Charvel News: Friday the 13th

[Axewielder]

I kind of feel the same way but I wonder if getting the first batch might get a guitar with more attention paid to detail.

Or, will the second batch have some of the kinks worked out?

[John C]

Aren't there some issues with the new Floyds? I thought they weren't made in Germany anymore or something. I remember reading SUHR or Tom Anderson opting for Gotoh or Pings instead of OFR's as the quality started to suck.

I don't about the new Floyds being bad... I have a brand new Floyd (made in Germany) I installed on my KE3, and a OFR on my 83 Pacer... They both seem to be the same quality to me. But are 25 years difference in age. Maybe I had a good batch when I bought the new one??

John Suhr has made the switch to Gotoh Floyds from OFRs - he stated on his forum and on Huge Racks Inc. that he got tired of having to tear down the OFRs, clean up some of the parts, replace a few, and rebuild them before installation. That became a real production issue for Suhr when they brought out the two Pro Series models with Floyds - to keep his price point he couldn't keep rebuilding them. Now he's also got the Modern model - I have yet to see a Modern without a Floyd, so he needs ones that don't have to be rebuilt.

For now Tom Anderson is still using OFRs and doing the same work that Suhr did to them, but Anderson has said on his forum that since they aren't doing that many guitars with Floyds each year that he will won't change until he needs to reorder Floyds. He's content to rebuild the ones he has on hand for now. Of course, Anderson and Suhr are in the opposite position:

Anderson has scaled back production a bit (from over 800 per year to more like 600 per year) and would probably be content to make the Atom model and its new carved-top version as they are his current favorites.

Suhr is ramping up production by splitting between the set-spec Pro Series guitars and the Custom Series guitars where you can get any option on the sheet (and some that aren't). The Suhr Moderns seem to be somewhat in-between the two - more options than the Pro Series but not nearly as many as the Custom Series.

Frankly these new Charvels remind me of the Suhr Pro Series concept - keep the options down and produce them in small batchs to keep the street price down.

EDIT: Crap; I was thinking Suhr had four Pro Series models with Floyds (SSH maple top and HH maple top with maple or rosewood boards); of course the two SSH/maple top models have the standard trem and only the two HH models have the Floyds. Post corrected above, but the point still stands - Suhr needed drop-in Floyds to keep the costs down on the Pro Series.

[Bryan]

Or, will the second batch have some of the kinks worked out?

Therein lies the great purchasing debate......

[ADR]

Me too, got an email today from Fender that my order (Charvel Tee) shipped.

[BloodRose]

What does the neck feel like on these? Like a model 4? If not, how does it differ??

[RobRR]

I really cant see these having all that many kinks... Its basically the same guitars theyve been building for 25+ years now. Its probably safe to say they have it down pretty good for such a simple guitar. I hope.

[dg]

What does the neck feel like on these? Like a model 4? If not, how does it differ??

If the neck is just like the recent custom strathead necks, it'll be a bit thicker at the 12th fret than the average Model Series or USA pointy neck. Same compound fretboard radius. Fretboard edges were nicely rolled on my cs strathead. Not sure if that'll be the case with these.

[phill_up]

Nice Hoots on the chick holding the guitars in the slide-show.

What are the chances of those beautiful hooters being real?

[ADR]

Amy? Real or not? The purpose: They sell Charvels.