NGD: 2014 Charvel Nitro Aged San Dimas Custom Shop Music Zoo

[braintheory]

Got this 3 days ago now. It is my 6th Charvel and for me hands down the best one I’ve had yet, but not sending the others packing since they’re all different in tone, woods and other specs. Amazing how I wasn’t into Charvel’s at all until a year ago. I’ve got also a 2019 Sassafras Custom Shop San Dimas, 2016 Mahogany one, 1995 Koa Custom Shop SD, and ‘84 & ‘86 SD’s with alder and maple bodies respectively. This one is defintiely the most lively and resonant sounding one both unplugged and plugged in, almost sounds like a vintage guitar in that regard (but not all the way there), very well balanced tone and good tightness. My 2019 Sassafras Custom Shop was my favorite of the bunch in playability (and overall favorite before), but this one I think plays even a little better. The Sassafras one though still has this really pleasing, unique midrange voicing and warm growl to it that this one doesn’t have, but this new one sounds a lot more alive, sustain-y and has a vintage-like tone that tends to make most other newer guitars sound flat/sterile comparatively

For a while I honestly looked down on alder as a tonewood for humbucker guitars (perfect for strats though) and thought it was all around inferior to mahogany for them, but have changed my mind about half a year ago and this is another example to prove me wrong. It still definitely doesn’t have the growl/roar or chunk of good Honduran mahogany, but has more sparkle, sheen and it’s own character. I’ve already done several pickup swaps to tinker with it. The Dimarzio’s it came with were awful (creme ones in the first photo). I like best so far in the bridge my Tone Specific signature Highoutput model (sold all my other hot pickups since getting those)(Bloombucker in it now is also good). In the neck the Tone Specific virtuoso sounded great, but I actually have now a Tone Specific ‘65 Strat neck in there and it’s a killer Strat tone. I don’t care that it looks funny in a humbucker slot. The 2nd photo is with the Signature bridge and Virtuoso neck (zebra pickups). The only pickups I use these days are just Tone Specific’s, real vintage pickups and just one guitar with Fishman Fluence’s that I don’t use much

Of the 35 guitars I currently have (selling at least 1/3 of them) this would probably land somewhere in my 4th-6th favorite spot. My ‘57 LP Jr has been by far my #1 since getting it and every time I go back to it I think why do I need all this other junk haha, but they all have their place still. I’ve noticed that pretty much all the guitars that would be in my top 10 (or even 15) are beat up looking whether it’s because they’re relic’d, actually vintage or dinged from the previous owner’s use. Maybe there’s something to it that makes them sound better. Just a theory

For Super Strat style guitars these have still been my clear favorites. I’ve had in the past a James Tyler, ESP Custom Shop Horizon’s, 3 Mayones’s (tried many more), 2 Vik’s, Aristides, Bernie Rico Jr, McNaught, Barlow, Skervesen, PRS and have tried many guitars by Suhr, Tom Anderson, Caparison, Siggi Braun, Schecter Custom Shop, and others I’m surely blanking on. Still haven’t tried a GNG though (very curious about them). The only other SS’s I’m keeping besides the Charvel’s are my ‘86 Paduak body Schecter, an all rosewood body guitar by DC and my Dean Gordon, but that’s technically a super tele

 

[Racerxrated]

That looks great. If it's a good piece of Alder, they can sound fantastic.
Congrats!

 

[psychodave]

The nitros are some of the best Charvels made. I was interested in snagging this fiesta red, but couldn’t justify it.

I own three nitros myself. I love them all and each is a bit different to justify owning them. My only complaint is I wish they had easy access to the truss rod...so I cut away a little body wood to be able to adjust the necks quickly and easily without having to remove the necks. Like you I hate Dimarzio pickups, but the green nitro sounds so good with them that I left it alone.

 

[braintheory]

That looks great. If it's a good piece of Alder, they can sound fantastic.
Congrats!

Agreed. I think the ‘84 I got from you is also alder according to this one luthier who saw it. I just remember having some alder body Jackson’s and high end Ibanez’s that sounded really flat and so I’d been turned off of alder for a while. Good Honduran mahogany is imo still the king, especially for growl, but the different woods have their own flavors

My favorite color for these are the seafoam or surf green, but since these aged nitro ones don’t come up much I guess I just gotta take what I can get and the Dakota Red I think is still nice

 

[braintheory]

The nitros are some of the best Charvels made. I was interested in snagging this fiesta red, but couldn’t justify it.

