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A local dealer happened to pick up the new Charvel production line, so I ran up after work to try one out. They only had 4 hanging out at the time - one of each model in black and a Pagan Gold Tele, too.
There was a lot of buzz in this small local shop for the Charvels. There were several other guys there at the same time, all looking to try them out and already knowing the skinny about the rotating colors, etc. The salesdude told me they've already pre-sold several, and even have people driving down from Vermont (an hour or two away) to give them a test run. The Tele on display was already sold, too. Quite frankly, I was shocked. I haven't seen this much buzz locally about Charvel or Jackson since the 1980s. Seriously.
I grabbed a black SoCal and tried her out for about 15 minutes, maybe more. So consider anything I say here just as "first impressions" from a brief experience.
Let me just start by saying that - going into this - I was kind of skeptical. I was really expecting to be somewhat underwhelmed. I thought they'd probably be "decent" guitars, but would walk away thinking "meh, so-so". After playing it? ...Not so. I was pretty impressed.
- The neck was killer. It felt and played nearly as good as my custom shops. The profile is damn close to my CS stratheads, if not spot on. The fretwork on the one I played was very good - no sharp fret ends, nice rounded tops and sides. The frets did need to be polished some, but it wasn't a huge deal. Maybe just felt a little drag when bending notes.
- The pickups are great. I don't have a lot of expereince with the Tone Zone, and really liked it. Sounded kind of like an Evo to me, but with more bottom end and less harmonics. I was expecting the Evolution neck to be overpowering (I prefer smooth cleans for my neck PUs), but it wasn't like that at all. Nice and clean, medium power, reasonably dynamic. Very good call by J/C on the Dimarzios. Unfortunately, I was playing through a crappy SS Marshall combo, though, so my tone experience was limited by the cruddy amp.
- The body looked very good. It seemed to have reasonably good tone. Paint was clean and glossy. No paint runs or anything like that. The finish did seem to be thinner than my customs. Like it didn't have as many layers of clear or something. Some people will view that as a plus (more toneful resonance from the body), others a possible negative (maybe easier to ding the paint).
- The hardware was very good, too. Mostly. The Floyd seemed great. Honestly, if I didn't already know, I would've assumed it's a standard Schaller-made OFR. We'll only know the true quality after they get played over a couple of years. But, based on initial impressions, I have no concerns whatsoever. The volume knob, however, just blows. It reeks cheapness, and even feels cruddy to the touch. And the pickguard seemed marginally low-rent, too. But, hey, those things are only $50-ish to replace. So consider that small criticism, at best.
Bottom line: if the one I played was a representative sample, these guitars are a HUGE bang for your buck. Is it just as good as a custom shop Charvel? Sorry, no. But, to me, it felt like you're getting say about 80% of a custom shop Charvel for less than 50% of the price. That's very very good quality, and a GREAT value. And these guitars are certainly meeting or exceeding their competitive peers (ESP, Ibanez, etc) in this same price range.
I'm waiting for the next round of colors, but I can definitely see myself buying one of these guitars. The Pagan Gold on the Tele was just a killer finish. I really hope they do the SoCal model in that color with the next rotation - I'd buy one in a heatbeat.
There was a lot of buzz in this small local shop for the Charvels. There were several other guys there at the same time, all looking to try them out and already knowing the skinny about the rotating colors, etc. The salesdude told me they've already pre-sold several, and even have people driving down from Vermont (an hour or two away) to give them a test run. The Tele on display was already sold, too. Quite frankly, I was shocked. I haven't seen this much buzz locally about Charvel or Jackson since the 1980s. Seriously.
I grabbed a black SoCal and tried her out for about 15 minutes, maybe more. So consider anything I say here just as "first impressions" from a brief experience.
Let me just start by saying that - going into this - I was kind of skeptical. I was really expecting to be somewhat underwhelmed. I thought they'd probably be "decent" guitars, but would walk away thinking "meh, so-so". After playing it? ...Not so. I was pretty impressed.
- The neck was killer. It felt and played nearly as good as my custom shops. The profile is damn close to my CS stratheads, if not spot on. The fretwork on the one I played was very good - no sharp fret ends, nice rounded tops and sides. The frets did need to be polished some, but it wasn't a huge deal. Maybe just felt a little drag when bending notes.
- The pickups are great. I don't have a lot of expereince with the Tone Zone, and really liked it. Sounded kind of like an Evo to me, but with more bottom end and less harmonics. I was expecting the Evolution neck to be overpowering (I prefer smooth cleans for my neck PUs), but it wasn't like that at all. Nice and clean, medium power, reasonably dynamic. Very good call by J/C on the Dimarzios. Unfortunately, I was playing through a crappy SS Marshall combo, though, so my tone experience was limited by the cruddy amp.
- The body looked very good. It seemed to have reasonably good tone. Paint was clean and glossy. No paint runs or anything like that. The finish did seem to be thinner than my customs. Like it didn't have as many layers of clear or something. Some people will view that as a plus (more toneful resonance from the body), others a possible negative (maybe easier to ding the paint).
- The hardware was very good, too. Mostly. The Floyd seemed great. Honestly, if I didn't already know, I would've assumed it's a standard Schaller-made OFR. We'll only know the true quality after they get played over a couple of years. But, based on initial impressions, I have no concerns whatsoever. The volume knob, however, just blows. It reeks cheapness, and even feels cruddy to the touch. And the pickguard seemed marginally low-rent, too. But, hey, those things are only $50-ish to replace. So consider that small criticism, at best.
Bottom line: if the one I played was a representative sample, these guitars are a HUGE bang for your buck. Is it just as good as a custom shop Charvel? Sorry, no. But, to me, it felt like you're getting say about 80% of a custom shop Charvel for less than 50% of the price. That's very very good quality, and a GREAT value. And these guitars are certainly meeting or exceeding their competitive peers (ESP, Ibanez, etc) in this same price range.
I'm waiting for the next round of colors, but I can definitely see myself buying one of these guitars. The Pagan Gold on the Tele was just a killer finish. I really hope they do the SoCal model in that color with the next rotation - I'd buy one in a heatbeat.
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