@@LucasFowler I did a Halloween gig and dressed up like an 80's rocker. I was very surprised how much the ladies liked the spandex. I was complemented, hugged, kissed, and fondled. That outfit worked like a charm. Those 80's rockers may have looked liked idiots, but they knew what they were doing.
Just bought one in trans green thanks to this video. It'll be my first guitar with a Floyd Rose. I'm 39 and I've been playing since I was 15 and FRs have always intimidated me.
@@kdsberman if I could go back I would buy a hard tail or 2pt version. My hand rests on the bridge when I play so the FR is constantly moving as I'm playing. I know Lucas didn't love them, but i do like the JB and 59 combo in the guitar.
Now that Fender owns Charvel, I think it's safe to say these guitars are sort of the ultimate hot-rodded Strat. They have the Strat body style and headstock which is licensed from FMIC, plus the Duncans & the Floyd. Hard to go wrong unless you need traditional trem/single coil sound
Thanks, I just purchased one new, so excited to get it soon in the mail. Also, if anyone reads this, I called the store and just _asked_ if they could negotiate price, and they knocked off $75 from the price! Make sure you try to do this before purchasing!
Bought one of these new a few years ago and I think it cured my Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. Ofcourse there's other guitars I want but the Charvel is so good and versatile, I don't feel the need to shell out hundreds for more guitars. I usually use it on the single-coil mode and pretend it's a strat.
Intro riffage was just pure 80's goodness. I always love your playing. Great review and heads-up to potential buyers. I've always wanted one of these (yes, I'm an old dude, child of the 80's and 80's rock/metal head at heart). Great video and now Cora has a pretty pink guitar to count. Now you need a hot pink one to add to the collection 😉 God bless and rock on 😎👍🎸
I was very much raised on 70's and 80's rock. Some of my earliest music memories are watching VHS tapes my Dad had made of original MTV music videos. It's in my bones :)
@@LucasFowler Your Dad and I are probably similar in age. I can remember watching the very first day Mtv started broadcasting. I got my Atari 2600 about the same time (I think I was like 10-12 yrs old). Both changed me forever (I'm a gamer like you too). 70's and 80's hard rock is in my bones as well 😎
I've heard more expensive guitars not sound this good. I liked how you practically trashed the Jeff Beck humbucker in low gain tones, but then gave it the warmest praise in high gain ones, while smiling ear-to-ear. I cannot get over the straty-ness of it in single coil mode and the thickness in humbucker mode. You went from legit Stevie Ray Vaughn to Eddie Van Halen tones in this demo. Nice playing by the way! I think you summed it up with "you can just gig the be-jesus out of this guitar". Of course you are going to have to take it to your guitar man first. You would need to take him your new USA Jackson too. I can tell by your playing that the guitar wasn't fighting you. These Charvels have "gigging guitar" written all over them with there tasteful good looks, killer tones, easy of playability, and a cost where you don't have to worry about beating them up playing all kinds of venues.
Glad you prefaced stating that you've worked as a Guitar Tech before. So many people will hear or read something and stand by their beliefs without actually knowing. Just saying its' good to know as you go into your review.
Great video, very spot on and Informative. It took some time for my ears to warm up to the sound of the JB considering all the different guitars with different pickups I play and am used to. But once I started playing the San Dimas pretty exclusive my ears warmed up to the JB and now I love it. Also cutting the treble bleed on a JB pickup helps imo.
Great to hear that Fender is now making Charvels that sound like Fenders. The day Jackson was bought by fender was the darkest day in musical manufacture history. We all knew creativity lost and big money won.
