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As we all know, the Charvel 750XL was made for one "production" year only, 1989. In 1990, the model was slimmed down and renamed the "Jackson Professional Archtop Soloist". The original Charvel 750XL's have super thick bodies, basically a standard Soloist with a very thick carved maple cap added on top. The Jackson Professional Archtop Soloists were slimmed down so that the added maple cap brought the guitar up to the thickness of a regular Soloist. As you can imagine, being made out of mahogany, a 750XL is a fairly heavy guitar.
The earliest 750XL found so far is my serial number C806131 which was actually built at the end of 1988 and so far the only one the JCF has found with an 88 serial number. I just received 750XL serial number C906332 from fellow JCF'er Bodawgone which is the latest 750XL serial number found by the JCF so far. There are quite a few differences in the 2 750XL's. It looks like the 750XL was continually modified by Charvel Japan all thoughout it's single production year.
Differences:
1. The very early 750XL's had a trem route cutout however, the trem was not recessed into that route. It looks like the trem route was done away with quite early, between C900579 and C901549.
2. The earlier 750XL's had plastic "Jackson" pickup covers and compleley different(larger) pickup rings. Later models did not have the covers and used smaller pickup rings. This appears to have changed later, between C904112 and C905091.
3. Early 750XL's had "Charvel" stamped Schaller Floyds while later versions had "Jackson" stamped Schaller Floyds.
4. Early 750XL's had much smaller cut access areas into the flame maple in the two horn areas(referring to the cut like on a Fusion). Later models had larger cuts, more like on the 1990 Jackson Professional Archtops.
5. The carved out area for the 2 knobs varies with early models having only like 50% of the circle around each knob carved into while later models have the area carved around 100% of each knob.
I'm sure they vary but my earlier 750XL is heavier than the later one. Mahogany tends to vary wildly in weight depending on the density(place from the tree) of the wood.
Pickup Covers vs. No Pickup Covers: If the pickups are positioned correctly, there really isn't much of a difference in the sound. I think people have overblown this. The height of the pickup is HUGELY!!! influential to the sound, about 1000% more influential than the covers. When I received the new 750XL, the bridge pickup was set very high, about as high as you could get it without it touching the stings. The sound was quite muddy with poor high end definition. Lowering the pickup dramatically changed the sound and brought everything back into balance and clarity. I can now hardly tell any difference between the 2, one with covers and one without.
Pictures to come.............
The earliest 750XL found so far is my serial number C806131 which was actually built at the end of 1988 and so far the only one the JCF has found with an 88 serial number. I just received 750XL serial number C906332 from fellow JCF'er Bodawgone which is the latest 750XL serial number found by the JCF so far. There are quite a few differences in the 2 750XL's. It looks like the 750XL was continually modified by Charvel Japan all thoughout it's single production year.
Differences:
1. The very early 750XL's had a trem route cutout however, the trem was not recessed into that route. It looks like the trem route was done away with quite early, between C900579 and C901549.
2. The earlier 750XL's had plastic "Jackson" pickup covers and compleley different(larger) pickup rings. Later models did not have the covers and used smaller pickup rings. This appears to have changed later, between C904112 and C905091.
3. Early 750XL's had "Charvel" stamped Schaller Floyds while later versions had "Jackson" stamped Schaller Floyds.
4. Early 750XL's had much smaller cut access areas into the flame maple in the two horn areas(referring to the cut like on a Fusion). Later models had larger cuts, more like on the 1990 Jackson Professional Archtops.
5. The carved out area for the 2 knobs varies with early models having only like 50% of the circle around each knob carved into while later models have the area carved around 100% of each knob.
I'm sure they vary but my earlier 750XL is heavier than the later one. Mahogany tends to vary wildly in weight depending on the density(place from the tree) of the wood.
Pickup Covers vs. No Pickup Covers: If the pickups are positioned correctly, there really isn't much of a difference in the sound. I think people have overblown this. The height of the pickup is HUGELY!!! influential to the sound, about 1000% more influential than the covers. When I received the new 750XL, the bridge pickup was set very high, about as high as you could get it without it touching the stings. The sound was quite muddy with poor high end definition. Lowering the pickup dramatically changed the sound and brought everything back into balance and clarity. I can now hardly tell any difference between the 2, one with covers and one without.
Pictures to come.............
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