How do the basswood EVH charvels sound?

[savage]

I have not yet played one how do these sound in comparison to the alder san dimas charvels that have say a duncan JB or a custom in em?

[shreddermon]

I'm not a big fan of basswood, but must admit that - tonewise - my EVH kicks ass. A soft wood, but a very toneful one. IMHO, the custom wound pickup has a lot to do with it, too, though.

[Shwayman11]

i agreee with shreddermon. The EVH has an awesome tone- harmonics just jump out at you on the fretboard

[Jack Napalm]

The new EVH sound great. I am not sure if it's the body, pickup or the combination of the two. Tone wise it is awesome!

[hippietim]

the evh guitars sound great.

[atomic charvel guy]

my friend thinks it's the best thing he's ever played. loves it to death.

[Joe_Steeler]

I was aprehensive about it because of the basswood, I am not a big fan of it either.
Gotta say the guitar sounds awesome, no concerns whatsoever. Great axe and can be had for a deal these days.

[Robert Burns]

I agree about the playability...perfection! But it lacks a bit of

Bottom End imo. But that aint what it was intended for. The Harmonics
leap off the fretboard, and its on the edge of loosing control! A Monster
Shred machine. I only went with my Eldridge Flame because of the
massive bottom, and still close to all the other great EVH traits. Mine
might be 20% less of a Hot pickup, but it has 50% more low end.
Just a preference that i liked a bit more. Glad we both have the same
neck though.. Thats a pure pleasure to play. For what its intended for,
the EVH has tons o' tone!

[danastas]

You hear so much negativity about Basswood. I love it in the new CS Charvels. I know that people like EVH and Jeff Beck swear by the wood.

My Anderson guitar was built by the man himself, and Anderson says that Basswood with a maple cap is the "holy grail" of tone. Of course, my Anderson is a Basswood with a Koa top. Even better!

I have three Basswood guitars. I'm satisfied. I think you do have to match the proper pickup to this wood however. An overwound pup works well. SD Custom 5, EVH Art, or Andersons.

[777]

I only went with my Eldridge Flame because of the
massive bottom, and still close to all the other great EVH traits. Mine
might be 20% less of a Hot pickup, but it has 50% more low end.

I put a Tone Zone in one of my EVH Charvels to get what you were looking for, a little more "bottom end" and it sounds fantastic!



p.s. before anybody says "why did you do that?" I don't like the same pups in the same guitars............

[Jack71]

Bottom End imo. But that aint what it was intended for. The Harmonics
leap off the fretboard, and its on the edge of loosing control! A Monster
Shred machine. I only went with my Eldridge Flame because of the
massive bottom, and still close to all the other great EVH traits. Mine
might be 20% less of a Hot pickup, but it has 50% more low end.
Just a preference that i liked a bit more. Glad we both have the same
neck though.. Thats a pure pleasure to play. For what its intended for,
the EVH has tons o' tone!

You both have the same neck? I don't understand. Did you custom order your Eldridge Flame with the same asymetrical neck profile of the EVH?

Btw, has anyone heard the Art Series pup in an all alder body? I just snagged one off of Ebay that I'm going to put in my GMW 5150 replica. Actually the Duncan Custom Custom I have in there now sounds pretty damn good, but I want to try the EVH one out and see.

[nonamemx]

My Anderson guitar was built by the man himself, and Anderson says that Basswood with a maple cap is the "holy grail" of tone. Of course, my Anderson is a Basswood with a Koa top. Even better!

Actually, John Suhr says the same exact thing.

[siggy14]

You know i have this argument all the time with people about basswood. I flip back and forth on whether i like it. So here is the skinny on it.

Basswood is a very good wood for most style of musics, alot of mid's which of course is where the guitar should be in a band mix. Basswood tone is between alder and mahogany so nothing wrong with the tone at all if you are looking for a nice compramise. Harmonics will be great with basswood because of all that midrange tone, this is a very good wood for soloing/shredding and that is why alot of the shredders from the 80's loved the ibanez's.

Now if you are playing alot of rythem in a band that does alot of chug chug chug, well then you will be disappointed with basswood as it does not have the low end that mahogany has, but then again alder does not have it either and alot of people on this board prefer alder as there wood of choice.

Now the downsides to basswood, it is probaly the softest wood out of the 3 main woods that are in guitars, so alot of companies will load the paint on basswood guitars to stop it from denting so easy. Of course the more paint you put on the more it deadens the tone.

So when it comes down to it, if you dont mind a dented guitar that is great for cutting through and a great soloing machien, then basswood is your wood. But if you want chug chug chug then go with mahogany.

Me, for my rock/punk I will do a Les paul with maple cap, for shred i pick up one of my ibanez's.

You hear so much negativity about Basswood. I love it in the new CS Charvels. I know that people like EVH and Jeff Beck swear by the wood.

My Anderson guitar was built by the man himself, and Anderson says that Basswood with a maple cap is the "holy grail" of tone. Of course, my Anderson is a Basswood with a Koa top. Even better!

I have three Basswood guitars. I'm satisfied. I think you do have to match the proper pickup to this wood however. An overwound pup works well. SD Custom 5, EVH Art, or Andersons.

[quiksilver]

Very insightful post, Siggy. Thanks.

[sonofspy]

I concur with Siggy. My Model 3 (MIJ) has loads of mids
but lacks a little chunkiness and definition. So I boost the lows
and para EQ the mid and high harmonics...smooths it out

YMMV

Son Of spy