Checked out some CS charvels in UK (review)

[sonicsamurai]

so in the UK there is a shop called Richtone Music in Sheffield. This allegedly has the distinction of being the only custom shopp charvel dealerin Europe. Naturally, for someone who likes Charvels, this gives it a certain Mecca - like quality. I had a day off, so why not trek up the M1 to check some out. I thought i would share my experiences below, but first here are some pics of what they had in stock:

[sonicsamurai]

SO, onto my experience...

Now, I am going to start off by talking about my reference points and expectations. I have not played CS or a vintage charvel previously, however I have previously owned several model series (2, 3dr, 4) and currently own an MIJ socal. I have another guitar i built myself from parts, I am also familiar with higher end Japanese Ibanez's and have experience of playing fender custom shop guitars. The fender custom shop is an obvious reference point as this means I am familiar with the kind of quality and appointments I could expect from guigars with this price tag.

Most of these guitars retail in the £1800 price range. This is obviously around £1000 more than current promods I think, but interestingly is also less than the current retail price of the new USA select range which Richtone sells for around £2000 (although intriguingly i didn't see any in the shop).

It's fair to say that the majority of guitars you are looking at have more of a classic vibe - single hum (selection of dimarzios and duncans), floyd rose. although there are a couple with more modern appointments. Fairly straightforward - dare I say plain jane in that they were mostly solid colours. For the price tag, though, I still fully expect to still be blown away by the quality and 'that' Charvel neck profile.

Visually, obviously the quilted maple strats were quite pretty to look at. I had seen the holoflake (?) guitar online but, for my taste, I felt they had laid the poly on a bit too thick (for the girls among you it looked like very glossy nail polish). There were a couple of natural guitars - very plain with a satin finish. The green and the gary more style again, looked a little plasticy? This might be because Charvel has traditional used poly coat so therefore there was going to be little difference to see in the finish, but i still felt that compared to my socal it looked a little thick. I have felt that this was also apparent with the newer mexican promods. Again, because these were mostly solid colours perhaps there wasn't going to be much 'extra', and maybe the choice of colours didn't help. Nevertheless I did like the guitars that came in the more traditional fender finishes.

In terms of necks, there was more variation than i expected. guaranteed these are (hopefully) handmade guitars, but pretty much any neck is sanded by hand to some degree and i guess i expected a more definitive neck shape and more consistency. I noticed that the shape of the neck seeemed to vary depending on which batch the guitars had maybe come from? For example, I was actually dissappointed with the guitars in the fender colours. The necks felt noticeably 'cheaper' compared to some of the other necks - they felt smaller, seemed to resonate differently and sadly i felt like i noticed the fret ends more than I would expect from a guitar of such supposed quality. Peculiarly, the green guitar seemed to have very narrow frets compared to all the others and i also noticed a flaw in the neck where there was a noticeable ridge and slight gap along part of the edge of the skunk stripe whcih i felt could easily have been sanded out in production. I felt that my socal compared very favourably in this regard. However, some of the other guitars did impress me more, particular the guitars with slab ebony and rosewood boards. these i felt had been made very well and felt very comfortable. For some reason the guitars with the seymour duncans seemed to feel nicer, like a bit more care ansd attention had gone into the crafting of the neck.

In terms of looks, there wasn't much in the way of attractive grain like maybe i could expect from say a fender in this price range. The necks seemed quite light (both weight and colour), dare i say a little more 'hollow' than i am used to. I assume this is be a concious choice to aid resonance and sustain. The 'oiled' finish (i assume this is what these guitars are meant to have) confused me slightly. I think in my head i expected the guitar to feel more 'woody' - a bit softer/warmer maybe. The necks felt brand new (duh!) but perhaps i expected something to feel more 'played in' - something more comfy - for the amount of money at stake. Slick, no doubt, but it felt more like the necks had a satin finish. I don't know how the oil works, but it felt (with a quick finger nail tap) that maybe that was contributing to a hardened outside . i'm struggling to think of the word but maybe it reminded me of resin? i think i expected the necks to perhaps feel more 'natural' for sure. But again, this quality seemed variable, and there were some necks that had a bit more of a comfortable shape that settled in the hand nicely. there seemed to be very little fret buzz and certainly the necks I was most comfortable with were fast playing.

in terms of hardware, well there's not much to say really is there? we all know what duncans, dimarzios and floyds are like. They sounded pretty good, and no doubt the quality of the woods you'd expect was evident. I did notice however that the pots used on some of the guitars were not as fast as others. I have used CTS pots for a while and these can be very quick feeling, i didn't feel that this quality was necessarily present in all and again my socal compared favourably.

And i guess that last para sums it up - where exactly would my extra £1000 be going? These were guitars with a pretty basic spec (in some ways less specced than current production models). There wasn't much to hide from, but I expected them to deliver an extra 'something' and to have a bit more of an aura - that quality that said straight up 'this is the real deal'. with a number of these guitars, it just didn't feel like i was playing a guitar of a significantly (or any) superior quality to say a japanese or USA promod etc. Bear in mind that these more affordable production guitars already come specced out with duncans or dimarzios, my japanese socal certainly has very good fret work and very comfortable fretboard edges etc. Ok so these CS have an original floyd rather than FR1000 (is it?), but that's it. other than that £1000 is a lot to be paying for some better quality(?) tonewood. Personally, I am glad that i tried before I bought given the variances. Putting aside the more modern specced guitars like the quilt ones (which i felt were of a good quality and craftsmanship), I felt that for the more basic ones, unless for that price these came in something like some cool classic finishes which actually required more effort to produce or maybe something more akin to say 'closet classic' or light relic feel I'll stick with my socal or build my own guitar which i can specc the hell out of for a lot less...

[MadPeter]

Very interesting feedback thanks. As a Charvel fan located in EU these one are on my radar

[Number Of The Priest]

Really enjoyed reading that report and seeing the pics! Thank you!

I did notice however that the pots used on some of the guitars were not as fast as others. I have used CTS pots for a while and these can be very quick feeling, i didn't feel that this quality was necessarily present in all and again my socal compared favourably.

Did you change the pot in your So-Cal? I have a USA So-Cal and a Japanese So-Cal, both stock, and their pots are the stiffest ones I've felt. Eventually I will be swapping them for low friction pots.

[contilon]

Great read!

[sonicsamurai]

no the pot on my so cal is very fast it's the original AFAIK everything was stock when i bought it. maybe I got lucky i dunno?

[shreddermon]

That black holoflake looks killer. The Gary Moore-ish one is pretty cool, as well.

[sonicsamurai]

here are some vids i took. The mahogany strat was through the DSL, the other two through the mesa boogie...

[sonicsamurai]

[sonicsamurai]

[toejam]

What song did you play on the green one? Sounds familiar, but I just can't place it. Thought it was Iced Earth for a minute.

[sonicsamurai]

...Unchain the night by Dokken i think lol

[toejam]

Oh, okay. I did think it was a Dokken tune at first. Haven't listened to any of their older stuff in awhile. I've got that on cassette in my basement somewhere.

[sonicsamurai]

i still had it on vinyl until recently \m/ >< \m/

[toejam]

My wife got me a stereo last Xmas that's got a cassette and turntable with a CD recorder, so I've got lots of cassettes and vinyl to start recording once I get some more blank recordable CDs.