I own three nitros myself. I love them all and each is a bit different to justify owning them. My only complaint is I wish they had easy access to the truss rod...so I cut away a little body wood to be able to adjust the necks quickly and easily without having to remove the necks.

Yeah I could see it being redundant in your arsenal and you’ve got some in imo nicer colors than mine. This one is Dakota Red they say. Agreed on the trussrod, but imo the tone and playability more than makes up for that slight flaw

 

[braintheory]

The nitros are some of the best Charvels made. I was interested in snagging this fiesta red, but couldn’t justify it.

I own three nitros myself. I love them all and each is a bit different to justify owning them. My only complaint is I wish they had easy access to the truss rod...so I cut away a little body wood to be able to adjust the necks quickly and easily without having to remove the necks. Like you I hate Dimarzio pickups, but the green nitro sounds so good with them that I left it alone.

View attachment 77880

Ah I’m jealous of that green one (my favorite color on these). Looks like yours also have the Birdseye necks. Yeah I hate Dimarzio pickups. This red one still sounded great despite them and most others probably would’ve left it alone too, but I knew how much better it would get with better pickups and it worked out the way I expected with the Tone Specific’s in it now

 

[psychodave]

Ah I’m jealous of that green one (my favorite color on these). Looks like yours also have the Birdseye necks. Yeah I hate Dimarzio pickups. This red one still sounded great despite them and most others probably would’ve left it alone too, but I knew how much better it would get with better pickups and it worked out the way I expected with the Tone Specific’s in it now

I love that Dakota Red color. Looks great with maple.

The green one weighs 6.5lbs. It’s like a toy, but being a hard tail it rings crazy loud. The dimarzio pickups kill in it. I have Suhr Aldrich and SSH+ pickups in the other nitros and both have Manlius custom hot neck pickups.

If you notice... your Dakota Red and my white nitro had the bridge pickups a little close to the bridge...which I think makes them more compressed and aggressive sounding. The ones with the bridge pickup further away sound more rounded and sometimes a bit bloated in sound.

 

[Racerxrated]

Agreed. I think the ‘84 I got from you is also alder according to this one luthier who saw it. I just remember having some alder body Jackson’s and high end Ibanez’s that sounded really flat and so I’d been turned off of alder for a while. Good Honduran mahogany is imo still the king, especially for growl, but the different woods have their own flavors

My favorite color for these are the seafoam or surf green, but since these aged nitro ones don’t come up much I guess I just gotta take what I can get and the Dakota Red I think is still nice

I always thought the 84 is Maple, since it's like 10 lbs...It's got a deep growl that I haven't heard in any recent or vintage Charvel. The 84 neck and body that's being restored/refin'd now is Maple according to the Luthier. I have those old school Floyd trem screws going in; but I wasn't sure it would be the best call until he told me that as long as it's a hard wood like Maple, there should be no issue with the screws moving down the road.

 

[braintheory]

I love that Dakota Red color. Looks great with maple.

The green one weighs 6.5lbs. It’s like a toy, but being a hard tail it rings crazy loud. The dimarzio pickups kill in it. I have Suhr Aldrich and SSH+ pickups in the other nitros and both have Manlius custom hot neck pickups.

If you notice... your Dakota Red and my white nitro had the bridge pickups a little close to the bridge...which I think makes them more compressed and aggressive sounding. The ones with the bridge pickup further away sound more rounded and sometimes a bit bloated in sound.

Yeah I think the Dakota red one looks even better now with the zebra pickups than the stock creme one surprisingly

6.5 lbs is super light for an alder guitar. I only have 1 guitar that light, which has an old growth redwood body (my Ronin). The Dakota is 7.45 lbs. I find that if you go much lighter than that for humbucker guitars you lose too much punch or density to the notes. Even 7.5 for me is lighter than I usually like for humbucker guitars. Mine still has good punch for it’s weight, but won’t compete in that one area to my 8+ lbs guitars and of course not my 9+ lbs axes, but then you tend to sacrifice tonal nuance/complexity when going that heavy. Mine also rings very loud despite the Floyd. I can get away with having the tuner on my phone much further away than most of my other guitars when I was tuning it up unplugged

Yeah the pickups didn’t come that close to the bridge, I was just tinkering with their height and that’s where they happened to be when I took the photo. I usually set my pickups very close to the strings, but I make sure it’s still far enough away where my palm mutes don’t get that higher pitched scratchy sound, so that’s the sweet spot I go for. I like the more aggressive, saturated sound too when it’s closer, but can’t have those scratchy sounding palm mutes

 

[braintheory]

I always thought the 84 is Maple, since it's like 10 lbs...It's got a deep growl that I haven't heard in any recent or vintage Charvel. The 84 neck and body that's being restored/refin'd now is Maple according to the Luthier. I have those old school Floyd trem screws going in; but I wasn't sure it would be the best call until he told me that as long as it's a hard wood like Maple, there should be no issue with the screws moving down the road.

