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Audiofanzine FR
Published on 12/06/08 at 14:51
Value For Money :
Excellent
(Originally written by Endrix/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
Charvel made in the USA.
22 frets, alder body with Stratocaster shape
Two Di-Marzio humbucker pickups (Tone Zone in bridge position and Evolution in neck position)
Volume control
One-piece maple neck
Original Floyd Rose tremolo
Grover machine heads
Green finish with wonderful one-ply black pickguard. Color availability is limited because they change them every three months.
(luckily there are other finishes available because green won't be everyone's taste)
UTILIZATION
The neck is one of the most pleasant necks I've ever had in my hands. Its profile is great, modern but not too flat. It reminds me of the modern flat and fast Fender necks. This neck has an average width and will surely meet the taste of most guitarists. It reminds the Vigier Excalibur neck, which is the best regarding playing comfort. It is coated with a thin varnish that provides it a great playing feel. This thin varnish gives you a natural feel without the whole maintenance oiled necks need.
Access to the upper frets is ok but it's not the main asset of the guitar like on some Ibanez models or the N4. The guitar is very ergonomic thanks to its Stratocaster-like shape.
The sound is the main advantage of this guitar. In spite of its basic concept, you get a wide sound range with the three pickup combinations and the volume control.
Clean tone: the neck pickup provides a fantastic full and smooth sound (not a "hard" sound as you would expect from a maple neck). The sound is very versatile and rounder than a standard Stratocaster. The combination of both pickups provides a typical Stratocaster sound. This guitar is amazing because it allows you to play everything.
The distortion sound is enormous! It's the favorite playground of these DiMarzio pickups.
You can easily get every sound you want. This guitar is one of my favorites when it comes to distortion and it reminds me of my Music Man EVH!
There's something worth noting: whichever pickups you install on this guitar, the sound stays beautiful, musical and always pleasant.
SOUNDS
This guitar is great for my music style, but once again everything is possible with it. The DiMarzio pickups sound very well. The sound possibilities are endless and the application field is very wide. The manufacturing quality is perfect and you can hear it. Unplugged the guitar sounds perfect, without any fret noise in spite of the Floyd Rose. The manufacturing quality is wonderful and even much more expensive guitars don't have such an acoustic quality.
It's really magic when you play this guitar. It's the best partner a musician can have. It's probably the first guitar I can improvise with so easily and play riffs I hadn't played in a very long time.
This Charvel is absolutely incredible! Its acoustic quality gives you a good feeling.
It's a real music instrument in the true meaning of the word. I'm ecstatic!
It doesn't matter which amp you use it's a lot of fun to play this guitar.
Even with a moderate amp like the 30-watt Roland Cube the guitar has a killer sound, however it's true the possibilities are limited and the instrument's capabilities don't come through entirely. But even with this amp the Charvel sounds much better than an ESP Horizon (with Seymour Duncan pickups) or an N4 which sounds pretty average with such an amp.
OVERALL OPINION
There's only one thing I cannot assess about this guitar right now and that's its aging because I've only had it for three weeks... But I certainly won't lose sleep over it.
The manufacturing quality of this US guitar is just perfect. It's a high-class manufacturing quality so I don't have to worry about the future.
Let me tell you something about the Floyd Rose tremolo: it's an original Floyd Rose not a cheap licensed one. I did a a hell of a good job bashing it the last three weeks and it always stayed in tune. I compared it with a Schaller made in Germany I have on another guitar and it seems to be lighter than the Schaller, but the alloy seems to be harder (which is the most important thing for the reliability and durability of the knife edges).
I'm totally confident in Charvel, it seems to me they packed their whole knowhow in this guitar. I like most of all the playing feel, the soul of the instrument, the sound and the looks. It's a real American guitar with a soul.
Before buying it I tried out more expensive models and I chose this one for its looks and acoustic quality rather than the price. It beats all competitor products.
The value for money is impressive. I don't know many guitars that can compete with this one. It's a great deal for a real American guitar.
I would definitely buy it again. I'm considering getting another one with Seymour Duncan pickups. The only weak point is the gig bag. Unlike many other products this detail makes evident that the manufacturer focuses its efforts on the instrument not the accessories, which sometimes add up to one third of the package's price. That's a nice feeling. Hats off Charvel! Excellent way to look after your corporate image.
Compared to my other guitars, it is different from my Ibanez JEM, which is an excellent instrument but doesn't have the custom touch of the Charvel (whose color availability changes every three months) but I still like my Ibanez. On the contrary I sold my Washburn N4 because it was disappointing (it's a good guitar but it's too expensive and doesn't have the character of this Charvel).
