Charvel moving production to Japan?

Binnerscot

Binnerscot

New member
Has anyone else heard that? I heard it yesterday from one of my favorite dealers.

The scoop I got was that the Charvel US Production will series will move to Japan (and no longer be called US Production of course), but likely to stay the same price. I guess Charvel (FMIC) has said that they have been losing money on them and the US Production was more for marketing and reviving the name.

I am surprised that they would be losing money, the Charvel prices are pretty similar to US Fender Strat prices and I don't see much difference in manufacturing costs between the two?
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

Haven't heard that but the fact that Charvels are no where to be found in any of the fender shops around here may have something to do with it. If thats the case in other areas I would say the issue is not production costs or marketing but rather distribution and availability
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

That could also be due to the fact that they only make 150 of each color in a run (except black) for the States and 150 for the rest for the rest of the world.

Distro is all Fender I think, so I can't see that have any bearing on it.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

I could easily see Fender losing money on the Charvel Pro Mod series, judging by the extra work that seems to have to went into the necks. Charvel did the Pro Mod series to basically test the brand to see if people would buy it, get the name out there and revive the name. Any company would usually take an initial loss on this. There was a huge demand for USA made strathead Charvels by collectors and enthusiasts, and those that were lucky to pick one up did.

I don't think it's a bad move, ESP and Ibanez make great guitars in Japan, and we may see innovations such as 24 fret necks, return of Pointy Charvels, and possibly the pinwheel truss rod adjustment at the heel.

The only real negative I see is whether the oiled Charvel necks will maintain stable when they're shipped from Japan to stores in the United States- which may force Charvel to use a satin finish like Fender does
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

Why would they move production to Japan? Mexico would be the more likely factory.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

Yes i heard this from my dealer also its too bad I guess, everybody's going overseas and no jobs here and a good old usa guitar! He said it was going to be there last batch. Are these really any better then a Jackson dk2m with the same pups? not sure what wood charvel uses. Charvel uses a real floyed though and i see jackson prices are much higher now. I had a dk2m for 600 last year.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

doesnt suprise me.. When I got my email announcing the new batch of colors, it said the last run.. I hoped I read it wrong..
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

I am not going to guess whether the move will be good or bad. I am sad to see the jobs go and the fact the current product has a stellar quality to cost ratio.

I remember how many times Charvel/Jackson has screwed themselves in the past with sub par import guitars.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

hermetico said:
I thing, the only really different is the neck and Floyd Rose.
Other things are cheaper than in a Fender: tuning keys, electronics (just a volume pot and a 3 way switch), pickguard (1 ply cheap one).
So, they can only loose in one single thing: US wages.
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Fender US and Charvel US are both made in the US....

Fender American Strat Solid black with maple board = $999.00

Charvel US Production Solid black = $1099.00
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

I knew it, if this is true I was right :D

There was a slight hint in the last flyer they sent out in the last batch of colours. It had stamped "Last Batch" and right below it, it said "Made in USA" I asked them about it on their Facebook page and got no response. I would only make sense as Jacksons are made in Japan also, and moving production over to Mexico would be a bad move and would put people off. They want to keep Charvel more higher end I guess. If you think about it, it would be a HUGE different. MIM for standards and USA Custom Shop for the other Charvels. Looks kinda dumb to be honest. Japan and USA Custom Shop is a much better choice marketing wise and of course quality wise as well. Good for them, now if only Gibson got their head out of their ass and did the same for Kramer. One can dream right ;) .....
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

Charvel has made no such statement about production moving to Japan or anywhere else outside of the USA.

The only thing that's been definitely stated by Charvel themselves is "now would be a good time to get a USA Production Model Charvel".

This could mean production is being taken over by the Custom Shop, where Charvel will have the same setup as Jackson (production models made by floor crew and Customs made by Master Builders) just as much as it could mean they're going overseas. They haven't said, and no one knows for sure, even the dealers.

Or it could be a marketing scheme to drive sales because it gets people thinking "these are the last USA Charvels I'll ever find!"
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

that's how the charvel brand was killed in the late 80s early 90s by making those horrid model series japanese things that were so far from real charvels you might as well have called them ibanez. i doubt fender would be dumb enough to do that again after what happened last time before they owned the company.

at least i hope they're not that dumb. :sad:


-Mike
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

original floyd rose = 250$

No, more like $150 retail - the Charvels are Ping, I would guess about $100 in bulk for manufacturers like Fender

http://www.axcessories.com/products.asp?cat=148

compound radius neck = NO IDEA, but expensiver, for sure (lot of manual work!)!

