TeleBlaster
New member
Pro Mod Wild Card #6
New, at a store, $750.00 out the door w/case.
Should I go for it?
Thanks
New, at a store, $750.00 out the door w/case.
Should I go for it?
Thanks
Filter500
Active member
Yes
M
Meathead
New member
Buy it if you like it. It's no deal if it's not for you.
yngzaklynch
New member
I say buy it
Rev
Active member
I just played that exact guitar at the Fender museum today and it was fantastic!
splawner
Well-known member
Buy it 
Charvels are awesome fiddles for the price 
Charvels are awesome fiddles for the price 
Digital Jams
New member
Randy Van Sykes":2mg0d6iu said:
I agree, worthless if you do not like it.
TeleBlaster
New member
Of course I like it!
And though I'm not an LP-ish guy, those Desolation series guitars sure look sharp and have awesome finish and detail for the price.
My local dealer just got a bunch of Charvel stuff in and the #6 caught my eye.
It has the right ingredients for me, just a couple quirks.
I'm going back to play it tomorrow, just wanted to know what kinda pricing you guys have been able to finagle on this line of Charvel's Jap superstrats.
And though I'm not an LP-ish guy, those Desolation series guitars sure look sharp and have awesome finish and detail for the price.
My local dealer just got a bunch of Charvel stuff in and the #6 caught my eye.
It has the right ingredients for me, just a couple quirks.
I'm going back to play it tomorrow, just wanted to know what kinda pricing you guys have been able to finagle on this line of Charvel's Jap superstrats.
millhouse
New member
Buy! I have not seen them for less than $800 anywhere, and usually $900 for the Dreamsicle.
Jason
Jason
Chubtone
Well-known member
millhouse":1283db15 said:
I sold out of that model long ago. That dealer is trying to cut loose on something they haven't been able to sell. Snag it if you like it.
Chris6870
Well-known member
Meh. Not crazy about that look but hey I'm not the one that's buying it. Sounds like the price is in line. Buy it if you like it.
Metalhead
Well-known member
Hope you didn't buy it. I paid $550 on RT shipped & I've seen them on eBay almost just as cheap. The guitar rules & I'm keeping it forever!
TeleBlaster
New member
Wow, what a major disappointment. I've seen far better necks on Peavey Chinese import $129.00 guitars. What a turd. Wonder how this one made it out of the factory.
GAS cured. No longer want a Charvel.
EDIT: Wednesday I was stuck in a meeting and couldn't get out, Thursday my buddy the store manager was out on business, so I got to try it out today at lunch. Didn't even play a note. I sat down with it and immediately noticed the neck/setup was completely hosed. They took it to the repair center at the store and I watched them work on it for a half an hour before I had to go.
GAS cured. No longer want a Charvel.
EDIT: Wednesday I was stuck in a meeting and couldn't get out, Thursday my buddy the store manager was out on business, so I got to try it out today at lunch. Didn't even play a note. I sat down with it and immediately noticed the neck/setup was completely hosed. They took it to the repair center at the store and I watched them work on it for a half an hour before I had to go.
LP Freak
Well-known member
TeleBlaster":6h2f7fbk said:
TeleBlaster
New member
OK, so they got it fixed up and I went back to play it today. While I watched yesterday, they had the neck off and on twice. Total truss rod adjustment was 1-1/4 complete turns!! When the tech was happy with the relief, he set the intonation, really was moving some of the saddles quite far. When he loosened the strings again and started filing on the nut, my time was up and I had to get back to work.
So the relief now is not quite as flat as I would like, but the neck shape is good, more relief on the bass side which is exactly what you want. The ebony board is very thick, it's a very fat board in comparison to any other two piece neck I've ever seen. Truss rod adjustment stiffened it up quite bit, but it still has some neck flex. Safe to say these necks do not have graphite rods in them.
