Where to Try/Buy?

[chyrsostom]

I sold all my electric guitars (3 of them) a couple of years ago, thinking I wanted to downsize and just get one nice acoustic -- you know, so I could be a bad ass singer/songwriter kind of guy. Well, screw that, I miss my electrics. So I've decided that I want to just get one electric. Actually, my wife decided that for me. Because of that, I'm really looking for versatility, which is how I stumbled into the Pro Mod series of guitars. Specifically, I'm looking very seriously at the Pro Mod San Dimas Style 1.

The problem is, I can't find anyone in my state who carries them. I've never bought a guitar sight unseen before, but I may not have a choice. Any suggestions on how I can get my hands on one and try it out? I live in Oregon in the USA.

Also, I know that these guitars will do high gain work well, but I've had more difficulty finding anyone demonstrating their clean abilities. Can anyone talk about the quality of sound without much gain, especially with the coil taps? Is that just a gimmick or is it actually something I can use to get some quasi-single-coil tones? If the clean tones aren't that great, I may just end up with some flavor of Fat Strat. At least I know what I'm getting with one of those.

Thanks!

[Number Of The Priest]

Also, I know that these guitars will do high gain work well, but I've had more difficulty finding anyone demonstrating their clean abilities. Can anyone talk about the quality of sound without much gain, especially with the coil taps? Is that just a gimmick or is it actually something I can use to get some quasi-single-coil tones? If the clean tones aren't that great, I may just end up with some flavor of Fat Strat. At least I know what I'm getting with one of those.

Have you seen the Six Pack of Sound demos?

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=charvel+six+pack+of+sound

[chyrsostom]

Have you seen the Six Pack of Sound demos?

Yes, but I was hoping to hear something more, and from an independent source. That's a pretty short video.

[pianoguyy]

If you want versatility...
Variax makes modeling guitars - which also can sound like an acoustic or 12 string. But palm muting can be an issue.


Anyhow...
You can get far more options from certain Ibanez guitars. And even the standard Carvin models can have more selections.
But, I do love the way the 6pk sounds over the others. I guess I am just a Jackson/Charvel fanboy.


Also, I think it is worth noting that to get the best tones out of the switch positions, you can't use the same amp tones. So, sometimes getting an "independent" source isn't the best idea. Some dude playing a Diamond Nitrox with the distortion set at 10 will play in the humbucker position, then switches to a single coil and says "dude, it sounds the same"
to which I would say - DUH

[AddedC]

No Charvel dealers in my area either. I am mostly a Fender and PRS player and was intrigued by the same Charvel San Dimas model and the good reviews and wanted to try a guitar with a Floyd Rose. So I bought a discounted one sight unseen on Reverb. I have only done that twice before and both times sent the guitar back. This one's a keeper.

The neck is fantastic, though the fret ends could been finished more smoothly. The 6-pack of sound switching works well and I find all the positions usable. I play mostly classic rock, blues and a little metal. I am not in love with the bridge pick up. The volume control takes it from semi-loud to fuzzy compression instead of semi loud to scream. Lowering it helped a little. On a clean setting with the coil tap, like say for Rhiannon, it sounds as good as my US Strat on switch position 2. It's hard to describe the difference, less quack and a little chunkier maybe. You do have to use the volume knob and tone control to get the right sounds.

I got it for a little over $600 and think it's a good guitar for the money. It's pretty much the only one I have been playing at home lately. It will likely be my main gigging guitar when I sort out the bridge pick up.

[chyrsostom]

No Charvel dealers in my area either. I am mostly a Fender and PRS player and was intrigued by the same Charvel San Dimas model and the good reviews and wanted to try a guitar with a Floyd Rose. So I bought a discounted one sight unseen on Reverb. I have only done that twice before and both times sent the guitar back. This one's a keeper.

The neck is fantastic, though the fret ends could been finished more smoothly. The 6-pack of sound switching works well and I find all the positions usable. I play mostly classic rock, blues and a little metal. I am not in love with the bridge pick up. The volume control takes it from semi-loud to fuzzy compression instead of semi loud to scream. Lowering it helped a little. On a clean setting with the coil tap, like say for Rhiannon, it sounds as good as my US Strat on switch position 2. It's hard to describe the difference, less quack and a little chunkier maybe. You do have to use the volume knob and tone control to get the right sounds.

I got it for a little over $600 and think it's a good guitar for the money. It's pretty much the only one I have been playing at home lately. It will likely be my main gigging guitar when I sort out the bridge pick up.

Thanks very much for that feedback.

[Number Of The Priest]

I got it for a little over $600 and think it's a good guitar for the money.

This magic number of $600 reminds me of a personal story. It's not meant to disparage the $600 you paid for your Mexican Charvel; in fact, it probably highlights how these Mexican Charvels have maintained their value, which I will explain below, and I have no doubts it's a good guitar since I don't recall any complaints on JCF from other owners either.

About three years ago (spring 2016) after a period of solely playing and collecting acoustic guitars, I left that phase behind and I got back into electric guitar playing and wanted to expand my collection.

Around that time, the current iteration of the Mexican Pro-Mods debuted, with the new-for-2016 Six Pack of Sound and truss rod spoke wheel at the neck heel. The Six Pack video demonstration I linked above was one of the videos on Charvel's Youtube channel that caught my attention. I was intrigued by these guitars, but like a few replies have mentioned above, I was in a similar situation where none of the supposed Fender/Jackson/Charvel dealers in my area stocked any Charvels period. They promised to receive some of the 2016 models later that year.

Meanwhile, my collection quickly blossomed with inexpensive local deals. Among them were two guitars for, you guessed it, "magic number $600 (or below)": a 2009 USA So-Cal for USD$608 and a 2011 Japanese So-Cal for USD$516 (both in 2016 dollars).

I found those two local So-Cals and then all but forgot about pursuing the Mexican ones. Admittedly, three years later I still have yet to try a Mexican Charvel. And, granted, they are nearly different beasts; the USA/Japanese ones are very simply-designed (no tone knob, no Six Pack of Sound, no truss rod spoke wheel at the neck heel) while the Mexican ones (2016 to present day) are designed to be versatile.

I've been watching the market for deals since 2016. The evidence is all documented in the https://www.jcfonline.com/forums/16-E-fraid-of-E-bay subforum and it's been surprisingly tough finding the current generation Mexican Charvels going cheap. I don't recall capturing and sharing any Mexican Pro-Mod deals in the above-linked subforum but I do remember USA and Japanese ones going even cheaper than this $600 (and by extension, cheaper than my local ones).

Conclusion, two sides of the same coin: The USA and Japanese Pro-Mods can vary in value and it's not impossible to find them cheap on occasion. The Mexican guitars seem to hold value and are difficult-to-impossible to find cheap, whether in absolute terms, or relative to USA/Japanese ones, so either Charvel is doing something right with their Mexican line or there's a factor I am not seeing.

[gpenguins]

FWIW I know at least both Sweetwater and Musician's Friend off free returns if you aren't happy with your purchase. You may be out return shipping and/or some "handling" charge, but at least you'd be able to return it if you didn't like it.

[AddedC]

Your post made me check my memory. My recollection was that I paid $627. Actually it was $722. Still a good axe for the money. Sucks getting old.