Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH (2012)

The Charvel San Dimas was introduced in 2008 as an attempt to bring back the hot rodded guitars that Charvel built in the eighties with the general motto to keep the prices down, but use the best parts possible and build them in the good ol' US of A. For the San Dimas model, this included an alder body, a quartersawn maple neck with oil finish, Strat style headstock (as featured on the earliest Charvels), Grover tuners, Original Floyd Rose Tremolo, Seymour Duncan humbuckers (a JB at the bridge and a '59 at the neck), a single volume control, and a 3 way toggle switch. There isn't a whole lot of crazy options here, but they eschew flash for just killer quality and playability in a price point that has many average guitars that focus more on looks.

UTILIZATION

The design of the San Dimas is basically like a refined Strat that is built for old school shredding. It's not quite as refined as many boutique takes on the Strat (IE: Suhr, Tom Anderson, Don Grosh, etc) but it's still extremely ergonomic and great feeling all around. The alder body is reasonably light in weight and is comfort contoured to fit to the body quite well. The only gripe I have is that the neck plate is rather bulky and sticks out a bit, impeding upper fret access somewhat. The neck is maple with an oil finish... can you say fast? There is no trouble moving up and down this neck at warp speed and it's perfect for the fleet fingered who really need to fly. It doesn't get sticky unless you really don't maintain it (easily done by wiping it down with a cloth) and overall is one of the nicest necks I've tried. I so liked the feel of quartersawn maple with oil finish that I requested it on a Suhr Custom that I had built. The upper fret access is fairly good on these guitars too.

Getting a good sound out of this guitar is fairly simple. Since it lacks a ton of different features, you basically know that you're going to have to look to the amplifier that you're using to get a whole lot of true versatility out of the ax. The pickups are well suited to the guitar and work well for the classic vibe that Charvel was aiming for. They work for everything from clean to mean and a bit in between. They're not the best pickups for extreme metal or the cleanest of jazz tones, but the guitar was built for hard rock, so that's not a huge concern of mine.

SOUNDS

I've tried this guitar through a myriad of different amplifiers and had great success achieving the tones that I wanted to hear and that the guitar was built for. As I stated prior, it's not the most versatile guitar in the world, but if you're looking for an excellent tonal throwback to the days of big hair and spandex, this guitar is the best bet you'll find. The Duncan JB and '59 humbuckers are medium output affairs that offer a decent palate of tones ranging from clean to higher gain. The clean tones are fairly gutsy and rich sounding, great for bluesy or perhaps modern jazz or country. They're not quite pristine enough for certain things, but as far as a decent clean tone goes, this guitar does it. Slipping over to the dirty side, this is where the guitar shows its true personality. This guitar oozes harmonics and overtones, and when put through a high gain firebreather amp... that's when things just WORK. The Duncan JB in particular works really well and overall the guitar has a very EVH or George Lynch sounding vibe going on that makes me smile whenever I hear it. It works great for eighties rhythm and of course those gunslinger leads that everyone and their dog had to learn way back when, and when you're in the zone, it's just the perfect guitar to let the notes flow. It's fairly forgiving and doesn't expose mistakes like crazy, but it's also not quite as effortless to play as many modern guitars nowadays can be.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Charvel San Dimas is a total winner all around. They sell new for about $1000 and considering that price point, I don't know where you can find a USA made guitar that is a killer superstrat that combines good parts, good craftsmanship, great tones and the coolest vibe around that would compete with these. Unfortunately Charvel has discontinued these and replaced them with the admittedly less superior Japanese made models, so you'd have to find a used or NOS model if you want one.

The Charvel company eventually turned into Jackson guitars. When they first started they made replacement parts for strats making them better for metal music and shred playing. They put out flatter necks and bodies cut for Floyd Rose tremolo systems. They recently put out a new guitar based on their classic design. The Charvel So-Cal is a classic superstrat. The model I tested was white with the pickguard and the maple neck. It has a maple fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and it has a compound radius fretboard similar to what Jackson uses on their guitars. The compound radius allows the for great playability on both ends of the neck. Near the headstock on the low end the radius is 12 inches which means the fretboard is slightly more curved up there to make playing chord shapes more comfortable. Near the high end the radius is 16 inches which makes shredding and lead playing effortless. This guitar comes with a Dimarzo Evolution pickup in the neck position and a Tone Zone pickup in the bridge. It has an Original Floyd Rose and all the hardware is black.

UTILIZATION

This guitar is probably the best playign strat ever made. Its so good it probably cant be considered a strat anymore. The jumbo frets are huge and give you a nice playing action. The compound radius fretboard is nice and lets you play comfortably all the way up and down the neck. The Original Floyd Rose is the best tremolo system you can get and it will always stay in tune when properly setup.

