1983 Charvel 'Blitzkrieg' V

[Hellraiser6502]

Geez there have been a lot of killer nuggets appearing recently.

Check this picture out. Another 1 7/8" nut with an R2 on some 80s guy's guitar.

Killer guitars!

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I just got an email back from Eric....You NAILED it...he was inspired by Warren DeMartini having his guitars with 1 & 7/8ths necks built at the shop while Eric was working there.

He liked them so much he did the same with his V. Wierd coincidence.

[slo100]

Warren has those spider monkey fingers so I'll bet in the course of discussions with Grover he wanted something like a classical guitar nut width and they did it for him.

I have played 1 7/8" on acoustic guitars but never an electric so I am sure it fun to play.

Whatever the case that is an extremely rare and cool Charvel and as someone else said, with an interesting history to boot which is always cool.

Bret

[Nazgul]

1-hum & non-recessed OFR =

[sully]

i remember reading that it was something that warren wanted to try out and wasn't a fan of later on.

still a kickass guitar, though!

sully

[slo100]

I also remember that interview. I think it was along the lines of him having some guitars with 1 3/4" and some with 1 7/8" and he didn't like switching between the two and sent some back (or something along those lines).

I believe he had two bloody skull guitars; one with 1 7/8" and one 1 3/4". Of course the bomber pictured here looks to be 1 7/8".

[sully]

from what i vaguely remember, he had been playing classical alot and wanted that neck width as an experiment. i seem to remember that they made a temporary neck for the crossed swords or something and he eventually determined that it was too freekin' wide.

[sully]

oh, and bret, it's great to see you on here. i'm also saddened by those who don't seem to appreciate what a kickass, oddball guitar this is. i could probably never play it comfortably, but i hope to be able to try that bitch out in the near future.

sully

[Hellraiser6502]

oh, and bret, it's great to see you on here. i'm also saddened by those who don't seem to appreciate what a kickass, oddball guitar this is. i could probably never play it comfortably, but i hope to be able to try that bitch out in the near future.

sully

+1 @ Bret.

I can understand it's not for everybody...it's crazy unusual in almost every way. For ME it's perfect because once again I was a huge Blitzkrieg fan, they were my favorite local band and I watched Eric play it live so many times.

Man what I wouldn't pay to go back in time and see them one more time as they were in 1984-85.

The guitar itself plays rather normally to me. Not really all that unconventional feeling largely because the string spacing is normal...you've just got all that extra ebony along the sides!

It desperately needs a new pickup though, The low end really suffers because the pole pieces aren't even close.

[slo100]

To me, this guitar (and even the Jackson) embody what Charvel was all about back in the day...a professional instrument made to order. This one has many rare features that many collectors/enthusiasts think are cool on early Charvels like no fret markers, reverse headstock, matching headstock, strat headstock, cool graphic, etc. The 1 7/8" nut is just unheard of! The best part of them is they play great and sound great! Throw in celebrity owned and you end up with a special guitar.

Will it lose any mojo if you change the pickup? ;-)

Regarding the question about the cavity's position, my Charvel Flying V has the same route oriented in the same manner. I think they were done like that to provide the right angle of controls (obviously for guitars with multiple knobs and switches). Like mine, guitars with one pickup don't need the elongated cavity but both instances we have them.

Bret

[skorb]

that is freeking sweet!!

I've never seen that large a nut on any electric.

crazy (in a cool way)!

[sully]

To me, this guitar (and even the Jackson) embody what Charvel was all about back in the day...a professional instrument made to order. This one has many rare features that many collectors/enthusiasts think are cool on early Charvels like no fret markers, reverse headstock, matching headstock, strat headstock, cool graphic, etc. The 1 7/8" nut is just unheard of! The best part of them is they play great and sound great! Throw in celebrity owned and you end up with a special guitar.

Bret

THANK YOU! in reading the thread, i was really disappointed at how unappreciated this guitar seemed to be by the members. yeah, it's an oddball, but that's COOL! when was the last time any of us saw anything like this? i've NEVER seen a charvel V with a strathead, let alone with that neck width, and an ebony skunk stripe? too fuckin' cool! i love the story behind this, and knowing how much curt loved blitzkreig, i'm so happy that he was able to own this guitar.

sully

[shobet]

To me, this guitar (and even the Jackson) embody what Charvel was all about back in the day...a professional instrument made to order. This one has many rare features that many collectors/enthusiasts think are cool on early Charvels like no fret markers, reverse headstock, matching headstock, strat headstock, cool graphic, etc. The 1 7/8" nut is just unheard of! The best part of them is they play great and sound great! Throw in celebrity owned and you end up with a special guitar.

Will it lose any mojo if you change the pickup? ;-)

Regarding the question about the cavity's position, my Charvel Flying V has the same route oriented in the same manner. I think they were done like that to provide the right angle of controls (obviously for guitars with multiple knobs and switches). Like mine, guitars with one pickup don't need the elongated cavity but both instances we have them.

Bret

Thanks for the info on the cavity, they must route out the rear cavities before deciding what the configuration on the front is going to be then. I suppose that must be the case in a lot of guitar production as the Charvel 5a and 6 I own have the same size rear cavity.

[FastJunkie]

I actually really love the nut idea because I do have a tendency to slip off the side of the neck on my 475 which is one of my only gripes about it.

[eddie_van_earache]

I o like it for what it is. I have no interest in owning it or playing it but its a friggin killer rig and example of that era. I have a narrow focus when it comes to charvels, pointy and strat.. not much else interests me from a ownership point of view. I do appreciate each and every charvel I see. I know that event he plain jane ones were special to someone at one time. Thats the coolness that is charvel. The human element.

The other cool thing related to the human element - the fact that some left the factory back i the day that were complete POS dogshit. It was a company of a bunch of guys learning their way through the custom guitar business. They are not nor will they ever be Anderson, Suhr, PRS.... and thats cool.