OPINION: Newer Charvels are not very good. Neither are SD JBs

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rstites said:
I've been tempted to pickup a new Charvel just to have something around. Are the necks generally inline with the originals? I have several 80's Charvels and Jackson (strats) and those necks are my bread-n-butter. I've never played anything that's as good as those, but they're old, nostalgic, and worth more than I always want to take out.....not that I go out to play much anymore, but one can dream!
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I can only speak to the pointy 83-85s that I’ve owned; those were wider/flatter than the 08-09 USAs that I own now...the custom shop Charvels I also owned from the mid 2000s were similar to my 2 USAs from 08/09. More back, and less wide than the 85 pointy profile. Now, I’ve heard the Charvel neck profile from recent yrs 08/09 are more like the early serialized stratheads. But I’ve never played one to compare. Both are comfortable but the wide/flatter USA pointy profile takes a minute to get used to after playing my 08/09s
 
^^ I also feel the earlier Jackson bolt on from 86 are identical to the Charvel pointy profile. But, the 87 and few 88s I’ve had, those necks started to get noticeably smaller like a Wolfgang imo
 
I have a purple ProMod from last year. It is pretty great for an $800-$900 guitar. I did chunk the JB and put a Gibson BB3 and an 80s OFR with large brass tone block. Killer.
 
Racerxrated said:
I pulled what I thought was a ‘magical’ JBJ from a 1990 Hamer Diablo USA. Put it in a MiJ Charvel from 2011 and it sounded terrible lol. Put a Custom in and it sounded great. JBs are picky for sure.
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What did you do with the Diablo?

I've got an early 90s USA diablo leaning against a wall and I'm trying to decide if it's firewood.
 
squealie said:
What did you do with the Diablo?

I've got an early 90s USA diablo leaning against a wall and I'm trying to decide if it's firewood.
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Ha! I’ve had a few and they all had nice tone; the early 90s versions had more ‘shredder’ necks while the mid 90s were more baseball bat necks. I sold mine after discovering the Charvel neck...which is perfect for me.
 
Literally just requested a return for my first ever Charvel purchase, clocked out for lunch and come upon this thread. Shocked at how I’m not gelling with this guitar, however, it’s just not there. Kinda bummed, really.
 
brianiac5150 said:
Literally just requested a return for my first ever Charvel purchase, clocked out for lunch and come upon this thread. Shocked at how I’m not gelling with this guitar, however, it’s just not there. Kinda bummed, really.
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Honestly, I’d just wait till an 08-12 USA or MiJ version comes up at a decent price. Night/day difference imo. Or, a new/used Chubtone is another great option.
 
I have a few too many charvels and none compare to the 2008-2009 USA.
I have two mim pro mods that aren’t horrible but the necks are bigger. More of a “D” than “C” shape I think.
I’m going to order a Chubtone once I figure all the details out. Definitely going with a hockey stick but something other than a maple board as I have too many of them now.
If you like the thicker necks ,more like the older charvels I can’t say enough good things about my splawn guitar.
 
To me, when they changed the MIM necks from quarter-sawn is when they started not feeling like Charvel necks anymore. I have a MIJ neck on one of my MIM bodies and four MIM San Dimas and Pro Mods. These are 2014 and 2015’s. These MIM necks feel very similar to the MIJ. The 2016 and on non quarter-sawn MIM necks that I’ve tried just don’t feel the same In my opinion.
 
This thread is getting me more and more depressed. Charvel has always been "the" neck for me. Why the hell did they mess with it? I guess I really need to hang on to my DeMartini and MIM that is several years old.
 
Speaking of the JB pickup, that is what I had put in my Chubtone. I like the JB for riffing, etc. I did lower it a tad. They are great pickups but I think they are one trick ponies for sure.
 
rstites said:
JB's have a lot of high-mids, or presence, to them. This means they go from very focused and cutting in the right guitar to ear-piercing in the next guitar. They also seem to lose the focus of the bass in a lot of instruments. I've generally used something else, as I really struggle to get them to work for me. At about the same output of Duncan, I tend to use the Custom quite a lot and it seems to work across the board in instruments.
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Your description nailed it! That is a perfect description of the mids, bass, etc
 
japetus said:
It's like you have a girlfriend who won't have sex with you, and argues with you constantly, but you keep her around because she's smoking hot. At some point, you'll get fed up enough.
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:LOL:
 
I've got a Wolfgang Special 2019 and it's got the same 12-16 compound radius as the San Dimas, but for whatever reason, it is so much easier to play. When I play it, the neck feels nice and light, sleek, slightly narrower, and just all around comfortable. I feel "in control" of it. I feel confident and inspired with it. The San Dimas on the other hand, the neck feels super ass heavy, awkward, and unplayable. I never know how any lick I'm about to play is going to come out. I feel "along for the ride" with it. Not sure if this makes sense.

