Charvel Surfcaster Bass

Only available in one configuration. Bought mine with a case. Black finish, very, very cool looking.

I really could not imagine playing anything else. I have had mine for 12 or 13 years. Shows wear, tear, and has held me through year after year. Sounds great, IMO. Has a very distinct tone, that I have always thought pleasing, and most people I have jammed with loved it. Whenever I play another guitar, I find myself looking for something that sounds like this guy. Has a very "woody" tone, good mids that make it punch through a mix, and very wide range in tone between pickups.

I have tweaked mine through the years, but action was good from the factory. Had a flawed tone know (slightly bent post), that I have never repaired. To this day, I get no noise from it, which is surprising, given the relatively somple lipstick pickups. I had to raise the bridge pickup quite a bit to get comparable volume from the two. After about ten years the binding on the neck is a tad loose at the very end, but not noticeable until you look for it.

This guy has been used. A lot. I have never needed any repairs. I have not needed to adjust anything but intonation, and that only when changing string gauges. Only reason I would have a backup is if I broke a string during a show.

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Been playing about 15 years. I play a Charvel Surfcaster, Fender MIM J, and an Ibanez acoustic through either an Ampeg B2-RE + SWR Workingpro 4x10, or through my SWR workingmans 12.

This guitar is a part of me, and if lost, I would easily pay double the price to get another.

made in japan.21 frets 4 strings.it has volume and tone and a three way pickup selecter that i had changed so the middle position makes the 2 single pikups a humbucker that made the sound wide and round.it still has lickstick pickups.i got a pre amp from jo malone in australia that gave it a 12db output and it sounds great.body and kneck are standard the finish is burnt orange like sunburst.the body is like a rickenbaker but better it has a jackson bridge and tuners.

ive used the surfcaster for 11 years now 7 of those in a punk ska band and i play in aprog metal band called godnose whitch i use distortion.and i play it in a surf band and a country punk band.sounds great.i use a laney b1 bass amp 1500 watts and i made a 6x10.the surfcaster sounds good in the studio and live

the surfcaster was ok from factory.but i had it setup from ben raynor he re drilled the kneck and gave it a set up it very rarely goes out of tune

from the time i bought it i have never had aproblem with it

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i also own a maton phil manning electric guitar and musicman 2x12.i would buy another one if it got stolen.i had a p bass 76 it was way to heavy.i also tried a musicman stingray.

This bass has two lipstick pickups. One volume and one tone control
that has a push-pull action for an out of phase sound when using both pickups. A three way switch for selecting neck or bridge or both pick-ups. Passive electronics. The body is black with white binding.
The bolt-on maple(?) neck has offset position dot markers, a rosewood fingerboard. The front of the neckplate is black. The whole neck has white binding. Two-on-a-side chrome tuners. Pearloid pickguard. Offset double cutaway body.

I used the instrument for 60-type garage punk. But even when you are not too picky concerning tone, this bass doesn't deliver. It?s sound does not have any character at all and the pickups are very trebly. The only useful sound came when using both pick-ups at once, which gave it kind of a grunge, modern rock (whatever that is) tone ...and I did have a cool amp (Ampeg B15N Portaflex) to use it with. It didn't matter playing live, but I would never use it for recording.

It was well build and set up.

Never had any problems with it.

Never used customer support.

This is the best-looking bass, that I ever saw or owned. Somehow Charvel seems to have mixed lots of influences and it worked.
So, why did I sell it? As said before, the tone wasn't happening, so I wound up using it as a live bass. Since the body is as flat as a Ricky 4001 bass, but much thicker, the bass is heavy and uncomfortable to play, so I gave up using it and found an old Hagstrom bass,that sounded/played MUCH better and looked cool too. So sad.
(I used the surfcaster guitar now and then, and can honestly say that it is playing/sounding much better. I assume they just took their guitar design and made it into a bass, without the neccesary adjustments).

I think they only made these basses for a couple years (80's??). This bass has two lipstick pickups. One volume control. One tone control that has a push-pull action to get an out of phase sound when using both pickups. Passive electronics. A beautiful tiger striped maple top. Bolt on neck. 2 on a side chrome tuners. Offset position dot markers on neck. Pearloid pickguard. Hardshell charvel case (looks like skb made it for them.) Offset double cutaway body.

When I first bought this guitar used for $400. I thought it sounded horrible... but it was just the old flatwound strings that were on it. I put some new roundwounds on it, and it sounds great (fro a $400 bass). The bridge pickup is too trebly too use by itself. I prefer just using the neck pickup alone.

The transparnet orange flamed maple top looks fantastic. The action is low to the neck and perfect, this plays better than alot of basses costing WAY more. Has white binding around body.

Seems durable... i jump up & down and run around while playing with no tuning problems.

who knows????????

Great value for the money. This bass is the COOLEST LOOKING GUITAR IN HISTORY!!!!!!!! I use it to play live. I still use my Fender American Deluxe Precision in the studio, because it sounds a little better, but hey that's a $1000 bass (that doesn't look as cool.) The lipstick pickups, tiger striped maple top, offset position dot markers, and pearloid pickguard look too cool. The design, retro cool styling, playability and good sound make this bass a winner... pick up a used on if you can, you'll love it!