Charvel Custom Shop Order - 1 year down and still waiting...

[xenophobe]

I ordered it in March of 2011. The first indication that there was activity on my CS Charvel was 12/11. I have gotten a few calls from the dealer (three, I think) since that time about minor clarifications on the build order - he said they were close to finishing on his last call, but didn't have a time frame for completion.

This is how it works...

You do the whole build sheet and go through the quote process. Some time after the quote is confirmed, maybe a few weeks to a couple months, you'll get a few questions regarding specifics when they start processing your order and then put in in the queue. At this point, nobody in the custom shop has even seen the order. Some time later, usually 6-9 month in you'll get asked specific questions by the custom shop by the person who is building it, specifics on control locations and any custom neck/bodywork and that the guitar is "almost done". At this point, they actually grab the materials for the guitar and put it in a pile with the notes ready to start assembling. Then, some time later, you may be asked specifics on the finish or electronics. At this point, the guitar is mostly assembled and primed or base coated, you receive progress pictures and "it'll be ready in one month". If any flaws or issues come up with the paint when they're getting ready to put the electronics in, it goes back to the beginning of the paint queue line. At this point, the paint got chipped, there are noticeable flaws or something is really wrong and you won't hear anything from the custom shop for months. Depending on the severity of the repair necessary, you'll wait an additional 1-6 months for this to be corrected. After this is sorted out, the electronics are installed and it will sit there for weeks or months waiting for final inspection. After final inspection, the guitar will sit in the warehouse for a few weeks before actually being shipped off to the dealer.

At least, that's what I've been able to put together from mine and several other friend's personal experiences with the process, as well as from what is reported here.

[Chubtone]

Thanks Chubtone for the post. I think that clarifies a lot for those of us still waiting for our CS orders. So if I am reading it correctly, the Charvel CS guys are making not only Charvel CS guitars, but are also responsible for the custom shop EVH and Jackson guitars, as well? If that's the case, then those guys have got their hands full. And if the numbers waiting are in the 600's, then holy crap! The math on that does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling about future CS order wait times...

Yes, you are reading it correctly. The same small team of 12-14 guys (that's a guess based on the recent custom shop tours I have done. They won't confirm numbers.) builds all the Charvel, Jackson and EVH Custom Shop guitars. So while most Charvels are fairly easy guitars to build, (bolt-on strat styles) sometimes those guys are spending tons of time with some extremely difficult Jackson build.

If you get a chance, read my custom shop tour post from a couple years back. It sheds a lot of light on how small time that custom shop is and how much hand work goes into each guitar. In most cases, they are using the same machines to build on that they used in the early 80's. The Fender efficiency experts have tried to get the Custom Shop guys to modernize and use machines that would just crank these things out, but these builders have been using these machines for years and feel that it is what the Charvel and Jackson customers want, their guitars built in the traditional Charvel/Jackson way.

It also means that these are very exclusive guitars numbers wise. I know this is not scientific, but the serial number on my 2011 Charvel is 8888. My buddy Jay got one 8 months later and his serial number is 9000. That's about 4 Charvels a week. Think of all the boutiquey companies that we consider exclusive and many of them make way more guitars than Charvel does.

Also, if an artist pops in, they stop what they are doing and try and get that artist out the door with exactly what they want. Like Chris Broderick from Megadeth. When he was hooking up with Jackson before that last Megadeth tour and they were building him a signature model, almost all focus goes to that project, at the expnese of the rest of our guitars, that sit wherever they were before the new project starts. This may not seem fair, but we all know this is how it works at all the companies.

I had someone tell me that the wait for a PRS Custom Shop is 2 years. And yes, a PRS is more difficult to build than a Charvel, but is it more difficult to build than the Jackson that is in line in front of your build? Probably not.

I am not making excuses for Charvel. They need to more accurately quote build times. Then someone can really decide if they are willing to wait that long for a guitar and frustrated guys waiting can be minimized.

[veemagic]

What really sucks is they don't say no to something until after a year, they've presumably started building your guitar, and taken your money. WTF? You mean they couldnt tell you up front that they wont do your logo color when you placed your order? Compete bullshit!

[MetalDaze]

FWIW, I'm sure Jackson doesn't collect any money from the dealer until the guitar ships. The dealer is holding whatever deposit was put down.