The configuration is drop top, that is, a shallow neck pocket which "drops" the top away from the string level. The neck pocket is very tight, it took some persuading to get the neck off. The fret finishing is superb.
Unfortunately, the bridge was not designed correctly for this shallow neck pocket, or the neck pocket is cut level when it needs a slight "Floyd" angle, resulting in the necessity of a shim in the pocket. Right now, with no shim, the bridge saddle screws are jacked up all the way resulting in a very sharp angle of the saddles off the bridge plate.
This is a very bright sounding guitar, but not unpleasantly so. The neck pickup has a lot of bite and clarity. The JB in the bridge is terrible. For as bright as the guitar is, I was surprised at how flat and muddy the humbucker sounds.
The bucker is wired split in the center position. Considerable vol jump going to the bridge position. Vol knob and switch seem very cheap. Switch was very scratchy.
A push-pull with a tone control would be nice to get a sweeter tone from the neck single.
Bottom line, with a bone nut, pickup swap, tone control, replace the switch, and a neck shim, this guitar should be very good.
Question is whether or not it's worth it to me to buy it knowing it's a work in progress.
For comparison, I played it back and forth with a SO-CAL. The Dimarzios sounded waaaay better than the Seymours on the Dreamsicle. But the SO-CAL too had a Gateway To The West neck on it, if you know what I mean. The relief was insane, I could not believe it, possibly as much as .080 - .100 eyeballing it, and a twist in the neck, bass side was much flatter.... Whether the neck will straighten when the truss rod is adjusted properly, I don't know.
Nevertheless, this one still sounded better than the San Dimas that also was hanging there.
I was surprised to learn that the Desolations are actually 25.5" scale! SO I picked up the lone bolt-on, passive model, the DC-3, and sure enough it needed so much adjustment to the neck that I could not give it a thorough trial.
They also had a couple SkateCasters there, but I did not get to them.
I did not set out to do a review here, but having never played any of the new Charvels before, not even the USA series, I decided to spend some time and check them out.
Overall, the quality of the materials and finish seems to be better than other guitars of comparable cost. But buyer beware, they will need considerable time in setup, beyond a few little teaks to "normal" adjustments.
Also, I observed enough inconsistencies from guitar to guitar that I would never buy one without playing it first.
So the relief now is not quite as flat as I would like, but the neck shape is good, more relief on the bass side which is exactly what you want. The ebony board is very thick, it's a very fat board in comparison to any other two piece neck I've ever seen. Truss rod adjustment stiffened it up quite bit, but it still has some neck flex. Safe to say these necks do not have graphite rods in them.
The configuration is drop top, that is, a shallow neck pocket which "drops" the top away from the string level. The neck pocket is very tight, it took some persuading to get the neck off. The fret finishing is superb.
Unfortunately, the bridge was not designed correctly for this shallow neck pocket, or the neck pocket is cut level when it needs a slight "Floyd" angle, resulting in the necessity of a shim in the pocket. Right now, with no shim, the bridge saddle screws are jacked up all the way resulting in a very sharp angle of the saddles off the bridge plate.
This is a very bright sounding guitar, but not unpleasantly so. The neck pickup has a lot of bite and clarity. The JB in the bridge is terrible. For as bright as the guitar is, I was surprised at how flat and muddy the humbucker sounds.
The bucker is wired split in the center position. Considerable vol jump going to the bridge position. Vol knob and switch seem very cheap. Switch was very scratchy.
A push-pull with a tone control would be nice to get a sweeter tone from the neck single.
Bottom line, with a bone nut, pickup swap, tone control, replace the switch, and a neck shim, this guitar should be very good.
Question is whether or not it's worth it to me to buy it knowing it's a work in progress.
For comparison, I played it back and forth with a SO-CAL. The Dimarzios sounded waaaay better than the Seymours on the Dreamsicle. But the SO-CAL too had a Gateway To The West neck on it, if you know what I mean. The relief was insane, I could not believe it, possibly as much as .080 - .100 eyeballing it, and a twist in the neck, bass side was much flatter.... Whether the neck will straighten when the truss rod is adjusted properly, I don't know.