SOUNDS

The Dimarzio pickups are a welcome change to the Seymour Duncan pickups you get in most guitars like these. The Evo in the neck gives you a super sharp attack and over the top harmonics. These pickups are designed by Steve Vai for his over the top sound. The neck pickup is pretty bright and clear for a neck pickup because of this. The bridge pickup is a Tone Zone and it gets you the classic Van Halen sound. The Tone Zone has over the top mids and nice crunch. The Tone Zone is like a PAF on steroids. The over the top mids get you a wah like sound sometimes. EVH was close to selecting this pickup to go in his signature guitar. This pickup is the brown sound in a box.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar is a nice and classy superstrat. I think these guitars will be very popular for a while. People who grew up in the 80s will remember the super strat trend. These guitars bring back some of those memories and put them in a classy shell. If you are looking for a classy super strat shreddy with versatile sounds this guitar is a good choice.

The first time I played a US production Charvel San Dimas I was blown away. What in the world have I been playing all these years? How did I not know about this guitar and why hasn't someone told me about them? These were the thoughts going throw my head. These were the questions I was asking myself as I sat down to jam on this instrument. I had never played a guitar that was so eager to race around the stage with, but a guitar that felt like it had been played for 35 years. The neck on this guitar was so incredible and that is really the reason I was so blown away at how comfortable it was in my hand.



UTILIZATION

As soon as I plugged it in I knew this was the guitar for me. It had the comfort that I have been searching for all my guitar playing career. Though it has been a short career it was spent most of the time playing was ever was on the shelf at Guitar Center. Most generally you aren't going to find something there that feels this good right out of the box. That right out of the box feeling is important in searching for the right instrument. Many guitars I have played needed a lot of adjustment and fret work in order to have any satisfaction of playing.

This guitar takes no time to figure out. It has one knob that controls the volume and that its. No tone knob or mini switch to activate some boost or and thing like that. Just street ready hard core American muscle guitars. It has a pickup selector to go between the humbuckers and that is as crafty as it gets.

SOUNDS

The tone from this guitar was so instant that the amp I was playing in soon became mine as well. So the Charvel helped the amp it complimented into my personal ownership. This is a fast guitar as is basically a hot-rodded super Strat from the 80's. A beefed up Stratocaster with an angry chip on its shoulder. This thing is a rocker and meant to be driving hard.

I played this guitar with a Splawn Quickrod and the match between the two was heaven. Finished it off with a Splawn 4x12 with small block speakers and that was all I needed. Couple this with a nice analog delay in the loop and your set.

OVERALL OPINION

I know I have been raving about the perfection of this guitar and it needs to be said. The custom shop necks feel even better. A little flatter on the neck and smooth as silk. So I still give this a perfect but the custom shop has me chomping at the bit. Either way I love the new US Charvels. Fender has really done a fantastic job bringing these hot rod guitars back to where they should be and where they started 30 years ago.

I would recommend this guitar to any player who is not satisfied with his tone and it in that constant search or quest for something better. Look no further than a sweet sounding and looking Charvel.

The Charvel San Dimas Style 1 2H is made in the USA. It features and alder body, JB/'59 pickups, a Korean-made Floyd Rose (that's pretty much just as good as the MIG ones IMO), one volume knob and pickup selector switch, 22 frets, grover tuners, and a gunstock oiled maple neck with the comfiest, profile I've ever played.

UTILIZATION

The first time I picked up a Charvel, I knew I would eventually own one. I immediately fell in love with the neck profile, which is the perfect amalgamation of a C and D feel. It's thin and speedy, but it has enough mass to grip onto, if you need it. The cutaway gives you just as much access to the upper frets as a regular Strat. It's totally uninhibited until about the 17th fret, and then the neck joint becomes apparent. it's never been an issue with me though. My Charvel weights 7 1/2 pounds.

Charvels, and superstrats in general have a stigma attached to them regarding tone. People often say that they don't have a unique character. I totally disagree. Try playing Van Halen, Dokken, or Ratt riffs on a Les Paul. It might sound great, but it won't have that loose-yet-aggressive vibe that only a Charvel-esque guitar can capture.


SOUNDS

The bridge pickup sounds great for crunchy metal riffing, and searing, cut through butter type lead tones, but it doesn't do a great mid gain, 70s style sound. it's useable, but a bit on the thin side for me. If you're pumping out Ratt riffs all day long, then the JB will bring it without any problems.

I really like the '59 in the neck, it has a very loose, airy quality to it that reminds me of neck pickup tones from bands like Opeth and Riverside. Bends are sweet and have a very rounded high end. The mids sound a bit sccoped, but it works well for the music I play.

OVERALL OPINION

I bought this Charvel for the feel of neck. If you haven't tried a Charvel neck before, run to your nearest store. You'll be ruined for life! There are good, name brand components build into every aspect of this guitar.

I tried every Charvel I could get my hands on, and I knew what I was getting into when I bought mine. I'm usually quite wary of buying guitars off the internet (you never really know what you're going to get tonally), but I found that every Charvel I played in stores sounded great. They rung fully acoustically, and sounded fat unplugged.

I'd buy another one of these guitars. I'm actually scouting the web for Charvels at the moment, so another should be coming my way very soon!