My favorite top guitars of all time EVH Wolfgang Ibanez SA series ESP EC series Charvel San Dimas Jackson Warrior's Gretsch Electromatic Center block jrs Kramer Baretta special The Squier 51'
I played in the L.A club scene during the heyday of metal and shred in the 80s and the JB was the most common pickup used. Most guitars were superstrats, usually just EVH style with single bucker, volume, Floyd, etc. Rarely saw players use a neck pup at all. Everything was very cut and dry. I wasn't the biggest JB fan and I gave up Floyds for standard trem or no-trem guitars and used DiMarzios like the MegaDrive, Double Whammy, X2N, Super Distortion and PAF Pro. Used lots of guitars in those years, mostly through a Marshall or Boogie or Peavey tube amp with a Boss pedal. Had some great tones. Charvel used to offer the San Dimas with DiMarzios but went back to Duncans, which I don't dig.
I'd love to hear some stories about that time. I'm only 19 but that's the music I like to listen to and play the most. But after hearing and playing many guitars with both brands, I can say I prefer the different tones from dimarzio. I feel they have a bigger variety of different pickups and they offer a wider color range. Duncan has the JB. It's hot, crisp and sharp. But that's about it. And when, like you said, every guitarist is using it, it gets old after a while.
@@BraydenM014 It was a fun time. It was like that movie Animal House, only set to metal. I played in a lot of bands in those days when I was a teen till about the age of twenty, a good five or six years where I played everything from the large patio of a Mexican restaurant to The Roxy. I even recorded a couple music videos at The Magic Castle about 1990 in one band, but they were never aired. I played on public access TV a few times, one time on an obscure show we were invited on as a musical guest. The studio was the size of a broom closet! I had a reputation as a good shredder, so I had a small following of guitar nerds. I played literally in dozens and dozens of bands. The longest any band stuck together was an instrumental fusion project from about '91 to '93, then it fell apart because we all got busy with college and work. But I played in a lot of hair bands before that. I wasn't very hair metal in attitude, never worse spandex or leather pants. I'd just wear jeans, a t shirt and sometimes a vest. I didn't care for all the image crap and this attitude actually got me fired from a number of bands, which was understandable. But I knew guys who had come to L.A. from Brooklyn, who had been duking it out in the clubs when I was still in grade school, who were by then approaching 40 and telling everyone they were 28, trying to pull off this image that wasn't really believable. One thing that surprised me was that Rick Ocasek of The Cars, who came out of Boston, was 35 when his band made it big in '77. That's very, very unusual. He often split vocal duties with bassist Benjamin Orr. Both have since passed on. That was a great band. Anyhow, music is a tough industry but it's better to go for the golden ring in life than just conform and do what you think society wants you to do. You'll never be happy if you don't go for the things in life you are passionate about. You don't want to spend the rest of your life punching a clock in a factory or the corporate world. Good luck with music. Rock on.
Lucas, you are a life saver! I've just picked up the 2020 Pro Mod So Cal and, personally, it's everything I wanted but the floyd rose doesn't always return to pitch like you said. I went through as much as I could to try to rectify it but I'll be saucing all over those knife edges right away. Thank you!
I thought the jb sounded awesome and I have a pro charvel San dimas metallic deep purple one. I was looking at this shell pink one too but purple is my favorite color.
Those pickup selections via the switch and knob are different than what I would have expected. Cool though. Edit: wow! I’ll have to get some headphones and listen again, but through my phone speaker that was the most pronounced difference between single coil and hum bucker I’ve ever heard from a selector switch Usually they just sound quieter. That middle position was super snappy.
Wow, just stumbled across this video, high value info on some of the technical matters of these guitars. I have a so-cal which I love and I've got my eyes on a 2nd one to keep in Eb so I'll certainly be taking some of the advice about the floyd rose and springs. I've noticed the same dead spots on my switch too but all in all for the price and the features these charvels are excellent. The necks are so good.
Great review man. You've got a lot of balls to use 11s with humbuckers. I used a strat with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage singles 11s Eb for a long time. That was killer. I tried 11s on my Mockingbird tuned to standard. It didn't like hot pickups (I.E. JB). Marshalls. Framus Dragon. Bringing it down to 10s fixed it. That being said, I really like your tone in this. :) ps. Nice Elephant :D
Wow. You have the same exact high fret that I do on my new Fender Player Telecaster. Otherwise it's a fantastic guitar but the action is just a tad higher than I'd like it, even after carefully removing a touch of material on the fret itself. Annoying, especially since just about everything else about the guitar is perfect. Fender's MIM plant seems to still have a few QA issues with those frets, although with a little DIY work their guitars are still a pretty good value. Good review, and happy birthday!
