No more USA Charvels?

[shreddermon]

As best I've heard, it's no different than before. You can still order them, and Charvel is custom shop only.

As to an import line - and whether it will replace USAs or supplement them - I'd guess we'll have to wait until Winter NAMM '08 to know for sure.

So, for now, we should probably all relax and enjoy the sometimes-fun & sometimes-silly speculation.

P.S.- Tekky: preaching to the choir, bro. I said the same things way back when they got rid of the custom shop quote generator. Poor business move, IMHO. You don't see ESP doing like that.

[~K~]

They were all set up with a kick ass solution ..they dropped the ball!

It suck not being able to pre price and see what you would like. Too expensive play with the options and reduce your cost ..no quote needed!!

go figure

[Tekky]

P.S.- Tekky: preaching to the choir, bro. I said the same things way back when they got rid of the custom shop quote generator. Poor business move, IMHO. You don't see ESP doing like that.

Doesn't hurt to reiterate it. Maybe someone at JCMI will be reading.

[shreddermon]

Not to mention the custom shop quote generator just plain old promoted the brand in a very big way. Kids - young and old - could play around with the options and fantasize about what dream guitars they'd have the custom shop build for them. I mean, for cripes sake, how many threads have we had here on the JCF with "what if" guitar pics from the JCF's cool CS generator. The quote generator did the same exact thing, just without the visual.

Not to mention that now you've got umpteen clowns bugging dealers and Kotzen alike for custom shop quotes that they'll never actually follow through on. Which only serves to further frustrate actual customers who have their own quotes delayed even further.

[markD]

that is what happened to me. took to long to get the quote back, so i never ordered. i took the money and bought 3 kickass used jacksons instead. ireally wish they'd get back on the ball like they were 4 years or so ago...i really wanna order a custom PC archtop!!

[fuel0707]

Geez, it's 1986 all over again

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if they'll bring back the Model series.

[diablomozart]

why is it that every time a mention of japanese charvels comes up people think its degrading the name?...come off the elitist attitudes...the model series charvel did more to bering the brand name charvel to the masses than all the endorsers combined... they were well made instruments and reasonably priced...and anyone who knows the brand can differentiate between an import and a custom charvel...i just dont see the big deal here...d.m.

[shreddermon]

That's a good point, DM. I think many old-timers - myself included - associate the old import Charvels with the demise of the brand. Were they good guitars? Sure were, initially. But, in later years, the import models eventually started to morph into other stuff that wasn't really "Charvel-like" to many of us and eventually degraded into stuff like the Charvettes. So not only did it lead to the demise of the brand but, towards the end, it eventually shat on the cool "legacy", if you will, that the brand once had. So it's not so much "snobbery" about the guitars themselves, as much as what the import line led to with the brand.

Personally, I think a new import line might be a good thing, as long as it is done well and people still have the USAs to aspire to. And, to me, "done well" means things like reasonable prices, great quality, OFR trem, Duncan or Dimarzio PUs, and - yes - stratheads on imports. You know, things that ESP does on its Japanese models, or even a little better. They've got to lure back the youth market that they lost to ESP and Ibanez over the past decade or two. And that really requires (lower) import prices and high quality/value. If they can do that, it would eventually lead to the USAs being more successful.

[Tekky]

I personally don't think it really needs an OFR or the high-end pickups. While the Model Series had pretty good components and were great players, but you can easily change things out for better components. For locking tremolos, just keep it top-mounted, therefore there's no worrying about whether it fits a tremolo route or not.

To me, Stratheads... While I love them, I wouldn't say that they'd be integral to the success of an import line.

Ultimately, I think if they just revive the model series as it was, it would be a big hit.

[diablomozart]

oh...funny thing is...when amic owned the company...if you ordered a custom jackson you could have had a charvel decal on the head instead of jackson...they didnt advertise it but it was available...just no stratheads at the time...and being you could order anything you wanted then, the custom shop charvels actually never really went away...d.m.

[RR05xx]

A charvel is more than just a decal.

[diablomozart]

yeah its a bolt on strat with a very specific neck that could be ordered at the time as well...lol...d.m.

[Fretburner]

??

No more USA Charvels?
Oh no what will we do?

Build our own!

[Frigo89]

Build our own!

+1

I'd have someone like Frankenstraat.com just make me one, I dont give a shit about how rare it is, the history, who endorsed it, I just want a good quality guitar to play

[shreddermon]

DM, I know I'm in the minority in the debate on this issue, but I disagree that custom shop Charvels "never went away". Beyond even the specs of what defines a Charvel, I mean.

I think there was a period - perhaps brief - where you couldn't get a Charvel logo on a custom shop guitar. This was at least '87-88, maybe longer. Essentially when the import line was first starting. Even if you wanted a Charvel then, you got a Jackson logo. There was no choice - they didn't have it. They really didn't allow/have Charvel logos again until later. A couple of artist guitars might've been the exception. ...But I'd love for someone to prove me wrong, though, and show us a custom Charvel from 87 or 88. I can't recall seeing one, though.

And, Tekky, I know a lot of folks have a fond rememberence of the Model series guitars. They were solid guitars. But, IMHO, it would be an utter disaster if Charvel were to reintroduce them. Except for some of us old farts, that's just not where the Charvel brand needs to be in today's market. They've got to try to take back what ESP and Ibanez stole from them many years ago. USA vs. import doesn't have quite the cache to today's youth that it once had for us. Value is the key, as are artist endorsements. So that means equal or better hardware (OFR, name brand PUs), comparable price and quality (a couple of hundred under to just over a grand), and more attractive features (stratheads, graphics, etc). Otherwise, an import line will go over like a fart in church.