Help verifying authenticity of MIJ Charvel

[Cloudsky]

Hi, I recently bought a MIJ Charvel guitar and I need a bit of help verifying its authenticity and year of make. I think it was built in the early 10s. The previous owner said that he swapped out the toggle switch for a 3 way selector pickup switch (which I am able to verify because I can feel a slight depression in the pickup guard).

I have pasted a few links to the pictures:

https://ibb.co/2Pq7R2t

https://ibb.co/tLXs23z

https://ibb.co/QFm1mY1

https://ibb.co/wzPcwfh

Would really appreciate you guys’ help to verify! Always wanted to own a Charvel, and with this colour too! I managed to snag it at a good price so it would be great to have a peace of mind. Thanks!

[Number Of The Priest]

2011 Japanese Pro-Mod So-Cal in Candy Blue. The pickguard and blade switch are not original, as you already surmised. Also, I noticed the strap pins are not original. Stock would have been the Dunlop Dual Design Straplok System.

JC11 serial number is the giveaway for the year, 2011. I also owned a JC11 serial So-Cal in Candy Red from the year 2011. 2011 was also the final year for production at the Chushin Gakki factory.

The pickups are stock. DiMarzio Evolution neck, DiMarzio The Tone Zone bridge.

Essentially the specifications and build quality of the Japanese Pro-Mods of 2010-2011 matched the USA Production Models of 2008-2010. They almost look identical to the USAs except for the different finish options, chrome hardware instead of black on the San Dimas models, and more yellow-looking maple used for the necks.

Great looking color. Blue of any variety was never an option on the USA So-Cals (chart here: https://www.jcfonline.com/forum/equi...46#post2539846) yet there were two greens and two reds, which frustrates me as a fan of blue and would have loved to see some sort of blue USA So-Cal. Candy Blue did appear on the USA San Dimas but was more of a sapphire blue, while the Candy Blue on the Japan So-Cal like yours was much lighter, almost springtime/pastel-like flavor of blue.

The Japanese Pro-Mod guitars came with a Charvel-branded SKB hardshell case. I hope your guitar came with it. Did the seller include the original pickguard and toggle switch? The case should be like the photos at the bottom of this post.

Once you restring it and intonate it, it will be a beast.

[Razor]

That's a nice looking Candy Blue Pro Mod. Those came out about the time I took a hiatus from playing so I know diddly about them. Glad NOTP could line it out.

[Number Of The Priest]

I assembled a lot of the info when I returned to playing electric guitar and active JCF posting in 2016 and got my 2009 6th Batch Polar White USA So-Cal the same year, but prior to that I was on not very active on JCF and not paying very much attention to the latest product releases when the USA Production Models and Japanese Pro-Mods from 2008-2011 were in production. In retrospect I wish I had because I might have bought some. The USAs debuted at prices of USD$999.99! They included gig bags (not SKB hard cases like the Japanese ones) but it was only a thousand bucks for a brand new American-made guitar! I'm not sure we'll ever see the likes of $1000-and-under American guitars any more, let alone Jacksons or Charvels.