Steve Stevens Glow Charvel #4790

[Emerald]

I had the photo uploaded as private, hope you can see it now!



Cheers
Emerald

[Venomous]

AWESOME AWESOME THREAD!!! But i have one question, did you happen to take measurements of the neck?

[Emerald]

Thanks Venomous, great name btw! Yes the neck of this awesome guitar is what Steve liked the most about it and this was not lost on me and I couldn't quite believe that I had it in my own hands!
John Suhr whom I spoke with about the guitar, he had worked on Steve's guitars in NYC back around that time, had offered to digitize the neck for me. Of course that would have been awesome but I wouldn't do that to SS and I didn't even unbolt the neck out of respect and this guitar is already a veritable museum piece.
The last day I had it prior to shipping it back I managed to obtain some measurements, traced the outline of the head stock and took some measurements, primarily of the width, I didn't measure the thickness per se but with a profile gauge I managed to get the shape just behind where the nut is and at the 12th fret.
The first measurement is of a D shape gradually turning to more of a U shape at the 12th fret.
I measured the width of the neck at each fret in millimeters.
Just in front of the nut measured 41.08 mm.
1st fret: 42.06 mm
2nd fret: 43.22 mm
3rd fret: 44.41 mm
4th fret: 45.42 mm
5th fret: 46.40 mm
6th fret: 47.32 mm
7th fret: 48.20 mm
8th fret: 49.00 mm
9th fret: 49.70 mm
10th fret: 50.39 mm
11th fret: 51.02 mm
12th fret: 51.73 mm
13th fret: 52.43 mm
14th fret: 53.24 mm
15th fret: 53.92 mm
16th fret: 54.44 mm
17th fret: 54.94 mm
18th fret: 55.40 mm
19th fret: 55.80 mm
20th fret: 56.18 mm
21st fret: 56.57 mm
22nd fret: 56.67 mm

The guitar weighs exactly six pounds less the tremolo arm. I measured the space from the end of the fretboard to the neck single coil pickup to establish the angle of the pickup, 3.8 mm and 8.09 mm respectively. The body wood is basswood.
The humbucker bridge pickup I measured from the center of the two mounting screws of the pickup ring (the farthest ones from the bridge) and the center of the Floyd Rose posts, 60.49 mm and 50.63 mm.
My wife doesn't think I should reveal any of the neck measurements, I told her I already have given every detail about the guitar away publicly so why stop now?
As I have mentioned before I chose not to put the tiresome water marks on my pictures, ect, ect.
I want all Charvel lovers to share in my experience to the fullest extent!
I had use of a profile gauge you know the one with sliding metal pieces that you obtain a reverse reading as you form it against the neck and have some drawings of the nut area and the 12th fret profiles. This neck appears to me to have a unique profile where it joins the back of the head stock. I took many pictures of this aspect. These will be your best guide to the neck profile. I have drawings of the profile though.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Emerald

[Emerald]

As far as building a replica or tribute of this guitar I quickly came to the realization having spent that time with it that it was so unique that all one could hope for was an approximation and since the guitar was most famous in a time closer to when it was new. Now with it's age it is a whole different ball of wax especially with the newer pickups and their style of winding.
As I stated John Suhr was keen to actually digitize the neck so he knows that the guitar has a special neck profile and that is purely from the golden hands of Mike Shannon.
I know how fortunate I was to experience this guitar and am eternally grateful to SS for lending his prized possession to me, a true act of kindness to a fan.

Emerald

[Emerald]

After obtaining the guitar I came up with a series of questions for Steve about the guitar that I had after spending some time with her.
Josie told me she forwarded them to Steve but I never received a reply.
Basically Steve was involved with Knaggs Guitars in the preliminary period before he came out with the announcement of his signature model guitar and I always assumed he didn't want any focus to go on a past guitar but for it to center on his then future guitar deal.
Steve had sort of hinted publicly around that time that he was working with an American builder on a guitar.
So I have had these questions just stored in a document file. I thought you might like to read them. I tried to make them non fan boish and have them be from a typical player with knowledge of Steve's history..




Questions concerning Charvel Glow #4790

1) I believe the guitar’s body to be constructed of basswood and it’s weight to be approximately 6 lbs.

2) Whose idea was it for the ‘glow in the dark’ paint finish used on the Charvel and also the Jackson Soloist?

3) What was the first recording made using the guitar and it’s first appearance live?

4) I believe the original pickups to be in black and were Seymour Duncan’s. A JB in the bridge and an SSL in the neck?

