Help to ID this Charvel

[Carbuff]

Hi, I just bought this guitar off of ebay. It came all the way from Australia to me in NY. I believe it is a Japanese made guitar. The serial number is C 002052. Ive googled the web to death to find out about this guitar but I havent gotten a straight answer on it yet. Its a strat shaped body with a set in neck and this neat black and gold crackle finish. Its got the Hum, single, single, setup and they all say Jackson on them. Its got 3 knobs and a 5 way selector. Its got a shaller made floyd with fine tuners and the nut is locking with allen key bolts. The neck has creme binding all around it and the logo says Charvel (guitar shaped)and under it it says "by Jackson Charvel" The tuners are closed and say Jackson on them. Its got 24 frets and mop shark inlays.When I first plugged it in I got nothing out of it. I was bummed. I opened the back cover and found some weird stuff in there. First off a really old looking 9v battery and lots of wires and a circuit board too. I popped in a fresh 9v and Holy Cr*p! Active pickups, me likee! All is not perfect though. It has a headstock crack, actually it looks like the headstock took a dive and the neck kinda came seperated from the fretboard a bit. The strings do fret out on the first fret but it seems like the right guy could fix it right. All the binding is still in tact and there are just a couple of chips missing on the back of the neck where the lock nut bolts are. Other than that its in decent shape. Im just trying to determine if its worth fixing. Im sure the parts alone are worth twice what I payed for it but I hate doing that and I really like the cool finish. Ive seen lots that look like this on ebay but with the 3 toggle switches instead of the 5 way. Any ideas of what model it is, year, etc, worth fixing? Thanks. Oh, heres a link to a pic.
http://members.aol.com/carbuff/charvel.jpg

[White]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Looks like a Japanese Model 6. Other than that I cant help much.

I actually got a Charvel Model 1A (strat copy) last week, and it has the same problems. It looks like the nut has been worked on, the fretboard reglued. It seems fixed up just fine, but the nut is too low, like yours, and I get fret buzz on the open strings.

I plan to get a new nut installed. It should cost less than $100. My guitar cost me $200. But I dont really care, I like the guitar so much.

That guitar is really cool. The bopped headstock and nut is probably the reason it was put on ebay. If you like the guitar, I think its worth fixing.

I say: Get it fixed!

[Carbuff]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Thanks for the response. Im thinking that when the neck get glued and clamped the nut will once again be at its proper height. I can almost do it by hand. I paid $40 for the guitar. ($60 for shipping, though,LOL) still not bad for $100. as I think the floyd and other parts are easily worth that and more.Im sure it will take me a while to find someone I can trust to do it right. I bought it without a pic or even a description other than a black charvel. I was quite happy to see the crackle finish and the active electronics. I just wanted to see what it might be worth if it wasnt damaged. I had a heck of a time even finding any info on the C series serial numbers. More pics:
http://members.aol.com/carbuff/charv1.jpg
http://members.aol.com/carbuff/charv2.jpg
http://members.aol.com/carbuff/charv3.jpg

Yeah, the stickers gotta go. Also the orangish hue in the one pic is just the flash.

[badams]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Where'd ya get that from? Ebay or other?

[Carbuff]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Yeah, good ole fleabay.

[1trussell]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Your description makes it sound like a 650xl but that old style logo instead of script says model 6. It could be a model six with a replacement Schaller instead of the JT6 and the switches modified to a 5-way. Or it could be a 650xl with an old school logo (which I've never seen). Either way, those are killer guitars and with the price you paid for it, it is worth any amount of money you sink into it for repairs.

[mudkicker]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

First off nice score. As Travis stated don't be afraid to swing the repair bill. Your Charvel is equal to the american made soloist, that you picked fairly cheap. I'm guessing yours is a 650xl and not a Model 6. If you follow the school of thought around here the serial number would make yours a 1990. I don't know when Charvel switched logos on the foreign market guitars. With yours being a foreign market Charvel, I have seen a few examples of the foreign market guitars differing from those sold here in the states. Maybe our resident Model series guru Tekky can shed some light on this one. Either way killer guitar get it repaired and enjoy it.

Brian

[Carbuff]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Wow, I just searched for 650xl and youre right, everything sounds exactly like mine except for the logo. Ive even got the floyd locknut and not the nut/clamp deal on the model 6. Does the serial number tell anything about the year made?
C 002052.Also I see that the pups are passive and its just a mid boost circuit, kinda like my old powerhouse strat or the clapton strat or the Sambora strat. And the single coils are stacked. These are not like emg's, interesting. I must say that the electronics are very nice on this guitar. The pots are clean and quiet. The jack is quiet too, even if I fiddle with the plug. The 5-way works great too even if it looks like a monster inside. No hum at all from this guitar either. I hope it can be repaired to be playable.

[Carbuff]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Yeah, seeing that I got it from Australia it was most likely a foreign market guitar and that might explain the logo difference. Just wanna say thanks for all the help. Its nice to find a place where everyone is into what youre looking for.

George

[Tekky]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Everything about this guitar, except for the logo, says 650XL, it could be that this may be one of the earliest ones, just before they switched the logo. Maybe it's the prototype. I'm stumped on why it has the guitar logo.

[Grandturk]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

[ QUOTE ]
I plan to get a new nut installed. It should cost less than $100. My guitar cost me $200. But I dont really care, I like the guitar so much.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope so, because a new nut is like $5 at the most.

[wulfe13]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

Maybe it's a refin and they replaced the logo with the early version...?? Did 650xl's come with the HS painted the same as the guitar? I didn't think they did, and his is. [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

[1trussell]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

My 650xl has a matching headstock. It also has an '88 serial number and the script logo. Perhaps mine is the prototype. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Tekky]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

See, cases like this is where I don't believe that the serial number denotes the year of manufacture.

[1trussell]

Re: Help to ID this Charvel

[ QUOTE ]
See, cases like this is where I don't believe that the serial number denotes the year of manufacture.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you saying that the serial number method of dating neck thrus isn't reliable? I knew that the bolt ons had that problem. So if you don't believe the serial number denotes the year, what are your beliefs? Teach me, oh master of all that is import Charvel. [img]/images/graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]