[Drlynnmd]

Chub, thanks for that post. And thanks again to everyone that has posted here. A lot of great info here for those of us that have already ordered our CS guitars and those thinking about ordering. I wanted everyone here to know that am absolutely in LOVE with the Charvels that I currently own. I have two CS Charvels (bought them used) and since that time, all the other guitars that I own have become wall art. I never touch them...Jacksons, Gibsons, Ibanez, Kramers - all hanging and collecting dust. I have never played as well or as confidently as I do when I play my CS Charvels. They just fit me perfectly - and i didn't even design those two! So I have 100% faith that the CS crew are gonna send me a CS guitar that's gonna completely floor me. I might have not gotten EVERY Single wish granted (logo issue) but I've just had to accept that and am gonna live happily ever after with my CS Charvel that is 99.95% my dream guitar.

[Drlynnmd]

Veemagic - When I placed the order with the dealer, I asked him if the logo could be "pearl-like", he said they could do that. I looked at the original order, and it was listed as Ivoroid (i have learned from this post the difference between pearloid and Ivoroid- thanks guys!). . Either way, it turned out that they couldn't do it. I have recently left a message about possibly getting a MOP logo, but I haven't heard back yet

[veemagic]

FWIW, I'm sure Jackson doesn't collect any money from the dealer until the guitar ships. The dealer is holding whatever deposit was put down.

While that is more than likely true, the dealer has credit with Jackson so they are On the line for that guitar that was spec'd out and accepted. Why do we fill these damn things out if they are going to just omit things whenever they feel like it, or in my case just change them and not tell me until I receive the guitar. How many times has that happened? Talk about robbery? Wait 24 months just to have your guitar come out wrong and then be left with the decision to take it or leave it? Sucks! And isn't right!

[ulijdavid]

I guess this is why Veemagic now gets those awesome custom Vees from GMP!!

[METAL MANIAC]

I have a Charvel Custom Shop and I love it but I don't know if I really buy into the fact of it being superior to a regular US made Charvel or Jackson. When I say that I realize you can get get it exactly(or at least you should be able to) how you want it.. color, pickups, fretboard, inlays, etc... but I am refering to the quality of the guitar. I think for the kind of $$$$ you would be dropping you should get it pretty much anyway you want it...All of the stories have just scared me off from placing an order. That is why with my last guitar project I just found a US select soloist, upgraded the pickups, block and springs and had Mike hook it up how I wanted it. I am not knocking anyone from what they want to do but it seems to be too much drama for me...............

[Chubtone]

Veemagic - When I placed the order with the dealer, I asked him if the logo could be "pearl-like", he said they could do that.

This sounds to me like a dealer fail and not a custom shop fail. It sounds like you are wanting an inlaid sort of logo which is very Jackson style and not very Charvel style. Who knows if they even have a template for carving out the much smaller and more detailed Charvel logo and then inlaying a pearl like material.

[Drlynnmd]

Yeah, I agree with ya on that, Chub. I think the dealer was a little overzealous about what logo options you could get. To be completely honest, I thought they could have a "pearl-like" decal printed up....me being naive'...lol. But, as I said in an earlier post - it's all cool, & I can live with the white Charvel decal.

[MetalDaze]

Speaking of all of this CS stuff....I just got some progress pics of my Extreme Warrior (check the Jackson USA forum).

[xenophobe]

What really sucks is they don't say no to something until after a year, they've presumably started building your guitar, and taken your money. WTF? You mean they couldnt tell you up front that they wont do your logo color when you placed your order? Compete bullshit!

I wrote the order process down a few posts above this.

The reason it takes a year is because a builder hasn't seen the build sheet until you get that second request for more specifics on your build.

[Chubtone]

I wrote the order process down a few posts above this.

The reason it takes a year is because a builder hasn't seen the build sheet until you get that second request for more specifics on your build.

The process you wrote down is not the same everywhere. It sounds like that dealer doesn't want to do much preliminary work and just wants to get you in line for a build. The good thing about doing it that way is that after waiting a while people end up changing their minds on what they wanted originally. If they have a completed work order ready to go when they grab it, they build the guitar on the work order. Otherwise, it gets delayed while they wait for specifics.

[GuerillaPete]

I placed a Charvel CS order a while ago. I'm still waiting on Wayne Charvel to get back to me about it.