charvel bass questions

Amimbari is the man to see when it comes to Charvels.... I'm sure he'll be along pretty soon and help you out!

Thanks.

 

Yessir, he'll certainly be the one to provide the information. Give him time, he seldom misses anything Charvel related.

 

no good websites except for audiozone.dk

would I say they were built AS GOOD as the USA counterparts?....yes

would I say they are as expensive now a days as the USA counterparts?....nope

would I recommend anyone who wants one to buy one?...well I'm biased since I have a dozen of them in various forms/colors/configs, and NEVER EVER had a bad neck, crappy knobs/pots that break...etc...NEVER, and also paid minimum dollars for all 12 ( which will be #13 which is on the UPS truck out for delivery today )

if I only owned one, I would say take a chance, but owning many....hell ya I'd endorse them!!!

go look in the "show me your charvels" thread to see many other peoples units, but here is all of them lined up, model 1 thru 4.... ( I just have a bunch of "spares" )

 

I still own a Charvel surfcaster that I bought in 1992, and for me, it is the bass that I measure all others against. This would be the one instrument I would save if my house were on fire. I have installed a Bartolinit pre in it, but it is otherwise stock. To me, it plays most like an Ibanez.

 

the last surfcaster I saw sold on ebay for around 800.00, so ya...keep it around for a while, they are very collectible.

 

Yeah, and the surfcaster was the first "real" bass I ever bought. They have retained most of their resale value, you're right. I bought mine new for about 900, and they routinely pop up for around 7-800 used. It is really a shame they D/C'ed them, I have always thought about picking up another one, before they become really hard to find. They have some of the coolest sounding pups on earth, and with the Bart pre.....damn.

 

jbrew, post the same question in the "show me your Charvel" thread, there's a lot of people already subbed to that one.

I never needed a schematic, or I would already have PM'ed you.
so now my curiosity is at 130% ....what do you need that for?

 

i got it....

if it were me, I would do this and make it easy:



oh silly me...I ALREADY did it....lol

did you outbid me on that 1b on ebay this week

 

ya you got it for a really good deal jbrew, if everything works and the minor scratches are all that's wrong, for s.u.r.e, cause if it was super clean they usually fetch 300 or so with a case.
I stopped at 115 because I would have used it for parts anyway, so I'm glad you got it, cause at least it will get played and that's an even better thing.
and when you get it, you can post it in the "show me your charvels thread"
I have a red model1 with the OEM still in it, and eh, it is a weak pickup compared to a nice bassline or a passive of your choice that suits your needs, but I have different preamp settings in the rack before it get to the amp anyway, so it compensates for the lack of gain anyway.

the necks on these MIJ basses are very nicely glued together, maple to maple or maple to rosewood I have yet to get one that had a non-usable neck or frets for being so old. All of the ones I have collected for these years were all good with no broken nuts or t-rods, failed tuners or bridge saddles yet.

the nut likes 45-100's BTW and sounds excellent tuned to DGCF or EADG.

 

advertising......do you always believe the commercial?

tonewise they are fantastic, gainwise....nope.