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I recently traded for a heavily modified Charvel guitar. The person I got it from told me that it was made in the USA, though after a lot of investigation, I don't know if both the neck and body were made in the USA or part of the same original guitar. The mods are making it difficult to identify. I've spent about 6-8 hours trying to figure it out, but it's still a mystery to me. Here is a list of notes:
1. The guitar is at least 5 years old. The person I purchased it from bought it from someone who had it for 5 years (but bought it used, hence "at least 5 years").
2. The neck/headstock is nicely flamed maple with a rosewood fingerboard (no skunk stripe). It definitely does not look like a photo-flame given the natural grain and wood marks that I can see in the wood and the changing of shape in different angles/light. No hamburgler or "perfectly" even flame either.
3. Frets look to be jumbo-ish size, relatively flat radius, 22 frets.
4. Fret dots look to be mother of pearl. The spacing of dots at the 12th fret appears to be normal.
5. The neck was refinished by the person I bought it from (well, he paid someone to do it professionally). Gloss back of neck and headstock now (sanded back prior to refinish, so don't know what the original back of neck finish was like). Original logo removed and replaced with a completely different non-Charvel one. Tuners were originally black (likely non-locking), but now are Schaller locking tuners. I think I can see a tiny bit of one of the original screw holes for the high e tuner in the back of the headstock. No marks on the front of the headstock from a string tree or floyd rose nut. Either the person who refinished it did an amazing job filling the holes and matching to grain or it didn't have any to begin with. I'm thinking the latter because of the fact that at least one tuner hole was not filled in and the look on the front is natural (not filled).
6. No truss rod mark or access at the headstock. The truss rod nut is at the end of the neck (screw-like nut). There is a clear engraving of the letter J and sideways P.
7. The nut has been replaced with a different one (by the previous owner), but it doesn't appear the original one was a Floyd rose nut, particularly since the new one is a drop in replacement.
8. The rosewood fingerboard has a little bit of overhang. This seems to rule out some of the aftermarket necks (in case it was swapped out).
9. There are no absolutely no stamps on the neck. This also seems to rule out some of the aftermarket necks (again, in case it was swapped out).
10. The headstock shape looks like a Fender-Charvel shape, i.e. not pointy.
11. Originally had a Charvel USA neck plate, but now it's a completely different non-Charvel one. Unfortunately, the original one is gone. The previous person knows it did at least look like a Charvel neck plate (i.e. he may have misread it as Charvel USA due to "USA" in the address, when it may have been actually made in Japan in smaller letters).
12. The body has been refinished in orange metallic and is San Dimas HS style. The body was originally orange anyway, though with a finer grain metallic color.
13. The bridge has been routed and upgraded to a 2TEC bridge. It was originally a hardtail bridge (obviously so because there isn't a giant hole where Floyd/trem hardware would normally be).
14. The pickups have been upgraded to a Tom Holmes Handwound PAF humbucker in the bridge (verified) and a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack Strat in the neck. Originals are gone.
15. There are no stamps in the neck pocket I can make out except a "1" and a "9" in black.
16. The case is an old fender style rectangular case. It's got dark-ish pink lining inside.
Consolidated folder of pics:
1. The guitar is at least 5 years old. The person I purchased it from bought it from someone who had it for 5 years (but bought it used, hence "at least 5 years").
2. The neck/headstock is nicely flamed maple with a rosewood fingerboard (no skunk stripe). It definitely does not look like a photo-flame given the natural grain and wood marks that I can see in the wood and the changing of shape in different angles/light. No hamburgler or "perfectly" even flame either.
3. Frets look to be jumbo-ish size, relatively flat radius, 22 frets.
4. Fret dots look to be mother of pearl. The spacing of dots at the 12th fret appears to be normal.
5. The neck was refinished by the person I bought it from (well, he paid someone to do it professionally). Gloss back of neck and headstock now (sanded back prior to refinish, so don't know what the original back of neck finish was like). Original logo removed and replaced with a completely different non-Charvel one. Tuners were originally black (likely non-locking), but now are Schaller locking tuners. I think I can see a tiny bit of one of the original screw holes for the high e tuner in the back of the headstock. No marks on the front of the headstock from a string tree or floyd rose nut. Either the person who refinished it did an amazing job filling the holes and matching to grain or it didn't have any to begin with. I'm thinking the latter because of the fact that at least one tuner hole was not filled in and the look on the front is natural (not filled).
6. No truss rod mark or access at the headstock. The truss rod nut is at the end of the neck (screw-like nut). There is a clear engraving of the letter J and sideways P.
7. The nut has been replaced with a different one (by the previous owner), but it doesn't appear the original one was a Floyd rose nut, particularly since the new one is a drop in replacement.
8. The rosewood fingerboard has a little bit of overhang. This seems to rule out some of the aftermarket necks (in case it was swapped out).
9. There are no absolutely no stamps on the neck. This also seems to rule out some of the aftermarket necks (again, in case it was swapped out).
10. The headstock shape looks like a Fender-Charvel shape, i.e. not pointy.
11. Originally had a Charvel USA neck plate, but now it's a completely different non-Charvel one. Unfortunately, the original one is gone. The previous person knows it did at least look like a Charvel neck plate (i.e. he may have misread it as Charvel USA due to "USA" in the address, when it may have been actually made in Japan in smaller letters).
12. The body has been refinished in orange metallic and is San Dimas HS style. The body was originally orange anyway, though with a finer grain metallic color.
13. The bridge has been routed and upgraded to a 2TEC bridge. It was originally a hardtail bridge (obviously so because there isn't a giant hole where Floyd/trem hardware would normally be).
14. The pickups have been upgraded to a Tom Holmes Handwound PAF humbucker in the bridge (verified) and a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack Strat in the neck. Originals are gone.
15. There are no stamps in the neck pocket I can make out except a "1" and a "9" in black.
16. The case is an old fender style rectangular case. It's got dark-ish pink lining inside.
Consolidated folder of pics:
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