My First Charvel - Pic Heavy

[Robert Hendrix]

Very cool! I can't wait to hear a review of this. How it sounds, ease of install ect. I really want a sustainer, but I don't want to have to route a body for a battery compartment. I saw an electronics cover (I think it was Stemac that had it) that had a built in battery compartment. If the electronics leave enough room, that'd be the route I'd go with it.

[Radiohead]

It took most of the day, but I got the Sustainer installed and working. I just finished playing with it for about an hour. It is super cool and sounds great. It is going to be easy to work the Sustainer into my playing style. If I wasn't so tired from working on this thing all day, I would still be playing it.

Overall the install process was fairly straight forward but did take almost all day. A lot of time was spent planning and laying everything out. Also, I needed to modify the body to have everything fit with the controls I wanted. The instructions were good and made it fairly easy. The instructions are very detailed and specific to the choices submitted for your controls and type of guitar when you order.

I took a few photos of the process for anyone interested.

Planning and Laying out the position of the controls...




Rough Routing and testing the control layout.






Finished Routing



Here is a photo of the actual circuit that drives the unit. It has a few adjusting pots built directly into it. One controls the gain and a second trim pot controls the volume of the neck pickup (The sustainiac will act as a neck pick up when not turned on and front pick up is selected with the switch). I actually like the tone of the Sustainiac as a neck pick up as well. It has a Strat single coil tone but deadly silent. Pretty cool.



To avoid cross talk and interference, they want the driver placed in a very specific manner (all described in the instructions - There are certain wires that you need to cut as short as possible and position the driver towards the switch). I took the time to completely shield the body cavity as well. Overall, avoiding interference and crosstalk is a big part of this project. Everything is grounded and shielded. I picked up some extra heat shrink. This helped to isolate problematic wires (again - all in the instructions) and organize the mess of connections.




Mid Way through all the hook ups.




And Finish Soldering



Thanks to another Forum Bro I was able to switch out my Black Hardware for Chrome today as well. I do think the Chrome looks better. Still need to pick up Chrome Knobs and change the switch to Chrome as well.

Only thing, I f**ked up today is forgetting about the Soldering Iron. I let it get too close to the body while I was concentrating on the instructions. Oppps.. I marked the finish big time on the upper horn. It cracked and all chipped off in the area I burned. I am not too upset, as the body was dinged in a few places before I got it. It was far from mint.

I am now debating relicing the entire body now, just for effect. Any suggestions?





Overall, I would say this install was not too hard. But, I would suggest, taking your time, read the instructions carefully and plan the work well in advance.

The Sustainer worked on the first try after completing the install with no issues at all. It is also super quiet. No interference or cross talk at all.

[Usercool]

I'd just leave the mark there.

It looks really cool imho. :-)

[Radiohead]

Could not resist trying out some relic'in One day I may repaint this guitar but for now I think it looks cool.

[Grandturk]

Yikes.

[jmsaxon69]

So close....

[MarkThomas]

Not sure the sustainer was worth it...

Remind me to never set a soldering iron near my Charvels =]

[BayRocker]

The horror... the horror...

[Radiohead]

OK OK, sometimes when you try to make lemonade from lemons, you just end up with piss

Guess I have myself a summer time painting project.

[tcwil8]

I truly admire the confidence you demonstrated undertaking a project like this. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had the balls to try it. It looked from the photos that you prepped well like taping surfaces to prevent scratches when routing and drilling, but shit just happens sometimes when doing a project. For me it's typically because I'm in a hurry (stripped bolts, screwdriver slips). In any event, thanks for sharing your project and for making the soldering iron mistake for us. I'll be extra careful next time with the iron.

[pipsqueak]

I have the exact 1985 cream Baretta...does yours way a ton too?...lol

[Predator1]

The Barreta's were solid Maple back then. Solid Maple = heavy and many say great Tone.

[toejam]

Cool. I'd just strip the whole finish and leave it natural.

[Ultramagnus]

Solid maple does indeed = Awesome tone, I own three Lynch ESP's & they are by far the best sounding guitars on this planet or anywhere else in the universe. I do not get why maple is not an option on most high end guitars :think::think:.... It makes no sense! I want a San Dimas made with maple with a maple board & a pointy headstock......come on Charvel!!!!

[toejam]

Solid maple does indeed = Awesome tone, I own three Lynch ESP's & they are by far the best sounding guitars on this planet or anywhere else in the universe. I do not get why maple is not an option on most high end guitars :think::think:.... It makes no sense! I want a San Dimas made with maple with a maple board & a pointy headstock......come on Charvel!!!!

Maple is kind of heavy, that's why most people don't use it as a body wood. Carvin used to offer maple as their standard wood in the '80s, then they changed to poplar and eventually alder. I ordered a custom 7-string from Carvin back in January and went with a maple body and five-piece mahogany/maple neck. It does indeed sound awesome, but it weighs 9 pounds. I was actually surprised and figured it might weigh a little more.