New Charvel "Bengal" model

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fiesta Red
  • Start date Start date
Yeah, that will stay in tune when using the whammy bar. lol
 
True, but the headstock design that they chose to use does not have a straight string thru pull. So tuning issues will be worse. The guitar would have benefited from a Floyd Rose trem. But that's just my opinion.
made even worse with the break angle of the headstock .. winding the strings a up the peg will be a must
 
Do these actually have waterslides that say all of that stuff about FMIC trademarks on the back of the headstock nowadays?
That's pretty gaudy and tasteless if true. More than anything else that can be said about the rest of the guitar, imo.

Shouldn't have it - it's not a licensed Fender headstock.
 
Fender (FMIC) owns Jackson and Charvel, so... 🤷‍♀️
So?

They didn't own them in the way up though. The Jackson/Charvel pointy headstock was theirs first. Not sure how long you've been a big J/C guy (or if you even are now), but there were a LOT of years that the most sought after C?J guitars had strat headstocks, but they weren't able to make more due to licensing. Now you can't hardly find one without. And now, pointies are on the rise again. And so the pendulum swings.
 
So?

They didn't own them in the way up though. The Jackson/Charvel pointy headstock was theirs first. Not sure how long you've been a big J/C guy (or if you even are now), but there were a LOT of years that the most sought after C?J guitars had strat headstocks, but they weren't able to make more due to licensing. Now you can't hardly find one without. And now, pointies are on the rise again. And so the pendulum swings.
Yep, 30 years ago all I wanted was a Strat head Charvel....now I prefer the pointys........wish they would do the USA ones again like they did in the early 2000's
 
Yeah, that will stay in tune when using the whammy bar. lol

Wilkinson makes some locking saddles that work really, really well. Having said that, I wouldn't buy it in its current state. Needs a black floyd and black hardware.

I'm wondering how soon Stratosphere on eBay with be parting those out
 
So?

They didn't own them in the way up though. The Jackson/Charvel pointy headstock was theirs first. Not sure how long you've been a big J/C guy (or if you even are now), but there were a LOT of years that the most sought after C?J guitars had strat headstocks, but they weren't able to make more due to licensing. Now you can't hardly find one without. And now, pointies are on the rise again. And so the pendulum swings.
FMIC owns Jackson and Charvel then they own the license, despite not owning it in the past. So, yes it's a Fender license.
Never been a charvel/jackson guy though. So, I can't comment from that perspective.
 
So?

They didn't own them in the way up though. The Jackson/Charvel pointy headstock was theirs first. Not sure how long you've been a big J/C guy (or if you even are now), but there were a LOT of years that the most sought after C?J guitars had strat headstocks, but they weren't able to make more due to licensing. Now you can't hardly find one without. And now, pointies are on the rise again. And so the pendulum swings.
That pointy headstock first appeared on Randy Rhoads' Concorde Flying V, built by J/C. Amirite?
 
FMIC owns Jackson and Charvel then they own the license, despite not owning it in the past. So, yes it's a Fender license.
Never been a charvel/jackson guy though. So, I can't comment from that perspective.
I think you're missing the point. They don't need to license the pointy headstock shape to Jackson/Charvel since the entity still exists and is intact as an Incorporated division of FMIC - JCMI or Jackson Charvel Manufacturing Inc. The headstocks are trademarked by FMIC, but the "Strat" headstock is a Fender trademark used by Charvel. If Fender started putting Jackson headstocks or Rhoads bodies on their guitars, they'd have a similar "license" to use from JCMI. Ownership and trademarks are different animals. Those headstocks were trademarked before FMIC owned JCMI. You're welcome to your opinion however. It's a free country.
 
That pointy headstock first appeared on Randy Rhoads' Concorde Flying V, built by J/C. Amirite?
Yep!

I'm trying to remember if Grover did it after he bought Charvel from Wayne - I think that was the case. Grover was concerned that Jackson was too "extreme" for Charvel's customer base, so he created the brand, and then the headstock "migrated" to the other brand. I think... I'm getting older, and have had a few beers in my life, so I might be flipping that around... ;)
 
I think you're missing the point. They don't need to license the pointy headstock shape to Jackson/Charvel since the entity still exists and is intact as an Incorporated division of FMIC - JCMI or Jackson Charvel Manufacturing Inc. The headstocks are trademarked by FMIC, but the "Strat" headstock is a Fender trademark used by Charvel. If Fender started putting Jackson headstocks or Rhoads bodies on their guitars, they'd have a similar "license" to use from JCMI. Ownership and trademarks are different animals. Those headstocks were trademarked before FMIC owned JCMI. You're welcome to your opinion however. It's a free country.

Okay, I see what you're saying. Thanks for clarifying!
 
Yep!

I'm trying to remember if Grover did it after he bought Charvel from Wayne - I think that was the case. Grover was concerned that Jackson was too "extreme" for Charvel's customer base, so he created the brand, and then the headstock "migrated" to the other brand. I think... I'm getting older, and have had a few beers in my life, so I might be flipping that around... ;)
I read years ago from one of those guitar magazine (GW??? 199?), that one of my uncles had lying around, that it was like a 12-hour
marathon brainstorming session between W. Charvel & R. Rhoads at the original Charvel shop.

Rhoads was coming back to the U.S. from the Blizzard tour, Sharon Osbourne née S. Arden bought Rhoads' plane ticket flying on the Concorde. This is how Rhoads got the name for the guitar, during a phone conversation between Charvel & Rhoads for another guitar build. Rhoads wanted to keep a V-shape, similar to the Karl Sandoval Polka-dot, but a departure from the traditional V. The headstock would be similar to Kramer's banana/hockey but also a departure from it.

According to Charvel, Rhoads drew a lot of crude sketches of his guitar design ideas during the brainstorming.

At some point, between the initial designs of Rhoads-Charvel & the finished Concorde guitar, Charvel sold his business to Jackson and the shop subsequently moved to another location. The newer shop location is where the Concorde (prototype) was built.

That must have been a great time for guitar building in SoCal back then. Custom builds were still novel & niche, with a small cohort of people who basically knew each other or knew of each other from close proximity by word of mouth. Charvel, L. Ellsworth, K. Sandoval, G. Jackson, Boogie Bodies, Randy Rhoads, EVH, George Lynch, Seymour Duncan.
 
Last edited:
Another epic fail from Fender. You don’t put a vintage trem (unless brass) on a pointy Charvel. They could have matched the headstock too or left it maple. Black looks off. Some depth to the silver would also be better. Maybe burst the edges of the body. Just looks so meh.
 
I like a vintage trem on a pointy shredder, and I also like maple fretboards. Hate the tiger stripe paint job on this though, and the price seems way high, especially while the similarly comparable Baretta Vintage (with floyd 1000) is not even half that ($699).
 
Back
Top