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Charvel Pro Mod San Dimas worth it?
- Thread starter thorstiborsti
- Start date
1.) The copper shielding significantly reduced the extraneous noise I’d been getting before when applying high levels of gain. Now, I can throw in a fuzz or a Metal Zone level of gain, and it’s not any noisier with the Charvel’s preamp engaged than a typical guitar with, say, a hot passive humbucker. The noise that’s left is much reduced, the kind of thing that’s easily drowned out by playing, or with a noise gate.
2.) I replaced the factory strings (which were still pretty shiny and hadn’t had much playing time on them) with a fresh set of DR Pure Blues 45-130. Vast improvement in feel and musicality. I ran through all my nascent five-string stylings, and they cover all the bases. I need to make a note of the factory strings and make sure I never buy those for this bass.
A week ago, after i return the brand new Fender Player P which has poor QC , i side by side compare/play within Fender Player Plus PJ, Sadowsky Metro Express PJ and Pro Mod IV PJ , And i check out with Charvel.......
Update on my Pro-mod PJ.
The roasted neck are rock steady, i believe those reinforce rod are help a lot too.
My action setup on compound radius fretboard a bit different compare to my others bass guitar, i found both EA string set 1.6mm and DG string 1.5mm ( 17th fret check point ) give me the best fretting feel from 1st fret till last fret.
Unlike 2 Fender player P that i return previously , this bass has are no dirt, wood dust, paper shim or paint left on neck pocket , meanwhile has very nice and clean factory cavity shielding paint work on this unit too.
The tuning machine look pretty same to the set on Player Bass, but feel better quality for me.
Remove the bridge, i can feel it completely different compare to old day both full brass Baddass bridge and China Squier CV himass bridge. So far so good, nothing special .
Playing feel are nice and very close to my Squier Mattfreeman P bass. The neck profile also very close to my cheapo Bacchus J, not slim and skiny Fender J neck profile.
The bass tone are fine, nice and sound like PJ voice, but lack aggressive compare to my previous MOD Squier PJ which has same Dimarzio pickups set but passive ( 500K volume pot + 250MN blend pot ).
Seem Charvel did some tone tweak/bake in voice and make Dimarzio Model PJ sound different as usual.
The passive mode has warmth ,smooth and round tone. On active she sound crispy and crunch. No such blank, lifeless, dull and boring tone like Yamaha TRBX 500/600 YGD pickups and Ibanez bass with BH1/BH2 pickups.
Output on both mode are different , hot on active mode, but problem solve and become equal volume after fully dial back the preamp trim pot .
Honestly, i dont think the stock preamp sound suck at all, with just dial up tiny amount on both treble and mid knob, it sing with nice clarity along with right amount of growl . After the tweak, i can get 6 different usefull voice from it . Once again, stock onboard preamp not bad at all.
The only notable weak point are hiss found on active mode, getting worst once turn up both Treble and MID EQ knob. Not hum city as the lobster shown. After check carefully, i dont think it is cause by factory shielding issue. I success solve the problem with 2 wires connect from each pickups cavity to main cavity. Simple and work flawless.
I dont think this bass worth for $1K , if compare to my CIC Squier Mattfreeman P and Bacchus BJB1RSM. But no others PJ with same price tag (or lower) has stuning look like this Charvel.
The roasted neck are rock steady, i believe those reinforce rod are help a lot too.
My action setup on compound radius fretboard a bit different compare to my others bass guitar, i found both EA string set 1.6mm and DG string 1.5mm ( 17th fret check point ) give me the best fretting feel from 1st fret till last fret.
Unlike 2 Fender player P that i return previously , this bass has are no dirt, wood dust, paper shim or paint left on neck pocket , meanwhile has very nice and clean factory cavity shielding paint work on this unit too.
The tuning machine look pretty same to the set on Player Bass, but feel better quality for me.
Remove the bridge, i can feel it completely different compare to old day both full brass Baddass bridge and China Squier CV himass bridge. So far so good, nothing special .