No, its CNC...nothing extra to be done other than setting the machines the first time.

As you can see, the Charvels are about $100 more than a Fender American Standard and that would seem about right to me with the Floyd and Duncans. So it just doesn't seem plausible that they are losing much if any money considering the Fender American Strat price is set to turn an appropriate profit for the company.

Anyway, Japan has flawless workmanship so... I am really not worried about it (if fact, less worried, since I already have a batch #6 MIU, LOL).

I have some of the very few good Japanese Charvels, and I remember the plethora of crap Japanese Charvels.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

Binnerscot said:
As you can see, the Charvels are about $100 more than a Fender American Standard and that would seem about right to me with the Floyd and Duncans. So it just doesn't seem plausible that they are losing much if any money considering the Fender American Strat price is set to turn an appropriate profit for the company.
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Fender is probably building in larger batches with greater efficiency, and can make more money on a guitar that's priced lower and "should" cost them more to make than what it costs Charvel to make theirs.

Charvel should just charge more and continue to build them in the USA. Personally, I think $1,099 is too little to ask for a guitar like that. When I saw the price, I assumed they were a lesser guitar than a Jackson USA Select series, a Gibson Les Paul, an Ibanez JEM, or any other nice guitar that's about $2,000 in the U.S.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

I think it's a big mistake when companies don't realize that a lot of the time, we buy things because they're built in our home country. I'd pay more for an identical product that was made in the USA, than I would if it were made elsewhere. When I bought my faded Flying V, it was $649 USD with gig bag. The same guitar from Korea at $399 or $499 wouldn't have had the cachet. Given the price of the '67 reissue was about $1,100 at the time, I would have happily paid $800 for the faded, if that's what it had cost. For $800, I also considered the LTD Dave Mustaine model, and I still would have bought the Gibson even if it were $800, too.

As an American, I'm proud when I buy or play an American-made guitar. If you live in another country where great guitars are made, you should be proud of those guitars, too. Bottom line, if you move those $1,099 Charvels to Japan, they'll mean as much to me as a nice Pro-Series Jackson, or a Prestige Ibanez. Nice guitars, sure, but nothing to stir the patriotic blood.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

Jessie Sammler said:
Charvel should just charge more and continue to build them in the USA. Personally, I think $1,099 is too little to ask for a guitar like that. When I saw the price, I assumed they were a lesser guitar than a Jackson USA Select series, a Gibson Les Paul, an Ibanez JEM, or any other nice guitar that's about $2,000 in the U.S.
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I concur, I would pay more for the same guitar as opposed to offshoring it. They have screwed that up too many times.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

US......loads of the time bloody overhyped crap...sorry but really..
I don't give a crap where stuff is from these days!!!
All those factories are not bound by countries anymore....and have not been for a long time either....it is all this nationalising that makes it hard to generate a world wide stable economy....oh futz that!
Would not buy a Charvel anyways...hehe
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

hermetico said:
Gibson USA disapointed me as no other guitars did it.
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I think Gibson disappoints many of us at times, myself included.

hermetico said:
There are awesome USA stuff, as well as crappy and overrated USA stuff. Unfortunatelly to you, not everything Made in Usa means quality. Maybe, it was long time ago. Not nowadays.
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Well, these Charvels are one of those items that really exemplify a great American product, that is why many of us would be disappointed to see it go overseas and they have a really bad track record doing that with this brand.
 
Re: Charvel moving production to Japan?

Vasshu the humanoid typhoon said:
I don't give a crap where stuff is from these days!!!
All those factories are not bound by countries anymore....and have not been for a long time either....it is all this nationalising that makes it hard to generate a world wide stable economy....oh futz that!
Click to expand...


We're not talking about the automotive industry, or the billions of dollars of imported product that we buy at Target and Walmart every second. That war has already been lost. I'm talking about a few guitars, that don't add up to anything when it comes to questions of a stable global economy.

For most of us, guitars (especially multiples of them) are a luxury item; and sometimes we can afford to be eccentric in our preferences. Honestly, I've never seen a group of enthusiasts apply so much logic to an area that should, by its very nature, defy logic.
 
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