All user reviews for the Charvel Desolation Skatecaster SK-1 FR

The new Skatecaster is actually a modern version of the old Charvel Surfcaster. Now it is a full out metal guitar. Since Fender owns Charvel they are using them to put out modern metal guitars that younger people would want. This is the tremolo model so it has a recessed Floyd Rose. The body and neck are mahogany. The neck is neck through construction. The back of the neck is stripped of finish for a smooth feel. You get the offset Skatecaster shape which provides god upper fret access. Better than their single cut models. The pickups in this guitar are the traditional EMG setup. You get and 81 in the bridge and an 85 in the neck. The controls for these pickups are super simple with a volume and a 3 way toggle.

UTILIZATION

The Skatecaster body is a good shape that provides good upper fret access. On this example I played the section on the neck where the finish stopped and the rest of the neck was raw was quite abrupt. It felt kind of rough. I felt like if you pick off the finish if I wanted to with that abrupt transfer from finished to unfinished. The neck on this guitar has a compound radius. The neck has a comfy feel on both ends. On the low end is is rounder for chords and on the high end it is flatter for a low action and less fretting out. The Floyd Rose on this is a newer low profile unit. I am not much of a tremolo guy but I know the Original Floyd Rose is the king of tremolos. This design seems to be similar to an Ibanez design with more of its design towards comfort.

SOUNDS

In this Skatecaster model you get the classic EMG setup. This is the Zakk Wylde set that you see so often in metal guitars. You get the EMG 81 in the bridge and the 85 in the neck. The 81 is great for heavy riffs and low tuning. It is voiced with a lot of high end so when you are tuning low and running a lot of gain you retain the clarity in your riffs. This same voicing makes it kind of harsh for cleans or lead playing. All the high end in the 81 means you may want to switch to the neck pickup for leads and cleans. The 85 in the neck is great for leads and cleans. I think it is a better overall pickup than the 81. With the 85 you get more of a thicker fuller sound. There is less high end grind so your leads and clean tones do not come off as harsh and buzzy.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar is priced perfectly to make an attack on the mid level metal guitar market. This guitar has a great list of features, compound radius fretboard, recessed low profile Floyd Rose and active EMG electronics. This is everything you want for a metal guitar. You cant beat the pricing these are being offered at either. If you are looking for a metal guitar that is something different than your typical metal guitars you should check out this Charvel and the other Charvels in the Desolation line up