My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

Yngwiestein

New member
I snapped these pictures today but in comparison to Xssive's they suck! I planned this review before reading his. Still my humble comparison because his review was fantastic. Can I hire you as my product photographer? LOL!

Just got it this morning. Still waiting for my San Dimas red one to come in on Fri. Been playing it all day. Amazing guitar. Still impressed w the unfinished neck. Most shocking revelation about this guitar is how much I like the Tone Zone and Evolution neck!

I've often crapped all over the Tone Zone and now I will eat my own words LOL! It might stay in the bridge! Compared to the San Dimas w JB & 59 combo, these pickups actually sound better. The Evolution neck is a fantastic pickup. Very organic. Doesn't have that sterile quality I hear in many ceramic pickups. Tone Zone as muddy and loose as I remember it must have been improved since! Sounds good. Awesome midrange. A little bassy but not as overbearing as I thought. Actually pretty articulate. Some good definition w distortion.

I don't know how it cuts in a mix. It sounds a little dark and compressed. Both pickups do but a balanced sound. Not too overbearing in either side of the eq.

The neck is flatter than a regular strat. A little thin for my taste. Plays fast. Inlays are black so I don't know how visible they will be in a dark gig. Can't find a single flaw in the construction. Stays in tune after a whole day of yanking and wiggling the trem bar. Perfect intonation. Lightweight guitar. The pickups are not super clean. Very high output but the volume knob works good. I love the texture of the vol knob. Rolls easy for Yngwie style swells ;) String tension feels different than my SL1. Doesn't have the tilted headstock.

Guitar sustains forever. I can litterally bend a note, reach over and sip some hot coffee and the note is still sounding! Is there a better guitar for 900 bones? You would be hard pressed to find one unless you're disappointed with getting a gig bag instead of a case. Comes w the essentials and some extras. The allen wrench holder does not come mounted for some reason. Minor irritation but no biggie.

Pickguard is cool. One ply. Nothing special but has kind of a graphite texture. I actually like it better than other strat pickguards because my fingers don't stick to it when they get a little clammy. Check out my totally ameteur photos!

As a side note: I saw none of the flaws Xssive mentioned in his review. Paint was shiny and neat. No seam marks. Neck finish was perfect. Frets were perfect. Setup was very good. Comprable to the custom shop but only missing a few quality details. I played 5 of them today, all models. None had a single flaw. I'm wondering if he saw a bad batch? Not to question his credibility. Just my experience w the 5 I demoed.
 
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Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

Great review as well! Can you tell I'm interested in these guitars...lol.
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

Interesting review. I'm not a big fan of straight (near enough) strat copies. I'd rather just buy a real strat if I was spending that kinda cash on that type of guitar.
But then, you've already got the UBER-STRAT anyway eh?! :)

Love the neck on that Charvel BTW. I'm gonna have to get a guitar with a fretboard like that.
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

It's routed HSH, the Charvel guys KNEW this was going to be their "platform" model from the get go so even though it's HH it's HSH routed.

I also like the black single ply matte pickguard, from a distance it looks almost as if it's rear-routed.

If it were me I'd probably change it to HSS (the DK3 Dinky style) but that's just me not really jiving with a bucker in the neck of a 22er (I prefer either SC in 22ers or buckers in 24ers ;))...

Well, Mike did say when he checked it he was actually ACTIVELY looking for any imperfections, he himself said that under the look of a casual observer most would have gone unnoticed.

Still, if after all that it got his seal of approval then that's more than enough for my GAS to be working some overtime!

(BTW, did I tell you that you've got THE EXACT guitar I am jonesing for?;))
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

Interesting review. I'm not a big fan of straight (near enough) strat copies. I'd rather just buy a real strat if I was spending that kinda cash on that type of guitar.
But then, you've already got the UBER-STRAT anyway eh?! :)

Love the neck on that Charvel BTW. I'm gonna have to get a guitar with a fretboard like that.

It is a real strat but w a Floyd Rose and locking nut. Really very inexpensive. True I have to EJ strats but these will get just as much play time!

It's routed HSH, the Charvel guys KNEW this was going to be their "platform" model from the get go so even though it's HH it's HSH routed.

I also like the black single ply matte pickguard, from a distance it looks almost as if it's rear-routed.

If it were me I'd probably change it to HSS (the DK3 Dinky style) but that's just me not really jiving with a bucker in the neck of a 22er (I prefer either SC in 22ers or buckers in 24ers ;))...

Well, Mike did say when he checked it he was actually ACTIVELY looking for any imperfections, he himself said that under the look of a casual observer most would have gone unnoticed.

Still, if after all that it got his seal of approval then that's more than enough for my GAS to be working some overtime!

(BTW, did I tell you that you've got THE EXACT guitar I am jonesing for?;))

I'm going to add a coil tap so no need to put a single coil in there and ruin the look of this beast! I wasn't exacly casually observing it. I did examine each one closely for imperfections. Short of taking it apart, I examined everything else. Opened the back cavity and lifted to pickguard to have a lookie. Everything was in order. Great guitar.
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

He did, the San Dimas :9:

That's the So-Cal.

Wait a minute, does that mean you bought two?
Oh man, I really hate you right now (in the best way possible naturally :D)
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

Only one gripe so far. The allen wrench holder doesn't come mounted on the headstock. It's in the accessory pack. Tentative about mounting it myself. Don't want to screw it up!
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

Only one gripe so far. The allen wrench holder doesn't come mounted on the headstock. It's in the accessory pack. Tentative about mounting it myself. Don't want to screw it up!

I've only ever had one guitar with the allen key holder on the headstock, and I took it off.
What's the point in carrying allen keys around with you?
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

When you are rockin a charvel like these, you have on either skin tight pants or spandex, so you have no pockets!!! :lmao:

I think the holder on the headstock is a cool idea so you can change a broken string or make and adjust in the heat of battle.. That and Im such an 80s metal guy (as you can prolly tell from the first sentence) that the holder reminds me of my 80s kramer and the charvels from those days..
 
Re: My Charvel Production Review Of The So-Cal

Spandex pants generally doesn't have pockets. And spandex is what these were made to be played in.
 
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