Playing feel are nice and very close to my Squier Mattfreeman P bass. The neck profile also very close to my cheapo Bacchus J, not slim and skiny Fender J neck profile.
The bass tone are fine, nice and sound like PJ voice, but lack aggressive compare to my previous MOD Squier PJ which has same Dimarzio pickups set but passive ( 500K volume pot + 250MN blend pot ).
Seem Charvel did some tone tweak/bake in voice and make Dimarzio Model PJ sound different as usual.
The passive mode has warmth ,smooth and round tone. On active she sound crispy and crunch. No such blank, lifeless, dull and boring tone like Yamaha TRBX 500/600 YGD pickups and Ibanez bass with BH1/BH2 pickups.
Output on both mode are different , hot on active mode, but problem solve and become equal volume after fully dial back the preamp trim pot .
Honestly, i dont think the stock preamp sound suck at all, with just dial up tiny amount on both treble and mid knob, it sing with nice clarity along with right amount of growl . After the tweak, i can get 6 different usefull voice from it . Once again, stock onboard preamp not bad at all.
The only notable weak point are hiss found on active mode, getting worst once turn up both Treble and MID EQ knob. Not hum city as the lobster shown. After check carefully, i dont think it is cause by factory shielding issue. I success solve the problem with 2 wires connect from each pickups cavity to main cavity. Simple and work flawless.
I dont think this bass worth for $1K , if compare to my CIC Squier Mattfreeman P and Bacchus BJB1RSM. But no others PJ with same price tag (or lower) has stuning look like this Charvel.
I've got one of these basses on the way and I'm curious about this. Could you expand a bit on this statement? Hopefully the pickups are stock Model P & J and aren't neutered in any way. Thanks
After EB group Iii, Ti JF344 and Fender 9050L, now the turn to EB Cobalt Flat 2814.
. Even I load same set of EB Cobalt flat on Charvel PJ lately, the Model P sound still different than my MOD Squier PJ and Squier Matt Freeman P which has model P install too.
I don't think reverse neck pickups sound huge different since I been experience reverse model P on my mod PJ too.
I do believe the tone impact by onboard preamp even passive mode.
Now the Charvel PJ with EB cobalt flat install sound close to Ibanez SR bass with soapar pickups but better open sounding.
No need set the witness point after widen and rounder up the saddle groove. The string did great job if self once tune in pitch.
Fully passive and release Dimarzio Model PJ vibe from the gate ! Aggressive , sparkling and crunchy!
A500k volume / MN 250K blend / A250K tone ( .047 uf cap )
Thanks to @walterw ungrounded blend pot wiring diagram.
A500k volume / MN 250K blend / A250K tone ( .047 uf cap )
Thanks to @walterw ungrounded blend pot wiring diagram.
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Before convert to passive, i am liking with both pickup blend sound in passive mode and solo P sound in active mode. But passive blend pup sound still lacking some crisp upper mid ,meanwhile solo P in active mode sound has scoop out some freq range cause the P sound lacking heft.
Here is the clip from fully passive convert Pro Mod PJ .
Both pickup - Neck pickup - Bridge pickup . Wide open tone knob . Ernie Ball Cobalt flatwound 2814. Direct mic record from Ampeg Rb112 combo along with mild SGT overdrive engage.
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Here is the clip from fully passive convert Pro Mod PJ .
Both pickup - Neck pickup - Bridge pickup . Wide open tone knob . Ernie Ball Cobalt flatwound 2814. Direct mic record from Ampeg Rb112 combo along with mild SGT overdrive engage.
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Thanks, i am satisfied with the result too, no regret on this modification.
That reverse neck pup are essential for Pro Mod PJ V !!! Make the B string sound solid tight on this 34 scale bass guitar .
I think this would help to even out the volume difference between strings at least a little bit so that the fat strings are not MUCH louder than the thinner ones. I would probably still want a compressor, but I still think it would help.
