New Charvel Desolation Star and Soloist

[Johnnyryche]

Where? I'm not seeing a body wood listed for the Star or Soloist?

Pat, even though Bionic answered your question on the body wood, I thought I'd help out a bit since it sounded like you (and I'm guessing others) haven't found the complete details on the website. All the specs for the Star and Soloist are on the Charvel site. Once you go into the Desolation section, click on one of the pics of a guitar. It will take to you another page that has an overview of the guitar. Underneath the finish options, there is a tab for specs. It's tough to see since it's light grey font on a white background. Click the specs tab and presto! I searched around the site looking for more info on the stars and it took me awhile since it didn't jump out.

[tonemonster]

dude im a newbie here and im not trying to poke at you at all.. But what i do know is this ( read )http://kmcmusic.com/?fa=news&art=1546 * ""New models fuse killer looks, traditional high-performance playability and unprecedented value"" You know what that last part unpresedented value means right? It means you DONT get what you pay for but you get killer looks ( good paintjob ) and ok playability. Kaman now owned by FMIC are importers and market-teers. Theve been responsible for destroying brands such as Hamer etc by copying the shape of their popular guitars and having people working on dirt floors in third world nations to mass produce guitars at labor rates of like 20-80 cents an hour.. Its a fact..
*save your 600$ and buy a slightly used USA guitar.. youll probably pass this purchase down to your sons or grandsons or maybe even grand daughters.. :-)

While I own quite a few USA Jacksons, I also own quite a few Japanese made Jacksons, and I will tell you that the quality on the Japanese Jacksons from the 80's and early 90's is very good. I have had some of those import Jacksons 20 years, and 2 of my friends each have one as well. They still play amazingly, the quality is evident. I am willing to bet this new line will follow suit. A guitar does not NEED to be made in the USA for it to be good. Japan and Korea put out some very high quality instruments. its the stigma created by cork sniffers that will only play a USA made guitar that was built from wood that was taken from Les Paul's baby crib, driven past Leo Fender's house in a USA made truck, cut with a saw that Jimmy page once looked at, and sanded with sandpaper that was taken from a beach near San Dimas. all while paul reed smith was a young boy delivering news papers to the house where the guitar store owner lived that sold the guitar. that kinda stigma is created by holier than thou wine sippers that have their PRS dragon in a glass case and talk about it at cocktail parties. There is alot of great guitars out there, some are made in the USA, some are made in other counties. I have played some USA built guitars that were terrible in quality. So the MADE IN USA thing dont mean everything. Play the guitar, judge it by that.

here is an interesting point. last weekend, some friends of mine were over and said that I couldnt tell my USA's from my Japan Jacksons. so they blind folded me, and let me play each guitar through an amp. I got one out of 15 right. the quality if the Japan models was just a good as the USAs even blind folded.


If Charvel750 says those new ones are great quality, it makes me even more eager to try one. As Toejam said, he knows J/C guitars. I will most certainly own one, just a matter of which model I get.

[canadian bacon]

that kinda stigma is created by holier than thou wine sippers that have their PRS dragon in a glass case and talk about it at cocktail parties.

I HATE those wine sippers. And cigar sniffers. And fuzzy slippers.

[tonemonster]

cork sniffers.

[canadian bacon]

My mistake.

[Hellbat]

cork sniffers.

Not to be confused with cork soakers...

[tonemonster]

CORRECT! 2 completely different things. well......most of the time.

[tonemonster]

My mistake.

[g_reaper]

and its not my intention to rip the salesman either. Its all business. I just think that if we should stop trying to fool ourselves that 500$ is a low pricepoint here in this forum. And I think we should consider looking at it for what it is. These Desolation guitars are the equivelent of the rest> ESP has the LTD, Gibson Epiphone or whatever, Fender Squire. need I say more.
Im just against a Jackson headstock made in china .. call me a purists or whatever...

*

Shreddermon, the bodies are Mahogany. Necks are Maple with Rosewood Fingerboards.*

To quickly address some other parts of this and the other threads... These and the other Desolation guitars are designed for the modern player and they are available at many different price points. The reality is, we are still building USA guitars in our Custom Shop... for the people that don't want to purchase imported guitars, I think we have you covered... however, considering that there is a pretty large population of guitarists out there... looking for instruments in the lower price points, I think we now have them covered too. IMHO, Charvel's are killer guitars regardless of the price points. New or Used!

[shreddermon]

Pat, even though Bionic answered your question on the body wood, I thought I'd help out a bit since it sounded like you (and I'm guessing others) haven't found the complete details on the website. All the specs for the Star and Soloist are on the Charvel site. Once you go into the Desolation section, click on one of the pics of a guitar. It will take to you another page that has an overview of the guitar. Underneath the finish options, there is a tab for specs. It's tough to see since it's light grey font on a white background. Click the specs tab and presto! I searched around the site looking for more info on the stars and it took me awhile since it didn't jump out.

You're right, I totally missed that!

Thanks for helping a bro out.

[Confuse-a-Cat]

and its not my intention to rip the salesman either. Its all business. I just think that if we should stop trying to fool ourselves that 500$ is a low pricepoint here in this forum. And I think we should consider looking at it for what it is. These Desolation guitars are the equivelent of the rest> ESP has the LTD, Gibson Epiphone or whatever, Fender Squire. need I say more.

Theres alot of talk about this new marketing and branding with the cool desert photos in the background and such to make these new pointies from China seem like something more. But in the end they will prove to be what the Charvette was in the late 1980s..or like the rotten Jackson professional stuff we saw at the end there in the 90s..NO?

*

Why are you so convinced that these will be low quality junk? I haven't played any Desolations, but there are people here who have, who have been impressed. I trust their judgment.

A Made in China sticker doesn't necessarily mean rubbish, it just means that it'll be cheaper than something made elsewhere. I'm not expecting them to be as good as a USA Charvel, or as good as a Pro-Mod, but they're not supposed to be. They're meant to be good value instruments to attract newer players to the Charvel brand. And I'm pleased that they're adding these shapes to the line. After all, if you're attracting people to Charvel, it's better to do it with a Star or a Soloist than an LP.

The bling binding is a little unfortunate, but these are competing with the Schecter and LTD models which seem to be made of more abalone than wood. A lot of kids who want a guitar will assume that a fancier looking guitar is a better guitar, so it's a price you have to pay. These aren't aimed at us, but if we can enjoy them, why not?

[Ye Black Knight]

By Lemmy's lumps! So many beauteous axes!











This knight must save his sheckles, as many of these strings-o-six-banshees hath caught mine eye!

This post now concludeth!

[The Rossness]

this looks kinda cool-

[Stonecoldsoul]

I think the white star is the best looking one of all its simple and doesn't have all the all the fancy abalone and all that other stuff. I think the other guitars look really nice with all the flashy specs but at the end of the day simple is just better you can't go wrong with that. I always feel restrained when I play guitars with flashy inlays or maple tops because I'm concentrated more on keeping them looking nice rather than playing them but a simple guitar I can focus more on the playing.

[Confuse-a-Cat]

Nice spot on the new pics.

Okay, I'm actually drooling over several of these, despite the bling...

I'm liking these trans red and trans blue smear finishes, quite a bit more than the standard trans red and trans blue that you get on Jackson models. And, I'm sure anybody who's ever paid attention to me will know, I find it hard to resist a white guitar with a matching headstock!

That DST1 Star in white... *drool*

Wouldn't mind one of the bolt on white stars with a DK2M neck either... Would go nicely with my white DK2M!