NGD: Charvel USA So Cal! (56k is a joke)

sakeido · 07-24-2008, 09:48 PM

well, I had ordered one of these awhile back through Matt's Music and was all excited to get it. Then, three days before they are released, he sends me an e-mail saying that he had a falling out with Jackson/Charvel and isn't going to carry either brand anymore, so I get shafted out of the tangerine orange So Cal I had on order from him.
That was somewhat crushing, but no big deal. I changed my order to something else that has yet to show up. Today, I go to the local music store just to see if they do have one of these in and also to cancel my order for a Nova since I picked one up from a different store across town awhile back. It turns out they have three of the production models left, one So Cal, one gold Tele, and one normal one dunno what they are called. I play one just to see if it would have been worth it and... my god.
These things are an absolute steal. $999 for this? Unbelievable! It is a USA made guitar and I thought they would have cut a lot of corners, but it definitely doesn't seem that way. The frets are fantastic - perfectly level and smooth across the neck, and the neck has almost exactly the same profile as my SLSMG, which is my favorite guitar of all time. The pickups - a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck - sound absolutely fantastic in this alder body.
The guitar looks deadly. I ended up with a black one, which is actually pretty good because the orange one looks a little bright for me now that I've seen real pics of it. The flat black pickguard really sets it off, and the flat black control knob is sweet as well. It is the most spiny solid dial I have ever seen on a guitar and coupled with the nice firm pot, it fixes my one niggle about most Jackson/Charvels.. the real greasy volume knobs.
It has a Ping floyd which feels pretty good to me so far. I don't use Floyds at all and will be locking this one with a Tremol-No as soon as it comes in, but it for all intents and purposes seems to be just as good as a normal one to me. The fine tuners are a little stiff, but that's about the only difference I have noticed so far. The logo is even almost exactly the same.
The only problem with the whole thing is the pickguard and tremolo spring covers were put on when the paint wasn't fully dry (so the store was telling me) so if you pull them off, the paint peels. No big deal.

But all in all, I am very happy with the guitar. It sounds wicked, and I think it'll do very well in low tunings.. but more on that later, once I change the strings to my usual elixirs and play it some more.

Compared to the Charvel Natural Mahogany I had before, one of the slightly older custom shop models, this one is a little bit more my style... it is much lighter, it is not as muddy sounding, it has a neck humbucker, it somehow plays better, and it cost basically half as much once duties and shipping is figured in. It is every bit as good, for far less money.

Make no mistake - this is one of the absolute best deals going in music right now.

As usual, my big orange cat (Nash) had to check out the new toy.

gratuitous picture of my whole flock plus my friend's G10 5 string bass, and my ....ing sweet wallpaper

Op3a · 07-24-2008, 10:29 PM

Jesus.. I can't tell you how much i love that guitar (more the red version). Congrats.
Btw, i hate you

Benzesp · 07-24-2008, 10:51 PM

Thats a sexy Charvel dude congrats.

Lucky Seven · 07-24-2008, 10:59 PM

This is great news. Too bad they don't make a star shape.

WillingWell · 07-24-2008, 11:04 PM

By "....ing sweet wallpaper" do you mean "I don't bring girls to my house"?

Regardless, awesome guitar. 80s all over the place.

sakeido · 07-24-2008, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillingWell

By "....ing sweet wallpaper" do you mean "I don't bring girls to my house"?

You are bang on the money there

D-EJ915 · 07-24-2008, 11:47 PM

aside from that model looking cheap, congrats dude, I bet it's killer

awesomeaustin · 07-25-2008, 02:09 AM

Nice score, I'm trying to mod my charvel cx290 to look like this.

Sebastian · 07-25-2008, 02:18 AM

Congrats !.. 999$ .. thats a steal.
Looks great along your 2 Jacksons

You have a COW7

... BAD ASS .. quess i can congrat you on that also

Demeyes · 07-25-2008, 02:25 AM

I was wondering how these were going to turn out. Good to see they are nice. Things were looking a bit dodgey for Charvel for a while so at least they are back on their feet.
What happened with Matts music? I used to go on the jcf forums a lot and he was a regular there. He used to get guitars for all the board members and he handled a few of the runs they got in.

mrp5150 · 07-25-2008, 07:58 AM

The San Dimas neck shape is the best neck shape ever made IMO. I really want to pick up one of the black ones with Duncan pickups, but it's so similar to my ESP M-II spec wise.

