Charvel San Dimas vs So Cal?

[scottosan]

Has anyone played one of these, https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 1-529-LIST? Is it worth $1400, or are you just paying for the name? How are those Fishman pickups?

I hated mine and it was hard too sell. I lost alot of money on it. My 2016 and 2017 charvels were stellar. The last 2, 2018-2019 were pretty substandard. The satchel also has the smaller Dinky body and matte paint that dirties easy

 

[scottosan]

Get a Chubtone

 

[ledvedder]

Get a Chubtone

What is that?

 

[Racerxrated]

Get a Chubtone

What is that?

Made in Cali, custom shop Charvel clones(you can order any neck profile you want) with OFR's or vintage trems with any pickup you want, colors etc for around 1500. About a 6 month wait, 500 down gets the ball rolling. If I hadn't lucked into a real deal 1984 San Dimas last week I'd have put my deposit down. But it will happen within the next year.

 

[Racerxrated]

Get a Chubtone

What is that?

You should check out his website; he has a few available now. One is 1400 with a case, it has no finish so 'natural' Alder. HS configuration. You could always have a finish put on later, by Chub or send it out to Lee Garver who can put any finish on you want for about 200. These are the closest you can get to a vintage Charvel without paying the Charvel Custom shop 3K plus with a 2 yr wait. Any of these will blow the doors off any MiM Charvel or Schecter.

 

[MrDowntown]

i had a '13 San Dimas...it was a "good" guitar, but nothing good enough to make me keep it. the neck was the real prize; beautiful maple that felt and played great. i had to pull the original Trembucker. i swapped it for a evh franky pup. that made it much better to my ears. the real negative, for me, was the floating bridge. it was my first such bridge and i wasn't a fan. but it also lacked a bit of resonance and sustain. i don't know if the routing of the bridge has something to do with that or not. i also don't know if the routing, and subsequent pick guard would help/hurt on the SoCal mods. i also had the blueburst which, beautiful guitar, but has the veneer top and what is probably a lot of clear coat to hold it all together?? imo, that has something to do with resonance/sustain as well. all those things factored...it lacked just a little something.

i do love a start/super-strat guitar, and one day will probably end up with another...but it will def be non-floating trem, and USA model, maybe a Japanese model, and it will not have a veneer... ETA... yes, agree on the ChubTone guitars. i'd def consider one of those as well.

 

[ledvedder]

I already have several guitars with a surface mount Floyd, so having the floating option appeals to me. I understand that it takes a little more work/setup for tuning stability.

 

[Racerxrated]

i had a '13 San Dimas...it was a "good" guitar, but nothing good enough to make me keep it. the neck was the real prize; beautiful maple that felt and played great. i had to pull the original Trembucker. i swapped it for a evh franky pup. that made it much better to my ears. the real negative, for me, was the floating bridge. it was my first such bridge and i wasn't a fan. but it also lacked a bit of resonance and sustain. i don't know if the routing of the bridge has something to do with that or not. i also don't know if the routing, and subsequent pick guard would help/hurt on the SoCal mods. i also had the blueburst which, beautiful guitar, but has the veneer top and what is probably a lot of clear coat to hold it all together?? imo, that has something to do with resonance/sustain as well. all those things factored...it lacked just a little something.

i do love a start/super-strat guitar, and one day will probably end up with another...but it will def be non-floating trem, and USA model, maybe a Japanese model, and it will not have a veneer... ETA... yes, agree on the ChubTone guitars. i'd def consider one of those as well.

The Chubtone, 08/09 USA Charvels and the 10/11 MiJ Charvels are all a big step up from any of the MiM Charvels, especially the first few yrs in Mexico. Those were like bad imitations of the previous versions. They have gotten better but are still far apart, you can tell by just comparing the weight of the wood. I've picked up a few in the last year at retailers in Mpls and they just feel so light..those earlier versions were made from better wood selection and can sound as good as the custom shops I've owned. In fact, I sold the last custom because my 09 Plum sounded just as good, and plays even better.

 

[DistortED]

Get a Chubtone

This

 

[MrDowntown]

Get a Chubtone

This

...damn gorgeous! even that kooky easter egg color

 

[scottosan]

 

[Racerxrated]

Wow, Beautiful guitars! ^^^^

 

[ledvedder]

Can anyone tell me about this? https://www.guitarcenter.com/Charvel/Li ... -Guitar.gc

My local Sam Ash has a used one for $500. Worth it?

