CAD$300 for Charvel Model 1C (HSS config), yay or nay?

[toejam]

Congrats! Looks very nice.

[Texas Crude]

That does look very nice. I'd never even heard of that model. I've got a beat up Model 1 in need of some TLC as a project this spring and summer, and one of the first things that's got to go is the fulcrum trem. I cannot live with that. As it is, it still plays and sounds very good. The models have always been great guitars.

[Number Of The Priest]

Henrik's site is audiozone.dk.

Oh man, what a great site. Thanks. Had an especially enjoyable read of this page in particular: http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/char...rt-guitars.php

Texas Crude, I hadn't heard of the other Model 1 variants either, until I saw this one pop up and then I started rummaging around on Google. What are you planning to do with yours, add springs to anchor the trem to the body, or block it, or...?

Thanks everyone for the praises. Fun guitar, and the PAF Pro is very responsive to pick attack.

Anyone know if the Model Series bodies are 3-piece? What I mean by this is that at certain angles, with the light hitting the front of the body just right, I can see vertical lines beneath the paint, almost like "wings" would be glued to a neckthru, like in the below image except the core is wider (lines further apart). I couldn't even capture it on camera.

[Texas Crude]

Oh man, what a great site. Thanks. Had an especially enjoyable read of this page in particular: http://audiozone.dk/index-filer/char...rt-guitars.php

Texas Crude, I hadn't heard of the other Model 1 variants either, until I saw this one pop up and then I started rummaging around on Google. What are you planning to do with yours, add springs to anchor the trem to the body, or block it, or...?

Thanks everyone for the praises. Fun guitar, and the PAF Pro is very responsive to pick attack.

Anyone know if the Model Series bodies are 3-piece? What I mean by this is that at certain angles, with the light hitting the front of the body just right, I can see vertical lines beneath the paint, almost like "wings" would be glued to a neckthru, like in the below image except the core is wider (lines further apart). I couldn't even capture it on camera.

Very cool how well your turned out. I'm planning on routing for an OFR or Gotoh on my project Model 1. Because of the low profile neck angle and bridge height it already has, may have to recess the new bridge. I'm undecided whether I prefer recessed or non-recessed Floyds, but that was the case with the first Model 1 project I took on. Had to recess it. As well as these guitars play, I just can't live with the stock fulcrum trems and the tuning issues. My Model 3 with Gotoh replacement is absolutely solid. It never goes out of tune and is perfectly intonated.

Cool that you like the PAF Pro. PAFs seem to be my kind of pup these days. I've had an EVH Frank in my Model 3 for the last couple of years and I love it. I've got a SD 59 for the Model 1.

[kamanda]

Glad this went to someone who will treat er right.

If I wasn't so tight on cash I was gunna grab this (I'm not far from you), I need a model series with a maple board!

[Texas Crude]

Glad this went to someone who will treat er right.

If I wasn't so tight on cash I was gunna grab this (I'm not far from you), I need a model series with a maple board!

To me, it doesn't get any better than that. I've owned a few nice guitars, including a Jap Pro-mod Charvel and a Jap Jackson, but nothing feels quite as right as the Jap Model series necks.

[VitaminG]

Anyone know if the Model Series bodies are 3-piece? What I mean by this is that at certain angles, with the light hitting the front of the body just right, I can see vertical lines beneath the paint, almost like "wings" would be glued to a neckthru, like in the below image except the core is wider (lines further apart). I couldn't even capture it on camera.

I don't know. Wouldn't be surprised if they are often 2 or 3 piece bodies, since they all received a solid colour finish

[Number Of The Priest]

A sudden revelation: Someone wired or installed the 5-way blade switch BACKWARDS.

No wonder I thought that selecting the "neck pickup" sounded beefy and had the "wah" sound associated with the PAF Pro, while selecting the "bridge pickup" sounded snappy with a single coil "quack". I was having trouble dialing in juicy bridge pickup tones, almost blaming the PAF Pro for being too snappy, when all this time I was truly selecting the neck pickup.

I imagine whoever changed the stock J90C humbucker for the PAF Pro also installed a new switch backwards (or reinstalled the stock switch backwards).

I know nothing about electronics, so looking at the control cavity wiring won't tell me anything, but I trust my ears.

Not much adjustment to my playing style since I primarily use the bridge pickup.