Thrashmanzac · 07-25-2008, 08:34 AM

best. charvel. ever.

budda · 07-25-2008, 08:48 AM

you really should have bought the orange one, because you have enough black guitars!

again with the one knob action?

whatever floats your boat :P

now, clips

sakeido · 07-25-2008, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by budda

you really should have bought the orange one, because you have enough black guitars!

again with the one knob action?

whatever floats your boat :P

now, clips

I don't use tone knobs man

never, ever. I'll see if I can do some clips this weekend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demeyes

I was wondering how these were going to turn out. Good to see they are nice. Things were looking a bit dodgey for Charvel for a while so at least they are back on their feet.
What happened with Matts music? I used to go on the jcf forums a lot and he was a regular there. He used to get guitars for all the board members and he handled a few of the runs they got in.

I'm not sure what exactly happened with Matt's. I guess him and J/C have some irreconcilable differences but he didn't get into specifics. He made a post in the general section of the JCF announcing he wasn't going to be dealing them anymore, and I think he's looking to ESP to fill the gap in his lineup now.

Decipher · 07-25-2008, 09:36 AM

Congrads Cody! Looks really nice! Where in town did you find that?

sakeido · 07-25-2008, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decipher

Congrads Cody! Looks really nice! Where in town did you find that?

Long and McQuade had it, hanging up on one of the pillars. Other than the three Charvels though, that had almost nothing else interesting, but dozens of telecasters. I swear they gear their store more and more towards old men every month.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian

Congrats !.. 999$ .. thats a steal.
Looks great along your 2 Jacksons

You have a COW7

... BAD ASS .. quess i can congrat you on that also

What can I say, Jacksons are perfect for me.. love how they sound & play.

Drew · 07-25-2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-EJ915

aside from that model looking cheap, congrats dude, I bet it's killer

That's actually kind of its appeal - it looks stripped down.

I REALLY want one of the orange ones. Was it garish in person? Could you maybe snag a picture if the shop is near you?

technomancer · 07-25-2008, 11:16 AM

I'm a bit confused... when you're saying orange are you guys talking about the gold tele shaped one or the red strat shaped one?

jacksonplayer · 07-25-2008, 11:26 AM

The other color option for Sakeido's guitar is a metallic dark orange. I believe only the rear-loaded version comes in red.

Dude, that's freakin' sweet. This gives me the truest version of GAS--a guitar I have absolutely no need for, but want anyway.

sakeido · 07-25-2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew

That's actually kind of its appeal - it looks stripped down.

I REALLY want one of the orange ones. Was it garish in person? Could you maybe snag a picture if the shop is near you?

The shop only got one, and it sold almost immediately.. they said the factory setup sucked, but "the guy had to have it." Here is a pic of one from the JCF...

+ blue pearloid pickguard =

He has a bunch of really nice pics actually, check em out More New So-Cal Goodness - JCF Online

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacksonplayer

The other color option for Sakeido's guitar is a metallic dark orange. I believe only the rear-loaded version comes in red.

Dude, that's freakin' sweet. This gives me the truest version of GAS--a guitar I have absolutely no need for, but want anyway.

They are really good guitars. You should at least play one, and see what that does for your GAS (if you like it already, you would probably buy it on the spot)

I am blown away by how nice the neck is on this one. The wiring and hardware isn't perfect, sure, but the neck is smooth and the frets are perfect, and it is less than a Grand!

Drew · 07-25-2008, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sakeido

+ blue pearloid pickguard =

Exactly.

That would be SO hot, lol. How's it routed under the pickguard? I kinda dig H-H, but would I have the option of SSH?

I've also never played a non-recessed Floyd...

Ancestor · 07-25-2008, 11:35 AM

Low tunings! That's what I like to hear.

congrats, man!

InTheRavensName · 07-25-2008, 11:36 AM

Your collection is sickeningly nice

Well done sir!

sakeido · 07-25-2008, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew

Exactly.

That would be SO hot, lol. How's it routed under the pickguard? I kinda dig H-H, but would I have the option of SSH?

I've also never played a non-recessed Floyd...

