So how do the import Charvels feel compared to an Ibanez RG or old Kramer?

[Frigo89]

Well, In the American Series, Kramer's Did come Stock with an OFR and Duncan's lol.

Necks are something too personal though, I am a small guy, but I love big, wide, necks, so that's all about taste

[Yoder]

OK, so I probably will never actually decide on just one ;-) At this point I like the idea of a Charvel b/c I want something around 20 years old, but the Jacksons are nice...

I'll look at the Dinky and the PS Jacksons...thanks for the heads up. I like the Fusions, but the LP scale kinda scares me off...

[Yoder]

Here's a completed auction for a Dinky Reverse in the stone finish like the one in the 1993 ad above...kinda tacky but pretty cool!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-School-Jackson-Dinky-Guitar-and-old-style-neck_W0QQitemZ320105992199QQihZ011QQcategoryZ2384QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[cooper200ii]

my model 6 is about the same profile as an rg...thin and flat...but the charvel is thinner. not in a bad way. not to me at least

[goshac]

i'll talk about the sound difference, no one have mensioned it here...

i have RG520 98' and RG570 90', both with dimarzio, and my friend has a charvel 475 also with dimarzio.
i thought that my ibanezes sound good, i liked them...until...my friend came to me and i heard the sound difference.
comparing to the charvel both my RGs sounded so trebly and thin, unlike the charvel sounded beefy, fat and full...

i'll tell you something, neck thickness hits badly on guitar sound...thin neck leads to thin trebly sound...you can do nothing with it...

in the past i was looking for thinnest(and comfortable) neck, now i got experience and looking for sound...
why fenders and gibsons have such a beefy tone??? they have thick necks..

so i bought a model 6' on ebay. dead line. my RGs are going away
thanx to all

[Sunbane]

comparing to the charvel both my RGs sounded so trebly and thin, unlike the charvel sounded beefy, fat and full...

While I do agree that neck thickness does impact sound to a great extent, also keep in mind that thicker strings and/or a blocked trem will give you a beefier sound with more presence.

[goshac]

yeah, forgot to say...my RG520 is with 10' strings, whyle charvel 475 is with 9'....however this didn't help my ibby..

thicker strings do thickering the sound but in different way than the neck thickness....
think about thick neck + thick strings....is't a tone monster!!!!
my friend plays fender strat with 10' DRs...nothing can beat it!!!nothing!

[Yoder]

Thanks for the input. Perhaps I molded this thread into a "compare necks" thread, but I was really looking for the whole picture. Tone, build quality, and value (i.e. does it come with a crappy trem and pickups stock, etc) when you compare a Charvel import to the RG and Kramer.

So that was helpful. I've never heard the tone argument being applied to neck thickness...glad you like the Model 6. I just wish those things werent so damn expensive.

[goshac]

why expensive?
model 6 costs on ebay same as RG570, about $500...

[charvelguy]

I think the RG's are well balanced tone wise. It would be interesting to mate an Ash body with one of the wizard two necks tho.

I think old Kramer pointines outside of the Nightswan have a rather heftier profile.

24 fret, 1 hum with a floyd and neck thru.. you want a Charvel model 5A. A good one cannot be put down, they are players that rock IMO.. and harder to come by.

Bolt on.. the Dinky rev is a thin profile. I like the Jackson Stealth pro as well...someone posted a pic of a recent snag here, a nice trans blue.

[Yoder]

why expensive?
model 6 costs on ebay same as RG570, about $500...

I've seen plenty of RG570s go for $250-300 in good condition. From what I've seen Model 6's seem to go for $500-600 and they don't come up often...

[Sunbane]

A word of caution about the 1987-1988 Charvels: The JT-6 trems aren't very good (in most people's opinion). My Model 6 has had an OFR transplant because of this.

The 1986 ones had Kahler bridges, made in USA. If you like Kahlers, it's a good thing...and vice versa.

The 1989-1991 Charvels got the much appreciated JT-590 (essentially the same as a Schaller Floyd, as it was made in Germany, by Schaller).

[jcm800x]

Welcome man, I got a model 2 and 4, love them. Both very high quality and sound/play awsome!

[NEWYEARKID]

Hi,
You were right about the Nightswan being mahogany-I should try to find one.
You're right about the New Jersey era Kramers being great guitars: some of my favorites albums were done with Kramers(MacAlpine-Edge of insanity,Michael Romeo-the first three Symphony X albums)-Unfortunately a lot of what I see on Ebay and around are the strikers and later generation Music Yo Kramers...not very good. I collect Ghost Riders,Jackson archtop soloists and Charvel 750xls. I can tell a Japanese Ibanez from a Korean in a second.The quality from old Pacer Imperials or the old Hockey puck Headstock Barrettas to the recent Kramers is about the same. Notice how many of the early ones are still around and playable? Unfortunately; a ten to fifteen year old guitar is going to have some issues unless its the doctors/lawyers/business guys that buy a "insert overpriced
status guitar of choice....Hmm usually a custom shop Les Paul/Custom shop Relic strat or a Tom Anderson,John Suhr,Paul Reed Smith" ..you know the type they don't really play but the MUST have the toys...LOL..Sorry I used to work in a Guitar Center. Most of the comments I make are very generalized..I did'nt mean to insult anyones choice of instrument.Sadly some area don't have access to good techs/repairmans or even a decent selection of stores. I prefer to read post instead of jumping in having said that there are some awesome sources of good info on this board-Budman springs to mind.
Take Care,
Tony

[Frigo89]

I just had to say my peice on Kramers, I've done alot of homework lmao.

If you can find a good, old US/american series one (good as in condition), for relatively cheap, buy it