[kamanda]

This is an easy fix, and easier to test:

-Grab a screwdriver (or anything metal)
-put switch in position
-tap on pole pieces

[Number Of The Priest]

kamanda, thanks very much. I tried what you suggested, and I'm getting weird results.

Position 1: Neck and bridge pickups
Position 2: Neck, middle, and bridge pickups
Position 3: Middle and bridge pickups
Position 4: Middle and bridge pickups
Position 5: Middle and bridge pickups

Maybe some pics (without and with camera flash) of the electronics cavity will help? It's a mess and I have zero experience with wiring or components to be able to deduce what's what. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[VitaminG]

wow, man. They're only using one end of the switch. The factory wiring is pretty standard. It should be bridge-bridge/middle-middle-middle/neck-neck. The Seymour Duncan site has all kinds of wiring diagrams for reference. They also have a colour chart for decoding hots & grounds for a bunch of manufacturers, including Dimarzio & Jackson.

I'd desolder everything from the switch & resolder per the S-S-S 5-way diagram on the Duncan site

[Number Of The Priest]

I also have zero experience soldering.

So the fact that everything is soldered to one end of the switch is likely responsible for the strange combination of pickups as reported in post #25?

Weird thing is that I already have another HSS guitar with standard 5-way wiring, so this Model 1C has a completely unique set of sounds that I'm tempted to keep as-is. But if not, I'll just pass it along a tech to start from scratch and clean up the cavity. Maybe also have him swap the green PAF Pro for the black Super 3 I have lying around. Alternatively this guitar could be the encouragement I need to finally learn wiring and soldering, without the risk of "messing up an expensive guitar".

Whoever owned the guitar before me likely did not know how to wire a standard configuration, or they were purposely seeking a strange combination of sounds like some sort of sonic mad scientist.

[VitaminG]

I dig the neck/middle single sound. But I'd also want to hear just the neck single sometimes. And I'd definitely want to use the humbucker by itself. Don't really see a need for all 3 pickups at once, but some like it

If I was to rewire that, I'd want the 5 positions to be:
1. Humbucker
2. split bridge/middle
3. middle
4. neck/middle
5. neck

It could be a great opportunity to learn how to solder. And if you fuck it all up, then you can take it to a tech

[kamanda]

Ya definitely get that redone, if you like a certain position that's not standard (i.e. neck and bridge) then that can be achieved as well!

Bring it in to a tech, if all parts are good it shouldn't cost much.

I would offer to do this for you, but I live just over an hour out from you and since I was eyeing this...I couldn't guarantee it's safety haha.

[Number Of The Priest]

Thanks for the continued input, gents.

Lately I've been enjoying Strat sounds. See topic: http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/149...rtists-play-it.

I very gradually warmed up to Strat sounds after many repeated listens of Doug Aldrich's playing on the third Bad Moon Rising album Opium for the Masses. Lots of great distorted and clean Strat tones on that album.

A Charvel Model 1A would easily be the best of both worlds: Three single coils, married to the awesome 12-16" compound radius maple fretboard with enormous frets.

If I was to rewire that, I'd want the 5 positions to be:
1. Humbucker
2. split bridge/middle
3. middle
4. neck/middle
5. neck

I think I can make the Model 1C even better than a 1A due to the versatility of having a bridge humbucker. VitaminG's scheme is exactly what I would want. Is it possible to replace the volume pot with a push-pull volume pot to allow me to split ONLY the humbucker and leave everything else alone (no "double-splitting" which might occur in his quoted position 2)? That way, with the knob pulled out, the guitar is SSS like a Strat. With the knob pushed in, the guitar is HSS like a stock Model 1C.

Assuming the PAF Pro in this guitar is 4-conductor and splittable, my worry is that the volume drop from splitting it would result in a very weak single coil sound, overpowered by the middle and neck singles. The PAF Pro is already rated at a very paltry 8.4K Ohms in full humbucker mode, making it a great match for the stock J100 singles which are rated 6.1K Ohms.

Alternatively I could replace the PAF Pro with my spare Super 3, a much hotter pickup... but my worry there is that it only has about 3 or 4 inches of lead wire remaining and insufficient to reach the electronics cavity.

Apparently the Seymour Duncan Stag Mag (http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/stag-mag) is supposed to give the truest single coil sound when split, and is also a good humbucker by itself. But I read that with the true single coil sound comes the 60-cycle hum. Other humbuckers seem to stay silent when split.

Just thinking out loud here...