Hey guys read this! USA PRODUCTION OWNER reviews his new san dimas

[Number Of The Priest]

Mike, what camera do you use? Are you an enthusiast/hobbyist or professional? You obviously have some idea how to shoot flattering guitar photos. Big Photoshop user too?

[toejam]

No need for the Tremol-no, and you don't need to shim the neck pocket. Just drop the Floyd to the body and put some metal shims under the saddles so they're raised up enough. I did that on my Charvel Star.

I thought that would restrict the dive of the floyd?
When i tried it on a old usa kramer pacer(also non recessed) the front of the OFR base would hit the body and actually lift the whole bridge with a deep dive ala eruption
I wound up having to shim the neck pocket with a thin sliver of cardboard
which i dont like to do since i prefer the full connection of the neck pocket/neck heal for the most tone/sustain .

Didn't restrict the dive at all on mine. Though, mine has a 37mm block and it did come floating when I got it and wasn't that high off the body to begin with. Maybe a Floyd with a 42mm block there would be some problem??

[XSSIVE]

Mike, what camera do you use? Are you an enthusiast/hobbyist or professional? You obviously have some idea how to shoot flattering guitar photos. Big Photoshop user too?

i guess you can say i'm a pro...or to be honest, i pretend to be one well enough LOL. i'm a graphic designer (actually have BA in it and went to college for it) with what seems to be pretty good eye for photography (took lots of photo classes in high school and college). i'm real good in photoshop which helps fix color balance and such. i also shoot in RAW format so i have much more control over the pics than a typical JPG. i love photography, as long as it's products or cars...i actually hate taking pics of people, they critique the work much more than a guitar does worrying about their hair and this and that lol. my main client is actually a good friend of mine and an amazing luthier Cris Mrabella of Mirabella Guitars and i do all his photography and his magazine ads. some of my work is on my site www.1320DesignCompany.com it's turned into a whole lot of guitar pics actually. my work thankfully has been flooded with taking cool pics of guitars for Cris...no complaint here!!! as for the camera, nothing fancy actually, just a canon digital rebel xt. i plan to upgrade to the new rebel xsi but i keep buying damn guitars with the extra money i have LOL.

-Mike

[quiksilver]

Thanks for a very informative and useful review. The pics look fantastic. The black-on-black look of your Charvel looks great, too. I'd keep it that way if it were mine.

[DHardmanJr]

Maybe a Floyd with a 42mm block there would be some problem??

I put a Tremol-No in a Model 5fx that has a 42mm block and there's no dive restriction. They even give you a couple of spacers to make sure there's enough room to dive without hitting the bottom of the cavity.

Dave

[Rich#6]

f the buyer is a guy who owns import charvels from the past (model series) and import jacksons and usa or mij or mim fenders or schecters he will LOVE this and it's on par with the best of those.

I guess I have to get off my but and get up to JC guitars and check one out for myself but for those of you who have them already. How are they compared to say the charvel model series, early Jackson Professionals(not PROS), the 2002 charvel model A( oiled neck,qtrsawn, and ebony), and the charvel usa pointies from 2005?
I just bought a model 2 for $254, is it going to be worth the extra cash to sell it (and others) to buy one of the new production charvels?

[dg]

Tough question, Rich. A Model 2 is one of the best bang-for-the-buck guitars you can get anywhere. Is one of these worth ~4 times as much? The quick answer would be no, but that argument never holds water very well when you're comparing used vs. new instruments. I guess it boils down to whether the strathead, the oiled neck, Duncans or DiMarzios, better trem, and the fact that it's brand spankin' new make it worth it to you. If these start selling used in a few months for $600 - $700 or so, the decision may be much easier. Go play a few if you can. Overall, I was very impressed with the ones I tried.

[stevoc]

Excellent review...very detailed. And great pictures. I can never get my pics to lok look like that!!

<- the roar of the crowd.

[toejam]

I put a Tremol-No in a Model 5fx that has a 42mm block and there's no dive restriction. They even give you a couple of spacers to make sure there's enough room to dive without hitting the bottom of the cavity.

Dave

I believe Savage was talking about having problems with shims under the Floyd saddles, and I was asking about if it possibly could be due to the 42mm block and having to lower the trem more to sit on the body than a 37mm block.

