1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

[jgcable]

I just got one. Here are the specs
Koa Body, hand rubbed finish only.
Totally figured and oiled only birdseyed 24 jumbo fret maple neck
Gold hardware
Gold Jackson/Floyd Rose
Hum/Hum
5 way super switch
1 volume
Dimarzio pickups (I am pretty sure it has an Evolution in the neck and a Super 3 in the bridge)
Jackson/Charvel hardshell badged case
It is very similar to a few of the Koa Ressue's that are in the gallery.
It has an Ontario neckplate with a 4 digit serial #.
How does it sound? Really nice. It is on the warm side with tons of sustain. The neck pickup really kills.
How does it play? Fanstastic. It plays as good as you would expect. The action is typical early Charvel San Dimas and the neck profile is the same as a 1983-4 Zebra San Dimas Charvel.
Fit and finish? Beautiful.
This is a real players guitar.
It reminds me a little of a Washburn N4 and also of the John Suhr strat that Reb Beach played with Dokken.
The only obvious flaw that I could see is that it isn't an Ibanez. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] (yea, I am a diehard Ibanez player).

[Reverend Timmy]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

I passed on one of those a couple of years ago and I won't do it again.They are great guitars.Congratulations!........

[kmanick]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

Is this the one that was just on Ebay , where the seller wouldn't take Paypal?
That one was a beauty !let's see some pics!

[danhops]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

I have one with the Wilkinson, and I think its a great guitar as well. Congrats on the score

[jgcable]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

I got it from Mark (Germandeth). I don't know much about it and I frankly didn't even know that they made a reissue model. Did they make alot of them? It is interesting that they all seem to come stock with specific combinations of Dimarzio pickups. I don't even know what mine is actually called. I have seen names like San Dimas I, II, III and IV.
I am guessing it is a II? I also notice that other 1995 Koa models that look exactly like mine have way different serial #'s than mine does. ?

[neilli]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

That's an SD1. Mine has a 4 digit serial (002107) with a Jackson plate.

SD2 = same but with a wilkinson
SD3 = h/s/s with quilt veneer and floyd
SD4 = h/s/s bound curly slab body with floyd.

There were also traditionals (strats) and a tele....

[joe web]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

i think you have a "pre-production" SD1.
because you said it has the Jackson / Floyd Rose and the ontario neckplate.

my SD1 and SDIII have both a 6 digit serialnumber starting with 95 (year of manufactuaring) and they are flat and there is only the charvel logo and "made in USA" printed on.
the second differences is the tremolo, the SD-series guitars had all an OFR. (correct me if i´m wrong)

[SEEGERMANY]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

LMAO! John, I asked the same exact questions when I got that guitar and after a bazillion different answers, I divorced the wife, kicked the dog into a bloody pulp, and finally just enjoyed playing the guitar. To me, classifing Charvels is like finding a Gibson without a quality control issue.

[jgcable]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

Yea, the Ontario neck plate, the 4 digit serial # lead me to believe that there are more questions to be answered. It is also signed and has a work order # in the trem cavity. I noticed it when I was setting up the Floyd for D# tuning. I will take off the cover tonight and post exactly what it says. It is a VERY cool guitar.

[neilli]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

That'd fit: the SD1 has a 3D Jackson plate with a 4 digit serial and a Jackson Floyd, whereas my other 3 all have plain black plates, 6 digit serial and OFRs....

[Dana]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

Just to help out a little. The SD1 has the gold Floyd and the SD2 has the Wilk. The Sd1 came with a Mahogany, Koa or Lacewood body. the prototypes and I believe about the first fifty of the San Dimas reissues had the Jackson plates. I was told that the other plates were not finished. I have an e-mail from Jackson back in the day when they would answer questions stating that 378 SD1's were made total. Most of the ones with the Jackson plate have the neck with the skunk stripe while the others don't. Hope it helps, Dana

[jgcable]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

Mine has the skunk stripe and the serial # is 7111 on a raised Jackson Ontario plate. Do you happen to know what inspired the pickup selection? A Dimarzio Super 3 in the bridge and an Evolution in the Neck is an unusual (but extremely hot) combination. Another thing that is a little perplexing is the 5 way switch. Why would a San Dimas Reissue guitar have a Fender style 5 way slide switch. I would think the more appropriate switch would be a 3 way Les Paul style toggle switch.

[jgcable]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

The last one that sold on Ebay a few days ago went for $1430.00! What's up with that?
Charvel San Dimas

[joe web]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

the gold PUP-rings look cool on it.
maybe i´ll change mine too.

here is a picture of my SDI and SDIII:



btw. Dana, do you know how many SDIII were made?

[SEEGERMANY]

Re: 1995 San Dimas Koa Reissue

John, I saw that KOA when it was first advertised and it's in pristine condition. But the selling price is just beyond crazy.