Charvel

China Product


History

In November 1978, Wayne Charvel sold the company to Grover Jackson. Wayne left the company soon after and ceased to have any real association with the brand name from this point on.

In 1980, Grover was introduced to Randy Rhoads. They began to develop a guitar designed by Randy himself. The initial version was not angular enough for Randy but the second try yielded what Randy called the "Concorde". Grover was worried the radically styled and neck-through guitar was too different from Charvel models so he decided to put his own name on the headstock, just in case the model failed. It later became the "Rhoads Model". This guitar was the impetus that inspired Grover to start Jackson Guitars. Both brands were manufactured in the Glendora location up until 1986 and then in Ontario, California. antique gas pump

In 1989 Grover sold Jackson/Charvel to the Japanese manufacturer AMIC. The Charvel guitars were produced exclusively in Japan to a very high standard from 1986 to 1991. The Model 4 and Model 6 (both featuring active electronics) variants were the most popular. state quarter holder

Charvel Model 4 silver one dollar coin

The Japanese Charvel Model 4 (featuring the Fort Worth neckplate), in particular, is considered one of the best imported guitars ever made. It has a full size Stratocaster-style body made of American Basswood, a 22 fret maple neck with rosewood fretboard and sharkfin inlays in Mother of Pearl. There was a version with maple fretboard and black dot inlays that was called the Model 4M.

The Model 4 appeared in 1986, featuring the Kahler 2300 tremolo. It's a hot item on Ebay and can be seen on various YouTube videos, which demonstrate its incredible sound quality. As opposed to a Floyd Rose tremolo system, tuning stability is an issue with the Kahler tremolo, mainly because of problems related to Kahler's behind-the-nut locking nut. After 1986, the Model 4 came equipped with a licensed Floyd Rose style tremolo (Jackson JT-6). Those also had some tuning issues, although very slightly, on the first two strings.[citation needed]

Charvel Model 6

The Japan-made Charvel Model 6 was one of the highest quality import Charvels ever made. It was in fact the first import version of the Jackson Soloist, but under the Charvel brand.

The Model 6 is a neck-through construction with a maple neck and poplar body. The neck has 24 jumbo frets on a bound rosewood fretboard. The Model 6 became popular for its bound neck/headstock, and "sharkfin" fingerboard position inlays in real Mother of Pearl. The Model 6s came with Kahler 2300 Tremolos in 1986, as well as an extra thin neck profile. The tremolo was later replaced with a non-recessed JT-6 licensed Floyd, and the neck profile became a little beefier. The pickups were a Jackson J50BC humbucker at the bridge, and two Jackson J-200 stacked singlecoils, and it had an on-board mid-boost (Jackson JE-1200). The control layout consists of a Volume knob, a Tone knob, a knob for the mid boost, and three mini toggles to switch each of the pickups on and off.

It is worth noting that Soloists with non-recessed tremolos are extremely rare, making the Model 6 very desirable for those that prefer a taller bridge and an angled neck.

Charvel 750XL

One of the finest import Charvel guitars ever made was the 750XL. Being offered for only one production year (1989), they are extremely rare and sought after. The 750XL was constructed with an arched maple cap, mahogany body and a set neck (maple). It was offered with both a licensed Floyd and a fixed bridge, of which the latter is more rare. The neck was a 24.75" short scale length (Gibson style).

This guitar also belonged to one of the great music directors in Greece Senor Johnny Elliott, originally born in Chicago Illinois. The guitar was used by Shawn Lane throughout his career.

According to the Charvel catalogue:

750XL - Mahogany set neck construction with arched tops make the 750XL a sonic knockout. Capable of the traditional sustaining roars associated with set neck mahogany instruments, this guitar also offers today's brighter tones. Inverse Jackson inlays and bound rosewood fingerboard and matching headstock accent the 750XL's appearance.

Finish options: Snow White, Pearl Blue, Turquoise, Magenta, Platinum, Desert Crackle, Metallic Black. Finish options for flamed tops: Cherry Sunburst, Transparent Red, Transparent Amber, Transparent Purple.

List price: $1169.95 - 1395.00 (figured wood)

Neck: 24.750" Gibson short scale, maple set neck, 24 jumbo frets, bound rosewood compound radius fingerboard, inverse Mother of Pearl Jackson inlays (sharkfins).

Body: Mahogany body with maple arched top. Sources have suggested that the solid colours used Basswood or Alder.

Bridge: Either String-Thru JT-390 (more rare) or Tremolo: JT-590 non-recessed (Schaller), stamped "Jackson" or "Charvel".

Pickups: Twin Humbuckers: J-80C bridge / J-80C neck or J-80C bridge / J50B neck or J50C bridge / J50B neck.

Layout: 1 volume, 1 tone, Jackson 5-way super switch.

Hardware: Black.

