USA Production Series Appreciation Thread

[Grandturk]

Love the zebras on the green. Still waiting for someone to put in some double cremes, creme rings and nickel/chrome hardware on the slimed... (Newc I'm looking at you...)

[beachjammer]

The zebra coils really compliment that guitar! Sweet!

[JACKSONWOLF]

The first of my modifications are complete.....I've just installed a set of Bareknuckle Nailbomb's. Just need to get an OFR and stick in a Switchcraft 3-way to complete.



Cheers
Steve

[ADR]

Boy. . could I add to this thread.I'll keep this short I hope.

I love the new Charvels period! I loved the early Charvels too.(1983 +) I bought both brands Charvel & Jackson brand new in their heyday and with no acception today as well. They were exciting colorful and different,custom and some plain ones too.

We can sit here all day and nit pick various things,I'd rather sit here and read how much we love them.We all have different tastes/styles/abilites.My gear clealy is better than my playing ability, I'll blame myself for putting it out of tune,not blame the trem cause it happens to be made outside of USA.

I think we should realize that things are made differently,times change.Maybe for better,maybe for worse.All I know is that I would have never thought that when I bought my 1st brand new Jackson that I'd be able to buy a brand new 25+ yrs later and be just as excited.I think that FMIC buying Jackson/Charvel was awesome move.They were thinking the same as us. . let's build them and keep shreding,keeping rock & roll,shreders alive. I went and saw Dokken not to long ago and keeping the tradition alive was a Charvel on stage (A production series to I might add,played by Jon Levin).

To us old school guys,we can afford custom shops. .we can pay and wait for custom shop pieces that cost $$$$ so we know how top notch hand made instruments should look,feel and play and what tolerences are tight and perfect. Any new kid that wants one of these is going to love it,it's going to paly & sound sweet for app $1000.00 new.It's a killer guitar at a great price and the quailty is very good.The are made to customize and make personal and they nailed it.AND selling them.

ps:Bionic,the brand new Production Series Charvel white is ♥GEORGOUS♥

-Andy

[Newc]

That's what I've been saying - only the "old guys" are expecting them to be equal to the originals. However, you can't compare a 20 year old OFR with broken-in springs to a brand new one with brand new springs. Of course the old one is going to be smoother, it's broken-in.

As well, the new ones are made with a markedly different manufacturing process than the originals - less done-by-hand because back then, they didn't have the machine they have today to do it, not because of some fanatical adherence to traditional old-world craftsmanship.

Surely no one seriously buys into the old tales of "well, you have to work a piece of wood totally by hand to build a great guitar because you can feel the soul of the wood"? It's a CYA statement so you don't come across as being as poor as you really are in not being able to afford machinery, or stating flat out that you don't have the same skills with a powered tool as you do a hand tool.

Everyone starts out with hand tools because they're inexpensive, and easy to get started with. If you start with powered tools, you can develop the same level of skill and produce the same quality as someone with hand tools.

Look at people that do ice sculptures with a chainsaw, the level of detail they get using only the chainsaw (no touch-ups with chisels and dremels).

[jordan]

Hi,

First time posting. Been reading you guys for awhile but finally got my activation so just had to chime in on this thread. Got a black San Dimas about 2 months ago NIB off the bay for $730 after trying out a couple locally.
This is without a doubt the best neck I've ever played, and it was fab right out of the box, just had to lower the action a bit and block the floyd (floaters sound thin). The oft-used cliche "plays like butter" is very accurate, so have to resort to using that. In comparision to the So Cal, which I also have in Candy Green (on Ebay right now, but ends in 4 hours), the SD is more versatile soundwise with the '59 in the neck. The Korean floyd is pretty good, and definitely not a deal killer, although the OFR on my Baretta is definitely smoother (duh). Being these guitars were supposed to be manufactured to the original spec of the CS charvels, but sell for <$1000 in 2009 $$, I am surprised people are expecting them to be as good as the original CS models. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the CS stuff go for around $1300-2000 at late 70s/early 80s $$, depending on what options you wanted?
BTW, if anyone's interested, that Candy Green So Cal on Ebay is in mint condition. Wanted to keep it, but need a Kramer 1984 to stripe up EVH style so I don't ruin another Baretta or my SD (I'm such a fanboi )

[ToneZone]

I'd like to try one of these Charvels. I just got to save up some money first. Got two Custom Shops comming. I think I'm buying to many guitars. Got to be carefull not to OD.