It is routed H-S-H under the pickguard.. it was built with the express purpose of hot rodding! The non-recessed isn't that bad, you can get roughly a 1.5 step pull up out of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by InTheRavensName

Your collection is sickeningly nice

Well done sir!

Why, thank you

the best part is not one of those guitars cost more than $1k.

InTheRavensName · 07-25-2008, 11:50 AM

^ go to hell

	sevenstring guitars		sevenstring registry		photo gallery		subscription		spy

07-24-2008, 09:48 PM	#1
sakeido Is a Pastafarian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Calgary AB Posts: 5,601 Thanked: 257 Feedback Score: 12 reviews	NGD: Charvel USA So Cal! (56k is a joke) well, I had ordered one of these awhile back through Matt's Music and was all excited to get it. Then, three days before they are released, he sends me an e-mail saying that he had a falling out with Jackson/Charvel and isn't going to carry either brand anymore, so I get shafted out of the tangerine orange So Cal I had on order from him. That was somewhat crushing, but no big deal. I changed my order to something else that has yet to show up. Today, I go to the local music store just to see if they do have one of these in and also to cancel my order for a Nova since I picked one up from a different store across town awhile back. It turns out they have three of the production models left, one So Cal, one gold Tele, and one normal one dunno what they are called. I play one just to see if it would have been worth it and... my god. These things are an absolute steal. $999 for this? Unbelievable! It is a USA made guitar and I thought they would have cut a lot of corners, but it definitely doesn't seem that way. The frets are fantastic - perfectly level and smooth across the neck, and the neck has almost exactly the same profile as my SLSMG, which is my favorite guitar of all time. The pickups - a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and an Air Norton in the neck - sound absolutely fantastic in this alder body. The guitar looks deadly. I ended up with a black one, which is actually pretty good because the orange one looks a little bright for me now that I've seen real pics of it. The flat black pickguard really sets it off, and the flat black control knob is sweet as well. It is the most spiny solid dial I have ever seen on a guitar and coupled with the nice firm pot, it fixes my one niggle about most Jackson/Charvels.. the real greasy volume knobs. It has a Ping floyd which feels pretty good to me so far. I don't use Floyds at all and will be locking this one with a Tremol-No as soon as it comes in, but it for all intents and purposes seems to be just as good as a normal one to me. The fine tuners are a little stiff, but that's about the only difference I have noticed so far. The logo is even almost exactly the same. The only problem with the whole thing is the pickguard and tremolo spring covers were put on when the paint wasn't fully dry (so the store was telling me) so if you pull them off, the paint peels. No big deal. But all in all, I am very happy with the guitar. It sounds wicked, and I think it'll do very well in low tunings.. but more on that later, once I change the strings to my usual elixirs and play it some more. Compared to the Charvel Natural Mahogany I had before, one of the slightly older custom shop models, this one is a little bit more my style... it is much lighter, it is not as muddy sounding, it has a neck humbucker, it somehow plays better, and it cost basically half as much once duties and shipping is figured in. It is every bit as good, for far less money. Make no mistake - this is one of the absolute best deals going in music right now. As usual, my big orange cat (Nash) had to check out the new toy. gratuitous picture of my whole flock plus my friend's G10 5 string bass, and my ....ing sweet wallpaper "Ah, she's built like a steakhouse but she handles like a bistro" - ZB Soundcloud - New clip April 19

07-24-2008, 11:47 PM	#7
D-EJ915 <3's Tsukasa Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 18,749 Thanked: 220 Feedback Score: 6 reviews	aside from that model looking cheap, congrats dude, I bet it's killer əBCAir

07-25-2008, 02:25 AM	#10
Demeyes SS.org Regular Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 1,476 Thanked: 11 Feedback Score: 3 reviews	I was wondering how these were going to turn out. Good to see they are nice. Things were looking a bit dodgey for Charvel for a while so at least they are back on their feet. What happened with Matts music? I used to go on the jcf forums a lot and he was a regular there. He used to get guitars for all the board members and he handled a few of the runs they got in. My Band Shardborne on Soundcloud Free E.P on bandcamp http://shardborne.bandcamp.com/

