Played a Charvel San Dimas MIM Today. Amazing!

[romanianreaper]

As a point of reference, I used to own a USA DeMartini Charvel and loved it. Great playing guitar with amazing tone. There was a used Charvel in a local guitar store (not the most recent MIM models, maybe a year or so older) so I decided to give it a whirl.

Charvel has just been impressing me all over the place the past few years. When I was in high school, my friends and I all wanted to own Charvels. All of our heroes owned one (Jake E. Lee, DeMartini, Lynch, etc.) and just seemed like an unachievable goal. Years ago I had one of the Charvels with the non-Fender type headstock. It was ok, but nothing like these newer ones.

The feel of the neck is one of the best things about these guitars. It is a bonus that they look great, sound great and stay in tune. I mean for the price, you just can't go wrong. I haven't even tried a new one and those have all types of coil-tapping and pickup switch options which is even better!

Anyway, have just been impressed as hell with these. I'm planning on grabbing one of the newer ones soon. I like that they are cornering that 80s metal market with the color schemes. I have played some of the lower end EVH models and they don't seem as good as the Charvels to me. They have a nice neck and sound ok but they just don't seem as solid to me.

 

[mixn4him]

Recently picked up a MIJ San Dimas and could not be happier. Have not played a new one as no one around here carries them, which is a shame cause I am sure they would sell like crazy...

 

[Chris O]

 

[neilli777]

I have the USA Warren Snake and it's an awesome guitar. I've played some of the earlier US made Pro mods / Socals (I forget how the naming works!) and they were really good too, so it's nice to read that the imports are keeping up!

 

[MetalHeadMike]

Ya got my juices flowing

 

[Buckeyedog]

Which store??

 

[romanianreaper]

Ya got my juices flowing

LOL! You're done man. Just get your wallet out and don't fight it.

 

[romanianreaper]

Which store??

Hey brotha, what's up man? I drove down to the Sam Ash near Cincy (275 near Sharonville?). They had a light blue one in there. I mean for $899 new those things are a steal.

Hope you are doing well man! I was actually thinking about you yesterday and wondering if you had picked up any new gear lately.

 

[SFW]

Picked up a 2017 MIM San Dimas earlier this year. I have been very happy with the playability of the guitar. I have installed a few upgrades- 5-way super switch and a set of Duncan PATB pickups. The guitar is extremely versatile and scratches all the right itches.

 

[Bloodrock]

Love my Japanese charvel. I wish the mim versions still had the top mount Floyd tho.

 

[romanianreaper]

Picked up a 2017 MIM San Dimas earlier this year. I have been very happy with the playability of the guitar. I have installed a few upgrades- 5-way super switch and a set of Duncan PATB pickups. The guitar is extremely versatile and scratches all the right itches.

That is actually a great idea doing upgrades like that to make it even better. I was looking at the Ibanez Joe Satriani signature guitar as well and I thought "ok, one is $2400 and the other is $899". I'm sure the Satch guitar is phenomenal but nice there is something with a Floyd that plays and sounds great and won't break the bank.

 

[romanianreaper]

Love my Japanese charvel. I wish the mim versions still had the top mount Floyd tho.

So is yours dive only? I don't ever pull up when doing trem stuff, it has always been for diving bombs, etc.

 

[Shask]

Love my Japanese charvel. I wish the mim versions still had the top mount Floyd tho.

That is funny because I always kind of wish my MIJ had the recessed Floyd and easy truss rod adjustment. The top mounted Floyd is kind of weird to me. Love the feel of the guitar though! I have had it for around 6-7 years.

I have often wondered if the top mounted Floyd makes the strings feel like they have more tension. I have always felt this guitar felt stiffer than others.

 

[Shask]

Love my Japanese charvel. I wish the mim versions still had the top mount Floyd tho.

So is yours dive only? I don't ever pull up when doing trem stuff, it has always been for diving bombs, etc.

My MIJ will pull up a slight bit, but not much. You can do some nice flutters, but no Dimebag style squeals.

 

[ewill52]

Love my MIJ. did an FU Tone brass block and trem stop, other than that it's pretty much stock. Possibly one of the best bang-for-your-buck deals out there.

 

[kunos]

had a MIM san dimas with a fixed bridge for some days about a year ago.
The guitar was a mess, had a bad nut that would get the D open string sound terrible plus the wiring was compromised with loud noise coming out when touching any metal part, so it had to go back BUT.. that neck, oh man.. what a wonderful thing to play it is. I am really tempted to have a go again with that Telecaster looking San Dimas they launched recently.

 

[Racerxrated]

Great to hear the MiM Charvels have improved, the couple I tried 2 yrs ago were light years off the USA/MiJ versions. Except for the neck of course. But they felt cheap and light, and sounded thin.
Love my 05 pointy and 09 SoCal!

 

[Chris O]

The necks are what sets Charvels apart from pretty much anything. The other things can be addressed by the average player, but if a neck doesn't do it, there's no point. I have come across any that haven't felt pretty good. You'll get an occasional sharp fret end, but that's what happens when you have oil finished necks - they are a bit more susceptible to the changes in humidity.

 

[atrox]

I have a USA San Dimas from 2009 and i had, for a bit, a MIM SoCal from before they put the truss rod adjustment at the heel in wheel form. They played identically. I honestly really didn't prefer one to the other in terms of playability, construction or tone. I just didn't like the color of the MIM, so i let it go.

 

[sideshowsmitty]

I"m going to buy the Transparent Blue Burst hard tail one on my lunch break. It was a toss up between that and the all white hard tail. Both play and sound great for the money. I prefer the feel of the rosewood fingerboard, but I think the maple fretboard on the white guitar may sound a little better but not much. I wish I could switch the necks since I like the look of the BB model more.