New USA Charvels Suck ! ........

[rjohnstone]

Even on the newer strat head custom shops they stick to some of what I consider limitations of the originals, me I would lose the floyd and go to a vintage style bridge, add a tone control, feiten tuning, and who knows maybe a hum sin sin would be nice, add locking tuners, use a plek machine, and for god sake make it so you can adjust the neck without taking it off the guitar, it is 2007 after all.

Sounds like you just need to buy a Suhr.
The Charvels are what they are.
You can't please everyone.
I don't care for the new pointy ones either, but that's just me.
And you want to feel a heavy guitar from JCMI... pick up a PC1.
It's a heavy som' bitch. But it sounds great.

[shreddermon]

Tim, you'll have to excuse me if the intended humor was hidden behind my sarcasm. No twisted panties here.

I do think the way he choose to express his opinion sucks, though. IMHO, he appears to be intending to stir the s**t in that black kettle with statements like they "suck", "Fender-made Charvels", and "my old ones are way better". Not to mention the "really really heavy alder body (painfully heavy)" reference. Gee, wonder where he got that one from?

Not gonna get my panties in a bunch about it, though.

[danastas]

$1800 at GC?

You need to shop around.

[hippietim]

Not to mention the "really really heavy alder body (painfully heavy)" reference. Gee, wonder where he got that one from?

So you seriously think that other folks are not capable of concluding that a guitar is heavy on their own?

Weight with guitars is a relative thing - Jim Shine thought the Telly he sold me was heavy as hell. I got it and it's not too bad at all - feels about average to me. I had an old SD pointy Strat that was fucking heavy as hell. I also had an SD pointy Explorer that was very light even though it was about 12 inches thick I've got a Strat that I always thought was pretty comfortable and the other guitarist I was playing with at the time thought it was heavy as heck.

[hippietim]

$1800 at GC?

You need to shop around.

That does seem high. It's pretty easy to work prices down at GC though. A pointy Floyded Charvel in a standard solid color should be under $1500.

[shreddermon]

So you seriously think that other folks are not capable of concluding that a guitar is heavy on their own?

Did I say that? Nope. But IMHO his reference to the Sub camo run makes it clear why he thinks it's a "problem" on the USA Standard Charvels he played.

And, agreed that $1,800 at GC ain't exactly "blowing them out" by any means.

[Seventh Avenged]

"Even on the newer strat head custom shops they stick to some of what I consider limitations of the originals, me I would lose the floyd and go to a vintage style bridge, add a tone control, feiten tuning, and who knows maybe a hum sin sin would be nice, add locking tuners, use a plek machine, and for god sake make it so you can adjust the neck without taking it off the guitar, it is 2007 after all."

but dude, there are a bunch of current Charvels with vintage style brass trems, some come with hum/single/single and all pointies (if i'm not mistaken) have truss rod adjustments at the headstock. im not sure about all the stratheads.

i mean, no tone controls, and some of those appeal to a lot of Charvel players and those who fall under the demographic who typically buy charvels.

and you definitely can't judge All charvels from a Few of the customs you've seen or the poorly set-up Overpriced stock GC has.

just food for thought, my friend!

[toejam]

Hmm, my '05 Charvel Star seems pretty damn good to me. Besides my volume pot crapping out, which was replaced and sent to me under warranty, and me replacing the Duncan Custom 5 in the bridge for a DiMarzio Tone Zone, it plays and sounds great. And the alder body doesn't feel heavy to me. Thanks for asking.

[toejam]

me I would lose the floyd and go to a vintage style bridge

You do know that you can order any of the new standard Charvels with either the V-trem or Floyd, ebony, maple or rosewood board, H, H/H, H/S, H/S/S pup configuration, right? www.charvel.com

[rattojack]

Well I just got my new Charvel pointy today. It's a maple board, Floyd, Hum-single-single. There isn't a flaw on this guitar. Neck joint is tight. Fret work is perfect. It is on the heavy side, but most guitars today are. Plays perfect right out of the box.
I called a few Guitar Center's two weeks ago and they were selling Charvels with Floyds for seven hundred dollars less than your $1800 quote. Seems like a pretty good deal. I went with another dealer however because I wanted a maple finger board. I still got a very good deal on it.
I too have played some newer Charvels that were not the greatest guitars, but you have to shop around with any brand name.
In all I'm very pleased with my Charvel.

[JZ06]

I've owned many older one's and three newer Charvels. No complaints at all on the newer one's and they play-feel and sound just as good as my old one's.

Funny that the newer one's don't hold the $ like the old one's(I lost close to $500.00 per sale on the one's I moved).

[RR05xx]

Even on the newer strat head custom shops they stick to some of what I consider limitations of the originals, me I would lose the floyd and go to a vintage style bridge, add a tone control, feiten tuning, and who knows maybe a hum sin sin would be nice, add locking tuners, use a plek machine, and for god sake make it so you can adjust the neck without taking it off the guitar, it is 2007 after all.

LOL! I dont know what you are describing there, but I can say from personal experience (both old and new) that it is NOT a Charvel.

As for the QC issues, yes they have them and that does suck, but I will admit, also from personal experience, that when they get it right, and they can and do, they do make a great new Charvel. I am partial to the new pointies, as the necks, particularly the latest runs, feel very 85-86 charvel pointy to me. The '06 s-heads are cool too (I am not a fan of the first few s-head attempts) and its admittely hard to nail that profile to everyone's taste because the original did vary even between similar nut widths and profile types).

[kmanick]

I haven't played any new S-heads (besides the EVH's) but every new pointy I've played has been pretty cool and they've been consistent in feel and build quality.
Everytime I go down to Matts Music he always has some new pointies in stock , and every one I've played down there has been great.
(so are the PC-1's )

I still prefer the old ones to the new but from what I'm hearing now (from what I deem reliable sources) they are finally getting the newer Strat heads to come out right .

[Robert Burns]

Ah, no i dont feel the same way...cause i bought a

Custom Shop San Dimas Eldridge Hot wheels Flame strat for $2k! Whooo
Hoo! Dont hate me cause im beautiful ! And of the 8 or so new Charvels
i have played all were excellent. Some guys love Tele's...some Les Pauls,
and so on, so you just have to decide when your trying them out.
I tried an EVH Art guitar once that played like a $200 import. Must
have been the set up, because my Brothers EVH plays like God! :-)

[danastas]

And as for plek machines, why is everyone complaining about the VOS LPs? I never heard a fretjob complaint about the Custom Historics.