Charvel Body, a few questions

[jafferji]

I recently bought a Charvel Model 4 Body and have a few questions.

It seems to me that the Body was made out of four 5 pieces, see picture one. Is that correct that Charvel made such bodies?

Next thing is: front and back a kind of laminated with wood and some kind of plastic, see pictures 2 and 3. Does anyone know what material this is?

My plan is to sand that off.


More Parts of the Body

Front

Back

my last question:
has anyone tried to put a fender-neck on a charvel body?
some sources say it works, others say the the neck pocket is slightly too large.

greetins,
m

[DonP]

Fender neck is 2 3/16" wide. Charvel neck pocket is 2 1/4". There are aftermarket neck makers that might help. Musicraft, USCGA,...

Thank you for going through the trouble of sanding down the body. I have a maple body made by Aria or JB Player constructed the same way.

Here's the deal. With a butcher block body, the pieces of wood shrink at different rates. The laminate on top and bottom hide the seams. I don't think they do this any more, they just say F' it and let the seams show. Things were made better back then.

I wish they did this with my Bengal SL2H made in 2005, because I can see the seam lines. I can see them also on a cheap 1999 Kramer MusicYo neck thru.

So, you can use the laminate, or you can hope the wood has dried and stabilized enough that you can sand it down and not have seam lines..

[Grandturk]

I don't think they do this any more, they just say F' it and let the seams show. Things were made better back then.

I wish they did this with my Bengal SL2H made in 2005, because I can see the seam lines. I can see them also on a cheap 1999 Kramer MusicYo neck thru.

There's a whole group of people out there who cry bloody murder when guitar builder laminate over the body.

[jafferji]

thanks for answering.

my plan is to just sand off the plastic part of the laminate, not the wodden part.

on the picture of the back you can see it roughly: at parts which weren't part of a bigger area it already came off.
i will leave to wood back on and my plan is to stain the body or hand it to an artist who works right behind my house to have him painted it.

has anyone an idea how i could remove the paint off the trem and electricity chamber.
it will be invisible, but for me its still a pain in the ass...

[DonP]

There's a whole group of people out there who cry bloody murder when guitar builder laminate over the body.

Who? Must be Strat people

[DonP]

thanks for answering.

my plan is to just sand off the plastic part of the laminate, not the wodden part.

on the picture of the back you can see it roughly: at parts which weren't part of a bigger area it already came off.
i will leave to wood back on and my plan is to stain the body or hand it to an artist who works right behind my house to have him painted it.

has anyone an idea how i could remove the paint off the trem and electricity chamber.
it will be invisible, but for me its still a pain in the ass...

I'd be really surprised if that is plastic. On my Aria, it's wood.
Removing paint is a PITA. I never finished removing the paint. The guitar has been a "project" for 20 years

[LexLuthier]

Could it be something like masonite? I have a couple of Mod 4 bodies, I'll have to take a closer look to see if there are seams...

[john.w.lawson]

looks like its been refinished before?

[Twitch]

I refinished a Kramer Vanguard a few years back that was covered in that shit. It was a pain in the ass to sand off. I assumed it was some kind of primer.

[jafferji]

im pretty sure that the top and back upmost layer is not wood. the "laminate" top and back is made out of wood + that plastic shit.

thanks twitch for your reply. im gonna sand that off till i find wood, now im confident.

@john.w.lawson : ja, the previous owner sanded off the original red/metallic paint (except in the cavities) and painted it with white (as a primer)
and then a ugly ass violett you still can find in the cavities.

anybody an idea if dissolver works to get the paint out of the pickup- and electricity cavities?


to the neck: im quite new to this forum and i found a short overview about switching necks in the Tech Q&A. it says that fender necks will fit, but there will be a small gap. the suggestion is to put some shims in - has anybody made some experience with fitting a fender-style neck on a charvel body with schims?
is it possible to get a nice tight neck joint?

[6string40]

That "ugly ass violet" almost looks like the candy purple Charvel just used on the SD2!

CharvelSanDimasStyle2.jpg

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

anybody an idea if dissolver works to get the paint out of the pickup- and electricity cavities?

I'm guessing (no offense please) that you are not in the USA based on your use of words like "dissolver" and "electricity cavity" and things like that.

Here in the USA, you can buy "aircraft stripper" at many auto-parts stores which will remove catalyzed polyurethane finishes like what you find on guitars (and cars, and bicycles, and lots of other stuff) but the regular paint and varnish remover/stripper you get at the hardware store will NOT do a damn thing to it except make it less shiny.

So, you might ask at an auto body repair supply place if you can purchase stripper for a car's paint job or something like that. It's very nasty stuff that will give you bad chemical burns even through rubber gloves, so be careful.

[LexLuthier]

I'm guessing (no offense please) that you are not in the USA based on your use of words like "dissolver" and "electricity cavity" and things like that.

Here in the USA, you can buy "aircraft stripper" at many auto-parts stores which will remove catalyzed polyurethane finishes like what you find on guitars (and cars, and bicycles, and lots of other stuff) but the regular paint and varnish remover/stripper you get at the hardware store will NOT do a damn thing to it except make it less shiny.

So, you might ask at an auto body repair supply place if you can purchase stripper for a car's paint job or something like that. It's very nasty stuff that will give you bad chemical burns even through rubber gloves, so be careful.

What brand was it? I tried some aircraft stuff I got at carquest that didn't do anything.

[sully]

Who? Must be Strat people

JCF 01 and 02 were ordered laminate-free. Personally, I want to see the seams.

Sully

[Twitch]

Id be careful with any kind of solvent, it could have adverse affects on the wood and the glue holding the body together. Sand paper is your friend here, it may take a little elbow grease but it will be the safest for the guitar.