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Charvel Custom Shop celebrates its 40th anniversary


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First guitar company I ever fell in love with. I never managed to get my hands on a "Real" San Dimas, too many fakes out there. I collected a bunch of the Japan Custom Shop guitars and they were great. I told my local shop when they received the new primer guitars, "If they make that in a hardtail and 22 Frets i'm in. " LOL 

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10 minutes ago, bubs_42 said:

First guitar company I ever fell in love with...

+1 & have loved them ever since to the point that the majority of my 25 1/2" scale guitars are either SD Charvels "Blessed with a couple Originals" or Wayne Rock Legends & my shorter scales being Hamers or Gibbys

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The irony is you can't easily, if at all, order a custom shop Charvel these days. Since 2014 or so they've been limiting the number of orders to the point of cutting them off all together. Even if you do manage to get an order placed, there's a LOT you cannot order. This is precisely why I went to Shane Huss to make my own Charvel-style DK24.

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Love me some Charvels. My first pro level guitar was a Charvel 660xl (Japanese made Jackson Soloist with a different logo), still have it. Never got a chance to own a real San Dimas Charvel but there’s still a special place in my heart for those things. 

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Very cool. My only Floyd equipped guitar was a So-Cal in Pagan Gold :) Probably not what you'd call a "Real" Charvel.

It was from the first run of USA Pro-Mods about 10 years ago. It was great, it just didn't suit what I was doing at the time. It's totally a regret sell..

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1 hour ago, Steve Haynie said:

The first person I saw with a Charvel was Mark Reale of Riot back in 1980.  He had a Strat type with a pearlescent finish and a star shaped Charvel, too. 

I've been sitting on my project Star for years however, in that time the truss rod quit working... but I can't get myself to part with it 😢8aAXJZq.jpg

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48 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

Do not part with it.  Get that truss rod repaired or replaced. 

I've asked various people & they suggest to plane the fretboard but I'm not willing to do that... I'm hoping with today's technology, someone's able to repair or replace the truss rod~

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For what it would cost to repair the truss rod...I dunno. There’s a point of diminishing returns here. Vintage truss rods are a PITA to replace, but I’m not sure if you have to replace the fingerboards to fix them. 

Me? I’d send the neck to Musikraft to be duped, and call it soup. 

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The thing I admire most about Grover and his early crew is that they threw down the gauntlet and taught themselves how to mill their own bodies and necks. In contrast, partscaster firns like Kramer and Zion farmed out their wooden parts production (to ESP, Sports, Inc., and LaSiDo) and focused on finishing and assembly. The former was much, much harder than the latter. Mad props to the Charvel crew. 

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34 minutes ago, RobB said:

For what it would cost to repair the truss rod...I dunno. There’s a point of diminishing returns here. Vintage truss rods are a PITA to replace, but I’m not sure if you have to replace the fingerboards to fix them. 

Me? I’d send the neck to Musikraft to be duped, and call it soup. 

Yes all these thoughts have crossed my mind as well... musikraft, Warmoth and dozens of others... hell I could get a mim Fender pretty cheap as well... I'm trying to keep within the era correct bloodline... to me it's like sticking a crate motor in a GTO, it will work but I'll always have that ? in the back of my mind...  "replace the fingerboard?".. I dunno... It does have a skunk stripe in the back

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Depending on wether the rod can be removed from the end of the neck, it could be an easy fix. Sometimes the skunk stripe has to be routed away to remove the rod. Then, of course, making a new walnut plug and refinishing, yoinks..! What a PITA, but worth it if you want to keep it original. 

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tobereeno replaced a truss rod, taking off a fretboard and laminating it back.  It is possible someone out there has replaced a truss rod in a similar neck.  Sometimes you need to keep your old guitar parts.  A friend had a Kubicki neck for 30+ years that went from body to body until it was stolen about three or four years ago. 

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2 hours ago, Dave Scepter said:

I'm trying to keep within the era correct bloodline... to me it's like sticking a crate motor in a GTO, it will work but I'll always have that ? in the back of my mind  

Bah! “Fix it or nix it.” That’s my utilitarian motto. 

Still, though, I hope you find the time to restore it. A black, non-fine tuner FR would be a great choice. Fill the bridge holes, find a paint scheme you can live with and off ya go!

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19 hours ago, Dave Scepter said:

+1 & have loved them ever since to the point that the majority of my 25 1/2" scale guitars are either SD Charvels "Blessed with a couple Originals" or Wayne Rock Legends & my shorter scales being Hamers or Gibbys

Yep, I missed the boat on the Rock Legends too. One day maybe. 

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17 hours ago, RobB said:

What’s not, “real”, about a SoCal? I’ve owned two. Real enough in my world. 

Yeah, it was real enough for me, but I had some Charvel nerds tell me they (Pro-Mods) weren't the same, therefore not "real". 

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Nice!!! Now if only Wayne Charvel himself was able to celebrate with them, now that his house and workshop are completely destroyed, probably along with many historic Charvel guitars.

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4 hours ago, Hardrockracer said:

Well, first up it would be good to know what's exactly wrong with the truss rod. What is not working? Maybe then I'd be able to make some more suggestions about a possible repair.

Not sure what's wrong with it other than turning it counterclockwise "heel type adjustment" does not produce relief...  & if I keep turning it counterclockwise the adjustment screw will come out... however, it will tighten and cause it to bow~ so it actually works but only in one direction... it will produce proper relief with heavier strings but not on its own... If that makes sense?

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Doesn't sound like a truss rod problem. Single Action truss rods can't cause relief, they can only straighten the neck and cause backbow.  With the nut off, it should not be pulling on the neck at all, so the strings should pull the neck into relief.

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45 minutes ago, tbonesullivan said:

Doesn't sound like a truss rod problem. Single Action truss rods can't cause relief, they can only straighten the neck and cause backbow.  With the nut off, it should not be pulling on the neck at all, so the strings should pull the neck into relief.

It used to work... "Adjusting both directions"... this below was cut and pasted from a neck repair link and will probably be the direction I take as I can use this as an excuse to get some new Frets as well

Back Bowing / Not Enough Relief

Ideally, loosening the truss rod should allow the strings to pull it upward and create more relief in the neck. Unfortunately some necks can actually back bow, even with the truss rod completely loose and the instrument tuned to pitch.

In this situation a single action truss rod can offer no help.

Repair Technique

When the neck is only slightly back bowed or simply dead flat, using heavier gauge strings may create just enough tension to pull then neck straight or increase the relief.

When a neck remains in a back bowed state with no string tension (and the rod completely loose) I may choose to plane the neck.

As with other neck issues, this is a situation that must be evaluated.

I am more inclined to believe improvement is possible when the instrument is older and the neck has settled. The reason for this assumption is simple ...when dealing with a very new instrument who's neck is moving unpredictably, it remains likely that the neck could continue to do so, making a seemingly perfect repair only temporary. It's hard to pour over $300 into a repair only to find it will be required again in another year or two. At this point, when applicable, a replacement neck seems a wiser investment.

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