[Newc]

See to me, having never owned an old strathead, I never looked at the ProMod series as "replicas" of the early days - I only looked at them as superstrats with stratheads.

That's the problem, though. Whenever a new Charvel line pops up, the old guys start comparing them to the original small-shop pre-pro models, and then slam accordingly.

It's the same as people bashing Metallica for not putting out Master Of Puppets year after year - some people have their own idea of what something should and should not be, and they waste everyone's time spreading that mindset rather than judging the new stuff on its own merits without regard for the old stuff.

[Grandturk]

Do I expect it to replace one of my San Dimas Charvels?

See to me, having never owned an old strathead, I never looked at the ProMod series as "replicas" of the early days - I only looked at them as superstrats with stratheads.

[nhspike]

Nothing short of a time machine can recreate the magic that was the 80's charvels.

That being said...

I'll be buying one of these new ones, since after playing a couple, I thing they are a good value.

Do I expect it to replace one of my San Dimas Charvels?

Nope.

Do I expect to enjoy it?

Yup.

[skintaster]

I bought my So-Cal because it's a great sounding and great playing American made guitar that has the features I need. I play aggressive music, and would never hit the stage with a $3000 + custom shop axe.

I realize that a lot of people are passionate about preserving their idea of what Charvel "is", and that's fine. I also respect and enjoy reading opinions that run counter to mine.My opinion is that the So-Cal is an awesome guitar, period.

As Maltomario put it, I think practicing and playing shows is going to produce better results for me than quibbling over minor "flaws" with the Pro Mods.

[maltomario]

well just to clear something up.. i can understand the guys point about 'cutting corners' and what not..

While this is my second post, i don't want you all to think I'm some naive noob. i did do my due diligence here before purchasing. I talked with reps from FMIC about the tremolo, and even contacted APL international (floyd rose parent co.) about the specs of the FRT-0200 trem. I was assured it was manufactured with same hardened steel (they told me Rockwell scale measurement of 55). and for the record, APL sucks and they ignored me many times before i finally got an answer

i did my own research and concluded that the trems are similar, not identical as they would lead you to believe. however, that does not mean the korean floyds suck balls. guys talk about replacing parts on these to make them sound better.. not sure if I dig that much. spending another $100-200 for a marginal improvement isn't something I'm planning in near term.

My jackson SL1 sits right next to the SoCal and i can unequivocally state that the two trems are NOT identical.

That being said, for me personally, I feel that practicing more and improving my chops will have a greater impact than swapping out the trem or any other part(s) on this guitar.

[85 San Dimas]

Man don't hijack this thread. You're point and views have already been taken in the "What corner were cut on the production models" thread. Enough is enough. Let the ones of us that have and love these guitars discuss our "appreciation" of them in peace....

I haven't hijacked any threads, and not attempting to here. If posters want to repeatedly refer to those who disagree then at some point there will be a responding post. Nothing personal to you. As you will notice I haven't spent time here and don't plan to. As you say "why would I?" Just happened to see a post and respond to it as I'm doing now. As always, have fun with the thread Beachjammer (and all) and have a "peaceful" time.

[Newc]

I was appreciating my San Dimas earlier today after playing my Les Paul for a little while. I think its really my #1 guitar (the only competition right now in my stable is my Ibanez RG770DX).

Same here. I've been playing my Slimer and SoCals so much, when I finally went back to my NASL, it was like "WTF? Why's the neck so fat and the action so high!?"

I swear, my NASLs were my babies just a few weeks ago - best-playing, most comfortable, etc - but now it's like someone secretly swapped them with something else

Only competition the Charvels get now is from the Warriors.

[shreddermon]

Man don't hijack this thread. You're point and views have already been taken in the "What corner were cut on the production models" thread. Enough is enough. Let the ones of us that have and love these guitars discuss our "appreciation" of them in peace....

+1. You've beat that dead horse so much that it resembles dog food by now.

You're entitled to your opinion. (And that's all it is - not "truth" or "fact".) You've stated it repeatedly, over and over and over. Now please don't start spamming it into every thread on the JCF. Enough already.