Disappointed with brand new Charvel DK24 Pro-Mod HSS...Advice? (pictures)

[308sc]

What is up!

It has been awhile since I last posted here but I was still lurking haha

So I bought myself a new guitar for my upcoming birthday. I've always wanted one of these since In played one in a music store and was really looking forward to this. Well, I bought it brand new from Sweetwater and when I pulled it out of the box my first impressions were that it was beautiful but definitely needs a setup.

I spent some time checking everything over then lowered the action until it just is about to start really buzzing. The problem is the action is still pretty darn high, at least compared to some of my other guitars, and a dead/pinging 9th fret on the high E. I am pretty bummed. I've grabbed much cheaper guitars of the shelf that have played way better than this.

I guess I am going to have to see if I can shim the neck up a little bit as well as the bass side looks noticeably sunken into the neck pocket then the treble side (Normal for these??). I don't mind spending some more time setting this up but kinda feel like i shouldn't be having to do this much on a guitar in this range, am I being unreasonable? I really like the feel of this instrument and if it played a little better I'd be extremely happy but at the moment this thing is a total turd.

Pictures attached, any input is welcomed!

 

[budda]

Send it back and ask for a replacement. Isnt that why people buy new?

 

[Shask]

The action looks pretty low to me, but what doesnt look right is the angle of the neck. The neck is going into the neck pocket instead of the other way which is normal. You can tell the side dots get closer to the body towards the bridge, and they should be level or getting further away. That guitar definitely needs a neck shim to raise the neck angle.

 

[ThunderUnderground]

I would do exactly as budda said, the ends of those fret tangs look like razor blades and the underside of the fretboard isnt even flat where it meets the body (not a big deal, but shit work regardless). That along with the mating surfaces between the neck and the pocket are red flags for me. Neck angle looks a bit wonky too as already stated.

Looks like poor craftmanship across the board, i would ditch it and get another one if it was me.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

I’ll add another vote for returning it for another if possible.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I don't mind spending some more time setting this up but kinda feel like i shouldn't be having to do this much on a guitar in this range

I don't know why folks get this impression.

Every guitar, regardless of price point, country of manufacture, brand, etc. should get a proper setup.

I don't know if this is a dud or not, but I think at least a decent setup is worthwhile before playing return roulette with Sweetwater, whose "inspection" procedures on new gear is dubious at best.

But, if you're not happy send it back and maybe consider buying from a retailer who will do the work beforehand.

The action looks pretty low to me, but what doesnt look right is the angle of the neck. The neck is going into the neck pocket instead of the other way which is normal. You can tell the side dots get closer to the body towards the bridge, and they should be level or getting further away. That guitar definitely needs a neck shim to raise the neck angle.

Everyone always says "shim shim shim", but most of the time on a new guitar all you have to do is loosen the neck bolts, give the neck a nudge, and retighten the bolts evenly.

 

[groverj3]

Neck angle looks wonky to me. But like others have said, it could be an easy fix.

I'd go through the trouble of a full setup before returning. I always assume that anything I buy will need one. Just the shipping alone is enough to throw things off.

 

[yan12]

Follow the advice of Max. Do a proper set up first, and that includes loosen/tighten of the neck bolts.

This is EXACTLY why I love bolt on necks and don't mess with neck thru or set neck guitars. When they go bad it is a much bigger problem. Hell, if I had the time, I would say send it to me and I'll do it. If that neck is straight and the frets are good, it can easily be made to play like butter with the right set up. Might need a few tricks but they are not severe or expensive.

 

[308sc]

Thank you all for the input! Prior to taking these pictures I loosened string tension then the neck bolts and attempted to straighten the neck angle/alignment out. I will spend some more time tonight and give this and in-depth setup to the best of my ability and see where that gets me. I'll keep everyone posted!

I certainly didn't expect for this instrument to not need some adjustment but after owning more guitars than I can count, this one just feels like a dud or a monday/friday built guitar.

I also noticed it is missing the second-string tree that these guitars are supposed to come with from the factory. That might not be a big deal but just seems to further validate that this particular instrument may have slipped through the cracks in the QC department.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Thank you all for the input! Prior to taking these pictures I loosened string tension then the neck bolts and attempted to straighten the neck angle/alignment out. I will spend some more time tonight and give this and in-depth setup to the best of my ability and see where that gets me. I'll keep everyone posted!

I certainly didn't expect for this instrument to not need some adjustment but after owning more guitars than I can count, this one just feels like a dud or a monday/friday built guitar.

I also noticed it is missing the second-string tree that these guitars are supposed to come with from the factory. That might not be a big deal but just seems to further validate that this particular instrument may have slipped through the cracks in the QC department.

If you're not happy, send it packing and get one from DGCL.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

If you're not happy, send it packing and get one from DGCL.

Drum City Guitar Land?

 

[yan12]

Yes, that is DrumCity.
But they don't stock Charvel any more.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Yes, that is DrumCity.
But they don't stock Charvel any more.

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. They haven't had any FMIC stuff in a long while.

Senior moment.

Maybe I was thinking Matt's Music.

 

[Hoss632]

If this is more work than you want to do by all means return it. Nothing wrong with that at all. That's why buy new and return policies are there. Hopefully the replacement will workout better.

 

[jonsick]

I certainly didn't expect for this instrument to not need some adjustment but after owning more guitars than I can count, this one just feels like a dud or a monday/friday built guitar.

I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but guitars in the sub £1500 price range just are not QC'd to the point of even being slightly set up anymore. Quality has nose-dived over the past few years.

You may need the neck shimmed, you may not, hard to say without it in my hands. A fret level is almost a certainty, the new in box guitars I have bought over the last 3 years have all need a good amount of attention to the fretwork bar none.

Chances are, paying a good technician to properly set the thing up is all it needs. Or it could be a dud, something your tech will tell you rather quickly.

We really are entering a time that I am no longer confident buying a new guitar sight unseen. There are only a couple of stores I know of that have their technicians run through a new in box guitar to ensure it's all good. One particular store reckons they return about 50% of what FMIC send them due to quality issues. That's quite a high number compared to even 5-10 years ago.

 

[308sc]

Thanks for all the input!

Here is the update:

I called sweetwater and explained the issues to them. They had me a replacement guitar on my doorstep the very next day. I am happy to say that the replacement guitar is much better. Of course, I will have to spend some time tweaking and setting it up but it is miles better than the original.