Charvel cost

[Balou]

I bought my Charvel San Dimas strat #5119 new in 1986 with a kahler and single jackson pu for $1000, got my new San Dimas 2009 for $700. Im actually keeping the 09 and selling the 85. I think cause the pointy headstock on my 85 has a different curved neck and the new San Dimas feels better to me. Plus I need a neck pickup now that its 2010.
So in closing, if a 1985 San Dimas cost $1000 in 86 then that would be around $2500 in todays dollars. The difference is that the pro mods back then were the top of the line where now you'd have to pay more for lets say a TMZ or custom shop. The nice thing is there are TMZ and custon shops on ebay for $1000-$1500 and in mint condition so theres no reason to not own one!

[AndyK]

Not to deminish the value and quality of the new Pro Mods, the '85 Charvel strat I had in '86 had an awesome thick slab of ebony as a fretboard, and the frets were to die for! I would compare today's custom shop prices to those of the 80's "custom" guitars. The new production series, had they been around in the 80's, would be priced around what US Strats were going for, I am guessing.

[fatstrat]

I think it is affordable for what you are getting, not that you can't buy a $300 guitar, you just won't get one built this well for $300. With some of the guitars I like coming in at around $3,000 I think these are WAY affordable. I don't own any $3k guitars, but I have owned 4 of these at a time!

Actually, at least half of the new charvel's in the $1,000-$1,099 range have had so many problems, I would bet the $300 models have less.

[VitaminG]

at least half? What are you basing that on? A buttload of JCF members have bought these and most are happy with them. Even members who already own old school or Custom Shop Charvels. There have been issues on occasion, but no where near half. One of the biggest complaints seems to be the crappy pickguard but that's a 10 minute $10 fix.

[roccotanto]

Look at the last couple of pages for 1984 J/C list prices here:

http://www.jacksonguitars.com/support/catalogs/USA&Imports/CharvelJackson1984_catalog.pdf

Then do the math to adjust for inflation since then here:

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Examples:

A two-hum Floyd'd strathead Charvel in a candy color in 1984 had a list price of about $1,660. In 2009 dollars, that's about $3,448.

A Floyd'd Jackson Rhoads Custom in a candy color in 1984 had a list price of about $2,120. In 2009 dollars, that's about $4,404.

Remember, though, everything was a custom shop guitar back then. No USA production models.

yep......the very first charvel i ever played was a 1982 hot rod flames single hum vtrem maple neck guitar, it was $1200 FIRM with no discounts at GC in San Diego.

you could get a new strat or les paul much cheaper.

in 1985, i traded in my '59 slab board strat (like SRV's).......PLUS $400.....for a soloist custom.