Score! NGD- San Dimas Style 1

[vector]

Just scored a sweet looking Charvel San Dimas Style 1 2H! Been jonesing a maple neck, 80's style shredder and the added bonus of the Strat head is even better. I WILL eventually be routing it to have the OFR fully float and then have Mike Learn hook it up with some badass paint. Something real 80's-like; retina-searing colors, animal skins (snake, tiger, etc.), Japanese graphics, WW2 fighter fuselage/cowl art. Hot DAMN, I'm excited!
Charvel San Dimas S 1.jpg

[ParaP14]

Great score! Sounds like you got it all figured out!

[DonP]

Cool. Good idea sending it to Mike for a sweet paintjob. I have some projects I need to send to him.

[RockCity]

Just scored a sweet looking Charvel San Dimas Style 1 2H! Been jonesing a maple neck, 80's style shredder and the added bonus of the Strat head is even better. I WILL eventually be routing it to have the OFR fully float and then have Mike Learn hook it up with some badass paint. Something real 80's-like; retina-searing colors, animal skins (snake, tiger, etc.), Japanese graphics, WW2 fighter fuselage/cowl art. Hot DAMN, I'm excited!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4701[/ATTACH]

Damn Don P!! You are on FIRE!! Nice axe- Saw you over at the Randall forum with the RM100- These Charvels sounds HUGE through the right mods....Especially the Marshall type mods. Grab yourself a Judge/GTO and prepare to be transported back to the 80's!

[MotoSolo]

Is that the one that was ebay recently? Looked like a great deal, congrats!

[Big D]

Congrats! I have that exact same guitar, I put EMG's in it and it rocks hard. Great necks on that run.

[vector]

Is that the one that was ebay recently? Looked like a great deal, congrats!

Yup. It was a great deal from what I've seen of other Pro Mods going for.

[vector]

Wow. What a deal/steal- not only did I get a excellent condition guitar for 7 and change but a number of bonuses- a gig bag AND G&G hard shell case, 2 sets of new strings, coincidentally, my brand and gauge, and from the looks of things, there is a FU big brass "L" block in there along with heavy duty, noiseless strings... to my knowledge, those are aftermarket upgrades. Sweet!

[xenophobe]

Is that from the seller who had 3 USA parts mutts? Those went really cheap. I was watching them and I figured that people here would snag them.

Anyway, grats! All three of those looked really nice.

[vector]

Is that from the seller who had 3 USA parts mutts? Those went really cheap. I was watching them and I figured that people here would snag them.

Anyway, grats! All three of those looked really nice.

Dunno about the 3 parts mutts but it made me a little nervous that no one else got into a bidding war over this one. This ax seems REALLY nice- a few pick swirls and finger prints (easily wiped away) and a number of costly upgrades including the case and the brass L block.

I gotta say though, I am spoiled by my 24 fretted, floating trem-ed axes. This has a slightly wider, beefier neck than my other shredders and poses a bit of a challenge trying to access the upper frets. That, along with the limited pull up range on the bar leaves me momentarily stymied when playing. Might be a good thing, though; push me outside of my comfort zone and all that shit. We'll see. I'm gonna give it a month to see if it has enough mojo to keep. If not, you'll likely see it up for grabs on here.

[xenophobe]

These were the three auctions:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280988017718

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280987964809

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280987892783

I'm surprised they went that cheap. Kinda shows how depreciated the market is right now. I'm sure they're all great guitars. I considered buying one, but I've bought so much stuff in the last two months, it's crazy. I need to drop a few, not get more lol

[vector]

No. As it turns out, the guy I bought from is from Jersey.

[vector]

So, I had the opportunity to give the Charvel San Dimas Style 1 a thorough test ride and here's my thoughts:
The previous owner had treated her well and added a few aftermarket goodies making an already solid guitar even more so. Upon opening up the trem spring cavity, I noted that he had put in a Floyd Upgrades brass "L" big block and had replaced the stock Floyd springs with FU noise-less heavy duty springs. Bravo! This enhanced the clarity of the notes and the sustain considerably when compared to the same model guitar (owned earlier in the year) without.

The pups are JB and a '59 . The JB is a tad trebly during lead work but does allow for plenty of squeals, harmonics and such. The JB really delivers in a rhythm capacity, providing oodles of crunch coming through the Marshall JVM 205 and a M412A cab. Hands down the BEST crunchy, juicy, full rhythm tones I've ever gotten out of an ax. Period. From a JB. Go figure.

The '59 has a wonderful, rich tone and is superb for smoother, creamier passages, making swept arpeggios and legato runs sound heavenly.

The San Dimas has a one piece maple neck that is slightly wider (perhaps thicker) than I'm used to. That, coupled with the close approximation to the Strat dimensions, doesn't allow for easy access to the upper frets. I am VERY spoiled by my Hamers- the Diablo and Cali both have superior ergonomics and fret access and the necks feel a tad more comfy. One thing the San Dimas has in it's favor is the satin neck finish. The maple board on the San Dimas is as it should be- slightly brighter than rosewood and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

The San Dimas strikes me as good workhorse guitar as it is none too heavy (the alder body) and compact enough to wear throughout an entire gig without the wear and tear, is ergonomically easy to play with it's angled arm area on the top portion of the body and has most of the capabilities sonically that a hard rawkin' player might need. It's cons include the previously mentioned limited access to upper frets, the 22 frets (I am unabashedly a fan of 24, again thanks to Hamer's Diablos and Calis) and the flush mounted Floyd. There is some play in the OFR, but the pull up range is limited to about a half step. If you're like me and you enjoy having the capacity of pulling notes up to a step or more, then this will prove frustrating. However, if pulling up on the wang bar is NOT your thing AND you like to be able to drop to D in a hurry, the addition of a D-Tuna is definitely your best move. This guitar is well -suited for that and again, adds to it's versatility.

One last addition to my review- Played it last night in the band setting (we're auditioning singers...YAY!) and the guitar sounds the absolute tits thru the Marshall JVM 205 and a M412A cab at 2/3 gig volume. I'm not kidding. The fullest, juiciest rhythm tone (from the bridge pup, no less)I've heard from any of my axes, bar none. Even the other guitar player who is something of a tone corksniffer and audiophile stopped what he was doing and commented on it's crunchiness and punch. The weird thing is, it's a JB in the bridge doing the work. I've found JB's to be hit or miss with re: to rhythm tone and punch. This one aces it.

Think I'll hang on to this axe, if for nothing else, as a very effective and devastating rhythm guitar.