Charvel 625F Acoustic/Electric

I found mine in a set of guitars being sold by the widow of the former owner. He played professionally and I was told he favored his 625F, both for unique and rare appearance (no sound hole) and it's durability and sound.

I'm a songwriter, and added it to my collection for the same reasons the previous owner did.

I've found it very flexible offering a wide variety of sounds, depending into what you plug this beauty.

The action is very good, balanced and it has no flaws that I can find. The finish is incredible, the pegs light (after an hour of intense play, requires a little tuning adjustment for stage performance, but not for writing.

I think it was made for live performances...look, mystic, unique style. Hardware will stand a lot of play. I've found it very reliable.

Don't have a clue

I've played for 25 years, own several (too many to mention) guitars and the only thing I wish is that I could find another. I have found this to be a very rare instrument. I've been offered $1,200 US but only paid $525.

This guitar is a bit of a rarity & I've really struggled to find information on it but here's what I have found out via www.jcfonline.com & other owners.

Made between 1994-1995 in Korea. Top is figured Maple with Mahogany back, sides & neck & a rosewood fingerboard. It has an under-saddle piezo pickup & an active pre-amp with volume, bass, middle & treble. Binding, headstock logo & fret dots look very much like abalone but I'm open to them being synthetic. Tuners are Grover style (possibley grover made), branded Charvel & gold in colour. The whole neck, headstock & body is also bound in white & a thin slice of black.

The most striking feature is the lack of soundhole....yep, that's right NO SOUNDHOLE! The front of it is just a lovely piece of figured maple, in my case stained a deep purpley-red.

Size is.....um...about the size of a classical. It's quite deep, certainly deeper than many modern electro's such as Crafter's & Yamaha APX's but it's not very large overall. 39cm at it's "butt" & 22cm at the "waist" with a maximum depth of 11.5cm.

The neck is a narrow "v" which feels a little small for an acoustic but certainly makes it easy to play, especially first position chords.

Unplugged it sounds a bit thin, this is obviously due to the lack of soundhole. It's fine with chords & even for bedroom practice but it's certainly not up to unplugged busking or even being mic'ed....of course this is made to be amplified.

Plug it in & you instantly get an improvement. It still has that Piezo "ping" sound, which is probably a combination of the pickup & the guitar's natural sound, but it sounds much fuller. The onboard pre-amp helps to even out the sound & works extremely well & the lack of a soundhole helps to keep feedback at bay.

The sound of the guitar will depend greatly on what you plug it into. I'm using the clean channel on a Laney LC-30 which is extremely clean. Although the onboard EQ is very good don't rely on it....you need to use a combination of the guitar's & amp's eq to get the best sound or alternatively use a dedicated acoustic amp or PA.

I've also used it through a POD Pro into my PC for recording, again it's no good using an existing sound I had to create some patches especially for the 625 to let it really shine.

Ideally I'd like the sound of a mic'd acoustic but that ain't gonna happen with this....it does a great job though so.....an eight.

I got the guitar second hand from ebay so I can't really comment on the factory finish but despite it being over 10yrs old & obviously abused by the previous owner it plays brilliantly. The binding is secure, the frets still in place & even, in fact it is brilliantly made....superb.
I removed the pre-amp recently to check inside & I couldn't see a single speck of glue... it is much tidier than a lot of modern, expensive, handmade guitars & it is never seen because of the solid top.

The saddle is a single piece of (I assume) plastic but looks almost carved to aid intonation....& it is spot on! I've tested the intonation on a boss, aria & the in-built POD tuner & it is very, very close.

The tuners aren't great but they seem to be ok for general use, they slip a bit when transported in a case or if they get a knock but not much more than most.

As mentioned this is second-hand but it is still in pretty good condition & the intonation & structoral quality are fantastic.

The guy I bought this off had been using it regularly for busking round europe (with an amp I presume?)so it has seen quite a bit of action but......the neck, once the truss-rod was tweaked, was straight & true, the electronics crackle-free, the finish unblemished & was generally in great condition.

I've since adjusted the action a little but it is basically untouched. It seems very well made & I can't wait to give it some decent gigging. I'd be a little apprehensive about damaging it but more because of drunken idiots & roadies than because of the build quality.

The Charvel that made these is long gone & the acoustics are like hen's teeth to track down but there are other resources such as the Jackson/Charvel Forum.

I've been playing for 15yrs or so, some professionally mostly not though. This was bought to replace my very first guitar an E-Ros jumbo acoustic (which plays & sounds amazing for such a cheap bit of junk). I play mainly FX heavy electric but wanted a reliable electro-acoustic for recording & live use. I looked at Yamaha CPX's, some Crafter's & Ibanez Talman's but when I saw this I HAD to have it....it is sooooo pretty, hell even my girlfriend thinks so!

It was a gamble buying something without trying it or being able to find any info but I'm glad I did. I hope this will help other's who can't find anything on these great guitars...go on buy it, you know you want to ;-)