Opinions Needed! - Charvel Custom Shop Order

[shreddermon]

So I've been thinking about ordering another custom shop Charvel. The concept is mostly baked. It'll be a Dinky Strat with a graphic. The graphic will have red and purple, maybe some pink, too. (...No, I'm not telling you what it'll be. You'll have to wait for the surprise. )

However, I've been struggling with a couple of the specs. So I'd appreciate folks' opinions on the following questions. Feel free to post more detailed answers if you'd like. Thanks in advance for you opinions and advice.

(The mock-ups below are only samples, feel free to propose something else for the questions below.)



1. Base color for the body - pearl white? Or some other color (specify what)?

2. Matching headstock or natural?

3. Hardware color - chrome or gold?

[sully]

Hard to say without knowing what the graphic is.

Knowing your cs spec track record, I know it'll come out killer.

sully

[Hellbat]

So I've been thinking about ordering another custom shop Charvel. The concept is mostly baked. It'll be a Dinky Strat with a graphic. The graphic will have red and purple, maybe some pink, too. (...No, I'm not telling you what it'll be. You'll have to wait for the surprise. )

However, I've been struggling with a couple of the specs. So I'd appreciate folks' opinions on the following questions. Feel free to post more detailed answers if you'd like. Thanks in advance for you opinions and advice.

(The mock-ups below are only samples, feel free to propose something else for the questions below.)

1. Base color for the body - pearl white? Or some other color (specify what)?

2. Matching headstock or natural?

3. Hardware color - chrome or gold?

1. White, black or shades of gray make good base colors.
2. Depends on wood figuring. Flame or birdseye neck, natural. Straight quartersawn, matching.
3. Gold goes awesome with purple, good with red, not so much with pink. Without knowing the graphic for sure it's hard to say.

[dulrich1227]

matching reverse headstock ...

[guitardudeluke]

jcf sd gh.jpg

[Axewielder]

I'd change the 3-way switch over to a 5-way.

[shreddermon]

Hard to say without knowing what the graphic is.

Well, OK, I'll give a hint. It will have different shapes in different colors. Red and purple, maybe some pink. And the red will likely have a thin gold outline.

1. White, black or shades of gray make good base colors.
2. Depends on wood figuring. Flame or birdseye neck, natural. Straight quartersawn, matching.
3. Gold goes awesome with purple, good with red, not so much with pink. Without knowing the graphic for sure it's hard to say.

1. Yeah, I was thinking about a black base, too. Not sure I like it as much with a rosewood fretboard, though. (Rosewood is a definite.)
2. Straight quartersawn for this one. However, in general, I seem to have a love/hate relationship with matching stratheads, so not sure there.
3. That might be the decider - If I use pink in the graphic, chrome. If not, gold.

matching reverse headstock ...

Hmmm. Cool, but I'm not a big fan of reverse stratheads.

Guitardudeluke: Thanks for the mock-up. Gold and matching headstock is a strong contender. If that's ebony, though, that's a no-go for this one. See above.

I'd change the 3-way switch over to a 5-way.

[Charlz]

Hardware: BLACK!!! Rest doesnt matter.

[MikeStrat]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2140[/ATTACH]

I would do it just like this. No graphic. That is a badass guitar!

[Axewielder]

Soooo...no 5-way switch then?

You should have mentioned that you just wanted it to rawk a little, and not RAWK a LOT!!

[shreddermon]

Hardware: BLACK!!! Rest doesnt matter.

Definitely not.

[toejam]

Matching headstock, chrome hardware. I think pearl white would be great for the base to give it a slight sparkle.

[charvelguy]

I myself am not a fan of matching headstocks as well, but it depends on the guitar and color. Gold hardware can look great on certain instruments and it depends on how your personal tastes lean as it used to signify more high end (gold hardware being more 'custom' and expensive) and then got copied by foreign manufacturers with cheap knockoffs which rather had effect on depreciating the visual. I like gold for some guitars, on others, it looks more pimp than custom special deluxe. (which may be desired in itself either way)

Myself, with those colors, IMO, I would lean natural headstock with gold hardware.

[Twitch]

If your going to use a white base, then a black headstock might set it off a little. This looks great on my Alvarez, but it has a maple board.



Heres a DK version, same specs, looks a little meaner IMO.


Granted, this may not jive with your graphic.

[shreddermon]

A black headstock with non-matching body color says "parts guitar" to me, IMHO. Sorry, just not digging that look at all.

I think Charvelguy may have nailed it. Then again, I don't usually like the mix of gold hardware and graphics. IMHO, when going with a graphic, the rest of the guitar's specs should be somewhat understated so as to not distract attention away from the graphic itself. However, maybe I can get over this if I can tie more gold into the graphic itself, too. Like maybe a gold pinstripe around the body edge or something. Hmmmm...

Or maybe I'll just stick with chrome.

Thanks, guys. Lots of food for thought. Keep the suggestions coming, if you have more.