Charvel San Dimas
- Thread starter philthis
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Neo Fender
Member
Re: Charvel San Dimas
IMO, the graphite rods offer nothing. I bought a used MIM (2013?) Jackson Dinky and the neck has an obvious twist. Being used, warranty work is not an option. It has a matching headstock and three bolt heel, so a replacement is very likely to be a FMIC/Jackson item only and I'm sure they'll want more $$$ than what I paid for the guitar, even if a neck is available.
As far as price/quality go, these are not $800 guitars, especially without a HSC. If you can, wait until the next model/colors come out. I bought a NOS MIM Charvel San Dimas (quartersawn neck) for under $600 last year.
IMO, the graphite rods offer nothing. I bought a used MIM (2013?) Jackson Dinky and the neck has an obvious twist. Being used, warranty work is not an option. It has a matching headstock and three bolt heel, so a replacement is very likely to be a FMIC/Jackson item only and I'm sure they'll want more $$$ than what I paid for the guitar, even if a neck is available.
As far as price/quality go, these are not $800 guitars, especially without a HSC. If you can, wait until the next model/colors come out. I bought a NOS MIM Charvel San Dimas (quartersawn neck) for under $600 last year.
Re: Charvel San Dimas
All good points, the EVH striped series with the pic guard has a quartersawn neck. Maybe it's worth the extra cash to add a 59 and the same switching options. It's made out of basswood. Not sure how good basswood sounds clean if I added a 59 humbucker in the neck.. might be a little funky playing blues on a striped guitar too. I played a new one about a week ago and it played really well. It has the new flywheel neck adjustment on it as well. It would take some cash to modify but cheaper then trying to get a quartersawn neck replacement.
All good points, the EVH striped series with the pic guard has a quartersawn neck. Maybe it's worth the extra cash to add a 59 and the same switching options. It's made out of basswood. Not sure how good basswood sounds clean if I added a 59 humbucker in the neck.. might be a little funky playing blues on a striped guitar too. I played a new one about a week ago and it played really well. It has the new flywheel neck adjustment on it as well. It would take some cash to modify but cheaper then trying to get a quartersawn neck replacement.
Re: Charvel San Dimas
Playing any style on anything is all in your head.. I played my explorer at church.. looked rad, but whatever. the only issue was when playing my epi ace frehley.. had to cover Ace's face on the headstock.. haha Albert King was a bit of an oddball playing blues on a V. IMO, part of what made him special
Playing any style on anything is all in your head.. I played my explorer at church.. looked rad, but whatever. the only issue was when playing my epi ace frehley.. had to cover Ace's face on the headstock.. haha Albert King was a bit of an oddball playing blues on a V. IMO, part of what made him special
JOLLY
Super Simonologist
Re: Charvel San Dimas
I like the Charvel neck profile. I like the fact there made from alder and this gives them a fairly good clean tone. Ash has a nice clean tone as well but can be a little bright or brittle on the top end if your not careful. I like the body shape and the playability of the guitar as a whole. I thought older models needed to be a little more versatile before I could use one. This year's model is very versatile for its price range. The clean tones are good enough to use and the distortion is excellent. The've even gone from polyester finish to polyurethane on many of the colors. My only real concern was the Floyd quality and the lack of a Quartersawn neck. I can put on a tremol-No and a EVH d tuner and change the floyd block. Those are standard upgrades almost anyone will do. After its all said and done it's just a $900 dollar guitar. I just need it to hold up well enough to play out with it. No way I wanna take an expensive Eric Johnson strat out to a bar gig or blues jam. I take my hat off to some of the Gibson guys on this forum who gig with Les Pauls. My old gibson 76 Explorer got nicked up from playing out all the time. Even my old Marshall silver jubilee half stack got nicked up. That stuff is considered God like now in collector's circles. I picked up an EVH 2x12 combo but this one is black so as not to show the wear and tear. My fender 68 custom twin reissue is black tolex too for this reason. I have cheaper Takamine 6 and 12 strings $900 range for that same reason. I wanna save the wear and tear on the nice strats and use a Charvel San Dimas for the bar beater guitar. If it gets beat up...meh...who really cares, it was $900 instead of 2 or 3 thousand. My amps are not boutique for that same reason. That's the method to my madness I guess. My mindset now is, any gear I get now I wanna play the hell out of it and I just need it to hold up. I'll let somebody else buy the expensive guitar with the quilted maple top that looks like furniture and they sweat every little scratch incase they want to resale it. Me, I just want to play and not worry about it. I guess I'm a bang for the buck guy.