Yeah I'm not totally sure if it left the plant that way or it happened after, perhaps in shipping from climate change. Either way it's a little annoying, but certainly fixable. I purchased this one from Sweetwater so I imagine if I contacted them about it they would help make it right, but I don't want to ship the guitar back and not have it when I can just fix it myself :P
I bought a USA 🇺🇸, made in the Corona California plant, Stratocaster about a year ago in absolute beautiful condition at my local Guitar Center and it is SO versatile. Metal to jazz.... it does it all.
I know it seems like a minor and knit-picky comment, but I wish manufactures would use "push-push" knobs. It makes it soooo much easier to push the knob down, instead of pulling up. Just me, but I find them more convenient to switch pushing down, then pushing down again to switch back. That neck looks so comfortable.
I always seem to forget those exist. They really are a great idea! The neck is a little skinnier than I typically use so I'm still getting used to it, but it is very easy to play and the rolled edges are awesome.
On this one, I wonder why they didn't just use a 5 way switch. Is there enough difference between the two middle positions to make that setting necessary? Not to my ears I guess.
You're the 4th or 5th person that has told me that same thing, buzz around the 9th or 10th fret. I wonder if they were using some kind of jig that wasn't calibrated quite right or something...
How is over tightening the locking nut gonna crack the neck?...never ever had or heard of this issue and I own several gtrs with a Floyd Rose trem nd locking nut..the worse thing to over tightening is stripping out the treading
I can’t find a guitar that makes it easy for me. I’m probably fussy. I decided to try everything in the guitar shop regardless of how cheap or expensive. I have an SG, LP, and Ibanez RG (easiest) and I sold my fender Strat. I thought PRS was my answer but it turned out that Charvel was my particular answer. I particularly liked the Chameleon than the old yella. I didn’t even have a chance to plug in since I was trying things. My LP has pearly gates/superficial distortion. My EPI has Alnico Pro. My RG has the wizard neck. So I’m confused why this guitar has the better feel. I seldom get to the city as I live rural so trying out things is limited or expensive. Do you think one model would be better as a first time Charvel buyer. I’m not shredding much, mostly one man classic rock, folk, some surfing with the alien jams. I play through a HRD which has a crummy distortion and I question whether it really takes pedals well. I’m thinking about getting a katana 100 or Marshall DSL40C. I’d appreciate any thoughts? I love the feel just not so sure about the sound since my RG seems to take care of that.
Great review, thought that was comprehensive and playing really highlighted the instrument. How would you say the Charvel stands as a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for a cover band guitarist?
If I was looking for a guitar like this , this would be it ! Seems fair to presume it's similar in quality to the higher end of the Mexican Fender Strat range? $800, once they arrive in Britain , usually equates to just under £800 Inc VAT which is pretty impressive . You certainly make it sound like the 80's came back to haunt us 😉👍
I'd go so far to say the quality is pretty close to on-par with the American Fender stuff, at least like an American Standard guitar. I imagine my one weird fret thing is probably a rare occurrence, since I've not heard anyone else mention that issue on these guitars. If I lived across the pond I'd take it to the folks at Crimson Custom and let them work some magic on it!
Hi ! Thank you for this great video, really informative review ! I just had a little question about the JP mic.Given the fact that 'm not really a fan of the 80's sound, do you think that removing the JP would help ? And if you think so, what could i replace it with? Thank you very much
As far as the fret how can you tell the fret is high if you havnt taken the neck off and made sure it is straight before you use the rocker mmm and the switch pretty much all switches on guitars do the same thing mmm I have the same guitar its light blue I purchased it new for 950 I have no problems with mine what so ever,fantastic guitar as far as I'm concerned
How about a Charvel San dimas vs the Billy Corgan Reverend BC1. Compare the pick ups and how they both feel and sound. Price and overall value for the money thinking of buying one of these 2 guitars and would like to hear what you think.
