New Custom Strathead Arrives - Diggity!

[Soap]

That is just dead sexy!

+1
Gorgeous indeed.
If it plays( like butter, super smooth) as good as it looks it would be a dream guitar.
Definitely congrats, you did good, very good.

[sonicsamurai]

awesome guitar - doesn't quite look like a strat body tho - the horns look different - more shaved - maybe its just the angle? looks sweet tho

[sonicsamurai]

d'uuuuuuhh coz its a dinky strat obviously...i should learn to read :P

[shreddermon]

One question - Why twenty four frets on a strat head?

Honestly, a 24 fretter wasn't a goal, per se. This was more dictated by the body style: I wanted one order to be a Dinky w/strathead. And, the more I thought about it, I prefer the look of the 24 fret Dinky bodies with the proportionally longer horns. So the body preference led to the neck spec.

Anyways, I probably have the first 24 fret Charvel strathead ever made. So that's a nice bonus.

Was that NAMM last January or what?

Is there any price difference in getting a Floyd or a Wilkenson trem on a custom shop?

Also, is it quite a bit more for the strathead?

Yes, NAMM last January. That's when the strathead option first became available on custom shop orders. Yes, there are upcharges for both the strathead and Floyd. Probably so for a Wilky, too, if that floats your boat.

Pat is the neck joint "block" thinner than usual?
is it sculpted down like a PC-1's

It's the same heel as a regular Charvel, not angled like the PC1. I'm sure they'd do that if you ordered it that way, though.

[VitaminG]

H/S , non recessed floyd? man you nailed it with this one

+1

That is awesome. I wouldn't have thought s'head & dinky would go so well together, but that is supercool.

I reckon you must be overdue for a group shot now, Pat

[Johnnyryche]

Way to go, Pat! Sweet looking guitar. Congrats.

[UFORocks]

Thats really nice, congrats on the new axe!

[JZ06]

nice one! that neck looks like it screams!!!

[Joe_Steeler]

Tits!!!
Love it.

[shreddermon]

Thanks guys.

OK, so I got to play it for about 45 minutes this morning. Here’s a more detailed review.

The initial set-up was pretty good. It took all of 5 minutes for me to dial it in to my preferences. A couple of tweaks to the trem posts for slightly lower action. I thought the PU heights needed to go a notch closer to the strings but, after tuning up and plugging in, realized they were better back in the original positions.

We often talk about how much sustain our guitars have and/or how great the harmonics are. That talk has almost gotten stereo-typically silly, so I usually take it with a grain of salt. But WOW, I’m blown away by this guitar in that dept. Notes sustain for a long, long, long time. So long that you can keep a note going almost indefinitely with just a tiny little bit of finger vibrato. Like fixed-bridge sustain, long. Like PC1 sustainer-long. And harmonics just flat out jump out of this guitar. It’s really amazing, and that’s not just talk. I don’t know if I just got lucky with a super nice toneful chunk of mahogany or what, but wow. Just jaw dropping WOW. And the mahogany, flametop and colors are just kick ass in person. All around classy and top notch.

The neck is sweetness. As mentioned before, I spec’d it to have the same thin & flat profile of a Charvel pointyhead – that’s my favorite feel. So I pulled out my Orange pointyhead and PC1 to A/B the neck against. It’s damn close to the Orange. Just about as thin, but maybe slightly less flat. The backshape on the PC1 was noticeably more round and chunky. So I’ve got the best of both worlds – strathead looks & pointyhead feel. …At least for my preferences, that is. :P Fretwork was very good, and the rolled edges were excellent. Also there’s a subtle bit of eye candy flame in the neck and headstock, too.

Plugged in, the tone was amazing. The Duncan Custom was absolutely perfect for this guitar. Open voiced, chunky, singing. Really great distorted. I’ve never had a Cool Rails before, but wanted to try something different and took a chance on it from the sound clips on Duncan’s website. I was hoping for glassy SC tone, but with more output. Turned out different than I was expecting. IMHO, the actual tone is closer to a vintage-ish full-sized clean ‘bucker – think ’59 with less oomph. A very good PU, I’ll definitely keep it in there - just not what I was expecting. Different, but cool in its own right.

Niggling flaws? There’s a slight haze to the clearcoat on one small spot of the back edge, near the jack. Like it wasn’t buffed smooth enough or something. And the case had a couple of small nicks, along with one latch that doesn’t want to slide easily. Like it got banged inwards during shipping, maybe. I’m totally nitpicking here, though. Nothing significant.

Overall: you know how when you get a new guitar, and you immediately think it’s the new favorite of all of your guitars? And then, a few weeks or months later, it’s cool and all, but not the favorite anymore? Well, I have a new favorite in my collection. And that isn’t going to change later. It sounds and plays THAT good.

[shreddermon]

I reckon you must be overdue for a group shot now, Pat

Uhmm, there's another order that's pretty much done. It'll probably ship in a few weeks. (Hopefully.) So maybe later for a new group shot.

[Robotechnology]

Rediculously NICE! I'm afraid to know the retail price of that bad boy (but, I still want to know)!

[hippietim]

awesome guitar - doesn't quite look like a strat body tho - the horns look different - more shaved - maybe its just the angle? looks sweet tho

it's a dinky body

[dsg0208]

Very nice combo on that one. I have always loved the dinky body with a strat head. Classy.

[tanpsi]

Nice!!! I'm glad it turned out with good sounding wood. Does any one know if there is an option to get a slight route behind the trem? not a recessed trem but just so you could pull up more?