It’s certainly more than heavy enough to be maple (it’s in the 9 lbs ball park on my scale), but he said it looked like alder to him and sound wise it does to me seem more like alder. My maple body ‘84 Charvel (which is just under 9 lbs) and other maple guitars have a very different sound. I agree it has a very deep growl that none of my other Charvel’s have, almost in the direction of mahogany with its growl. Maple body guitars tend to not really have much growl, warmth or tonal complexity or texture to the notes in general, and also much brighter and harder sounding than this warm, growly ‘84. My ‘86 Maple Charvel is maybe the brightest sounding guitar I’ve had other than my all aluminum or magnesium guitars. I know the Kahler makes it darker than the Floyd equipped guitars, but still don’t think it’s a maple body on my ‘84

 

[psychodave]

Yeah I think the Dakota red one looks even better now with the zebra pickups than the stock creme one surprisingly

6.5 lbs is super light for an alder guitar. I only have 1 guitar that light, which has an old growth redwood body (my Ronin). The Dakota is 7.45 lbs. I find that if you go much lighter than that for humbucker guitars you lose too much punch or density to the notes. Even 7.5 for me is lighter than I usually like for humbucker guitars. Mine still has good punch for it’s weight, but won’t compete in that one area to my 8+ lbs guitars and of course not my 9+ lbs axes, but then you tend to sacrifice tonal nuance/complexity when going that heavy. Mine also rings very loud despite the Floyd. I can get away with having the tuner on my phone much further away than most of my other guitars when I was tuning it up unplugged

Yeah the pickups didn’t come that close to the bridge, I was just tinkering with their height and that’s where they happened to be when I took the photo. I usually set my pickups very close to the strings, but I make sure it’s still far enough away where my palm mutes don’t get that higher pitched scratchy sound, so that’s the sweet spot I go for. I like the more aggressive, saturated sound too when it’s closer, but can’t have those scratchy sounding palm mutes

Keep in mind my green one is a hard tail. Add another pound of weight with a Floyd or vtrem. . I agree if they are too light. The green isn’t my favorite color, but the guitar sounds so massive...even with the dimarzio pickups.

 

[Racerxrated]

One thing is certain; of all the USA Charvels I've owned the originals (3 from 83-85) have all sounded a notch better than the 3 recent custom shops or 08-09s I've owned. Just fantastic tone, although the customs and most of the 08-09s have sounded good too. I've not had a bad or dead sounding USA Charvel although I'm sure they exist. I did have an 08 Candy Tangerine; still had the plastic on the pick guard that actually made the DiMarzios sound killer. I'm with both of you in that I'm not a DiMarzio fan other than the Super Distortion. I bought the tangerine and the next week found that 84 that you have Sam, at a GC..so I sold the 08 tangerine. But that 08 tangerine sounded absolutely killer. Looking back I might have some regret with that one, although the 84 is a killer axe.

 

[braintheory]

Keep in mind my green one is a hard tail. Add another pound of weight with a Floyd or vtrem. . I agree if they are too light. The green isn’t my favorite color, but the guitar sounds so massive...even with the dimarzio pickups.

That’s true the hard tails definitely sound bigger than a Floyd or trem, although I wouldn’t go as far as to say a pound (that’s huge). My 2019 sassafras Charvel is the same exact weight as this Dakota one, but hard tail (same bridge as your green one I think) and sounds a bit bigger/thicker than the Dakota, maybe by like .3-.4 lbs (rough estimate). Imo even .1-.2 lbs can make a pretty big difference in thickness of sound if all else is equal (although they of course never are lol)

 

[braintheory]

One thing is certain; of all the USA Charvels I've owned the originals (3 from 83-85) have all sounded a notch better than the 3 recent custom shops or 08-09s I've owned. Just fantastic tone, although the customs and most of the 08-09s have sounded good too. I've not had a bad or dead sounding USA Charvel although I'm sure they exist. I did have an 08 Candy Tangerine; still had the plastic on the pick guard that actually made the DiMarzios sound killer. I'm with both of you in that I'm not a DiMarzio fan other than the Super Distortion. I bought the tangerine and the next week found that 84 that you have Sam, at a GC..so I sold the 08 tangerine. But that 08 tangerine sounded absolutely killer. Looking back I might have some regret with that one, although the 84 is a killer axe.