That switch has got me a few times. Switched quickly, it can cause the switch to get stuck in between pickups with no sound whatsoever coming from the guitar. Yep it's happened to me a few times. I would prefer a 3-way toggle switch but then again I don't think you'd be able to use the split coil
I don't know if I missed that you mentioned it, but you got a ton of reverb on your sound which makes a big difference.. On second listen, it might even be delay. Good sounding guitar though.
Basically, all 4 of the sounds have the same amount of reverb, which is (IMO) not enough to really hear when I'm playing the guitar but noticeable when I stop playing. I generally like to have some reverb on recorded guitar sounds like this to help give the feeling of the cabinet in the room. My clean and high gain lead sounds also have some delay, which is my personal preference. That's just what sounds good to me :P
very useful video .thanks. may I ask how can we make sure the neck is as straight as possible ? I noticed you checked on fret 14 and 8 . is it any particular reason for that? cause I thought if we press the string on the last fret and the first fret then the string should touch all the frets to prove the neck is straight?
Well, unless you are doing fret work, you don't actually *want* the neck to be perfectly straight. It needs to have some relief or you will get fret buzz in the low positions. What I'm doing is holding down the 1st and 14th fret and *checking* the 8th. That is where the majority of the bow happens and it's easiest to "measure" at that point, for me.
For my personal music, I usually tune 1/2 step down. I have about 4-5 guitars that are in that tuning(or something similar, dropped D, etc). No distortion pedal in this case, all of the overdrive is coming from the Hughes And Kettner Black Spirit 200. I usually use some version of a Tubescreamer pedal for lead boosts with a regular tube amp though!
Lucas, have you tried at Gutrie Govan Charvel model? I was really gassing for one a year or two ago, but could never find one to try, and I'm pretty sure they neck is way to thin for my liking. Still, really nice looking super Strat.
One question please answer. If you had to pick one guitar between the charvel san Dimas or the Eastman sb59 which one would you choose. I know different guitars but these are my choices and since you have tested both your opinion means a lot.
I tried one the other day and felt pretty disappointed by the build quality of the parts and the overall feel. Everything that counts felt cheap and unreliable, especially the floyd, the neck, and the nut. It felt like a $300 or less guitar. It kinda reminded me of those cheap fusion III guitars
I had a 2017 Specific Ocean Charvel Pro Mod...same as yours,just different color....I too had the 9th and 10th fret buzzing issue....I took to a tech a couple of times,he could never resolve it,so I don’t have it anymore....The 1000 series FR is made from hardened steel just like the original...literally the only difference is it’s made in Korea...it’s not a FR Special or licensed Floyd...The JB is awful...I hate that pickup..Other than the fret thing,it was a great guitar....I have a DK24 now,and it’s probably one of the best guitars I have ever played...
Yeah if that drop out bugs you like it did me, you'd want to put in a different switch that "makes" the next contact before it "breaks" the previous one. That will remove the coil splitting function, so you'd have to change the wiring or find another switch that does something similar. I replaced the whole harness and put in a 6-way "Freeway" switch that does coil splits instead, with regular non push-pull pots. You could also just use a regular 3 way switch and wire the stock push-pull volume pot to split the coils.
Lucas Fowler thanks man what I might do is get a five way switch and just have one volume and forgo the tone pot all together. I also changed some of the flyod parts with some FU-tone upgrades. You just earned a sub as well ;)
I know they've started adding that feature on some others, like the DK24 and the new 24 fret Tele style. I have mixed feelings about roasted maple. It is really resonant and feels great to play but it is also kind of brittle, so you have to be careful when tightening neck bolts and the like so you don't crack it!
love these guitars ,BUT the frets are dire,1 year of minimal playing and bending divots all over the board,complained to customer service and zero response