New Charvel Pro-Mod Series

[RacerX]

clueless.jpg

[Scooter]

Yeah, and I got a bridge to sell ya. Not far from ya either.

Do you have any beachfront property in Arizona. That would go well with a $400 USA Charvel.

[marchummel]

I hope to put my name down for the Dead Calm Aqua model...fingers crossed

[rgx]

I hope to put my name down for the Dead Calm Aqua model...fingers crossed

+1 And it has recessed FR, which is nice too.

[veniculum]

Agreed. Kinda nit-picky.

I hope this wasn't already answered...but I have a USA Pro-Mod (guess I need to specify now)...7th batch Trans Kandy with a direct mount bridge humbucker. I absolutely love this guitar....the trans finish is stunning (pics just don't do it any justice at all)... There's only one problem, in my opinion...I HATE the direct mount bridge p'up. I actually took another pickup ring from another guitar and used some double sided tape just to make it look like it's not direct mount.

Some guitars look find with this kind of setup...skinny/sharp dinky style bodies tend to lend themselves better to direct mount. I have a J-Custom Ibz that looks completely at home with the direct mount pickups. But the San Dimas bodies just look like there's too much real estate to not have pickup rings. Take a look at my pics...one with and one without. My question is...you've mentioned it's an easy fix. I'm not a guitar tech. I can change strings and intonate...that's about it. What's involved in changing from direct mount to having a ring?

Thanks guys!

[Rich#6]

I have one that I'm that is sold but was change to from a direct mount to a pickup ring. It looks to me like they just made the screws short (the ring I swtiched too is pretty thick that will help too).

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

The way I do it is, drill with a 1/4" drill where the direct mount screws are, to create a hole for the excess pickup height adjustment screw. Then put the pickup in the ring on there, line it up, mark the holes, drill, etc.

I'd rather not have to do that, though.

[rudociliak]

Heyyyy, how come these ones come with a case, and the USA ones didn't? ....

[RacerX]

Heyyyy, how come these ones come with a case, and the USA ones didn't? ....

To smooth over the "not made in USA" crowd.

[veniculum]

Heyyyy, how come these ones come with a case, and the USA ones didn't? ....

It's very simple...Charvel is now moving production off to Japan....that means it's cheaper to mass produce the guitars. Now we could go into the whole economics of this....one might say that because the value of the dollar has dropped so much, on an international level, that it's actually not cheaper to produce overseas. That said, this isn't a discussion about economics...and I can't speak for the value of the Yen because quite frankly, I don't pay much attention to this sort of thing. So to keep things in simplest terms...traditionally, American made guitars cost more to make than guitars made in Japan (or China, Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, etc). And typically, they use better materials, are built by more highly skilled individuals, and aren't as much as an "assembly line" product as something coming out of a foreign factory. So not only will they be able to drop the price of a guitar that will be similar to the USA pro-mods (can't say anything about build quality or quality of materials because they haven't been released to the public yet)...but they'll also be able to throw the case in at the lower price as, sort of, a bonus.

Lets face it...Charvel made a great product with the USA pro-mods...especially for the price...but they didn't exactly knock them out of the ball park in terms of sales. To move production overseas, they lower the overall production cost, which, in turn makes them a more attractive deal to potential buyers (who are on a tighter budget)...and now they'll throw the hard case in as well. It just makes better business sense...despite what the die hard enthusiast thinks (like me)

Personally, I'd rather have my USA-made guitars with gig-bags. If I want a hard case, I'll buy one. But I much prefer the "made in USA" label to the "made in Japan" label....and paying a 200 dollar premium for that made in USA label was easily worth the price (hard case or no hard case). Still, $899 for a Charvel is a great deal, especially with the hard case included...even if they are Japanese. If they were Mexican or Chinese, I might not be so bold as to make that statement. In any event, Charvel probably will sell more of the Japanese models...they're cheaper...I'm sure they'll be very good quality, and your average guitar player on a budget will see this as an opportunity to own a great guitar for a few hundred bucks less and a hard case.
Hope this answers your question.

[RacerX]

That's kinda what I said, although I only needed 1 sentence!

[6string40]

But how can you let "these ones" slip under your radar, Ron???

[greywolf]

I had something to say here, but the advertisement in the sidebar for panties and lingerie has broken my concentration. What was the question again?

[RacerX]

But how can you let "these ones" slip under your radar, Ron???

Bah, he used the all important apostrophe correctly, so I'm happy.

[Hellbat]

I had something to say here, but the advertisement in the sidebar for panties and lingerie has broken my concentration. What was the question again?

Isn't it interesting how those ads get targetted based on what you've been looking at online?

And no, I'm not seeing any ads for skeet cleaner. ( Ah the benefits of being platinum... )