Yeah I think my ‘84 and ‘86 are my next favorites sound wise. The ‘84 has that great thickness and growl and I like the snappiness and bright energy of the all maple ‘86, but this 2014 Dakota has by far the best sounding high notes (past the 12th frets), most balanced tonally and the notes all across the board just sustain so well and connect better, so for melodic type stuff just is great. That’s what makes it top 5 or 6 material for my taste. The only guitars I have that are better with that type of note connection and sheer musicality of tone are my ‘57 LP Jr and ‘64 SG Jr, which are probably still in a league of their own

 

[jape23]

Congrats man. Nice score! I almost pulled the trigger on that one myself. Can't decide if it looks better with the original pups or the zebras. Looks great both ways to me.

Got any pics of your sassafras Charvel?

 

[Racerxrated]

The nitros are some of the best Charvels made. I was interested in snagging this fiesta red, but couldn’t justify it.

I own three nitros myself. I love them all and each is a bit different to justify owning them. My only complaint is I wish they had easy access to the truss rod...so I cut away a little body wood to be able to adjust the necks quickly and easily without having to remove the necks. Like you I hate Dimarzio pickups, but the green nitro sounds so good with them that I left it alone.

View attachment 77883

Dave, it's your pics long ago here that piqued my curiosity with Charvels...I did have some MiJ model series (1, 4, 6) back in the late 80s but never picked up( or even saw) a USA version. Now I can't think of even gassing for anything else unless I luck onto a estate sale or pawn shop find with a vintage LP or strat..
You always have a great stable of Charvels.

 

[braintheory]

Congrats man. Nice score! I almost pulled the trigger on that one myself. Can't decide if it looks better with the original pups or the zebras. Looks great both ways to me.

Got any pics of your sassafras Charvel?

Maybe I just convinced myself if looks better because of the big sound improvement lol, but I’ve always been a big fan of zebra pickups. I associate zebra pickups with a hot rodded vibe for some reason

Yes, here’s my sassafras one

 

[braintheory]

Dave, it's your pics long ago here that piqued my curiosity with Charvels...I did have some MiJ model series (1, 4, 6) back in the late 80s but never picked up( or even saw) a USA version. Now I can't think of even gassing for anything else unless I luck onto a estate sale or pawn shop find with a vintage LP or strat..
You always have a great stable of Charvels.

Those would be about the only things I can think of that are imo a step up (crazy expensive obviously), although my McInturff, Ronin and EGC’s I think are also up there, EGC being a super different flavor from anything else. I still gotta try a GNG one of these days to see how it stacks up to other guitars

Actually, now that I think about, I guess prices have gone up a lot lately, but in 2019 I got my ‘64 SG Jr for less than what I paid for this Dakota Charvel and that ‘64 is unplugged I think the best sounding guitar I have, but plugged in it’s gotta still be the ‘57 LP Jr and it’s not too far behind unplugged either. Probably just the better ‘50’s P90’s that do it

 

[psychodave]

That’s true the hard tails definitely sound bigger than a Floyd or trem, although I wouldn’t go as far as to say a pound (that’s huge). My 2019 sassafras Charvel is the same exact weight as this Dakota one, but hard tail (same bridge as your green one I think) and sounds a bit bigger/thicker than the Dakota, maybe by like .3-.4 lbs (rough estimate). Imo even .1-.2 lbs can make a pretty big difference in thickness of sound if all else is equal (although they of course never are lol)

Add in the nut weight, nut retainer bar, arm, springs and claw and it’s around a pound or more. We all know Charvel isn’t saving the lighter weight neck and body for hard tails.

This is with the stock block and no trem arm or nut. 16oz is a pound

 

[psychodave]

Maybe I just convinced myself if looks better because of the big sound improvement lol, but I’ve always been a big fan of zebra pickups. I associate zebra pickups with a hot rodded vibe for some reason

Yes, here’s my sassafras one

I really like the Sassafras.

Also, copy and paste pics and they will show up full size.