Charvel Model 5fx Sounds Thin

[Charvel1975]

Recently had my Charvel setup and gone over and it's tuned to standard E tuning with .009 to .040 guage strings and had the gold Floyd Rose Original that was taken out of it years ago put back in and the EMG-85 that was in the bridge position swapped out for the old EMG-81 that came in the guitar when I got it for a Christmas gift from my parents years ago. In the neck is a slant EMG single coil in the neck (don't know if it's an SA or S?) and it's been in the guitar since I got it, LSR roller nut and the behind the nut Kahler locking nut.

Well last night me and my other guitarist and the drummer got together at our practice spot and was running through some songs and the Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant... I also hooked u to other guitars as well: Ibanez JEM Blue Foral, my single hum partscaster with Seymour Duncan JB and my Gibson les paul special with Dimarzio P9 Super Distortion in the bridge.

I was using a Blackstar HT40 Club 40 watt 1x12 combo with the matching Blackstar HTV112 Cab and both the combo and cab have the Celestion 70/80 speakers in them, Gigitec RP360XP through the effects loop for effects only and volume pedal on it set for solo boos and also and my Maxon OD808 through the front of the amp. My other guitarist is using a Marshall DSL40CR combo through a vintage Marshall vertical 2x12 cab.


I have no idea what's wrong with my Charvel??!!

[maug2122]

If the other guitars sounded great thru your set up, then your Charvel need to be looked into.

If not, it coils be something in the amps, cables, pedalboard.
Good luck. I hope you find the issue .

[Mincer]

Are you thinking of a pickup swap? I love the Custom Custom for thicker tones.

[Demanic]

Have you tried a fresh battery?

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

[Demanic]

Also, consider adjusting the eq on the amp.
An 81 should have plenty of tight lows if you dial them in. And it doesn't hurt to cut the highs back at either the tone knob or the amp.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

[Charvel1975]

Are you thinking of a pickup swap? I love the Custom Custom for thicker tones.

Yes when I get some funds saved up, I am thinking of swapping the pickups. Don't know anything about the Custom Custom?? The only Seymour Duncan's I have are the Seymour Duncan hot rodded set in my older heavy Korean Epiphone les paul custom and a JB trembucker in the bridge of my partscaster.

[jeremy]

an emg 85 should have plenty of output. pots are the correct value? you can get the emgs pretty close to the strings without any ill effect

[Mincer]

Yes when I get some funds saved up, I am thinking of swapping the pickups. Don't know anything about the Custom Custom?? The only Seymour Duncan's I have are the Seymour Duncan hot rodded set in my older heavy Korean Epiphone les paul custom and a JB trembucker in the bridge of my partscaster.

If you do a pickup swap, the Custom Custom is what I'd recommend.

[Charvel1975]

Recently had my Charvel setup and gone over and it's tuned to standard E tuning with .009 to .040 guage strings and had the gold Floyd Rose Original that was taken out of it years ago put back in and the EMG-85 that was in the bridge position swapped out for the old EMG-81 that came in the guitar when I got it for a Christmas gift from my parents years ago. In the neck is a slant EMG single coil in the neck (don't know if it's an SA or S?) and it's been in the guitar since I got it, LSR roller nut and the behind the nut Kahler locking nut.

Well last night me and my other guitarist and the drummer got together at our practice spot and was running through some songs and the Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant... I also hooked u to other guitars as well: Ibanez JEM Blue Foral, my single hum partscaster with Seymour Duncan JB and my Gibson les paul special with Dimarzio P9 Super Distortion in the bridge.

I was using a Blackstar HT40 Club 40 watt 1x12 combo with the matching Blackstar HTV112 Cab and both the combo and cab have the Celestion 70/80 speakers in them, Gigitec RP360XP through the effects loop for effects only and volume pedal on it set for solo boos and also and my Maxon OD808 through the front of the amp. My other guitarist is using a Marshall DSL40CR combo through a vintage Marshall vertical 2x12 cab.


I have no idea what's wrong with my Charvel??!!

Sorry for bumping an old post but I just remembered on my Charvel when I took it to a guitar tech years ago, they installed an Orange Drop Tone Capacitor in there too? I've never heard of that being done to guitars with EMG pickups? Do you think that might also be what's causing the Charvel to sound bad?

[Mincer]

Sorry for bumping an old post but I just remembered on my Charvel when I took it to a guitar tech years ago, they installed an Orange Drop Tone Capacitor in there too? I've never heard of that being done to guitars with EMG pickups? Do you think that might also be what's causing the Charvel to sound bad?

Well, it would depend on the value of that cap.

[Charvel1975]

Well, it would depend on the value of that cap.

I think he put in the most common value I've been reading about online which would be a .047uF

[Charvel1975]

*UPDATE* Took my Charvel Model 5FX this morning to guitar repair shop and said they've never encountered a EMG pickup that went bad but could not rule that out and they then plugged it in through an amp briefly and then suggested I get a new Switchcraft short shaft 3-way toggle switch, new EMG wiring kit, 1 - EMG volume pot, 1 - EMG tone pot and new EMG stereo output jack.

[Metalman_666]

The fresh battery Demanic suggested could be the remedy based on the sound you described,

If that's not it, what are the chances you know someone else with EMGs you can quick connect to for a test? Or is this 81 pre-Quick Connect?

Sent from my SM-F926W using Tapatalk

[Charvel1975]

The fresh battery Demanic suggested could be the remedy based on the sound you described,

If that's not it, what are the chances you know someone else with EMGs you can quick connect to for a test? Or is this 81 pre-Quick Connect?

Sent from my SM-F926W using Tapatalk

I had already replaced the 9 volt battery with a new one and raised the EMG-81 closer to the strings and still didn't make a sound difference. My other guitarist has a Ibanez Premium RG6PKAG Guitar w/ factory EMG 81 & SA pickups and it blew my Charvel out of the water! The EMG-81 in my Charvel is pre-Quick Connect and same with the EMG single coil that's in the slant neck position.