5) Steve, what were your favorite aspects of the guitar? You have mentioned that the profile of the neck was the outstanding feature. Did you specify the size and profile of the frets? I know you specifically asked for the Original Floyd Rose to be mounted flat to the body. I have obtained from Charvel the original order sheet, but it only gives the major details, with a per Grover Jackson description. I did contact Grover and he was to get back to me as he wanted to “weigh in on the guitar” and gave me a time frame for his reply but alas he has not responded back yet so I hope too hear from him in future. I know your requirement of angled pickups, bolt on neck. Was it you that asked for the ‘Strat’ style head stock? Playing the guitar myself I was in love with the neck. One of the best feeling necks I have ever played. Did you specify the Dinky body shape. Also did Grover bring you any ‘prototypes’ to try or you just received the one guitar as it is?

6) Besides the “Whiplash Smile” tour in 1987, what other live appearances did you do with the guitar. I have seen pictures of you on stage with Adam Bomb, but that’s it as far as pictures of you playing the guitar live that I have uncovered in my research. Did you use the guitar in the studio for the “Whiplash Smile” LP? Also on the Atomic Playboys album and tour did you utilize the Charvel?

7) Was it your idea for the black hardware?

8) On the BAD session for “Dirty Diana” with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones, did you exclusively use the Glow Charvel for your 15 minutes of tracking that you describe. Also are all the guitars played by you on that track? How did you record for the track? DI, remote amp/speaker set up?

9) On your Grammy winning “Top Gun Anthem” you have stated that you used the Glow Charvel. Is that correct? I know you recorded that in the midst of the “Whiplash Smile” recording. How was that track recorded. I believe I read you used a Boss Compressor pedal for the track.

10) For 1993’s “Exposed” with the Vince Neil Band, I believe you used the Glow Charvel for leads, tuned down a whole step to accommodate Vince’s vocal range. You have stated that for much of the rhythm work you used your Les Paul Custom. When you recorded your tracks in analog did you use a similar amp setup as in the Cornerstone Studio demos? This was the last use of the Charvel until “Memory Crash” and the Bare Knuckles pickup demo track? What track on “Memory Crash” was the Glow featured on?

11) Did you find that your prototype Washburn SS-100 “Frankenstein” graphic guitars neck was the closest to the Charvel? You seemed to feature that particular guitar the most of all the Washburn’s they provided you with. It is the only Washburn you still have? This information is for me and not the article! And you got the graphic from the book “Graven Images”, the original Frankenstein movie poster, is that correct and is your Washburn in a ‘Glow” finish?

12) What gauge of strings did you use on the guitar back in the eighties? I know you switched to a heavier set for the VNB era with an .049 on the low E with the down tuning, did you use that set on the Charvel and the brief time with the SS-100 before switching to the EB MM EVH guitars that Ed gave you?

13) When you did the extensive list of sessions such as Robert Palmer, Ric Ocasek, Thompson Twins, Steve Lukather, ect. Did you use the Charvel in the studio for any of these artists?

14) When I examined the guitar I had the feeling that the frets are the originals and if so were they ever redressed? Also in the control cavity the electronics, are they the originals or were any upgrades performed at the time of the installation of the Bare Knuckles pickups? The potentiometers fitted to it now are an RS G1 0714 for volume and a CTS 250K 0719 for tone, with a non-inductive oil paper capacitor with Vitamin Q, the value being 0.022 microfarads. Were these changed at the time of the pickup replacement as the codes seem to indicate a later date than 1985?

15) Steve what in your opinion looking back at the Charvel in her glory days were the standout features of the guitar? In my humble opinion it was a real working guitar, great in the studio and great live. You have told me all guitars have a soul to them and a vibe, which I strongly agree with. Did you realize that this indeed was a very special guitar and that you retired her to save her? I know it is one of your most special guitars and have played incredible music with it. Did that play a role in the retirement of the guitar, besides your switching to more use of fixed bridge guitars, ie; Les Pauls?

16) What led you to replace the original pickups with the Bare Knuckles? I contacted Tim Mills soon after I borrowed the guitar and he told me that he did special winds for both positions to compensate for the angled pickups, to promote the best tone representation. Tim who is a super nice guy, gave me the specs of the pickups and I will also send as an attachment, his reply to me, in this e-mail. I have sent that to Josie before, but will send it again to refresh your memory.

17) Finally, will you ever use the guitar live or on any recordings in the future? I thank you for loaning this iconic guitar to me. It was the greatest thing anyone has done for me and I can never thank you enough.

