FMIC to *mothball* the Charvel brand?

[schofnsteen]

I want to order but I am afraid of disappointment.

[Joe_Steeler]

50-50 chance, buddy.

[El_Kabong]

Dear FMIC,

I ordered a dayglo pink and baby blue, bengal tiger, reverse Charvel strathead from your custom shop when I was 26. I am now 44 and have yet to receive my order. I believe that I now have outgrown such youthful graphics and would like to cancel. I was also unaware that the master builder who began the construction of my guitar retired 5 years ago. In addition, the brick and mortar shop which I ordered from, succumbed to on-line retailers a year ago. How may I go about getting a refund?

I also wish that the lightweight alder which I supplied from Noah's Ark be returned to me, as you were unable to source any such lumber on the planet at the time.

Sincerely,
R. U. Serious

[speed monkey]

Might be time to send this back to them:




Steve E

[Chrisb]

Wow...19 to 26 months and counting for a custom order?* Again...wow....

I'm at 20 months now. Which wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't know that the guitar has been done since December. This sitting on completed guitars for months and months is just ridiculous especially for $3000+ guitars (Now what, $5000+?). For a Jackson of course, but at this point it doesn't seem to matter wether its a Charvel or a Jackson.

[guitarzan2]

I'm at 20 months now. Which wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't know that the guitar has been done since December. This sitting on completed guitars for months and months is just ridiculous especially for $3000+ guitars (Now what, $5000+?). For a Jackson of course, but at this point it doesn't seem to matter wether its a Charvel or a Jackson.

They're waiting to see if the neck warps. It it makes it 6 months without warping, you're in luck, out she goes.

[z1n]

Just a thought. Has anyone thought about http://www.wayneguitars.com/ ? He is still using the same templates/methods from back in the day. The necks are hand made as well. Check out the build videos too!

[Trycolore]

Just a thought. Has anyone thought about http://www.wayneguitars.com/ ? He is still using the same templates/methods from back in the day. The necks are hand made as well. Check out the build videos too!

Fantastic point - we all know there's other stuff out there - but really, with how silly FMIC Charvels are getting, why not Wayne?

[guitarzan2]

Just a thought. Has anyone thought about http://www.wayneguitars.com/ ? He is still using the same templates/methods from back in the day. The necks are hand made as well. Check out the build videos too!

What same templates/methods from back in the day? Wayne never built a neck or anything when he had Charvel manufacturing. All he did was bolt other peoples necks, bodies and parts together. It's amazing how he still gets away with trying to take credit for everything Grover Jackson accomplished.

[z1n]

All he did was bolt other peoples necks, bodies and parts together

So I guess He didn't build guitars back in the day...

All I'm saying is Wayne is actively building guitars and his necks are hand made (The necks are hand made as well). He says in his videos that he is using body templates on a pinwheel router that are the same as from back in the day. He also says some of his methods for making bodies are the same as from back in the day. I really could care less about who did what back then but more what is being produced today. This is the template video http://www.wayneguitars.com/movies/clip462.mov (he mentions his methods are from back in the day in another video)

If you feel Wayne is getting credit for something he didn't do OR had no part in, I think you should send him an email with concern to what he says in his videos because he clearly states his templates are original copies from back in the day as if he had some part in this.

[surfreak]

he clearly states his templates are original copies.

That is one funny statement.

In my personal experience, Waynabe is indeed riding on (someone else's) past glory, as his guitars are on avg. under par if compared to today's "best of class" builders such as Suhr, DeTemple, Grosh, Anderson, and I'd even include GMW and FMIC Charvel, when they manage to do things right.

[surfreak]

...And I would also add that, if Fender decided to definitely bury the Charvel brand, and build instead a Fender-branded "Charvel clone", with reasonable delivery times and no pathetic QC issues, I would be perfectly happy with that.
I honestly don't put any premium on the Charvel sticker, what matters to me is strictly tone, playability and build quality.

[toejam]

I'm at 20 months now. Which wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't know that the guitar has been done since December. This sitting on completed guitars for months and months is just ridiculous especially for $3000+ guitars

They want to make sure the paint is fully dried.

[skorb]

What same templates/methods from back in the day? Wayne never built a neck or anything when he had Charvel manufacturing. All he did was bolt other peoples necks, bodies and parts together. It's amazing how he still gets away with trying to take credit for everything Grover Jackson accomplished.

well, careful you don't go too far the other way with this.

my understanding is that Wayne Charvel was a talented and creative luthier and it was indeed Wayne who worked with EVH and a number of other mid- to late-70's players who wanted more than just a stock Fender Strat. he was a customizer and builder, and yes he did sell the company to Grover Jackson in like 1978 I think, basically to get something out of it before a divorce or something like that, IIRC?

and then Grover started making guitars with the Charvel name/logo on them and they took off. Grover did RR's prototype a few years later and called it a Jackson b/c he did not want to risk the at-that-time favored Charvel brand on so radical a design. the rest, I suppose, is history.

I have no idea if Wayne is embellishing now or not. he probably had templates he took w/ him. who the F knows.

[guitarzan2]

well, careful you don't go too far the other way with this.

my understanding is that Wayne Charvel was a talented and creative luthier and it was indeed Wayne who worked with EVH and a number of other mid- to late-70's players who wanted more than just a stock Fender Strat. he was a customizer and builder, and yes he did sell the company to Grover Jackson in like 1978 I think, basically to get something out of it before a divorce or something like that, IIRC?

Luthier? Not at all. The only things Wayne built himself were some hardware pieces for Fenders and other known brands. The entire extent of him working with EVH was that he had a strat body lying around that he sold it to EVH. Wayne didn't build the body, it was somebody elses, Boogie I think. If I sold you a guitar body that I didn't build and you became the next great guitar vurtuoso, would I then become the next great guitar builder? I think not.