07-25-2008, 08:34 AM	#12
Thrashmanzac plays in 69/42 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Melbourne, VIC Posts: 3,769 Thanked: 53 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	best. charvel. ever. ...Each guitarist has an evil fat 40 year old blueswankler trying to get out, If you give in to temptation you'll be sitting next to a fender playing john lee hooker while trying to keep your combover in place. -Desecrated being black and enjoying watermelon, i think this thread needs more watermelon. budda

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07-24-2008, 10:29 PM	#2
Op3a ENGL FTW! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Portugal Posts: 83 Thanked: 2 / 1 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Jesus.. I can't tell you how much i love that guitar (more the red version). Congrats. Btw, i hate you

07-24-2008, 10:51 PM	#3
Benzesp Banned Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Austin,TX Posts: 1,308 Thanked: 29 Feedback Score: 14 reviews	Thats a sexy Charvel dude congrats.

07-24-2008, 10:59 PM	#4
Lucky Seven Lucky☆Seven Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: College Station, TX Posts: 2,234 Thanked: 62 Feedback Score: 1 reviews	This is great news. Too bad they don't make a star shape.

07-24-2008, 11:04 PM	#5
WillingWell Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: PA Posts: 746 Thanked: 12 Feedback Score: 3 reviews	By "....ing sweet wallpaper" do you mean "I don't bring girls to my house"? Regardless, awesome guitar. 80s all over the place.

07-25-2008, 02:09 AM	#8
awesomeaustin You're not worthy Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: SD, Az Posts: 1,806 Thanked: 26 Feedback Score: 12 reviews	Nice score, I'm trying to mod my charvel cx290 to look like this.

07-25-2008, 02:18 AM	#9
Sebastian Poland CEO / RHLC © Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Cracow, Poland Posts: 8,363 Thanked: 100 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Congrats !.. 999$ .. thats a steal. Looks great along your 2 Jacksons You have a COW7 ... BAD ASS .. quess i can congrat you on that also

07-25-2008, 07:58 AM	#11
mrp5150 Call it. Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: La Jolla, CA Posts: 1,187 Thanked: 40 Feedback Score: 1 reviews	The San Dimas neck shape is the best neck shape ever made IMO. I really want to pick up one of the black ones with Duncan pickups, but it's so similar to my ESP M-II spec wise.

07-25-2008, 08:48 AM	#13
budda Guiterrorizer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: London ONT Posts: 18,906 Thanked: 174 Feedback Score: 1 reviews	you really should have bought the orange one, because you have enough black guitars! again with the one knob action? whatever floats your boat :P now, clips _______________________ J S Moore pickups: www.tonefordays.com Rock on!

07-25-2008, 09:36 AM	#15
Decipher SS.org Regular Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Calgary, Hellberta, Canada Posts: 1,314 Thanked: 10 Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Congrads Cody! Looks really nice! Where in town did you find that?

07-25-2008, 11:16 AM	#18
technomancer Gearus Pimptasticus • Super Moderator • Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Out there, somewhere Posts: 23,121 Thanked: 173 Feedback Score: 34 reviews	I'm a bit confused... when you're saying orange are you guys talking about the gold tele shaped one or the red strat shaped one? Incoming It's a surprise

07-25-2008, 11:26 AM	#19
jacksonplayer The Fusion Guy! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 4,263 Thanked: 27 Feedback Score: 8 reviews	The other color option for Sakeido's guitar is a metallic dark orange. I believe only the rear-loaded version comes in red. Dude, that's freakin' sweet. This gives me the truest version of GAS--a guitar I have absolutely no need for, but want anyway. Check out my home page: www.councilofone.net

07-25-2008, 11:35 AM	#22
Ancestor SS Contributor Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,640 Thanked: 46 $Ancestor is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Ancestor is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Ancestor is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Ancestor is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Ancestor is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Ancestor is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ $Ancestor is rather kvlt and tr00. \m/$ Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Low tunings! That's what I like to hear. congrats, man!

07-25-2008, 11:36 AM	#23
InTheRavensName Dog says yes ^.^ Yes Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Derby, UK Posts: 3,331 Thanked: 12 Feedback Score: 8 reviews	Your collection is sickeningly nice Well done sir! Sabaton

07-25-2008, 11:50 AM	#25
InTheRavensName Dog says yes ^.^ Yes Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Derby, UK Posts: 3,331 Thanked: 12 Feedback Score: 8 reviews	^ go to hell Sabaton

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