I still enjoy writing about this guitar and judging by the enthusiastic response to this thread so do many of you. Thanks again to all here at JCF for such great treatment and awarding my thread 4 gold stars which hasn't been overlooked by me!!
Emerald

[Emerald]

Doing some research recently I came across a quote from Steve Stevens where he states that 90% of the Atomic Playboys LP is the Charvel Glow! Various theories had been stated about what guitars he used for his first solo project. Many thought the Hamer SS-3's that he used live were used to record but apparently not..
Here is the post by Steve on Huge Racks Forum where I used to correspond with Steve via PM, lately he is hanging out on the Groomed Noodlers forum as well as Pete Thorn.
I have two live bootlegs (audio) of the AP's and Steve's playing is just on fire. I always was fond of the Atomic Playboys.
It seems that after the world tour with Idol supporting Whiplash Smile the Glow Charvel was pretty much retired from live work with just a few rare exceptions.
In these two AP videos, the title track and Action notice SS is playing his white/black Hamer SS-3, this is the guitar that I had a replica built for me by Matt Phillips who used actual dimensions from two SS-3's and a Hamer Centaura, which was a production version of the SS-3, the SS-3 only being built for Steve and never released to the public:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN760628dm8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLOAxXl_zEA

Re: Mr Steve Stevens! over here please



by StevensAGoGo » Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:49 am
Heya Woundstring,
Let's see if i can shed any light on some of your questions. As you may have realized, magazine articles & interviews don't always get things exactly correct. Perhaps a writer get's confused, or in the case of a phone interview, things get murky. I always strive to give out correct facts myself. I can remember being obsessed with Robert Fripp and dying to know what fuzz pedal he used on the first two King Crimson albums. Although he still claims it to be a Burns Buzzaround, was it really? Ok, so the Atomic Playboys album was indeed 90% Charvel San Dimas which is not a glue on neck. At the time of recording that record, it was loaded with a Duncan JD pickup. It was basically the same guitar and amp combo for the Vince Neil Exposed record although i used quite a bit more Gibson Les Paul on that. I still tour with that Paul...a black standard purchased through L&M Music. I couldn't find a reasonable light weight Les Paul in Los Angeles, so i reached out to L&M who weighed every Les Paul in stock and sent me the lightest. I have never used the half cocked wah trick, not sure where that info came to be. I know that's a Mick Ronson thing, but if i was looking to affect the guitars tone so radically, i would have used a Boss eq pedal. I'd have to say the biggest factor in my guitar tone on the V.N record would be the fact that we tuned down a whole step. That record was also mixed by Chris Lord Alge....one of THE best mixers on the planet. I would imagine, the way he heard the guitar in his head, and then eq'd it for the mix would be a major factor. I hope this clears up a few things for you. Thanks for giving a shit. Back then i'd lose hours of sleep tweaking my gear....sometimes the producer would say, who is honestly going to give a crap Steve? Wish i could have said "well,some 15 years from now this guy Woundstring will...that's why, ha ha".
Some screen grabs from the Atomic Playboys video:




Steve on stage in NYC with Adam Bomb playing the Glow:



Emerald

[shreddermon]

bump

[ps43203]

I must say that, "attention to detail", is a lost art, which is one of the main reasons music today lacks creativity.
Guitar players, go in the studio, lay down tracks, and then some engineer tweaks the hell out of them in pro-tools,
and then, whether the guitar player likes it or not, hears the final product. Unless your Slipknot or Metallica, with
a budget the size of China, there are no more weeks and days in the studio, professionally speaking that is. I spend
weeks and and nights trying to get a tone I want, but a major label with never hear my stuff. It just seems like
the way things were done back in those days, is gone, everything is different now, all about the dollar. I'm glad Steve
"gave a shit", just think if auto tune and pro-tools, was around back then. It makes thankful I grew up when I did, in the
heyday of all those bands and genres, developing right in front of me.

[Emerald]

The last famous project that the Glow Charvel was involved in was 1993's Exposed by the Vince Neil Band. This album is in most every guitarists top ten list as Steve was given free rein by Vince to just blow his cookies as they say as much as he felt like.
Fans got to hear the glorious basswood Charvel with Seymour Duncan JB and SSL pickups through Steve's many plexi Marshall vintage heads.
Steve spent a considerable amount of time working on demos just to dial in his guitar sound in analog so it would have the best transfer possible when it was synched to the main digital multi-track via SMPTE time code.
Steve also played bass on the album as he often did with Billy Idol and on all his solo projects.
Here are some scans from Guitar World describing his process back then. The attention to detail as the previous poster describes really paid off in the incredible guitar tone of the Exposed project:


