Newbie and first time Charvel owner

[alanhindle]

I'm new here but have been watching the forum for a few weeks and, based on your opinions, decided to take the plunge on a USA production San Dimas model 1. It came two days ago and I've just got around to taking some pics to share with you.

I have to say I'm finding it difficult to put it down. I've dropped the action from the factory set up by two and a half turns on each post an it's now down to 1.4mm (low E) and 1.2mm (high E) at the 12th fret without capo. It's now like lightening and a breeze to play. With the lower action I am getting a little buzz, particularly on the frets towards the nut, but it's not too bad; even unplugged. I may, if I pluck up courage, take the neck off and straighten it. The relief it came with is 0.006" at the 9th fret with a capo on the first.

What's the consensus on straight necks vs. a bit of relief on charvels? What do most people prefer? Dan Erlewine's book says straight is best for lowest action provided you have a light picking style.

Alan

Pics below:

[jet66]

I like a little bit of relief now, vs. flat earlier in life. I used to have a really light picking technique, but as I ventured in to some other styles, I had to get a little bit of bow in there to accommodate.

Nice guitars!

[Biff Montana]

First off, Welcome...
You've picked a great Charvel and you'll be very happy with it.

There is truth to the idea that with some relief and a tad higher action you will get more tone but you'll have to experiment with that. The theory is that a string’s vibrations are greater in the middle of the string…thus the neck relief allows for that vibration. However just like string gauge, guitar pics, and, as Jet66 says, style, it’s an individual preference thing. Stevie Ray Vaughan for example had relief, high action, and heavy strings...and played hard.

Personally, I'm a fan of straight necks and low action.--but I have a light touch. What I do is straighten the neck out and lower the strings until it feels good and doesn’t lose much tone (too much buzz). I’ll then do some string bending to see if the strings will fret out on the bends (I bend the heck out of the note). I’ve found that with low action the some strings fret out on bends before they fret out on un-bent notes (it’s because of the fretboard’s radius). To somewhat echo what Jet66 said I have higher action now vs back in the day.

How is your SG’s neck adjusted?
Do you like it?
If you do, mimic that on the Charvel.

Best Wishes

[alanhindle]

How is your SG’s neck adjusted?
Do you like it?
If you do, mimic that on the Charvel.

Best Wishes

I've just checked the action on my Gibby to compare the two but there's a bit of guesswork involved as my steel ruler only goes down to 1mm.

Because the nut on the Gibby is higher I've capoed the first fret to take it out of the equation. Here are my 'crude' measurements from top of fret to bottom of string:

12th Fret Low E: Gibby = 1.8mm; Charvel =1.8mm
12th Fret Hight E: Gibby = 1.6mm; Charvel = 1.8mm
17th Fret Low E: Gibby = 1.9mm; Charvel = 2.2mm
17th Fret High E: Gibby = 1.7mm; Charvel = 2.0mm

On the face of it, the Gibson appears to have a slightly lower action, particularly higher up the fretboard. Despite this, apart from superb SG fret access at the very top, the Charvel is much more comfortable to play higher up the neck and with string bending. No surprises here as it has the flatter compound radius, the jumbo frets and a certain amount of 'give' in the trem on bending. That's why I bought it!

There is a big difference in neck relief. Measuring at the 9th fret with my auto parts feeler gauges (with capo at the first, fretting at #22 on the D) there is 0.006" on the Charvel compared to 0.015" on the Gibson. I am getting slightly more buzz, particularly lower down the neck, with my Charvel. However, I think I'll leave the relief and action on both guitars as they are now. My rationale is that when I pick up the SG, I start playing at a lower tempo with a heavier picking style. I use less gain for more bluesy or AC/DC type stuff. When I pick up the Charvel, I tend to start to play faster and use higher gain settings where any slight advantage in unplugged sustain and natural tone has less impact on what comes out of the pickups and through the amp.

Am I making sense here? For me, both guitars feel nice as they are now, but each for their own purposes.

Alan

[Biff Montana]

Yes, complete sense.

Again, welcome to the forum and congrats on the new Charvel.

[JZ06]

Nice guitar. I've had a few of those. In time, I will have another. I have two old San Dimas, and the new one's hang right with the older one's.

Enjoy, and welcome to the forum.

[ADR]

Hey Welcome, good luck w/the new Charvel. Now you know what us Charvel players know-the superb unfinshed/rolled edges shred machine of a neck.

[Guinny]

I play a few Tele's and Strats along with my new Charvel, I play with 10's and find that Tele's and fatter necks need a bit of relief for digging in where as my Charvel has been adjusted to very little if not flat because I tend to play more speedy rock on it!

What I'm saying is different styles and guitars require different relief...it's all a matter of taste.
I would'nt start measuring anything- just go with how it feels!

Oh! and remember a little at a time with Truss Rods-it can take a day or two for an adjustment to fully settle!

[wetrx95]

Welcome to the forum! Great guitar for your first Chravel. I LOVE SG's.

[BenoA]

Congratz!

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Congrats on the purchase!

To answer your question, I'll have to agree with the others who say "it depends on your personal style." I experiment with a lot of different styles of music, but pretty much set my guitars up the same.

I prefer as little relief as possible, as low action as possible, without affecting the tone, for my particular touch. I always test the results with a good clean sound dialed in on the amp/preamp/whatever I'm playing through. A minimal amount of buzzing is acceptable so long as it doesn't affect sustain or come through on the amplifier (which is why I test with a clean sound rather than with distortion.)

Of course the results are completely different for me on a Gibson or Strat neck vs. a Charvel or Jackson with a compound radius, but the idea is the same in any case, for me.