Uk Ant
New member
First off, not been around here for a while... Just been a tad busy.
Anyway, the Charvel So-Cal Pro mod (production model, apparently).
Now I know there are quite a few on here who have bought these guitars. Both the original USA made one and the more recent MIJ model such as mine.
Now the other side of the coin for these guitars is the very similar San Dimas which is pretty much the same thing bar the scratch plate and the pups.
Now I went for the So-Cal over the San Dimas and it was the scratch plate. I just found there was too much block colour for my taste.
This brings us to the pups. The San Dimas comes with a JB in the neck and a Jazz in the neck. The So Cal comes with Dimarzios, a tone zone for the bridge, evo for the neck.
Now out of the box it didn't sound bad at all. A few tweaks on and it was still, kinda ok but just a bit too, well, dimarzio sounding. Fine if you're playing eighties rock or metal but not really what I was truly after. Unfortunately I didn't have the spare dosh or spare pups to do anything about that until... my drummer (also a handy guitar player) found himself with a spare JB and '59. Covered mind, but still worth a play I thought.
Now I left the covers on and loaded it up.
I was, it must be said, very impressed. All of a sudden the guitar just sounds like I wanted a guitar to sound. It has raw power and a good thickness to the tone yet back off the pick attack (I play with a good amount of gain, but I'm no metal head) and it cleans up without dying. The '59 in the neck just sounds so much better to my ears than the Evo which is just a bit too two dimensional to me. Likewise the the JB just works better than the tone zone.
Now this is all horses for courses, but if your more of a heavy hitting bluesy rock kinda guy then I recommend the JB/'59 combo (I'm not a big fan of the Jazz, bit too glassy).
What I will say is the Charvel is a top guitar, with the the Seymours on board I'd be hard pressed to say which has a better all round tone the floyd equipped super strat v my custom 5/'59 equipped MIJ Tokai LP. The LP probably just gets it, but it's a close call, it really is.
Anyway, the Charvel So-Cal Pro mod (production model, apparently).
Now I know there are quite a few on here who have bought these guitars. Both the original USA made one and the more recent MIJ model such as mine.
Now the other side of the coin for these guitars is the very similar San Dimas which is pretty much the same thing bar the scratch plate and the pups.
Now I went for the So-Cal over the San Dimas and it was the scratch plate. I just found there was too much block colour for my taste.
This brings us to the pups. The San Dimas comes with a JB in the neck and a Jazz in the neck. The So Cal comes with Dimarzios, a tone zone for the bridge, evo for the neck.
Now out of the box it didn't sound bad at all. A few tweaks on and it was still, kinda ok but just a bit too, well, dimarzio sounding. Fine if you're playing eighties rock or metal but not really what I was truly after. Unfortunately I didn't have the spare dosh or spare pups to do anything about that until... my drummer (also a handy guitar player) found himself with a spare JB and '59. Covered mind, but still worth a play I thought.
Now I left the covers on and loaded it up.
I was, it must be said, very impressed. All of a sudden the guitar just sounds like I wanted a guitar to sound. It has raw power and a good thickness to the tone yet back off the pick attack (I play with a good amount of gain, but I'm no metal head) and it cleans up without dying. The '59 in the neck just sounds so much better to my ears than the Evo which is just a bit too two dimensional to me. Likewise the the JB just works better than the tone zone.
Now this is all horses for courses, but if your more of a heavy hitting bluesy rock kinda guy then I recommend the JB/'59 combo (I'm not a big fan of the Jazz, bit too glassy).
What I will say is the Charvel is a top guitar, with the the Seymours on board I'd be hard pressed to say which has a better all round tone the floyd equipped super strat v my custom 5/'59 equipped MIJ Tokai LP. The LP probably just gets it, but it's a close call, it really is.
