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So, I used to have a Star body back in high school, a Kramer Voyager. Loved that guitar. And I’ve really be jonseing for one again. So I ordered a Desolation Star to reacquaint myself with the body style. Thought if I’d live with it for a while, and if I enjoyed it enough, it might lead me to do a Charvel custom shop order down the road.
It arrived yesterday. Now, I went into this with a very open mind. While I’d very much prefer to buy USA – and will pay the premium for it - I’m not an import hater. Imports have an important role, especially at the entry and mid-levels where this guitar is priced. And things aren’t like when I was in high school in the 80s - there are a whole lot of budget imports that have quality well above their price points now. …But, well to be blunt, this just ain’t one of them. My excitement for revisiting an “old friend” body style quickly turned to disappointment. I won’t hit on every single thing, but the quality of this guitar is just poor.
- With cool build specs – 3 piece maple neck-through, mahogany body – I thought it would have screaming tone. Instead, it screams poorly-constructed budget guitar.
- The tone is borderline lifeless and the sustain just sucks, especially in the lower register.
- The rosewood fretboard has cheap, ugly bright streaks.
- The cut line between the painted body and the oiled neck is extremely abrupt, and you can feel a noticeable high ridge at the edge. No attempt to sand this to a smooth transition whatsoever.
- The neck doesn’t feel like the smooth, oiled Charvel coolness you’d expect. It actually feels more like raw, untreated wood. Less than stellar sanding/buffing, too. And the quartersawn wood seems too “green”. Not the color - I mean it seems “freshly cut”, for lack of a better word.
- The guitar has some misaligned hardware, including the Floyd and jack.
- Numerous nasty paint flaws. The pics speak for themselves.
- The set-up and intonation was absolutely horrid – I honestly can’t remember playing anything worse right out of the box. And, when I tried to adjust the action, the Floyd posts were so stiff and locked, they bent the allen wrench!
This is my experience with just one guitar from the Desolation series, so I can’t say they’re all bad. Who knows, maybe I just got a really bad lemon? But I can say for sure the experience is so poor, I won’t be buying another. And, less than 24 hours after I got it, I’ve already decided that this guitar will be going back for a refund.
Charvel needs to do better with this import line. There are just too many competing import high quality-to-cost value guitars in the price range. And whoever their Chinese contract manufacturer is, they need to do MUCH better with their quality control. I’d even go so far as to say Charvel should consider dropping them altogether.
Sorry to be such a downer on this one, but I can’t personally recall having a worse new guitar experience before. Very disappointed.
It arrived yesterday. Now, I went into this with a very open mind. While I’d very much prefer to buy USA – and will pay the premium for it - I’m not an import hater. Imports have an important role, especially at the entry and mid-levels where this guitar is priced. And things aren’t like when I was in high school in the 80s - there are a whole lot of budget imports that have quality well above their price points now. …But, well to be blunt, this just ain’t one of them. My excitement for revisiting an “old friend” body style quickly turned to disappointment. I won’t hit on every single thing, but the quality of this guitar is just poor.
- With cool build specs – 3 piece maple neck-through, mahogany body – I thought it would have screaming tone. Instead, it screams poorly-constructed budget guitar.
- The tone is borderline lifeless and the sustain just sucks, especially in the lower register.
- The rosewood fretboard has cheap, ugly bright streaks.
- The cut line between the painted body and the oiled neck is extremely abrupt, and you can feel a noticeable high ridge at the edge. No attempt to sand this to a smooth transition whatsoever.
- The neck doesn’t feel like the smooth, oiled Charvel coolness you’d expect. It actually feels more like raw, untreated wood. Less than stellar sanding/buffing, too. And the quartersawn wood seems too “green”. Not the color - I mean it seems “freshly cut”, for lack of a better word.
- The guitar has some misaligned hardware, including the Floyd and jack.
- Numerous nasty paint flaws. The pics speak for themselves.
- The set-up and intonation was absolutely horrid – I honestly can’t remember playing anything worse right out of the box. And, when I tried to adjust the action, the Floyd posts were so stiff and locked, they bent the allen wrench!
This is my experience with just one guitar from the Desolation series, so I can’t say they’re all bad. Who knows, maybe I just got a really bad lemon? But I can say for sure the experience is so poor, I won’t be buying another. And, less than 24 hours after I got it, I’ve already decided that this guitar will be going back for a refund.
Charvel needs to do better with this import line. There are just too many competing import high quality-to-cost value guitars in the price range. And whoever their Chinese contract manufacturer is, they need to do MUCH better with their quality control. I’d even go so far as to say Charvel should consider dropping them altogether.
Sorry to be such a downer on this one, but I can’t personally recall having a worse new guitar experience before. Very disappointed.
I HATE BEING LEFT HANDED! 
I rock out to Baby metal because Wilkinsi said I can't listen to Rick Astley anymore.
Fuck gambling on whether it'll turn out like you hope!
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