[gregmarmon]

Originally Posted by toejam
No need for the Tremol-no, and you don't need to shim the neck pocket. Just drop the Floyd to the body and put some metal shims under the saddles so they're raised up enough. I did that on my Charvel Star.

i likw the way the trem sits on my so cal- i just want to be able to lock in dive only when engaing the d tuna in droped d mode-when i have the d tuna pushed in the e position for some songs the string tension should be the same so i can free float on e songs so i can use the flutter effect on the floyd. I just do not want to be committed to any one particular set up and the tremolno allows me to have a few optins for lock down instant drop d tunning- thanks for the advice

[Axewielder]

Great review Mike, I'm an anal guitar guy myself. As for the fretwork, the question that is bugging me is how can the USA strats and the Select Series Jacksons and the Pro Mod Charvels have different levels of quality on the fretwork, being they are made at the same factory? I work for a manufacturer myself, and I know if I have one guy working on a low-end product and one guy working on a high-end product with similar features, I don't give them both the same procedure and try to tell the low-end guy to "do it faster". In this case, I would give them different documented procedures, one with cost shavings and one without. So the question is, how exactly is the fretwork being approached differently on these?

[savage]

Great review Mike, I'm an anal guitar guy myself. As for the fretwork, the question that is bugging me is how can the USA strats and the Select Series Jacksons and the Pro Mod Charvels have different levels of quality on the fretwork, being they are made at the same factory? I work for a manufacturer myself, and I know if I have one guy working on a low-end product and one guy working on a high-end product with similar features, I don't give them both the same procedure and try to tell the low-end guy to "do it faster". In this case, I would give them different documented procedures, one with cost shavings and one without. So the question is, how exactly is the fretwork being approached differently on these?

from a guess only, i would think it is the time allotted to work on them?
hours=money right?

[XSSIVE]

from a builder standpoint looking at how the fingerboard roll and fret end bevel are done on the custom vs the pro mods it seems to me that the frets are put in the pro mod and cut straight on a hard angle (no roll) fingerboard. then that neck is taken to a belt sander and the roll of the board and the fret end bevel is done in one quick sweep/flick of the wrist across the belt sander to take care of the bevel and roll all at once. these have a drastic roll to them (see my pics that compare them, very clear at the nut by looking at the fingerboard edge against the flat area of the nut) and that i would think could be the way they are done to save time. the customs on the other hand you can tell time is spent on the fret ends and the fingerboard edge for a nice subtle comfortable broken in feel not an overly drastic one like the pro mod. there's also no flat spots on the fret tops of the customs or tool marks from the crowning tool like a few frets on the pro mod has. not real bad, but they're there for those with good eyes to see if you know what you're looking for. i do like that crazy roll of the pro mod, not as much as the subtle roll of the customs but it is still very comfy. the customs give you more fret area to play on since the roll is subtle and less drastic yet still just as comfortable due to its own style of broken in roll. also like i mentioned in my long winded review my pro mod had more of a roll than the other black style 1 i picked from which again leads me to think the board roll is done in a quick method as i mentioned causing more of a variation than a custom would have. my natural, my bullseye and my custom are all very similar in fret work, board roll and neck shape, sure there are variations...it's wood and finish sanded and fret dressed by hand after all...but the consistency is pretty damn good. the way i think the pro mods are done is just a guess but you can tell it's done faster than a custom that's for sure and it's clear in the pics.

-Mike

[dg]

Yep, it's the time factor. With rolled edges like these have, anything but really carefully finished fret ends are going to very noticeable. They did an awesome job on my custom, and you can tell it took a lot of time. Some will disagree, but I expected the frets to be about like they are at this pricepoint, and to me it's not a deal-breaker to do a little work or have it done.

[savage]

Yep, it's the time factor. With rolled edges like these have, anything but really carefully finished fret ends are going to very noticeable. They did an awesome job on my custom, and you can tell it took a lot of time. Some will disagree, but I expected the frets to be about like they are at this pricepoint, and to me it's not a deal-breaker to do a little work or have it done.

dg as you already know i plan on putting a few hundred more into mine
will be more than worth it