Charvel Pro Mod after a year..

[Kapo_Polenton]

So I 've got a Demartini Pro Mod snake skin. Feels nice to play but you can add me to the list of people questioning the quality control out of Charvel. First thing off I had to get the neck shaved and refinished as the skunk stripe was popping. Maybe this could have happened in shipping due to temperature changes? Ok, warranty covered.

Now on to things that bug me. Floyd rattle. it looks to be a 1000 but there is a rattle somewhere. I think it is where bar attaches to the trem but it's a plingy sound.

Electronics are shit. After a year of me going back and forwards on the toggle ( not even consistently because i rotate guitars) this thing cuts out on the neck. Yeah I can fix it but should we have to at these price points? Likely bad wiring but still.. what are these guys checking.

At some point this year, a shim popped out from under locking tuners. I guess they didn't tighten it down enough or it didn't need it. Again, what gives. I paid like 1900 CAD for this thing.

All to say, I question their quality control. It's clearly assembly line out of Mexico but they are def. going for numbers over quality.

Neck/frets/body seem good though so i can't crap on them for that but these little things bug me. How do you guys feel about them?

 

[Bardagh]

Sounds like what I would have thought. I’ve heard that some of these mexican Charvels are great and some are iffy. Fender’s factory in Mexico has always been inconsistent. I have always read pretty contradictory opinions from people saying their Mex fenders are as good or better than their US ones to other people pointing out all kinds of problems and saying they’re no better (or even worse) than Squiers.

Really no different from the other imports. As good a guitar as World Music in Korea CAN make, over the years I have had my hands on many a piece of shit Korean Schecter and LTD that should never have made it out of the factory.

Lowering standards on QC saves the company a lot of money, especially if the guitar has already made it through finishing. To shitcan that instrument means the materials, the man hours already spent and everything are a loss. Now do that however many thousands of times or whatever.

So one way they are able to keep prices down (and maintain profitability) on these affordable lines is to just pass it on to the customer in the form of added risk of getting a shitty instrument.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Sounds like what I would have thought. I’ve heard that some of these mexican Charvels are great and some are iffy. Fender’s factory in Mexico has always been inconsistent. I have always read pretty contradictory opinions from people saying their Mex fenders are as good or better than their US ones to other people pointing out all kinds of problems and saying they’re no better (or even worse) than Squiers.

Really no different from the other imports. As good a guitar as World Music in Korea CAN make, over the years I have had my hands on many a piece of shit Korean Schecter and LTD that should never have made it out of the factory.

Lowering standards on QC saves the company a lot of money, especially if the guitar has already made it through finishing. To shitcan that instrument means the materials, the man hours already spent and everything are a loss. Now do that however many thousands of times or whatever.

So one way they are able to keep prices down (and maintain profitability) on these affordable lines is to just pass it on to the customer in the form of added risk of getting a shitty instrument.

That makes a ton of sense. Focus on the things you notice off the shelf and that are biggest return on an instrument and that is usually fret work, neck, finish. Doing that means something has to give and what likely did was wiring, hardware control, locking nut

 

[Bardagh]

That makes a ton of sense. Focus on the things you notice off the shelf and that are biggest return on an instrument and that is usually fret work, neck, finish. Doing that means something has to give and what likely did was wiring, hardware control, locking nut

Yeah and there are going to be great ones, good ones, and various degrees of shitty ones out there in the marketplace. It’s why buying new does have some value so long as its from somewhere with a good return policy. Really have to check out a new guitar thoroughly and make sure you’re happy with it while you can return it.

Now, some problem that shows up a year down the road is another story, and could just be bad luck/circumstance. I will say I have had HORRIBLE solder jobs in a lot of import guitars, including the Korean ones they now charge over $1k for but were more like $500-800 up until a couple years ago.

Poor wiring like that can work fine for a while but eventually will start having issues. All these manufacturers use pretty shitty switches and things too. I had multiple of those ubiquitous cheap blade switches Ibanez uses go bad for no good reason. Meanwhile I’ve got guitars with Oak or CRL switches that have been soldered on through countless pickup swaps and never have an issue.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

Back around 2000, our local Fender rep showed us a video clip of people working at the Fender Mexico factory. They were working so fast you would have thought they had guns pointed at their heads. Several of us commented WTF on the bad working conditions and the Rep was embarrassed. Rightly so.