DST-3 anyone?

[MartinBarre]

I'm thinking of getting one of these since they're so cheap, and painting it yellow (Chris Holmes style).
I could take the FR Special off and put it on my SL3 in place of the JT580 too right?

Anyone got one? They seem really cheap, even in the UK.

[DonP]

They are cheap.

[MartinBarre]

Yeah thanks for that, that's my reason for looking at them.
Care to expand?

[MartinBarre]

Anyone know if one of these will fit in a hard case for an RR5? Obviously I would need new inserts made up to support it, but will it fit inside the case? I'm guessing a Star is a big fucking guitar, I remember how big the case was for my KE3, fuckin massive!

[Maiden89]

Yeah, I've seen these recently and the price is very cheap indeed... There's another guy on here that bought the flamed maple version and did a review on it. I think he posted under the general jackson/charvel forum.

[MartinBarre]

Yeah, I've seen these recently and the price is very cheap indeed... There's another guy on here that bought the flamed maple version and did a review on it. I think he posted under the general jackson/charvel forum.

Had a look but most of the chat has been about the neck-thru versions which will be significantly different to the DST-3.
I've got one on order, should hopefully get it next week, play it for a day, then start painting it yellow and pop a Duncan Distortion and CTS pot in it.

[Maiden89]

My bad... thats right he had the neck through version. I've been wanting a star for a long ass time; don't know if I want the bolt on or the neck through. If I've got the plain white, I think it would be cool to paint a red rising sun on it!

I know esp makes a star guitar case for Gus G's stars... Maybe the charvel will fit in one? There around $100

Tell us how it sounds when you first get it.

[MartinBarre]

I really like neck thrus better than bolt on's, so I would be happy to pay the extra. However, I really only want the single pickup version and will paint it as soon as I get it anyway, so it seems daft to pay the extra cash just to rip out the neck pickup, fill the hole and then have to paint it regardless.
It's just supposed to be a fun project anyway, and with a Duncan Distortion in it, should sound pretty fuckin metal.

[MartinBarre]

I got mine today. I don't really have the time or inclination to take photos and shit as we're going through a really bad time right now, but over the weekend I'll look at it closer.

Initial impressions - it LOOKS great, plays really well, sounds good (I can't comment on the cheapo pickup, as I've not plugged it into an amp just my Line 6 Gearbox which can make ANYTHING sound good). The volume pot doesn't have much of a taper (off/on basically) and the tuners aren't great.
For the money though, it's pretty cool and I'm happy with it. Looking forward to painting and modding it.

[Maiden89]

The bolt on is still a really good deal. I remember when I first started getting into guitar around 2004 or so, charvel had a star guitar with single humbucker, 22 fret neck and floyd rose I really wanted, but it was (if i remember right) around $1200.

When I first saw these new charvel star's I thought someone made a mistake on the pricing! I really want one; I'll probably go with the neck-thru since I've never owned one before.

[MartinBarre]

I love neck-thrus or set necks, but I just wanted something cheap with a single humbucker and this fitted the bill. I would say its a decent deal, although not quite a major bargain. If it wasn't a Star body, but a strat type for example, I would not have said it was worth the money. But where else will you find a Star for this cheap? Nowhere. Warmoth do the bodies cheap but add in a neck and you're talking a LOT more so...to me, it was a good deal and I'm very pleased with it.

[hunter1970]

Slap a DK2 neck on it and you should be good to go.

[MartinBarre]

On what? A warmoth body or the Charvel DST-3 body?
I thought of doing it with the Warmoth, but those necks don't come up on UK Ebay very often and when they do they cost a lot.
Besides, I owned a DK2M and wasn't all that keen on the neck, I actually prefer the one on the Charvel even if it does look and feel cheaper.

[vector]

I've been debating back and forth whether to drop the coin on one of the Desolations Stars. I have a ESP/LTD RL-600 which is similar in that it's 1 p'up, 24 frets, Floyded & white (they call it light gray. WTF, looks white to me) but with the added benefit of neck thru, ebony board, an EVH Frankenstein pup, reversed headstock & some binding. If I grab a DST-1, I'd rip the emg's out and replace with Blackouts & replace the Special with a OFR.

I look forward to seeing your painted and modded version. Should be killer.

[MartinBarre]

That looks fuckin sweet! Very slightly different body shape I think, but maybe not, I'm no expert.

How does it balance? I noticed mine was a bit neck heavy, just as my old KE3 was. So I filled both strap button holes before I started to repaint it. I'll probably move the neck end strap button to the neck mounting plate and leave the other where it is.