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2009 Charvel USA 'Pro-Mod'

"Scratchy"

#005706

When Fender bought Charvel, they released some great stuff, then things went quiet for a LONG time. Not great if you're a Charvel enthusiast. When I heard that these USA Production Models ('Pro-Mods') were being released, I was almost giddy. They issued a couple of models; scratch-plate, no scratch-plate and a tele. All sported decent hardware, were screwed together well for, as I remember, $999. Which isn't a lot for a quality USA guitar. Aah, just LOOK at it. Beautiful isn't she? I traded my USA Strat for this, and was very happy that I did, as I was going through a strat-hatred phase. This one was a standard colour (they released loads of them as limited edition colours), and was been kept completely stock. Two DiMarzio humbuckers (an Evolution in the neck and a Tone Zone in the bridge), which worked together nicely. The trem was an original Floyd, but was one of the import versions. I had no problem with that at all, except that the arms on these can be a little sloppy, so I replaced it straight away with a proper Schaller German one (including the collar). Felt every bit as good as a German Floyd afterwards, and the tuning stability was spot-on perfect. The neck on this guitar was ABSOLUTELY great ... one piece of oiled maple (so no seperate board) with a skunk stripe. A nice chunky C shape. Beautiful. Fretwork was very, very good for a production line guitar, with no snags or rough bits, and the most delicious rolled fretboard edges. Seriously, this is a GREAT neck, and they're consistent too ... grab one of these and you KNOW its going to be good. These guitars caused quite a fuss when they were first issued by Fender. Its easy to see what the fuss was about.

I traded this with an internet-buddy for the most beautiful handmade Jaden Rose guitar ("Blu-Tack"). The fact that this ($999 new) is now tradeable with a £1,600 handmade luthier guitar (... that's over $2,500 at today's prices) illustrates clearly how much these USA Charvels punch above their weight ... they really are THAT good. I will sleep soundly in the knowledge that we BOTH got a good deal on that trade. I now need another one of these ... the eBay search has begun.