Question: Does anyone own the new 5150 series stealth model from EVH because I've really had my eye on that. https://evhgear.com/gear/series/guitars/5150/5150-series-standard-ebony/5108001568. If these play/sound comparable to my 2019 Wolfie Special then I might just have found my perfect guitar.
 
BigGuitars said:
I've got a Wolfgang Special 2019 and it's got the same 12-16 compound radius as the San Dimas, but for whatever reason, it is so much easier to play. When I play it, the neck feels nice and light, sleek, slightly narrower, and just all around comfortable. I feel "in control" of it. I feel confident and inspired with it. The San Dimas on the other hand, the neck feels super ass heavy, awkward, and unplayable. I never know how any lick I'm about to play is going to come out. I feel "along for the ride" with it. Not sure if this makes sense.

Question: Does anyone own the new 5150 series stealth model from EVH because I've really had my eye on that. https://evhgear.com/gear/series/guitars/5150/5150-series-standard-ebony/5108001568. If these play/sound comparable to my 2019 Wolfie Special then I might just have found my perfect guitar.
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The Wolfgang has a narrower C shaped neck, where the Charvel has a wider, almost D shaped neck. That is why. This feels VERY different in the hand.

The Wolfgang series is advertised as having a 42mm nut, and the 5150 series is advertised as having a 43mm nut, so I assume the neck will be wider on those 5150 guitars.
 
BigGuitars said:
I don't know what it is. I bought a 2020 charvel pro mod last year. Just the regular black HH San Dimas model. I've had it for 7 or 8 months now.

Idk, is this the neck everyone jizzes their pants over? Feels horrible to me. It feels bulky and awkward. It's so hard to play. It fights and fights and fights you. The profile of the back of the neck is awkward. I think the JB has alot to do with the guitar feeling like it's "fighting you", as it's just a overly-harsh, brittle sounding pickup to my ears. It's all bite and distortion, no body or smoothness that makes shredding a bit easier. But the issue is certainly not all due to the pickup. I think its just a tough guitar to play. Maybe it just doesn't agree with my hands. I've got a $180 cheap Kramer that feels better to play (to my hands) than this Charvel. When I do wide vibrato, the Kramer reacts so well, and sounds so good. The Charvel never rings out the sound the way you want it to. It's so unfortunate because I love the look of the Charvel. I so want it to be the best guitar I own, but I really can't deny it, I just can't stand it. How this guitar is regarded as some hot rodded shred machine is beyond me. It's is one ill-playing SOB.

Also, it's not like I don't know how to set action or setup a guitar. I know how to do all this. I think it's just a tough guitar to play. Does anyone else have this experience?
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Dude, I’ve been trying to find someone else that’s having the same horrible playability issues with their newer Charvels. I’ve been having the same exact problems. In past 7 years i’ve bought 3 Charvels i thought would be my dream shred guitars and they are pretty much a nitemare. They are fighting me when they should be like butter to play. I have a San Dimas Pro Mod and a So Cal Hot Rod and they hurt me literally. The string tension is so tight , they are hard to bend, sometimes it actually feels like the strings are razors cutting into my finger tips it’s just so crazy! They look so sick and I so badly wanted them to be my dream shred machines but for reasons we both can’t figure they suck to play. They just look so damn good and I’m 53 grew up as a teen in the 80’s and my heroes played Charvels like Warren. Well, I just got an Ibanez Prestige and it is so easy to play. Same scale length as the Charvels 25.5 so that’s not the issue. I think l will have to sell the Charvels as life is too short to not have a shred guitar that fights you as these Charvels do.
 
gtrwun said:
Ok………….
Always love the new forum member necro bump.
Not a good intro.
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You must have very small pee pee. Necro, go fuck yourself asshole with all your pompous asinine bullshit. We are here to help each other no matter if a thread is from 1880, I don’t give two fucks about you and what you think is right, who made you king dipshit of this forum?
 
I just got a Paul copy with the JB in the bridge. It's definitely got some output but i didn't find it more or any less usable than a 498t or a Custom 5. The high end it has seems to help when the volume comes up. Iit still retains clarity. It's definitely honkier than the other two I mentioned, at least, through my rig.
 
wyattscott77 said:
You must have very small pee pee. Necro, go fuck yourself asshole with all your pompous asinine bullshit. We are here to help each other no matter if a thread is from 1880, I don’t give two fucks about you and what you think is right, who made you king dipshit of this forum?
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