Nevertheless, this one still sounded better than the San Dimas that also was hanging there.
I was surprised to learn that the Desolations are actually 25.5" scale! SO I picked up the lone bolt-on, passive model, the DC-3, and sure enough it needed so much adjustment to the neck that I could not give it a thorough trial.
They also had a couple SkateCasters there, but I did not get to them.
I did not set out to do a review here, but having never played any of the new Charvels before, not even the USA series, I decided to spend some time and check them out.
Overall, the quality of the materials and finish seems to be better than other guitars of comparable cost. But buyer beware, they will need considerable time in setup, beyond a few little teaks to "normal" adjustments.
Also, I observed enough inconsistencies from guitar to guitar that I would never buy one without playing it first.
Chubtone
Well-known member
I am not sure where you are located, but I place the blame on the set ups being out of wack on your location and that store. We are in So Cal so the guitar need zero time to acclimate to our weather and the set ups on them are very good to excellent right out of the box. If we had ever received one of these that was as unplayable as what you are describing in 3-4 years of selling Charvels, we would have sent it back for replacement. For this store to have a few of them like this is not an indictment on Charvel.
It just sounds to me like that store needs to be way more on top of what is hanging on their walls. If you are in an area with humidity or changing weather, you are going to be setting up guitars a lot.
It just sounds to me like that store needs to be way more on top of what is hanging on their walls. If you are in an area with humidity or changing weather, you are going to be setting up guitars a lot.
TeleBlaster
New member
I'm in the Phoenix area. These are the first Charvels they've gotten in. (at this store)
Not at all wanting to be negative or to slam Charvel. I really have been following them with considerable interest for the last two years and if anything I'm trying to be biased towards getting one!
This is the first batch that I've really had the opportunity to spend some time with and to look at really close.
It's a large independent store and I've had relationship with the owner and the manager for 25 years.
They were totally embarrassed, as I was with the owner and the manager this morning when they opened, on the rare chance that I caught them both available at the same time.
The lead repair guy swears up and down that when they put them out a couple weeks ago, all was good. This store has 3-4 full time repair guys, to give you an idea of the size of the operation.
Anyways, my experience in the Phoenix area has been that as guitars dry out they tend to straighten, in fact I have owned a new Heritage and a Washburn that were sent back because of a back bow after a couple months.
So I'm thinking that the lead guy maybe is not being completely truthful and perhaps he didn't want to deal with removing the neck to set up the guitars right, or he didn't have the time.
I was one of the guys that had a deposit down at FunkyMunky a couple years ago, then later I was severely tempted to buy one from you, I had contacted you through your myspace page I think.
So I think they look really cool and the models are equipped very close to what I like, and I can get one waaay cheaper than it would take to get the Fender custom shop to build you something similar. Just kinda disappointed with the out of the box setup on the half a dozen I've handled from this order.
They've got about a dozen here, one each of every model plus the Wildcard and a couple color variations.
EDIT: I really, really, wanted to take one home but, just didn't feel anything. Actually loved the tone of the So-Cal, but was freaked out by the neck.
Loved the #6 neck pup tone, but hated the bridge pup and again, put off by the saddle pieces being a mile in the air.
Wonder if I could get them to put the San Dimas' neck on the So-Cal, then we might have something.
Not at all wanting to be negative or to slam Charvel. I really have been following them with considerable interest for the last two years and if anything I'm trying to be biased towards getting one!
This is the first batch that I've really had the opportunity to spend some time with and to look at really close.
It's a large independent store and I've had relationship with the owner and the manager for 25 years.
They were totally embarrassed, as I was with the owner and the manager this morning when they opened, on the rare chance that I caught them both available at the same time.
