Pointy Charvel that's getting a makeover now, it has the wide/flat profile but they have more back then the Ibanez IMO. These differences are pretty small but they can make/break it or me.
 
MIM guitars in general are play before you buy. Sooo many of them have fret sprout! I had one a few months ago but sold it to someone here, that one was pretty solid, played and sounded good.

I kinda trust Korean made guitars more than Mexico since some of the Schecters I've played from Korea have been pretty awesome, especially a Custom Solo II I got from Sam Ash for around 600 bucks. It's flawless and plays and sounds as good as guitars that cost 3k.
 
I don't have a MIM Charvel but I did built a Partscaster with a MIM neck and hardware.

Over a year in and I'm still struggling to bond with it. I think the neck is just a little too thin/flat for my liking. The Warmoth Strat I built at the same time has the Wolfgang profile and I find that far more comfortable. The fit and finish of the Charvel neck is tops though, I'll give them that.

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I had a MIM San Dimas pro mod. I bought it, because I thought the neck would be nice, but there was something just off about it. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great, either. Sold it a few months ago.
 
I am in the same camp as feeling that the MIM Charvels are terrible. Charvel puzzles me. I had many of the USA Pro Mods and thought they were incredible guitars for the money. I think I had 8-9 of them. I am now kicking myself for selling them as they are super hard to find and people are asking like 1800 for them now. Those necks were great and they sounded good too. They were great modding platforms as well. I assume that Charvel moved production to Japan and then Mexico due to costs / profits etc. I am not sure why they could not keep the parameters the same and the quality the same. It is not like they were difficult guitars to manufacture. I hate the MIM strat head necks. Big and blocky and do not feel at all like the USA Pro Mods. I did not like the Japanese ones either. I had a DK model a year or so ago and it was ok but I got rid of it. I just do not understand why if they had a good thing going - why ruin it? Maybe they sell more guitars now. I dunno
 
The is the last one I got and quickly returned. The bass side string were very dull and muted. I attributed it to old strings. As soon as I took the bridge off for a string change it was apparent the area around the bridge posts was compromised. An no it wasn’t dropped. The void/crack extended I to the spring cavity and the paint goes into the voids, which wouldn’t happen if it was later damage.I also got a satchel with a neck pocket crack. That didn’t happen in shipping either. It was new in box and very evident with obvious touch up attempts where it looked like they tried to paint match and buff. They are blatantly putting out garbage. QA is non existent

As expected, after showing this to GC, they put it right back in the rack.
 
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I have not played the new 24 fret models, but the 2018 ProMod I had was great. It had one of the best necks I have played on.
 
legend71 said:
I am in the same camp as feeling that the MIM Charvels are terrible. Charvel puzzles me. I had many of the USA Pro Mods and thought they were incredible guitars for the money. I think I had 8-9 of them. I am now kicking myself for selling them as they are super hard to find and people are asking like 1800 for them now. Those necks were great and they sounded good too. They were great modding platforms as well. I assume that Charvel moved production to Japan and then Mexico due to costs / profits etc. I am not sure why they could not keep the parameters the same and the quality the same. It is not like they were difficult guitars to manufacture. I hate the MIM strat head necks. Big and blocky and do not feel at all like the USA Pro Mods. I did not like the Japanese ones either. I had a DK model a year or so ago and it was ok but I got rid of it. I just do not understand why if they had a good thing going - why ruin it? Maybe they sell more guitars now. I dunno
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I’m surprised they messed with the best part of any Charvel-the neck. The 2013 MiM I played had the right neck feel but it sounded terrible and maybe weighed 5 lbs...like a cheap imitation. Weight isn’t everything but most of my heavier guitars sound killer. The two USAs I have now play so well, and sound so good I don’t think I’d let them go for 2K each. They are better than any of the 3 customs I’ve owned.
 
Surprise at the anti-JB sentiment in this thread. I know there is some dislike out there for it but it’s been a great pickup used by many pros for decades. That’s why Charvel puts it in so many guitars. Have u adjusted pickup height, pole pieces?
 
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