Please Help USA San Dimas 4 digit

[Coliva]

Hello everyone, my name is Chris I have recently aquired a USA San Dimas Charvel that supposedly belonged to my uncle Criss Oliva he was the lead guitar in the band Savatage and had an endorsment with Jackson/Charvel in the 80s-90s when he passed away in 1993 all of his guitars seemed to vanish so if this one is legit I would be thrilled sadly I have doubts here is the run down on the piece. The claim is that it was a white with black bengal striped design and the second owner stripped it to bare wood

- Serial #5304
- H H configuration with USA Jackson P-50 pickups
- 1 volume knob and a 3 way selector switch
- the body was refinished so if there was a stamp where the neck goes it got covered I took it apart and it has no markings
-it has a Kahler 2300 trem on it but also has posts in it which is strange I can't tell which was the original set up kahler or some weird stoptail type design
The number 6510 is written in pencil inside the cavity that holds the tremolo

Can any of you experts help identify this if I can match the model I can cross check it against guitars we know he owned

My thoughts..
This may be the neck hardware and plate for the bengal guitar with a different body which makes no sense because every piece of hardware looks original so why someone would do that is beyond me my other theory is that it's simply just not his guitar he was not known to play kahler always floyd rose but it is hard to tell in pictures and there are no pictures of the back of it at the very least if the guitar is a real USA San Dimas it would still be a cool guitar I know a professional guitar painter that can put the stripes back on it but I don't want to do that if it's not legit

Thanks in advance
Chris

[busdriver]

I actually doubt that the Charvel with serial 5304 is Criss' White/Black Bengal Charvel.
Because: I've seen Savatage live in concert two times in 1985. He played that guitar during at least one of these shows, I'm sure, I remember this guitar as if it was yesterday. But the serial 5304 would make it a 1986 model (the first one)!

But who knows? Maybe it is that guitar and the Charvel serial number list is wrong (which is pretty unlikely)?

[Coliva]

Ya you know it's hard for me to date it because all of the pictures of it are digital now I'm sure my parents have a lot of originals I can cross check dating on he for sure had it for hall of the mountain king it was one of his first freebies from them but if he was playing it in 85 then ya that debunks the bengal finish I still think it's possible he owned it that's why I was wondering if you could tell any of that I found from the serial# weren't these San Dimas charvels made to order? I contacted charvel customer care and the guy was really cool but there records were from 2002 on he is the one that directed me here that's pretty cool that you saw them in the hay day I was like 5 years old but me and my cousin did spend time on the bus so that kind of counts

[plon]

That is NOT Criss Oliva's guitar, at least not the Zebra. That one had a Floyd. I'm in Tampa and knew these guys. That guitar has been up for a year and I even told him it wasn't.

[plon]

Also, the neck didn't have a Kahler lock nut. It had a real Floyd lock nut.

[busdriver]

but if he was playing it in 85...

I was just looking for a Youtube video. The only evidence that the white/black Bengal already existed in 1985 I found is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG-32aYj6RM
The quality as pretty bad, but it is the guitar in question.

[Coliva]

@Plon you are correct I had major doubts about it being that guitar just by the fact that he didn't play kahler and the original clearly has a Floyd. I do know of the person somewhat and he was a close friend to my uncle he swears up and down that this guitar belonged to my uncle I got it anyway because I've always wanted one of these guitars it would be better if I can find out the real story behind it knowing my uncle he probably got it and didn't like it so he traded out for some gear that is a pretty likely scenario nevertheless, it is going to be a cool guitar when I restore it the only question I have left at this point is can any other info be determined from the serial besides the year? I'd like to know the model atleast

Thanks
And cool pics
Chris

[plon]

@Plon you are correct I had major doubts about it being that guitar just by the fact that he didn't play kahler and the original clearly has a Floyd. I do know of the person somewhat and he was a close friend to my uncle he swears up and down that this guitar belonged to my uncle I got it anyway because I've always wanted one of these guitars it would be better if I can find out the real story behind it knowing my uncle he probably got it and didn't like it so he traded out for some gear that is a pretty likely scenario nevertheless, it is going to be a cool guitar when I restore it the only question I have left at this point is can any other info be determined from the serial besides the year? I'd like to know the model atleast

Thanks
And cool pics
Chris

I'm sure it may have been Criss's, just not that one and not worth the coin he was wanting at first. Charvel didn't have designated models during those years, they were all custom shop, usually ordered through or by music stores.

[Coliva]

Good to know thanks @plon and @busdriver for the replies once I get it cleaned up a bit I'll post some pics. I guess one good thing from this is finding this site, it's really cool!

Appreciate it!
Chris

[kamanda]

Colivia - first off, super cool to have someone of Criss' lineage on here! Your uncle is a huge inspiration to me and I know many guys on here as well! If there is anything you can dig up about any of his old axe's that would be super cool. I know you said a lot of them vanished, that's really too bad. Keep us in the loop!

[Larz]

Cool footage posted by busdriver, I was going to say the quality actually isn't bad for that era

its amazing there is anything given the lack of truly portable affordable technology at the time