Desolation Revealed

[Hellbat]

Played two of the DS-1's at a store today. Quick feedback in bullet point form.

The two ply neck binding was hot
The palm feel of the unfinished necks was good.
Waaaay to much abalone
The inlays have three lines running through them. (So smaller, easier to obtain pieces abalone can be used I'm sure.) The lines don't consistently line up with the strings going up the neck so it looks kind of wierd.
SD blackouts from the factory. I like the choice over EMG's.
Pots felt kinda junky. Uneven friction, grindy spots.
That black chrome finish on the hardware doesn't do it for me.
The guitars played okay, not great. Frets were essentially levelled but the fret finish was horrible with tool marks all over the place. They seem soft too. I'd expect short life from them. They were also on the smallish side, not what I would consider jumbo, especially height wise. They were not really tall.
The transition from the unfinished neck to the finish was very clean but also ABRUPT. It's like a .6 -.7mm high transition with no polishing along the edge. They rip off the tape and they are done.
Other than that the finish quality was actually very good. Would not be shocked if they were painted at least partially by a robotic system.
The headstock is THIN. Maybe the 3 piece neck makes this not an issue, I don't know exactly but it seemed to be about 2/3rds or slightly less of the thickness of my Jackson headstocks. (Slightly thinner than if you just took the wood below the binding on the Jacksons.)
There were extra bits (5 pieces at the headstock) on the neck to fill it out. The extra bits are small and if the headstock takes a hit I'd be worried about them popping off. With modern glue this probably won't be an issue.
Nut was cut really clean. Likely before it was installed in the guitar.
Neck access is amazing up to the 17-19th fret. I don't know if its a short scale or not but my hand just naturally came to rest around the 12th fret and there was just tons of room to move around. I wouldn't mind checking a double cutaway version.

So end result of the play time is they have decent hardware and build quality. Fretwork and fret life for me is suspect though. Not a bad guitar for the money (around $500 IIRC) but I've realized I don't like $500 guitars for the most part.

[TKEblue]

Squires sell tho, a lot. Just check craigslist "wts squire strat, almost brand new" is about 75% of the postings I think. Its too bad that its just about selling the shit out of guitars to people who don't know what they're buying and not about getting these people a guitar they'll love and keep

[pro-fusion]

The GCs here in the Washington DC area briefly carried Charvel during the early FMIC era when they were doing the high-dollar USA pointies. When those didn't sell well, they dropped them and never carried the ProMods. I strongly doubt they'll carry the Desolations, either. However, the selection of anything worthwhile at the local GCs has sucked for awhile now. One of them carried a nice selection of EBMMs for a long time, but even that's a thing of the past. But, man, if you want a Laguna, Squier or Epiphone have they got you covered.

[Grawnday]

I was hoping these would be produced long enough to see a " retro surfcaster " variant of the SK model.

[TKEblue]

And not painted yellow! That bugs the shit out of me for some reason

[RobRR]

Yeah the MIJ necks are def different, thinner and more comfortable IMO.

[Rich#6]

My sam ash has had the same mij promods for a while(you can tell by the strings that you need a shot after touching). The only ones they've sold are the aqua and $500 and the orange wild card. The motlen is discounted too and it's sitting there. I don't think the neck shapes are the same, the mij ones feel a little closer to a model series(more D than C profile) than the usa promods.

[RobRR]

Thats a shame about the MIJ ProMods because it most aspects, theyre far superior to the USA versions. Just goes to show you that people will buy USA first given the choice at the same price level. I agree though, they dont seem to be selling well at Sam Ash hence the heavy discounts theyve been putting on them.

[markD]

i went to my local charvel dealer the other night and asked them about the desolation guitars. the guy who does all the ordering told me they were "on the fence" about it because they "couldn't give away the japanese pro-mods". he was telling me that the pro-mods were flying off the shelf when they were made in the USA, but once they became jap guitars they just weren't moving them. he thinks that the desolation guitars won't sell either.

this weekend i am gonna cruise up to that shop in tarpon springs that is selling them on ebay.

[Rich#6]

The guys at sam ash and guitar center don't even know their out/coming out. I can hit 5 guitar centers in a hours drive and at 3 sam ash's. In the past few weeks I hit 2 of each and they don't know they're out there.:think:

[Inazone]

I'm curious if the Charvels will initially go out to established J/C dealers first to see what kind of reception there is for the new line, and if the response is positive, roll them out to a broader market. I don't think I've ever seen a brand new Charvel in a GC store, dating back to the late `90s, but then again, there has always been at least a couple of major J/C dealers in the area. As crammed as the local GCs are with JS-series Jacksons, Bronze-series BC Riches and other cheap offerings like Laguna, I frankly can't even imagine them trying to add any new product lines without dropping something that isn't a guaranteed money-maker.

If the Desolation series is going to take off, it will probably require putting it in the hands of the emo and metalcore bands that really don't get much attention here on the forum. If they start showing up on tour and in videos, you'll see Charvel headstocks amongst the Schecters and LTDs at Guitar Center. Charvel is a brand that has struggled for any serious public acceptance for nearly 20 years now. I expect them to fall into the same kind of category as the G&L Tribute or Godin guitars - brand names that are respected for making pretty decent guitars, but at the same time just not popular.

[axmann]

They dont make deals, atleast by me. And... I never see a Charvel there, in Wisconsin. Maybe a couple cheapo Jacksons. Loads and loads of Fenders, Gibson, Prs, a few Schecters, some LTD's. blah,blah.... In southeastern Wisconsin, the kids truly make a day of it to go and beat all those guitars for an afternoon. I am not joking at all. A nieghbor kid does it with his friends. I know that because his dad tells me he drops them off for a few hours ever month or so. I have seen it first hand. Whatever, off subject.

[TKEblue]

Closest Sam ash to me is like 8 hours away, 4 guitar centers that are within 2 1/2 hours from me. 45 total Sam ash stores. 218 guitar centers. Imo make a deal with guitar center...just sayin

[Flatpicker]

Sam Ash carries Charvel and usually has at least 5 pro mods at any given time when I walk in. GC just blows.

I've never been to a Sam Ash. Weird.

[RobRR]

Sam Ash carries Charvel and usually has at least 5 pro mods at any given time when I walk in. GC just blows.