"Charvel Model Series debacle in the 1980s" - Did people hate the Model Series?

[xenophobe]

I thought the Model series was great when it was introduced. I was a teen and couldn't afford a USA Jackson, and the Model Series stuff were just amazing shredders, great necks, and the pickups for the era were really good too. I traded a MIJ contemporary Strat for a Charvel 3a new, and then later a 3DR. They were both amazing.

[Number Of The Priest]

Generally, I notice Model Series guitars listed on Craigslist (USA) and Kijiji (Canada) can be listed for anywhere between $100 to over $1000 in both currencies. If you guys are primarily seeing high prices, that's just a slice of the overall market. There are still plenty of deals to be found for "shredder guitars". It's really all about the lens through which you view the market. Perception alters reality.

Most people here know that my eye is trained to focus on listings at the lower end of the price spectrum. So, from my perspective, I tend to "see deals constantly" and share at the rate of almost one per day on the JCF. One only needs to browse the E-fraid forum (https://www.jcfonline.com/forums/16-E-fraid-of-E-bay) to see how I've mostly hijacked (spammed?) that forum with Canadian and American Deal Alerts, for which I apologize.

Mind you, I'm not even focusing my searches on eBay, which is mildly amusing because the forum where I post my deals is called E-fraid of E-bay. I do notice sellers on Reverb, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace generally tend to lean on the higher end of pricing. The vast majority of my cheap finds are on classifieds websites. There are plenty enough there to keep me busy and happy that I don't bother hunting anywhere else.

[Mudlark]

I don't think many are getting what they ask for these days regarding used guitars.
Reverb and ebay are laughable when you have sites such as kijiji.
I live in the middle of the woods and even I can usually find what I'm looking for in due time.

Of course, sometimes sellers DO hook a big one with deep pockets and a motivation to buy.
I've been that 'big one'.

[EntrailsOfU]

I don't think many are getting what they ask for these days regarding used guitars.
Reverb and ebay are laughable when you have sites such as kijiji.
I live in the middle of the woods and even I can usually find what I'm looking for in due time.

Of course, sometimes sellers DO hook a big one with deep pockets and a motivation to buy.
I've been that 'big one'.

The hardest part about stuff like this (me being that guy occasionally as well) is when something actually rare comes up. If I was ever just looking to buy a model 2, it would have to fall into my lap for less than 300$. However, if the right model came up in the right crackle, I'd be that big one once again. How many model 7's have you seen in crackle? I would pay a lot for something like that. How often do you see 750xl's come up? The market has dictated certain guitars from the series' to be worth quite a bit more. But an average blue black white or red model 2? Not worth more than 500 on any given day. I feel like people see Charvel on the headstock, see the rare ones for high prices, and just assume ALL the model series are worth those types of prices. Or maybe they don't actually care to sell the guitar unless someone offers an absurd price.

[pianoguyy]

This just begs the question....

If metal is history and guitar based rock is dead, why are prices on old shredder guitars going thru the roof?? Who is buying them paying ever more dollars ??? Is there an underground 80's based hairband music resurgance brewing??? Is it a bunch of geriatric old farts who can finally buy the guitar of their youthfull dreams??

There is definitely something about slinging an old Jackson over your shoulder that I don't get from doing the same from new guitars. And it has nothing to do with being able to cash in my pension or spend the money my parents left me when they died... simply because I was never a struggling musician. I could always afford them.
*Oh, by the way, I am not old enough to cash in my retirement, and my parents are still alive.

However, I don't think metal is dead. I did think that it was, but not anymore. But I think that, as with everything else, as the internet grows and we become better at using/designing it, you find that there are still plenty of "old school" metal bands available. Sure, MTV has changed genre formats, so metal isn't in the mainstream anymore. But there is an over abundance of music available if you want it.

[Black Shadow]

There is definitely something about slinging an old Jackson over your shoulder that I don't get from doing the same from new guitars. And it has nothing to do with being able to cash in my pension or spend the money my parents left me when they died... simply because I was never a struggling musician. I could always afford them.
*Oh, by the way, I am not old enough to cash in my retirement, and my parents are still alive.

However, I don't think metal is dead. I did think that it was, but not anymore. But I think that, as with everything else, as the internet grows and we become better at using/designing it, you find that there are still plenty of "old school" metal bands available. Sure, MTV has changed genre formats, so metal isn't in the mainstream anymore. But there is an over abundance of music available if you want it.

Metal WAS dead in the US at least for a while, MURDERED actually in late 1992, but in true metal style, it rose from the grave. When that happened is debatable, but it is no doubt tied to the time when it became "acceptable" to play solos again in popular rock. I never left metal, but the early-late '90s were some dark times for us....

There is no doubt that it is alive today!

[xenophobe]

Metal WAS dead in the US at least for a while, MURDERED actually in late 1992,

Thrash died in the early 90's, but death metal took off. This had a lot to do with Jim Nady closing his clubs like a bitch in the Bay Area and signing lease agreements that they couldn't be used for music establishments. That in combination with Grunge taking the scene.

[JacksonPyro]

They guys that kept trying to make it in a band after 1991 or so still used those guitars. The dude from what would become Weezer had a Model 2 and used it

https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/Rivers_Cuomo's_equipment

When i bought my first Charvel in about 87 i didnt know it was made in japan. Then i got a USA charvel and i tripped thyat the Model 2 was probably just as good ;-)

[pianoguyy]

It certainly left mainstream culture.
But dead it wasn't. It was a numbers game - if you lived in a small town with one bar that had bands, you probably didn't have enough population to justify metal bands (and, like me, you probably knew every Jackson USA owner in the area). But if you were somewhere that had a large population, you could still find enough followers to justify your town still having a bar that catered to the metal crowd.
Which is why the internet is a good thing, as you can find the (new) music you are looking for without relying on what is being sold by the mainstream.

www.demondollrecords.com is one example. Those bands aren't local to me. But I can find what I need so that I don't end up suffering from burnout by playing the same 30 year old records day after day.