Here is a Wikki listing for the Exposed album. I wasn't aware of the controversy till now surrounding the authorship of some of the tracks. It must be said though that Steve worked on the tracks from Neil so comprehensively that the practically were his own when they were completed:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposed_%28Vince_Neil_album%29

The people involved in the project were just all the right people in the right place at the right time. Produced by Ron Nevison and engineered by the incredible Chris Lord-Alge the result is a dynamic rock album that stands the test of time.
One of the amazing things is that when touring the album with Van Halen, Steve absolutely nails all the guitar solos. I have an audience shot VHS video form Chicago proving this to be the case. Dave Marshall of Fiona fame is on rhythm guitar but Steve is such a guitar monster that he is hardly noticeable to my ears anyway!
Those who are familiar with the techniques of Steve Stevens know that he mikes his speakers in a particular way and uses a Marshall cab minus the grill cloth for effect. He records the guitars dry and adds effects later for the purest tone possible.
There are whole music/gear forums that are based on the founder trying to get the Exposed tones, think Groomed Noodlers which by the way is where SS now contributes. This is a breakaway forum from Huge Racks where Steve posted before.
That's how I was in contact with Steve and laterally through his wife/manager Josie.
The neat thing about Steve is he is a gear head himself and his enthusiasm transfers to his discussions with fans, He is only to happy to describe his gear and techniques with fans. This was for me the great thing about being a Steve Stevens enthusiast as he does really go that extra yard and is honestly grateful to all his fans.
Back to my 2010 internet project detailing the history of the great Washburn Steve Stevens guitars which the Charvel Glow was the primary inspiration for, the same with the Hamer SS-3 as well, Steve wanting a bolt on necked super Strat.

http://www.vintagewashburn.com/Electrics/SteveStevens.html

Some questions with SS around the Exposed time period:

Steve started out on the 1993 tour supporting Van Halen using his Washburn's and his plexi Marshalls. Soon Ed convinced him to switch to the EBMMEVH guitars and the 5150 stacks, gifting two guitars and three full stacks to Steve.
Most live videos show Steve with this setup. Steve had left Washburn midway through '93 by that time.







The promo shots and videos were all shot with Steve playing his Washburns:/IMG]
Exposed full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcN_...act7NY__ILAPIQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSKsGWENgqM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrskcZK5qNU

Here is the full length Chicago bootleg video, look past the sound/video quality great performances:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmX89FoeRyA

Emerald

[Emerald]

Last picture, this case was at Rack Systems in North Hollywood when I picked up the Glow:


Steve and Dave Marshall of the Vince Neil Band:









Cheers

Emerald

[Emerald]

Here is the Jerusalem Slim demo featuring Steve Stevens with Micheal Monroe on vocals (Hanoi Rocks). I assume it is the Glow on these tracks by the time frame, early nineties. If you enjoy Exposed by Vince Neil you will like Steve's playing on these tracks.
I'll bet it's the Glow sure sounds that way!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGw1W0f2GR4&list=FLMDx6JRfY1XUFi9NjsGEyUA& index=166

Enjoy,

Emerald

[Emerald]

Here are some of the things I had Steve sign when I met him back in 2011. The cassette box cover is from the mega rare "The Guitar World According To Steve Stevens" which I sent away for in the post. This was a full length instrumental with many parts recorded by Steve in his then NYC apartment. He covers am multitude of styles from Jeff Beck to Steve Howe and beyond. He told me he has been trying to re-release it but the owners of it won't cooperate.
Then is the insert from Exposed by the Vince Neil Band featuring Steve with his Washburn SS-100 guitar.







Emerald

[Emerald]

Did anyone send for that Steve Stevens audio cassette back in the day? I had ordered it in 1986 and already was a SS fan having bought my first CD ever..Rebel Yell ! I couldn't believe the riffs and the guitar playing, but the tone really slayed me. And still does though Steve has changed somewhat as all players do (except Jeff Beck) lol.
My bootleg CD's of the Whiplash Smile tour really are just awesome as are the boot Atomic Playboys CD that I also am lucky enough to own. Steve is just as proud of his rhythm guitar playing as his lead, being voted in Guitar Players top 50 rhythm guitarists of all time! I congratulated him in person when we met in 2011, I know how much that award meant to him. It has been rewarding to see Steve become more and more proud of his accomplishments as awhile back he didn't seem to acknowledge all he has accomplished. His wife/manager Josie has certainly helped his confidence. She has been great for Steve and she is smart as a whip!

I showed him my Whiplash Smile t-shirt when I met him and he couldn't believe it was like new!

[Emerald]

Old Guitar Player article where Steve refers to the Charvel Glow:

Emerald