Need help identifying

[HannTu]

Hi there,

I've searched high and low for information about my guitar with no joy. As far as I know, Charvel USA never made a Kelly guitar - at least, I can't find it on their website. So, it would be awesome if you guys could help out:















The guitar tech who serviced it said it has one Gotoh pickup (on the bridge I think) and one unidentified one. As you can see, it's also got the Schaller trem system. What I want to know is what model it is, whether it's an original factory made Charvel, and what its specs are: wood, pickups, etc.

And finally, more guitar porn, just because I can :

[Rich#6]

Maybe a japanese only guitar or a mutt from a japanese only model. I don't think they ever released a 24 fret, bound neck with the old charvel import logo in the US.
the trem is a JT590 which is the same thing as the floyd rose II and the schaller trems you can buy today.

[Grandturk]

Maybe a japanese only guitar or a mutt from a japanese only model. I don't think they ever released a 24 fret, bound neck with the old charvel import logo in the US.
the trem is a JT590 which is the same thing as the floyd rose II and the schaller trems you can buy today.

Would anyone re-logo a Jackson 24 fret neck with the old model series logo? That's the only other possibility I could think of. But you're probably right - JDM only model.

Maybe a mutt - Jackson body, charvel neck.

[DonP]

If I didn't see the headstock, I'd call it a DK2 neck on a Kelly body.

[HannTu]

Would anyone re-logo a Jackson 24 fret neck with the old model series logo? That's the only other possibility I could think of. But you're probably right - JDM only model.

Maybe a mutt - Jackson body, charvel neck.

That's what I initially thought. But it was the guitar tech's opinion that the neck hadn't been changed - this guy is very experienced, and he said that the neck looked factory fitted, either that or a real careful pro did an expert job. Also, the guitar resonates beautifully, sustain on a natural harmonic on 5th fret low E lasted about 12-15 seconds before fading. I honestly can't think why someone would fit a Charvel neck on to a Jackson body - why not just put in a Jackson neck? Leaving aside the supposed fact that Charvel never made a Kelly neck...

So you guys think it's a Japan only model? Any idea where to find specs?

[dg]

The reasons for thinking it's a Japan-only model:

That headstock logo only appeared on Model Series guitars in the US market. They were produced from '86 - '88, and all of the catalogs with all of the models are easy to find. They were strat body guitars (Model 1 - 4), neckthrough Soloist shapes (Model 5 & 6), dinky (3DR & 8), or telecaster shape (Model 7). No Kelly or V shapes. All of the bolt-on necks had 22 frets. Only the neckthroughs had 24. Catalog scans are here:

http://audiozone.dk/cm/jackson-charvel-guitar-catalog-scans.php?cat=3

The Japan-market models used that headstock logo well into the '90s, but there are several years with no catalogs available, so we keep seeing new ones that we haven't seen pop up all the time. They produced body shapes besides strat, dinky & soloist, and many of them had 24 frets.

As for why someone would put a Charvel neck on a Jackson body, people put Charvel necks on Jacksons & vice-versa all the time, mainly because it's not always easy to track down an exact replacement and you take what you can find, especially if it's a special situation like a short-scale neck. As long as the scale length & number of frets are right, Jackson & Charvel necks from that timeframe interchange perfectly, and it would be hard to tell that they weren't "professionally installed".

[dg]

Check it out. I found another one pretty quickly just googling "Charvel Kelly", so I think yours is all-original:

http://www.tcgakki.com/thumbnails/?p=017355

[RacerX]

The 9647xxx serial # probably places this around 1999.

[84sups]

Damn that looks killer. Grats! How does it sound?

[HannTu]

Thanks for all your replies guys!

It sounds really awesome! There's quite a good crunch on the bridge, but the neck is where it's at - smooth warm tones. It sparkles on clean, all the notes are well defined and my playing dynamics come through real nice. I've already spoken about the sustain, and it's dead easy to pinch harmonic on most of the strings! Bear in mind I'm only putting it through a Cube 30 atm, can't wait to test it out on a bigger rig.

[jrnic]

That Charvel logo looks a lot bigger than a normal "Model" series guitar. Even that second picture has that same larger logo. Must have been some special run or something. Either way....killer guitar.

[RR666]

Damn thats nice, i realy like the KE3s but the lack of binding and the Jackson Floyd is a real turnoff for me, not because there bad but i just dont like the look of low pro trems.

[Hellbat]

Nice guitar!



Looks like a nice chunk of rosewood on the fingerboard too. I'm personally not into trans black but it looks good there.

[HannTu]

That Charvel logo looks a lot bigger than a normal "Model" series guitar. Even that second picture has that same larger logo. Must have been some special run or something. Either way....killer guitar.

Here's a closeup of the headstock if it tells you anything...

Looks like a nice chunk of rosewood on the fingerboard too.

Here's what a friend had to say about the body:

a bookmatched flame maple top/veneer. The vertical line that runs down the middle is where they cut the flame maple top and spread it like a butterfly's wings,... so to speak, that's how you get the same flame maple pattern on both the right and left side of the body

[warlok]

Sorry to barge in but does anyone know where I could get a decal of that logo? I'm going to put a maple top on a model 6 and want to do the headstock too and bestdecals.com only has the 3 per side logo.