Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

[paddok]

Now I was just told by someone who was claiming his guitar to be made in Texas, that the import charvels were Built in Japan, and then assembled in the United States.

Is there any legitimacy to this claim (despite its unreliable source)? I always though Fort Worth was just the location of the importing / holding office for these guitars.

[jgcable]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

You are correct bro. Ft Worth was just an office.

[straycat]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

FT Worth neck plate = japanese mfg.If he has a model 5fx the neck single coil routing was done in texas but the guitar was made in japan.Also if the guitar shaped charvel logo is white in color its a japanese guitar.Gold or black would be US.

[Newc]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

I've heard from a reliable source (who wishes ot remain anonymous) that some of the JacksonStars and Grover Jackson models were built in Ontario and finished in Japan, and some were built in Japan and finished in Ontario, so it's quite possible that a few of the Model models were shipped in bulk disassembled from Japan and put together in Tejas - anyone remember the "bought new back in the day" Model with the reverse headstock and other features? Looked like a factory mutt. I forget who had it, but he bought it new that way back in the '80s, and it does not appear in any catalog, and another one has never been reported. My guess is they got a broken body and broken neck, so they put the one good neck on the other good body.

Newc

[straycat]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

Could be Newc!!I did hear about that guitar a while back on the old board.That might explain why my model 2 has a birdseye neck with the standard glossy finish.Also why my other model 2 has a scalloped fretboard.Ya think? [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[straycat]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

Well its really hard to tell CG.It is scalloped from the 7th to the 22nd fret and very well done,kind of tapered a little deeper on the treble side.I tend to think it was done after it left the factory but there are so many exceptions to the rule with C/Js so I guess its possible.I have seen a jap charvel made for the jap market that had a scalloped fretboard and strat head stock.The model 2 I have with the birdseye neck is very cool.Its not saturated with birdseye like the SD necks but it still has a lot of birdseye.This model 2 feels so good I'd rate it up there with my 87usa jackson san dimas plated strat. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[RacerX]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

Originally posted by PaddoK:
Now I was just told by someone who was claiming his guitar to be made in Texas, that the import charvels were Built in Japan, and then assembled in the United States.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">To put it bluntly, that dude is full of shit! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[charvelguy]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

Richard, You're saying you have a model 2 with a factory scalloped fretboard? or was that done after it was built??

[charvelguy]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

Originally posted by Richard:
Well its really hard to tell CG.It is scalloped from the 7th to the 22nd fret and very well done,kind of tapered a little deeper on the treble side.I tend to think it was done after it left the factory but there are so many exceptions to the rule with C/Js so I guess its possible.I have seen a jap charvel made for the jap market that had a scalloped fretboard and strat head stock.The model 2 I have with the birdseye neck is very cool.Its not saturated with birdseye like the SD necks but it still has a lot of birdseye.This model 2 feels so good I'd rate it up there with my 87usa jackson san dimas plated strat. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I agree, it would be a possiblity, but it sounds like it was done after production. I guess you can tell more by the fret sidemarkers if the scallop goes into them. I have a Westone which is a full 24 fret scallop. The guy who sold it to me (for 80.00, and it's a neck thru) thought it was a factory job due to the fret position marker dots not being any smaller. Either way, your model 2 sounds like a nice axe.

[charvel750]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

While it was not normal policy, there may be some truth to the made in Japan/assembled in USA Charvels. Kevin Easton spoke of making slight modifications to the Model 5 neck through Charvels in Texas. They came in with one humbucker routed and the Ft. Worth staff added single coil slots for some of those models. Then they reassembled the entire guitar. Still a Japanese import...

[straycat]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

The scallop on my model 2 gets close to the side markers but they are all there.I'm sure it was done after the fact.

[Black Mariah]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

More recently the initial shipment of DK2's with Blue Orange Flames had the incorrect color for the logos. All of the necks had to be swapped out, and it was us here in Fort Worth that did it. I found out I can do a neck swap in about 15 minutes time, including drilling the holes in the new neck. Reid was inching towards ten minutes. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[SARJ]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

I know of a strange one. In Albuquerque NM at the Music Go Round there is a Charvel with one humbucker/one volume, reverse headstock, Floydian trem and it's finished in a trans green burst. They only want like $149 or something for it. I havn't seen it with my own 2 eyes, a friend of mine told me about it. Can you guys give any input on that one?

Once in a guitar shop on El Cajon Blvd in San Diego CA, the owner had just got a box in from UPS and he tore into it while I was standing there. Now that I know my Model series alot better I can identify it. It was basicaly a Model 2 with a maple fretboard, but it had an Original Floyd Rose and a black humbucker that wasn't the covered Jackson pickup they usualy came with. It was totaly in pieces and the body was bare......no finish at all. I saw this in the summer of 1988. He noticed me watching him unpack it and he said he sent off for it unfinished and in pieces as he was going to do a custom paint job on it. It was the same day Billy Sheenan was in the shop and walked behind the counter and out the back door when I walked in. I commented on the fact it was a Charvel and he said it was one of the hand picked unfinished Japaneese guitars that he was building and finishing for a customer. I don't remember the name of the shop, but it was up the street from Guitar Center. Anybody here from San Diego in their late 20's to early 30's may remeber the shop. That was when i decided I liked one humbucker guitars.

My question is, could Jackson/Charvel have sent dealers an unfinished Charvel Model Series by request or something? Was there ever a limited run of green burst Model 88's?

[toejam]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

Originally posted by charvel750:
Kevin Easton spoke of making slight modifications to the Model 5 neck through Charvels in Texas. They came in with one humbucker routed and the Ft. Worth staff added single coil slots for some of those models. Then they reassembled the entire guitar. Still a Japanese import...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That was the 5A that was the one humbucker model... then some had the single coils added to make it a 5FX. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[scotty]

Re: Build in Japan, Assembled in the US ?

....bump