I like the Charvel neck profile. I like the fact there made from alder and this gives them a fairly good clean tone. Ash has a nice clean tone as well but can be a little bright or brittle on the top end if your not careful. I like the body shape and the playability of the guitar as a whole. I thought older models needed to be a little more versatile before I could use one. This year's model is very versatile for its price range. The clean tones are good enough to use and the distortion is excellent. The've even gone from polyester finish to polyurethane on many of the colors. My only real concern was the Floyd quality and the lack of a Quartersawn neck. I can put on a tremol-No and a EVH d tuner and change the floyd block. Those are standard upgrades almost anyone will do. After its all said and done it's just a $900 dollar guitar. I just need it to hold up well enough to play out with it. No way I wanna take an expensive Eric Johnson strat out to a bar gig or blues jam. I take my hat off to some of the Gibson guys on this forum who gig with Les Pauls. My old gibson 76 Explorer got nicked up from playing out all the time. Even my old Marshall silver jubilee half stack got nicked up. That stuff is considered God like now in collector's circles. I picked up an EVH 2x12 combo but this one is black so as not to show the wear and tear. My fender 68 custom twin reissue is black tolex too for this reason. I have cheaper Takamine 6 and 12 strings $900 range for that same reason. I wanna save the wear and tear on the nice strats and use a Charvel San Dimas for the bar beater guitar. If it gets beat up...meh...who really cares, it was $900 instead of 2 or 3 thousand. My amps are not boutique for that same reason. That's the method to my madness I guess. My mindset now is, any gear I get now I wanna play the hell out of it and I just need it to hold up. I'll let somebody else buy the expensive guitar with the quilted maple top that looks like furniture and they sweat every little scratch incase they want to resale it. Me, I just want to play and not worry about it. I guess I'm a bang for the buck guy.
Last edited:
Archer250
Well-known member
Re: Charvel San Dimas
Maybe the Prestige. I had a Premium with a similar 5-piece neck AND Titanium rod (I dated it with Ibanez's tool to the time when they had both). The guitar had a ****load of problems, but the biggest is probably the slightly twisted neck. I adjusted the rod, and found that it basically affected only the base side. Granted, this was 2 years ago and I wasn't really good at setting up guitars back then, but the neck moved fairly easily. I later have a Jackson and a Strat with 1 piece necks with separate fingerboards and they were stable as hell.
Now I've played other Ibanez, and their necks were as stable as the aforementioned Jackson and strat, albeit even thinner! This, of course, means that the cut of the wood matters probably the most. I remember reading an anecdote on this very site that somebody had a neck with 2-3 graphite rods that was still unstable. Reinforcement helps a lot, but it won't save a truly terrible plank.
Maybe the Prestige. I had a Premium with a similar 5-piece neck AND Titanium rod (I dated it with Ibanez's tool to the time when they had both). The guitar had a ****load of problems, but the biggest is probably the slightly twisted neck. I adjusted the rod, and found that it basically affected only the base side. Granted, this was 2 years ago and I wasn't really good at setting up guitars back then, but the neck moved fairly easily. I later have a Jackson and a Strat with 1 piece necks with separate fingerboards and they were stable as hell.
Now I've played other Ibanez, and their necks were as stable as the aforementioned Jackson and strat, albeit even thinner! This, of course, means that the cut of the wood matters probably the most. I remember reading an anecdote on this very site that somebody had a neck with 2-3 graphite rods that was still unstable. Reinforcement helps a lot, but it won't save a truly terrible plank.
Re: Charvel San Dimas
As much as I dont like the changes, There is still no doubt in my mind that a stock one wouldnt be gig worthy. Obviously if I was in a major touring band or something, Id make the upgrades, but should still do the trick for casual gigs. As far as a big block and such, they are definate improvements. But are optional. I mean guys in the 80s didnt have that stuff. If, by chance the trem plate is a softer metal as history has shown "cheaper"floyds to have, then yeah, prolly will need to be changed at some point..
As much as I dont like the changes, There is still no doubt in my mind that a stock one wouldnt be gig worthy. Obviously if I was in a major touring band or something, Id make the upgrades, but should still do the trick for casual gigs. As far as a big block and such, they are definate improvements. But are optional. I mean guys in the 80s didnt have that stuff. If, by chance the trem plate is a softer metal as history has shown "cheaper"floyds to have, then yeah, prolly will need to be changed at some point..
Re: Charvel San Dimas
Pretty much what I am thinking too. The flywheel neck is easy enough to adjust if I have too. Gunna wait on a few more YouTube reviews from actual regular players and see what they say. If it stays positive then I think I will pull the trigger. For you Guthrie freaks you could always grab a maple top, sand off the paint, and go natural finish for a cheap natural look. I saw an unfinished one and dare I say it, it actually looked nice. Maybe rub some oil on it. Anything to get rid of that damn tone suckling polyester finish.
Pretty much what I am thinking too. The flywheel neck is easy enough to adjust if I have too. Gunna wait on a few more YouTube reviews from actual regular players and see what they say. If it stays positive then I think I will pull the trigger. For you Guthrie freaks you could always grab a maple top, sand off the paint, and go natural finish for a cheap natural look. I saw an unfinished one and dare I say it, it actually looked nice. Maybe rub some oil on it. Anything to get rid of that damn tone suckling polyester finish.
