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racerevlon « The Charvel So Cal 1 HH keeps the Sunset Strip alive! »
Published on 12/07/12 at 09:20The Charvel So Cal 1 H-H interestingly enough is a made in Japan guitar modeled after the USA-made So Cal. They did an outstanding job. The feel, playability, attention to detail, fit, and finish on this guitar are all superb. Charvel guitars were the weapon of choice for many of the 80's shredders and the So Cal 1 HH lives up to the legend. This is one mad machine. The guitar comes stock with a Dimarzio Tone Zone bridge pickup and a Dimarzio Evolution Neck pickup. Mind you, these are not Dimarzio copies or "Made by" pickups, but 100 percent real Dimarzio pickups.
The controls on the guitar are extremely simple making it extremely easy to focus on playing instead of tweaking sound. There is a volume knob and a three-position selector switch (Neck, Both, Bridge) for the pickups. That's it.
The neck is a nice "not too thick, not to thin" C-shape and the maple neck and fret board play wickedly fast. The flaming in the maple on the neck is extremely nice for a guitar in this price range as well. An OFR, ATA flight case, and real Dimarzio pickups at this price are fairly unheard of. The black pick guard sets off the finish nicely and gives it a slightly metal look, even with the candy blue finish.
UTILIZATION
I don't know how it came from the factory but the previous owner had the action set higher that I prefer so I lowered the action which was easy enough. I found that if I set up the guitar too low the tone suffered a little so I set up the action just a tad higher than my normal and the tone is incredible. It's extremely easy to get a great sound out of this guitar and it has the feel of an instrument that just begs you to keep playing. This is one guitar that's difficult to put down.
SOUNDS
The Tone Zone bridge pickup was a little dark for my tastes so I swapped it out with a Dimarzio Steve Morse model bridge pickup. Now the guitar just SCREAMS! That said, you definitely have to work a little to get a good clean sound from this guitar as it is definitely made for full-out shred mayhem. If you need a clean sound, you may have to swap out the neck pickup for a lower-output pickup or one that suits your tonal and/or musical style better.
I use this guitar with all of my amps: Splawn Quick Rod, Splawn Nitro, Jet City Amps, Hughes & Kettner, Marshall... they all sound fabulous with this guitar pumping life into them.
OVERALL OPINION
I had always heard about Charvel guitars and seen some of my favorite players using them as their "weapon of choice" so I decided to take the plunge and see for myself. I'm not disappointed. I think for the price this is an excellent value guitar--the real Dimarzio Pickups and ATA flight case alone are almost worth the ante, but once you start playing you realize this isn't some entry-level beginner's guitar: this is the real deal. Obviously, because it has a Floyd I'd gig it with a backup, but that's more to do with the Floyd than with it being a Charvel. The only thing that would make this guitar any better would be having 24 frets. However, not having the 24 frets gives it more of a "Classic" feel and a respectful nod to its predecessors.
The controls on the guitar are extremely simple making it extremely easy to focus on playing instead of tweaking sound. There is a volume knob and a three-position selector switch (Neck, Both, Bridge) for the pickups. That's it.
The neck is a nice "not too thick, not to thin" C-shape and the maple neck and fret board play wickedly fast. The flaming in the maple on the neck is extremely nice for a guitar in this price range as well. An OFR, ATA flight case, and real Dimarzio pickups at this price are fairly unheard of. The black pick guard sets off the finish nicely and gives it a slightly metal look, even with the candy blue finish.
UTILIZATION
I don't know how it came from the factory but the previous owner had the action set higher that I prefer so I lowered the action which was easy enough. I found that if I set up the guitar too low the tone suffered a little so I set up the action just a tad higher than my normal and the tone is incredible. It's extremely easy to get a great sound out of this guitar and it has the feel of an instrument that just begs you to keep playing. This is one guitar that's difficult to put down.
SOUNDS
The Tone Zone bridge pickup was a little dark for my tastes so I swapped it out with a Dimarzio Steve Morse model bridge pickup. Now the guitar just SCREAMS! That said, you definitely have to work a little to get a good clean sound from this guitar as it is definitely made for full-out shred mayhem. If you need a clean sound, you may have to swap out the neck pickup for a lower-output pickup or one that suits your tonal and/or musical style better.
I use this guitar with all of my amps: Splawn Quick Rod, Splawn Nitro, Jet City Amps, Hughes & Kettner, Marshall... they all sound fabulous with this guitar pumping life into them.
OVERALL OPINION
I had always heard about Charvel guitars and seen some of my favorite players using them as their "weapon of choice" so I decided to take the plunge and see for myself. I'm not disappointed. I think for the price this is an excellent value guitar--the real Dimarzio Pickups and ATA flight case alone are almost worth the ante, but once you start playing you realize this isn't some entry-level beginner's guitar: this is the real deal. Obviously, because it has a Floyd I'd gig it with a backup, but that's more to do with the Floyd than with it being a Charvel. The only thing that would make this guitar any better would be having 24 frets. However, not having the 24 frets gives it more of a "Classic" feel and a respectful nod to its predecessors.