Other Models

In 1989 the line up of guitars was revamped into a number of different series, the Classic, Fusion and Contemporary Series among them. Guitars in the Classic series included the 275, 375, 375 deluxe and 475. The fusion series had shorter scale necks than the others and included the Fusion deluxe and Fusion custom models. The contemporary range included the Predator and Spectrum models. The Spectrum guitar was inspired by a custom Jackson guitar built for Jeff Beck. This unusual instrument was based on a Stratocaster shaped body but with reverse pointy drooped headstock, an early 50's Fender P-Bass-inspired pickguard, wild colors and an active tone circuit. Most of the guitars at the time were equipped with Schaller made hardware including a licensed Floyd Rose locking tremolo. The Korean-made Charvette brand was also produced to cover the lower end of the market at this time.

As the 90s progressed the brand fell from favor due to changes in music fashion and a drop in quality as the Charvel name was applied to lower quality budget instruments.

In more recent years various attempts have been made to revive the brand with higher quality Japanese and American made models such as the Journeyman. The original USA manufactured Charvels are some of the most desirable and sought-after guitars in the world today.

Gibson WRC

Wayne Charvel made a namesake model offering through Gibson, the "Gibson W.R.C. Signature Model" - of which only a limited number were made, but this saw little recognition and was short-lived due mainly to a lawsuit filed by Jackson. The Gibson W.R.C. models were made from 19871988 and came in three standard colors: Red, black, and white. There are 200 of these guitars called "show case" models that actually have Wayne Charvel's signature on the bell. (He actually signed each one of them and they came with a letter.) Some people claim there were only 200 of the WRC guitars made overall but that's not true. The "200 guitars" were the ones that Wayne Charvel autographed by initialing the Gibson bell.

The WRC model came with a "faux leather case" that was tan in color and had a hot pink interior and combination locks. The earlier models had a Kahler "Spyder" tremolo and the later models had an actual Floyd Rose. All of the models were well made and had a maple neck (bolt on) with an ebony finger board.

Charvel Today

Charvel/Jackson was bought by Fender in 2002, and the Charvel name saw a rebirth with several U.S. made "San Dimas" modelso-named in order to recapture the original association of the Charvel name to high-quality, American-made professional guitars.

Charvel now offers several models, American made and boutique priced, featuring an Eddie Van Halen signature model - a short run of which are actually paint stencilled by Eddie himself.

Sometime in the late '90's Wayne Charvel himself began offering hand-made guitars from his new Northern California shop, under the name Wayne Guitars.

Charvel Models

USA Made

Charvel San Dimas Strat

Charvel San Dimas Star

Charvel San Dimas Telecaster

Charvel San Dimas Explorer

Japanese Made

Charvel Model 1 (single humbucker) / Model 1A (pickguard, 3 singlecoils)

Charvel Model 2

Charvel Model 3 (H-S-S) / Model 3A (H-H)

Charvel Model 4 / Model 4A / Model 4M (maple neck w. black dot inlays)

Charvel Model 5 (H-H) / Model 5A (single humbucker) / Model 5FX (Humbucker + slanted Singlecoil)

Charvel Model 6

Charvel Model 7 (Telecaster body shape, later became the "Charvel Legend")

Charvel Model 8 (Extremely rare, produced only in 1988. Precursor to the Charvel Spectrum, featuring a "Guitar" logo and Jackson JT6 tremolo rather than the later Spectrum model's "Toothpaste" logo and Schaller bridge).

Charvel Classic Series

Charvel Fusion Series

Charvel Contemporary Series

Charvel Model 88 (1988 only)

Basses

Charvel Model 1B

Charvel Model 2B

Charvel Model 3B

Korean Made

Charvette

Charvel players

Eddie Van Halen

Jesse Pintado

Warren DeMartini

Jake E. Lee

Vivian Campbell

Eddie Ojeda

Richie Sambora

George Lynch

Steve Vai

Neal Schon

Criss Oliva

Steve Stevens

Gary Moore

Mark Kendall

Allan Holdsworth

Rowan Robertson

Steve Lynch

Vinnie Vincent

Jim Root

Billy Gibbons

Graeme Dougal

Oz Fox

Shawn Lane

Patrick Mameli

James Murphy

Christian Muenzner

References

^ this model remains one of Jackson's top sellers

^ Important note: Neckplates on the bolt-on Japanese Charvel models contain The Fort Worth, Texas address of IMC. These were manufactured in Japan, NOT USA.

^ referred to as San Dimas after the PO Box on the neckplates

External links

Charvel Guitars and Basses

USA Charvels, a complete Charvel web experience. Featuring one of the worlds largest USA Charvel collections spanning the preproduction era to current. Also contains useful ID sections, detailed photos of most guitars inside and out, topped off with a forum you can join to ask any questions you may have, or to get involved in the Charvel community.

www.charvels.com A Charvels fansite.

www.sandimascharvel.com A collector's fansite dedicated to original San Dimas Charvel guitars.

Categories: Guitar manufacturing companiesHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from October 2008