NGD-San Dimas So-Cal Content!

[JZ06]

It came and was waiting for me when I got off work. Boxed up nicely. Gig bag is a little weird. Never received a guitar from NEW in a gig-bag...though my blue Jackson came that way and was un-scathed. It was wrapped nicely. Right out of the box, it's either my luck or something. "PERFECTLY" in tune!! The second I touched the neck, it felt like the other new one's I'd owned(Which one or two I wish I'd kept) Un-Godly fast and smooth. Action(no surprise) was NOT to my liking and was a mile off the board. That's been corrected. Has a nice vibrant tone acoustically and plugged in it's classic 80's Charvel. The flame body Jackson I "THINK" had a DiMarzio so this isn't my first DiM "pupped" axe. I do like the sound. Full and thick when overdriven and the cleans are very nice as well. Minimal if any break up.

The neck really makes it. I don't like slow, boggy feeling lacquered or really any finished necks. Whatever they use on this, it is insane!! Overall quality is very good too. Trem posts are straight, body looks nice. Under $1000 USD. Though I'd sold many, this one is STAYING. LOL, I'll sell my favorite gun before I get rid of this one. Kind of reminds me of Brad Gillis' old axe but with a maple neck.

The cool thing about it is I hope to do either an H/S or H/S/S config for some really nice jazz tones. Should be fun!! Well worth it. Have no hesitation if you can grab one of these.

God's to honest truth, it almost was NOT red! I am STILL badly gas'ing for the White. So Jake E. Lee like!! If I can , I think I'm getting a white one too hehe!

That's my write up for now. I'm sure it'll get better the more I play it.

[RockinJim]

Nice dude, just got the purple myself. I really like the guitar and doubt I will sell it anytime soon. My only mild disappointment is with the tuners on the trem, not smooth enough and or precise with the tuning, reminds me of the licensed FR's you see on the Jackson Pro Series when adjusting them, but that's my only issue. And it's a small one at that.

[VitaminG]

very cool, man. I get the Gillis vibe from that colour combo too

[Alvin_Wilson]

Hi Jay!!! You and those freaking red guitars, man! Congrats, those SoCal's are great guitars. How you been, bro?

[gtrbuyer]

very cool.....that's a looker..enjoy

[JZ06]

My hands have really found their happy home on this guitar! I REALLY enjoy it.

Now, I agree with you, these Floyds are weird. You need to be Hulk Hogan to fine tune them...and mine is pretty "ringy" w/o the amp. Again, it reminds me of the Charvels I sold, the newer necks. Almost like ICE...ultra slick and fast as hell!(EXACTLY what I love!). I can't seem to put it down.

lol, pretty sure my "b" and "e" strings are mixed. the b takes no effort to bend where the high e needs some extra strength. I had this before on another guitar. Just squirted it with polish and wiped it with a Zaino microfiber towel. Man, what a little pocket rocket this guitar is. It's sound is terrific. The cleans are like nothing I've ever heard in a Charvel!

Alvin, LOL, I have a weakness to RED....BUT: Like I mentioned, if White had been available...that would have been here not RED. I will see if I can score a White one though...honestly,I love this thing and it's a breah of fresh air. I love all my guitars...but once a new one enters, and it's THIS good out of the box...it's going to get the $hit played out of it!

How do they get these neck finishes to turn out the way they do? My old SD Charvel and Jackson would RIP if they we're finished like this. I also like the color! Almost white!

I am one happy camper!!!!

[Grandturk]

Nice! Congrats. Yeah these things are great right out of the box. Love the red!

[NextInLine]

I like it a lot, that volume knob is uber-cool!

[wetrx95]

Looks and sounds like you got yourself a great guitar, congrats. One statement, I don't know how you kept the camera steady on that first shot with the box all closed up still. I would have been shaking like a leaf in anticipation!

[Johnnyryche]

Love the ferrari red! Congrats.

[RockinJim]

My hands have really found their happy home on this guitar! I REALLY enjoy it.

Now, I agree with you, these Floyds are weird. You need to be Hulk Hogan to fine tune them...and mine is pretty "ringy" w/o the amp. Again, it reminds me of the Charvels I sold, the newer necks. Almost like ICE...ultra slick and fast as hell!(EXACTLY what I love!). I can't seem to put it down.

lol, pretty sure my "b" and "e" strings are mixed. the b takes no effort to bend where the high e needs some extra strength. I had this before on another guitar. Just squirted it with polish and wiped it with a Zaino microfiber towel. Man, what a little pocket rocket this guitar is. It's sound is terrific. The cleans are like nothing I've ever heard in a Charvel!

Alvin, LOL, I have a weakness to RED....BUT: Like I mentioned, if White had been available...that would have been here not RED. I will see if I can score a White one though...honestly,I love this thing and it's a breah of fresh air. I love all my guitars...but once a new one enters, and it's THIS good out of the box...it's going to get the $hit played out of it!

How do they get these neck finishes to turn out the way they do? My old SD Charvel and Jackson would RIP if they we're finished like this. I also like the color! Almost white!

I am one happy camper!!!!

LOL, yep, those tuners are a bit nasty! Congrats on the guitar. I actually haven't played mine clean yet.

[JZ06]

I just dropped it off at my tech's. I always do that with any guitar. It'll be done right. LOL, I told my tech about the strings. It had .013's on the bottom two strings! No wonder it was difficult to bend them!!! It'll receive a nice level/polish and crown with a bit of neck shim and get that action DOWN there.

He started talking about using an ibanez 16" radius nut! All this time, I've wanted even lower action and He mentioned this just now? We'll see on that. If it requires re-fretting, I wouldn't do such a thing...but I'm never really satisfied with action unless it's PEGGED!!

Should be back soon, and I can't wait to play it some more.

[Grandturk]

He started talking about using an ibanez 16" radius nut!

Yeah... Ibanez has a straight radius of 16" at all points on the neck. The Charvels got a compound radius 12-16. You want a regular Floyd nut at the top... not a flatter radius.

I would take the guitar back from that tech.

[JZ06]

Grandturk...

He knows what He's talking about. What I left out was to get 16" across.....you'd need a 16" nut. And boy does that sound tempting! Again, I am a hound for low low action. I have no clue how anyone can play a 9.5" or even a 7.5" Those necks are not my cup of tea.

One of my guitars is going for the full 16" radius and a fret-job soon. LOL, God I love the cold months!!

[Grandturk]

He knows what He's talking about. What I left out was to get 16" across.....you'd need a 16" nut.

Unless your desired effect is to have the strings 16" from nut to bridge, I don't think he knows what he's talking about at all.

At the nut, the Charvel neck is 12" radius. The nut should match that. The bridge is a flatter radius - 16" radius. If anything, as has been discussed on this board previously, the bridge should really be closer to 21" or so for the strings to properly follow the expanding radius of the conical fretboard.

If you put a 16" radius nut going to a 16" radius bridge - your stings are going to be 16" from nut to bridge. Which is out of whack with the radius of the fretboard.

By having the 12" radius nut going to the 16" bridge the strings start out at the same radius as the fretboard and flatten as they travel towards the bridge - just as the fretboard flattens out as it approaches the end of the neck.