81 Charvel and 3rd Power amps in action with Vain last night

[RichieP]

I went to see glam metal legends Vain last night - awesome, just as they were the last time I saw them a few years ago. I was on the barrier in front of guitarist Jamie Scott and thus got a very good look at the guitar he used for the whole set, his 1981 Charvel strathead. This was the guitar he has used right from the beginning (people might remember seeing it in Vain's "Beat the Bullet" video) and I have to say it was in pretty nice condition overall - great birdseye neck figuring. Sounded awesome too!

I didn't get any photos, but here is a link to the guitar on the Vain website:

http://www.davyvain.com/jsgear/james_gear_charvel.htm

Both Jamie and other guitarist Danny West were using 3rd Power Amplification heads - I discovered today that Jamie actually owns that company and they are in the process of going to market with these amps. They have a really nice retro look and obviously come from the modded Plexi stable sonically. Based on what Davy Vain said during the gig last night, it looks like Jamie may be calling it a day as far as touring with Vain is concerned, I guess to focus on the amp company.

Have a look at the website and this video - they were using Marshall 4x12s last night, but the 3rd Power cabs are rather unusual - serious wow factor!

http://www.3rdpoweramps.com/product_hlh100_series.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V5NKtts0vk (he's using the Charvel in this one too)

Anyway, I thought people here might like a look at a cool Charvel and some interesting new amps.

[///MK]

Wow

Those 3x12s look sweet for a wdw rig.
anyone know the price on these things

[Frigo89]

that amp sounds killer!

[fullmetalguitar]

The neck on that Charvel looks amazing. Great birdseye.

[RichieP]

The neck on that Charvel looks amazing. Great birdseye.

I got a very good look at the gig (from a couple of inches away at times!), and yes, the birdseye is fantastic - looks even better in real life. It doesn't look like an almost 30 year old guitar TBH - he's taken pretty good care of it, given its been his number one since the 80s. It has a nice, relatively lightly-aged vibe to it.

As for price and availability on the amps and cabs, I haven't seen a price yet. It looks like they are still in the early stages of getting the retail distribution situation together, but it seems that interested parties can place amp orders directly with 3rd Power. I'd be intersted to know how much they are - I suspect the kind of price that would cause serious looks of consternation from my wife though!

[sully]

cool guitar, doubt that's an 81 with a 22 fret neck with squared edges...

i dug no respect; aces was a cool song.

sully

[skorb]

good eye Sully.

nice guitar tho.

[sully]

yeah, that guitar is awesome, for sure. if anything, the neck could be a replacement; if that guitar had a kahler on it like the description reads, the headstock would have holes from the kahler nut, and the floyd nut would overhang a bit (hard to tell on the overhang from that pic, tho). although the neck plate looks right for an early one.

either way, it's cool as hell.

[RichieP]

On the 22 fret issue, something I noticed in the photos is that you can see where the fretboard has been extended from 21 to 22 frets. Look in the bottom photo (the body close up) - there's clearly a join between the 21st and 22nd frets and the wood is a slightly different color.