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[shreddermon]

It'll be fun to resurrect these threads in a couple of years with the "death of Charvel", "death of Jackson custom shop" etc comments. They'll seem kind of nostalgiac funny then.

Look folks, you may not like the price increase and Masterbuilt requirements. Heck, I don't myself. It sure sucks compared to what we had before. But it's a custom shop approach and pricing methodology that FMIC has already proven on other brands. And it's probably going to work here, too. Maybe not the way many of us want it to. i.e., Less guitars for us, and at higher prices. But, most likely, it will work the way FMIC wants it to: less guitars built and at the same or higher profits.

[slash]

It'll be fun to resurrect these threads in a couple of years with the "death of Charvel", "death of Jackson custom shop" etc comments. They'll seem kind of nostalgiac funny then.

Look folks, you may not like the price increase and Masterbuilt requirements. Heck, I don't myself. It sure sucks compared to what we had before. But it's a custom shop approach and pricing methodology that FMIC has already proven on other brands. And it's probably going to work here, too. Maybe not the way many of us want it to. i.e., Less guitars for us, and at higher prices. But, most likely, it will work the way FMIC wants it to: less guitars built and at the same or higher profits.

I see one big difference though... you can go buy a Fender off the rack in almost any price range today. You can also order a custom Fender and go MB if you choose. They killed the Charvel line. NOW you can only go CS to order one. It may work the way they want it to. But I have a felling they want to phase out the Charvel guitars again. I hope I'm wrong but that is what I am seeing.

[shreddermon]

When J/C stopped making the mid-90s reissues, did that mean they "killed off" the Charvel name? Of course not - you could still get one through the custom shop. Heck, except for that mid-90s line, USA Charvels were always custom shop only.

Sure, you could be right. But I suspect it's more just that people are reading too much into Charvel returning to custom shop only. Just like it used to be.

[danastas]

I see one big difference though... you can go buy a Fender off the rack in almost any price range today. You can also order a custom Fender and go MB if you choose. They killed the Charvel line. NOW you can only go CS to order one. It may work the way they want it to. But I have a felling they want to phase out the Charvel guitars again. I hope I'm wrong but that is what I am seeing.

I agree with Slash. I know of one Fender retailer that will sell custom shop models at $2100-2500.

I picked up my Relic used at $1400.

Hard to imagine this will happen with Charvels.

Then again, these are made for detailers, and not customer specs, so Charvel may have decided to just go through stores instead of taking custom orders. On other words, you'll still be able to find Charvels at reasonable prices through dealers.

[neilli]

Heck, except for that mid-90s line, USA Charvels were always custom shop only.....people are reading too much into Charvel returning to custom shop only. Just like it used to be.

Yeah, but they didn't use to cost as much as they now will, either in the 90's or in the SD era. Also, what was the competition in terms of Suhr, Anderson, or even really good quality parts if you want to build yourself a basic bolt-on.....

Still, aparently FMIC are looking at a Charvel production range (mex or Japan). Can't see the point, as SD series pointys didn't sell, and if they market it as sucessfully as the SD series, FMIC better brace for another wipeout...

[shreddermon]

Yeah, but they didn't use to cost as much as they now will, either in the 90's or in the SD era.

We've been through the cost comparison thing before. I agree on the first part, mostly disagree on the last. SD-era guitars were damn expensive in their day. And, if you look at the original SD prices adjusted for inflation, they're comparable to many customs now, even with the recent price increases.

However, I will concede that the Masterbuilt thing has probably made some guitars - perhaps many - more expensive now vs SD, depending on options. And how the MB thing gets applied has made it harder to do those kinds of price comparisons.

[neilli]

Good point on the originals - I'd forgotten those topics.

Even so, I still think the competition wasn't as stiff as it is now, and they don't have the novelty of up and coming company with new ideas on their side now....

[Predator1]

I will second the SD era Charvels were $$ and had poor trade in / resale value. I know this first hand. I bought a Candy Red 1 hum Strathead in 1980 for $800.00. That was alot of dough in the day. I then proceeded to trade it in on a LPC because the damn trem would not stay in tune, very frustrating when you are learning how to play. GC the same store where I bought it would only give me $450.00 trade in value 2 years later. It was mint. Serial # 0501 I believe. Yes! my backside is still sore.