Were Charvels in 2005 Jackson or Fender made?

[timstar5150]

I have a production V trem Charvel San Dimas for 2005. Is it Jackson or Fender made?

cheers

[Grandturk]

Made by the Jackson/Charvel guys who were employed by FMIC.

[Rich#6]

Those are not production line guitars. I am sure it's bad ass. Would it make a difference if it was?

[toejam]

Those are not production line guitars. I am sure it's bad ass. Would it make a difference if it was?

Huh? They were production line, that's when the USA Charvel line came back (Strats and Stars). They were also offered with a choice of ebony, rosewood or maple fingerboard, V-trem or Floyd, H, H/S, H/H, H/S/S pickup configurations.

[shreddermon]

Uh, no Toe. The "USA Standard" guitars (early to mid-2000s pointyheads) - which had limited options - were still made in and by the custom shop guys. Except for the limited options list, there was basically no difference from "real" custom shop guitars.

That's unlike the current "USA Production" (strathead) series, which have no options other than the quarterly limited colors. Those are true "production" guitars, and are made by Fender line guys who are trained and supervised by J/C custom shop guys.

Both series are cool in their own right.

[Grandturk]

Except for the limited options list, there was basically no difference from "real" custom shop guitars.

Except for the fact that they churned out a bunch of the same guitars? Same specs, colors, etc? Sounds like a production line to me.

[toejam]

It was production line with different options, made to order, then they were discontinued after a couple years. And they were offered in four colors... red, blue, black and white. Though, I have seen at least one black cherry.

[shreddermon]

Do you guys consider Jackson USA Select guitars as made on a "production line"? Same thing, basically.

[shreddermon]

Maybe "small batch production" in the custom shop would be a better way to describe this. Which is quite different from (IMHO) "true" production guitars, like the newer Charvels, Fender Am Std Strats, etc.

[Newc]

Yes, actually, I would consider the USA Select Jacksons to be "production line", compared to "Custom Shop". Those would be the only two options the Jackson brand offers.

While production may not be linear in physical direction (i.e. body falls out of a CNC press onto a conveyor that takes it to various workstations like a Detroit line), but it still has the basic principle of "make a certain amount in a certain time for the primary purpose of keeping costs below Custom Shop range".

Small Batch (like the JCF series or the Dweezils) would be considered more "Custom Shop" because of the specs and details, and Limited Runs like the Road Hazard Rhoads or SL2HT would be closer to USA Select IMO.

[toejam]

Maybe "small batch production" in the custom shop would be a better way to describe this. Which is quite different from (IMHO) "true" production guitars, like the newer Charvels, Fender Am Std Strats, etc.

How small of a batch were they, though? They got discontinued and they decided to go with the Stratheads. I think maybe they didn't sell all that well.

[shreddermon]

Yes, actually, I would consider the USA Select Jacksons to be "production line", compared to "Custom Shop". Those would be the only two options the Jackson brand offers.

Not true - there is the Jackson import line, which is clearly "production".

How small of a batch were they, though? They got discontinued and they decided to go with the Stratheads. I think maybe they didn't sell all that well.

The batch sizes were similar to Jackson USA Selects. That's small. True, the Charvel USA Standards didn't prove to be popular over time. But the production method had little or nothing to do with that. There were a variety of reasons why they didn't have staying power in the market - pointyheads when everyone wanted stratheads, vintage trems, poor marketing, very little price difference from custom shop guitars, etc.

IMHO, there are important differences between:

- Custom shop guitars.

- Guitars made in small batches by the custom shop guys (Jackson USA Select, Charvel USA Standard).

- Guitars made in large batches and/or continuous production outside of the custom shop, like the Charvel USA Production, Jackson imports, or Fender USA and Mexi-Strat guitars.

The first are obviously "true" custom guitars. I consider the last true "production" guitars. And the middle ones are somewhere in between. Not "production" but not "custom", either.

Your opinion may vary.

[chrisolson]

I guess the bigger question is - who cares if they were Jacksons made by a company owned by a Japanese firm or one by an "American" firm. It's still the same guitar.

[ADR]

It was production line with different options, made to order, then they were discontinued after a couple years. And they were offered in four colors... red, blue, black and white. Though, I have seen at least one black cherry.

I have the "Black Cherry" I was told too like Pat said,that they were infact "Custom Shop" built. AND when I sent mine back for repair work the "Custom Shop" did the repair.