Charvel made in the USA.
22 frets, alder body with Stratocaster shape
Two Di-Marzio humbucker pickups (Tone Zone in bridge position and Evolution in neck position)
Volume control
One-piece maple neck
Original Floyd Rose tremolo
Grover machine heads
Green finish with wonderful one-ply black pickguard. Color availability is limited because they change them every three months.
(luckily there are other finishes available because green won't be everyone's taste)
UTILIZATION
The neck is one of the most pleasant necks I've ever had in my hands. Its profile is great, modern but not too flat. It reminds me of the modern flat and fast Fender necks. This neck has an average width and will surely meet the taste of most guitarists. It reminds the Vigier Excalibur neck, which is the best regarding playing comfort. It is coated with a thin varnish that provides it a great playing feel. This thin varnish gives you a natural feel without the whole maintenance oiled necks need.
Access to the upper frets is ok but it's not the main asset of the guitar like on some Ibanez models or the N4. The guitar is very ergonomic thanks to its Stratocaster-like shape.
The sound is the main advantage of this guitar. In spite of its basic concept, you get a wide sound range with the three pickup combinations and the volume control.
Clean tone: the neck pickup provides a fantastic full and smooth sound (not a "hard" sound as you would expect from a maple neck). The sound is very versatile and rounder than a standard Stratocaster. The combination of both pickups provides a typical Stratocaster sound. This guitar is amazing because it allows you to play everything.
The distortion sound is enormous! It's the favorite playground of these DiMarzio pickups.
You can easily get every sound you want. This guitar is one of my favorites when it comes to distortion and it reminds me of my Music Man EVH!
There's something worth noting: whichever pickups you install on this guitar, the sound stays beautiful, musical and always pleasant.
SOUNDS
This guitar is great for my music style, but once again everything is possible with it. The DiMarzio pickups sound very well. The sound possibilities are endless and the application field is very wide. The manufacturing quality is perfect and you can hear it. Unplugged the guitar sounds perfect, without any fret noise in spite of the Floyd Rose. The manufacturing quality is wonderful and even much more expensive guitars don't have such an acoustic quality.
It's really magic when you play this guitar. It's the best partner a musician can have. It's probably the first guitar I can improvise with so easily and play riffs I hadn't played in a very long time.
This Charvel is absolutely incredible! Its acoustic quality gives you a good feeling.
It's a real music instrument in the true meaning of the word. I'm ecstatic!
It doesn't matter which amp you use it's a lot of fun to play this guitar.
Even with a moderate amp like the 30-watt Roland Cube the guitar has a killer sound, however it's true the possibilities are limited and the instrument's capabilities don't come through entirely. But even with this amp the Charvel sounds much better than an ESP Horizon (with Seymour Duncan pickups) or an N4 which sounds pretty average with such an amp.
OVERALL OPINION
There's only one thing I cannot assess about this guitar right now and that's its aging because I've only had it for three weeks... But I certainly won't lose sleep over it.
The manufacturing quality of this US guitar is just perfect. It's a high-class manufacturing quality so I don't have to worry about the future.
Let me tell you something about the Floyd Rose tremolo: it's an original Floyd Rose not a cheap licensed one. I did a a hell of a good job bashing it the last three weeks and it always stayed in tune. I compared it with a Schaller made in Germany I have on another guitar and it seems to be lighter than the Schaller, but the alloy seems to be harder (which is the most important thing for the reliability and durability of the knife edges).
I'm totally confident in Charvel, it seems to me they packed their whole knowhow in this guitar. I like most of all the playing feel, the soul of the instrument, the sound and the looks. It's a real American guitar with a soul.
Before buying it I tried out more expensive models and I chose this one for its looks and acoustic quality rather than the price. It beats all competitor products.
The value for money is impressive. I don't know many guitars that can compete with this one. It's a great deal for a real American guitar.
I would definitely buy it again. I'm considering getting another one with Seymour Duncan pickups. The only weak point is the gig bag. Unlike many other products this detail makes evident that the manufacturer focuses its efforts on the instrument not the accessories, which sometimes add up to one third of the package's price. That's a nice feeling. Hats off Charvel! Excellent way to look after your corporate image.
Compared to my other guitars, it is different from my Ibanez JEM, which is an excellent instrument but doesn't have the custom touch of the Charvel (whose color availability changes every three months) but I still like my Ibanez. On the contrary I sold my Washburn N4 because it was disappointing (it's a good guitar but it's too expensive and doesn't have the character of this Charvel).