Help me decide on "restoring" my USA Charvel?

[Bert]

I have this old USA Charvel that was unfortunately butchered by the JC custom shop (see before & after pics here: https://goo.gl/photos/WYfzgft7T6RTHhVXA)

They replaced the Kahler with a Floyd without filling in or redoing the Kahler route, so while it works perfectly it looks like crap. They also replaced the super cool pointy neck with the nasty hockey-puck style neck.

I've already replaced the neck with a fender-style USA pro-mod neck, but I still want to fix the routing & get a refin done. Lee at GMW will be doing the work.

Here's what I'm leaning towards so far:

1) Re-route the neck pocket to realign the neck so that the floyd can be an old-school fully non-recessed floyd.. this requires patching up the kahler route.
2) Change to Hum-Single config, requiring filling in middle pickup config, filling in single-toggle switches and installing a single 3-way switch.
3) Refinish with the classic blue/silverburst similar to original finish.

Other options:

a) Go back to a Kahler trem (I actually like Kahlers, and this wouldn't require butchering the neck pocket.)
b) Keep the floyd trem recessed to avoid butchering the neck pocket.
c) Keep the middle pickup
d) some other fancy kind of finish

I don't really have much interest in a vintage trem but I may be open to considering it....

Any thoughts?

[toejam]

Here's what I'm leaning towards so far:

1) Re-route the neck pocket to realign the neck so that the floyd can be an old-school fully non-recessed floyd.. this requires patching up the kahler route.
2) Change to Hum-Single config, requiring filling in middle pickup config, filling in single-toggle switches and installing a single 3-way switch.
3) Refinish with the classic blue/silverburst similar to original finish.

This gets my vote. I love non-recessed Floyds, H/S, and the original color is awesome.

[Bert]

Cool thanks, yeah, all that stuff seems pretty sweet. I guess I'll lose the neck pocket markings, but it's not like this is a collectors piece. It's an awesome player though, and those mods would make it even better.

[toejam]

Cool. I look forward to seeing it after you make the final decision and it gets completed.

[Hamburger]

Nice project. Do you still have the original neck? What was wrong with it? If available I would fit the old neck. Either way a ProMod neck should look/work fine too. I think I would also reinstall the old Kahler, especially as you mention you quite like it. Refilling all these routings in the body would necesseserily mean to refinish the body which I would try to avoid. These original J/C finishes with all the dings and little blemishes show a nice patina and tell the history of an instrument. Remember, a refinished guitar is often less desirable for a lot of guitar enthusiasts. From what I can see in the pic the finish looks still rather nice. I'd fit a black pickup cover on the middle pickup to give the guitar a more stock look, I guess.

I have tried a lot of things to make kahlered guitars sound a little less kahlery (sometimes a little dull or less resonant when played electrically), and one thing you can do is make sure you have steel rollers fitted if there are still brass rollers on it. Quite a change in sound and sustain.

Furthermore I'd leave all the pickups original but lower the single coil pickups as far as possible as I feel that through their magnetic field they kind of negatively influence the resonance of the strings somehow. I know this may sound stupid in a way and I'm by no means a scientist to prove this but I experienced that my single hum guitars seem to resonate much better that the ones with singles in middle and neck position. Just try it out and judge for yourself.

I really like the Charvel brass trems. If you don't plan to use it they sound just awesome. But installing one would mean refilling/refinishing again. And your neck features a locking nut. I'd rule the vintage trem out in this case.

So I'd get it back to stock if possible. That way you save considerable money you could spend on another Charvel that may feature specs that are more to your liking. Sometimes a "Pointy Reissue" or a US-ProMod shows up on the market for the equivalent of what you would be charged for filling the routings and the refin. Nice guitars and a perfect basis for modifications and you'd have no bad feelings there to butcher an original San Dimas era strat. Or have a replica body made to your specs by Musikraft or so. I've done that and it turned out great. That way I can play one of these magical early pointy necks on a light alder 1-hum body that originally was on a for me less attractive ash body. Musikraft even offer nice thin nitro finishes (done by Orion Guitar Finishing). Recommendable!

I really like your guitar and its history!

[Johnnyryche]

I think that's a good call for a non-recessed Floyd with a HS configuration. And the original blue/silverburst is a classic look. So you should be in good hands with Lee. Looking forward to seeing it done.

[Bert]

No I don't have the original neck... I wish I did, I'd definitely be happy with a Charvel pointy!

[Johnnyryche]

No I don't have the original neck... I wish I did, I'd definitely be happy with a Charvel pointy!

What about using a Charvel model series neck if you want a pointy? I had Lee rebuild a model 1 for me and he sanded the gloss finish off, oiled the neck and did a refret. The end result is amazing! Here's the link to my thread with the before and after pics.

http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/148...el-model-1-HRF

[j2379]

Cool thanks, yeah, all that stuff seems pretty sweet. I guess I'll lose the neck pocket markings, but it's not like this is a collectors piece. It's an awesome player though, and those mods would make it even better.

If it plays that well not sure I would have it modded. I would go non recessed Floyd since I prefer that setup and it's more an old school thing non recessed. Re kahlering seems like it would be a huge amount of work filling both routes and redoing a kahler route. Personally I think everyone needs a killer player beater mutt and that is pretty cool as is.

[Bert]

Huh, well the story for this guitar gets more interesting. I removed most of the hardware today and it looks like the humbucker route is NOT original. I can see outlines in either corner that suggest the original route may have been a slanted single coil (3-TITE config?) Furthermore it looks like it may have also had a vintage trem originally from the 6 holes there. Lastly the body appears it could be 2-piece flame maple from the grain?

[Axewielder]

I'd go with some thick paint for the refin, as there are going to be some seams.

[DonP]

If that's a book matched flame maple body, strip it and give it a nice burst finish.

[shreddermon]

That poor guitar had been through a lot over the years. So much so that going back to its original form may be futile. Ordinarily, that would be my first choice. In this case, maybe not so much.

Fill the recess route, keep the Floyd. And keep the humbucker. All cream PUs, and chrome hardware. Mount a ProMod strathead - maple/maple - until you can find a suitable original neck. That might take a while to find.

[algeriet]

I'd go with some thick paint for the refin, as there are going to be some seams.

Not necessarily. If he puts a super thin veneer top over the body then there won't be no seams.

[AZGiants]

Not that it is something you want to consider, but I had my guitar guy make me a Charvel neck (I put it on my strat as I love the feel of a Charvel neck and was worried about it fitting in the pocket if I just bought one off the web). He made it perfect and only 250.00. Cant beat that. If you dont have the original neck, maybe consider that?