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tjon901 « Charvels new Desolation DS-1 »
Published on 11/19/11 at 09:21This is Charvels take on a modern shred guitar. This is the Desolation DS-1 FR. Now that Fender owns Charvel they are using them to put out their more modern shred guitars for the metal audience. This is the DS-1 with the tremolo unit. This guitar is made out of mahogany. It has a mahogany neck through neck that is free of any finish. The neck has a 24 fret rosewood fretboard with a compound radius. It has a recessed Floyd Rose with a locking nut. The pickups are a set of active Seymour Duncan Blackouts. The controls are simple with a volume and tone for each pickup and a 3 way toggle.
UTILIZATION
The example I tried out for this model the fretboard was very dry. The fretboard has the super comfortable Jackson/Charvel compound radius system on it. Near the low end of the neck the radius is more round. This is so you can play large chords comfortably. Near the high part of the neck the radius is flatter so your bends dont fret out and you can get a super low action for your lead playing. The recessed Floyd Rose is comfortable on the hand. It feels similar to an Ibanez tremolo. I am not a big tremolo guy but this seems to be a high quality unit. The upper fret access on this guitar isnt great. 24 frets with a 25.5 inch scale on a single cut body does not equal good upper fret access.
SOUNDS
This guitar comes with a set of Seymour Duncan Blackouts. This is a welcome change to putting EMG's in everything. These pickups provide a different sound than what you would expect with EMG's. The biggest complaint with the EMG 81/85 set is that with the 81 in the bridge it has a lot of high end grind but there is not much body to it. With this Blackout set you get all the body you can handle. These pickups have a ton of low end and they are super thick. The bridge pickup has all the top end grind of an 81 but with the body of an 85. I love the sound of these Blackouts. They can make any guitar sound super thick. The neck has all the body but less top end grind so you have a smoother sound for leads.
OVERALL OPINION
I am seeing more of these DS-1 FR guitars. They seem to be the most popular model in the Desolation line of guitars. Not often can you say you paid 600 dollars for a guitar with active pickups. Not often can you say you paid 600 dollars for a Charvel. Fender and Charvel are breaking into a new market with these well priced metal guitars. If you are looking for a mid level metal guitar with active pickups you now have another option to your typical Schecters and ESP LTD guitars.
UTILIZATION
The example I tried out for this model the fretboard was very dry. The fretboard has the super comfortable Jackson/Charvel compound radius system on it. Near the low end of the neck the radius is more round. This is so you can play large chords comfortably. Near the high part of the neck the radius is flatter so your bends dont fret out and you can get a super low action for your lead playing. The recessed Floyd Rose is comfortable on the hand. It feels similar to an Ibanez tremolo. I am not a big tremolo guy but this seems to be a high quality unit. The upper fret access on this guitar isnt great. 24 frets with a 25.5 inch scale on a single cut body does not equal good upper fret access.
SOUNDS
This guitar comes with a set of Seymour Duncan Blackouts. This is a welcome change to putting EMG's in everything. These pickups provide a different sound than what you would expect with EMG's. The biggest complaint with the EMG 81/85 set is that with the 81 in the bridge it has a lot of high end grind but there is not much body to it. With this Blackout set you get all the body you can handle. These pickups have a ton of low end and they are super thick. The bridge pickup has all the top end grind of an 81 but with the body of an 85. I love the sound of these Blackouts. They can make any guitar sound super thick. The neck has all the body but less top end grind so you have a smoother sound for leads.
OVERALL OPINION
I am seeing more of these DS-1 FR guitars. They seem to be the most popular model in the Desolation line of guitars. Not often can you say you paid 600 dollars for a guitar with active pickups. Not often can you say you paid 600 dollars for a Charvel. Fender and Charvel are breaking into a new market with these well priced metal guitars. If you are looking for a mid level metal guitar with active pickups you now have another option to your typical Schecters and ESP LTD guitars.