Charvel have built an awesome guitar.
The neck is the star of the show. The profile is perfect; Thin enough to feel fast but not too thin, the edges of the fretboard are beautifully rolled and the frets are exactly what this guitar needs. The finish on the back of neck is like silk, it almost feels unfinished although it's sealed with hand rubbed polyurethane. The feel of it is the smoothest finish I've ever felt on any guitar neck giving zero resistance when moving up and down.
The ebony fretboard is beautiful and surprisingly uniform in colour. There is some very mild striping in the colour but its very faint and after oiling it virtually disappeared leaving a beautiful, rich dark colour.
The fret ends needed some gentle smoothing during the professional set up that this guitar needs after unboxing but this was not excessive and can easily be contemplated as part of a normal new guitar set up.
The compound radius feels so good to play. 12" at the bottom end, flattening out to 16" at the top. This really makes a difference and is just another detail which makes this a really great guitar.
Hardware is great, everything works well and the Floyd Rose FRT1000 is certainly not the worst version of the FR tremolo.
The pickups are again, perfect for this model and style and they sound amazing. The 'Flat strat' single coil pickups feel noticeably easier to play without the pole pieces sticking up (hence the name 'FLAT Strat' and they sound well balanced with the bridge humbucker which is itself EXACTLY that sound I wanted for this guitar - the perfect choice. These Seymour Duncans are suited so well to the guitar that they will not ever get swapped out or upgraded, they suit the style perfectly and sound amazing.
Paint, fit and finish are perfect and the 'Lambo Green' colour is sublime. In low light it's a simple, classy dark green which looks very nice next to black plastics and hardware but get it into direct light and the colour comes alive. It really is an amazing paint finish.
The weight of the guitar is also perfect. Just heavy enough to feel significant without feeling too heavy and it's a joy to play hanging around my neck.
Charvel (Fender) have done a really good job with this guitar and although it did need a set up from new (most mass production guitars do) it now sounds and plays exactly the way it should and doesn't strictly need any modifications or upgrades.
The only upgrade I can see in the future would be a Schaller Lockmeister 6 tremolo and then this rock machine will be to me, perfect!
Well done Charvel !