 

[scottosan]

Can anyone tell me about this? https://www.guitarcenter.com/Charvel/Li ... -Guitar.gc

My local Sam Ash has a used one for $500. Worth it?

Pass

 

[ledvedder]

Tell me about these? Are they worth a grand?

https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 14327-LIST
https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 3-515-LIST

 

[scottosan]

Tell me about these? Are they worth a grand?

https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 14327-LIST
https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 3-515-LIST

The non-USA Jackson's are not the same quality as the mexi Charvels, nor are the made in the same factory. The Charvels have graphite reinforced necks and the maple used for the neck and headstock are 1 piece. The Jackson's neck have a glue joint due to the angle of the headstock. That said the Charvel is much better

 

[Racerxrated]

Tell me about these? Are they worth a grand?

https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 14327-LIST
https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 3-515-LIST

If you want a recessed Floyd find a clean Jackson SL1 or SL2H Soloist..you can find one for around 1K or so. USA made, killer playability and tone. GC has a few on their site, I'm sure Reverb and Ebay do as well. Much better quality/tone than any new guitar from Mexico/Indonesia/wherever.

 

[itsme]

What attracts you to the Charvels, in particular, and what features are most important?

I'd take a Jackson DK2, SL2, or a Korean Schecter over the Charvels, personally.

I like the shape of the Charvel. I don't care for the pointy headstock on the Jackson's.

Yep. Not a fan of a anything pointy either. Plus the Jackson's are 24 fret. I personally can't stand 24 fretters...

 

[LPMojoGL]

What model is that?

Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder. they cost around 700$ new and if you ask me, are not worth the bunch.

Agreed. Tried a few, no bueno. Small neck, cheap quaity.

There's no difference between them except the pickups so it comes down to aesthetics.

I've only noticed the difference between a fender strat and a charvel SD if we talk about the resonance due to pickguard and top routing.

Direct mount pickups and more wood. There is a difference

Agreed. Pickquard vs direct mount makes a difference. Allan Holdsworth geeked out on guitars with Charvel back in the day. They tried all kinds of stuff. He concluded that every guitar with a pickquard sounded better than direct mount. My Strat has more body and girth to the tone than my direct-mount Satchel.

Has anyone played one of these, https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i ... 1-529-LIST? Is it worth $1400, or are you just paying for the name? How are those Fishman pickups?

I hated mine and it was hard too sell. I lost alot of money on it. My 2016 and 2017 charvels were stellar. The last 2, 2018-2019 were pretty substandard. The satchel also has the smaller Dinky body and matte paint that dirties easy

Flip side of this coin, I love mine! It doesn’t sound as big as the Strat, but it’s so much fun to play. Decked Floyd = super stable tuning.
The paint job is tough. It should have a million dings, but hardly a scratch. Mine is yellow, and just seeing it makes me happy. It doesn’t seem to be dirtier than any of my other guitars.
The Fishman pickups, the bridge pup I actually dig. It’s not super high output, but is strong, clear, tight low end. I can chug, solo, cleans up nice. I like it. I don't like the neck pup so much. Seems weak, no good single coil sound. The switch and knob are cheap quality, both needing replaced soon. A weak battery = a dead guitar.
I like my yellow one so much that I tried a green one at the store. It was a dog. Setup was horrible, floating Floyd was a tuning nightmare, just a mess. Needed a lot of work to be playable. So, and I think this applies to any guitars, try before you buy.

I want to try this:
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Charvel/Li ... gIAZvD_BwE

 

[Thunkful]

Agreed. Pickquard vs direct mount makes a difference. Allan Holdsworth geeked out on guitars with Charvel back in the day. They tried all kinds of stuff. He concluded that every guitar with a pickquard sounded better than direct mount. My Strat has more body and girth to the tone than my direct-mount Satchel.

I also prefer the regular strat's wider and maybe longer body shape, also the radius on the edges is smoother and the thing just sits on my lap better than the SD body.[/quote]

I want to try this:
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Charvel/Li ... gIAZvD_BwE

That's one sexy mofo right there, maybe i should opt for that black/white thing for my next strat build With maple neck ofc