The lead repair guy swears up and down that when they put them out a couple weeks ago, all was good. This store has 3-4 full time repair guys, to give you an idea of the size of the operation.
Anyways, my experience in the Phoenix area has been that as guitars dry out they tend to straighten, in fact I have owned a new Heritage and a Washburn that were sent back because of a back bow after a couple months.
So I'm thinking that the lead guy maybe is not being completely truthful and perhaps he didn't want to deal with removing the neck to set up the guitars right, or he didn't have the time.
I was one of the guys that had a deposit down at FunkyMunky a couple years ago, then later I was severely tempted to buy one from you, I had contacted you through your myspace page I think.
So I think they look really cool and the models are equipped very close to what I like, and I can get one waaay cheaper than it would take to get the Fender custom shop to build you something similar. Just kinda disappointed with the out of the box setup on the half a dozen I've handled from this order.
They've got about a dozen here, one each of every model plus the Wildcard and a couple color variations.
EDIT: I really, really, wanted to take one home but, just didn't feel anything. Actually loved the tone of the So-Cal, but was freaked out by the neck.
Loved the #6 neck pup tone, but hated the bridge pup and again, put off by the saddle pieces being a mile in the air.
Wonder if I could get them to put the San Dimas' neck on the So-Cal, then we might have something.
Chubtone
Well-known member
I'd say to maybe check them out at another store and see what you think. They aren't going to be in the custom shop Charvel, Jackson, Suhr, Hamer, Anderson, Tyler type quality, but they should be about the best things you've put your hands on for $800 ish. If they aren't, and it's not a question of you not liking the feel of the oil finish, or the shape of the neck, then it's probably that they just aren't set up right. It is an EXTREMELY rare occasion that we have to remove the neck to adjust the setup while it's in the shop here.
And these won't be the be all, end all for everyone. It seems most are very impressed for the money but it wouldn't make you nutty if you just didn't dig them.
And these won't be the be all, end all for everyone. It seems most are very impressed for the money but it wouldn't make you nutty if you just didn't dig them.
M
Meathead
New member
I prefered the So Cal with Dimazrios as well over the San Dimas with a JB. I always seem to pick Dimarzio over Seymour Duncan for some reason. I just put a Dimazrio Super Distortion in a mutt strat that I put together and I completely love the SD in there.
The necks on the two Charvels I used to own needed some good tweaking as well....and I hated that the truss rod access was buried.
The necks on the two Charvels I used to own needed some good tweaking as well....and I hated that the truss rod access was buried.
Erock
Well-known member
that sucks man, I must have been very fortunate with the ones I got. I've ordered 3 new promods, and each was setup great out of the box. Of course, they needed tweaking for me, as I don't use .009's, but they seemed very consistent in quality and playability. The 3 Americans I've owned also seemed very consistent. I wonder if their quality is starting to decline now?
The only drawbacks for me, are the access to the truss is a PITA, and the new San Dimas have the pups direct mounted flush to the pickup cavity, so non-adjustable. I'm not big on using shims, but I needed to use one on my San Dimas to get the right pickup height with the action I wanted. The covered BK HD's I put in mine are a little higher than the stock JB/59.
Maybe you would be better off ordering one from Curt if you really want a good one. Every guy I've talked to had nothing but great things to say about the guitars they received from him. He's also been completely honest in my dealings with him, even if it meant he didn't get the sale.
The only drawbacks for me, are the access to the truss is a PITA, and the new San Dimas have the pups direct mounted flush to the pickup cavity, so non-adjustable. I'm not big on using shims, but I needed to use one on my San Dimas to get the right pickup height with the action I wanted. The covered BK HD's I put in mine are a little higher than the stock JB/59.
Maybe you would be better off ordering one from Curt if you really want a good one. Every guy I've talked to had nothing but great things to say about the guitars they received from him. He's also been completely honest in my dealings with him, even if it meant he didn't get the sale.