Fusion1
New member
What we have here is a guitar that I bought off of Ebay last year. The seller had extensive work done on it which was the reason I bought it.
He converted a 1988 Charvel Model 5FX into a Model 5A with a tune-o-matic bridge set up. When I purchased it, it wasn't clear as to what guitar it actually was so I took a gamble. The serial # on the end of the fretboard after the 24th fret is c8043531 making it a 1988.
Upon looking it closely (you have to know it is there to see it) and reflecting light off the body you can see there once was an angled single coil in the neck position. So if my knowledge of how Charvel 5FX's came into existance, this guitar started out life as a Charvel 5A from the factory. It was unsold for whatever reason and returned to Charvel to become their 5FX (1 hum and 1 slanted single). The prior owner decided he did not want a slanted neck single coil (personally I would have loved a 5FX with the fixed bridge like this) and converted it BACK to a Charvel Model 5A.
Apparantly he wasn't a fan of the Jackson JT-6 trem or trems in general, so the trem was removed and the cavity filled in. A black tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece were installed in it's place. The whole cavity of the trem was filled and that's a lot of space to fill in with either wood or bondo but somehow it worked. They also removed the locking nut (after the nut locking nut) and installed a graphite nut in place of the stock one. The Jackson tuners were replaced with black Sperzel locking tuners (this guitar never goes out of tune!!!). Chrome straplocks are the only chrome on here everything else is black! Last but not least the pickup is a Seymour Duncan Distortion in black with the Duncan logo in white. Looks like there was a complete fret replacement done as the frets have a different shape and feel than my Model 6. These are still jumbo but more of the Gibson type shape, not completely oval. Perhaps they wanted a Charvel/Gibson hybrid guitar and ironically enough it actually makes a strong case for that being a great idea considering the neck has that natural neck angle so it works well with a tune-o-matic.
There are no flaws to speak of other than cosmetic dings. The tip of the headstock is in perfect shape, just the paint on the absolute tip and a teeny spot less than 1/4" near there worn down to the primer/wood. On the 4th fret on the back of the neck (high E side) another small ding down to primer/wood (about 1/4"). There is a dimple on the lower inside cutaway (paint still intact). A small dimple above the tummy contour (paint still intact). Everything else looks good with your typical player wear.
Some things I can change to suit your preference. If you'd like original Jackson tuners instead of the Sperzels, no problem. Also you have a choice of pickups. I can install a Dimarzio X2N or Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in place of the Duncan Distortion, or even a Jackson J-90 or Jackson J-85 rails which would look and sound killer! I have other pickups as well so name it and it can be done!!!
The guy I bought it from told me the name of the local luthier that did the extensive work but I have forgotten, and I was led to believe by my own research it may be a MJ Guitar customization. There is a "Guitar Engineering" logo which is what led me to think it was MJ Guitars as they went by that moniker back then. Whatever the case may be, it was a pro job done on the guitar not some hacked up piece that some backyard mechanic did for their amusement.
Here are the pictures. I will get better ones when I am not in a rush, and hopefully I get my Minolta Dimage Z1 today which is a step up from my Fuji Finepix 210A. The guitar needs a good clean-up and I will do that tonight, which will make a huge difference.
Remember kids, Santa knows who's been naughty or nice... I almost forgot, for this fine guitar Santa's not going to bring it to you for free, you're going to have to pay him $650 or he will send you a bunch of coal as well as other unspeakable acts. I wouldn't mess with Santa, but that's just me! :lol:
He converted a 1988 Charvel Model 5FX into a Model 5A with a tune-o-matic bridge set up. When I purchased it, it wasn't clear as to what guitar it actually was so I took a gamble. The serial # on the end of the fretboard after the 24th fret is c8043531 making it a 1988.
Upon looking it closely (you have to know it is there to see it) and reflecting light off the body you can see there once was an angled single coil in the neck position. So if my knowledge of how Charvel 5FX's came into existance, this guitar started out life as a Charvel 5A from the factory. It was unsold for whatever reason and returned to Charvel to become their 5FX (1 hum and 1 slanted single). The prior owner decided he did not want a slanted neck single coil (personally I would have loved a 5FX with the fixed bridge like this) and converted it BACK to a Charvel Model 5A.
Apparantly he wasn't a fan of the Jackson JT-6 trem or trems in general, so the trem was removed and the cavity filled in. A black tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece were installed in it's place. The whole cavity of the trem was filled and that's a lot of space to fill in with either wood or bondo but somehow it worked. They also removed the locking nut (after the nut locking nut) and installed a graphite nut in place of the stock one. The Jackson tuners were replaced with black Sperzel locking tuners (this guitar never goes out of tune!!!). Chrome straplocks are the only chrome on here everything else is black! Last but not least the pickup is a Seymour Duncan Distortion in black with the Duncan logo in white. Looks like there was a complete fret replacement done as the frets have a different shape and feel than my Model 6. These are still jumbo but more of the Gibson type shape, not completely oval. Perhaps they wanted a Charvel/Gibson hybrid guitar and ironically enough it actually makes a strong case for that being a great idea considering the neck has that natural neck angle so it works well with a tune-o-matic.
There are no flaws to speak of other than cosmetic dings. The tip of the headstock is in perfect shape, just the paint on the absolute tip and a teeny spot less than 1/4" near there worn down to the primer/wood. On the 4th fret on the back of the neck (high E side) another small ding down to primer/wood (about 1/4"). There is a dimple on the lower inside cutaway (paint still intact). A small dimple above the tummy contour (paint still intact). Everything else looks good with your typical player wear.
Some things I can change to suit your preference. If you'd like original Jackson tuners instead of the Sperzels, no problem. Also you have a choice of pickups. I can install a Dimarzio X2N or Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in place of the Duncan Distortion, or even a Jackson J-90 or Jackson J-85 rails which would look and sound killer! I have other pickups as well so name it and it can be done!!!
The guy I bought it from told me the name of the local luthier that did the extensive work but I have forgotten, and I was led to believe by my own research it may be a MJ Guitar customization. There is a "Guitar Engineering" logo which is what led me to think it was MJ Guitars as they went by that moniker back then. Whatever the case may be, it was a pro job done on the guitar not some hacked up piece that some backyard mechanic did for their amusement.
Here are the pictures. I will get better ones when I am not in a rush, and hopefully I get my Minolta Dimage Z1 today which is a step up from my Fuji Finepix 210A. The guitar needs a good clean-up and I will do that tonight, which will make a huge difference.
Remember kids, Santa knows who's been naughty or nice... I almost forgot, for this fine guitar Santa's not going to bring it to you for free, you're going to have to pay him $650 or he will send you a bunch of coal as well as other unspeakable acts. I wouldn't mess with Santa, but that's just me! :lol:
I was trying to place those.
