Charvel 475 Special

1991 Charvel 475 Deluxe
Very dark blue finish, almost black
Bolt-on, 25.5" bound neck with rosewood fretboard and sharkfin inlays
22 super fat jumbo frets
H/S/S J50BC at brige, J200 stacked HBs middle and neck positions
JE1200 Active mid boost preamp
Tone, volume and mid boost knobs, 5-way selector

I play '80s NWOBHM and other '80s metal, as well as some '70s influenced prog and Dream Theater type prog metal with this guitar. It is a shredder's dream! The bolt-on neck helps give a bright attack and a nice Strat like twang to the stacked HBs, which sound like true single coils, only without the noise.

By far my favorite thing about this guitar is the scorching lead sound, I can get a Warren de Martini sound no problem. Although the pickup is rather bassy on the lower strings, it also has a screaming top end in the upper register, to the point it kind of screeches and shreds from a sweeping pick attack, I love it! None of my other guitars have this effect. If your only ambition in life to play a G-rated version of Layla, you might not appreciate it, but '80s metalheads will get it. The crunch sound takes some work with your amp EQ or can sound quite muddy, but when you get it dialed in, it's fine. The J90C would have a better crunch sound, but the J50BC lead sound is so perfect and distinctive, I don't want to mess with it. I find that the half way position for the mid boost knob is ideal, sometimes full blast for leads on the neck J200. Speaking of which, the J200s are great clean or dirty. Position 4 is pure clean heaven, sounds crystalline and hi-fi. The Floyd feels great and is very stable.

The guitar is beautiful with the trade mark sharkfin inlays, funny how some kids today may see the sharkfins as '80s only throwbacks, but every kid wanted them then, I still love 'em. This guitar the sleek jet fighter feel and hardware like the much more expensive Jackson guitars that were made in the early '90s, at a time when there was no such thing as a cheapo Jackson like today.


The only thing I'd like to see looks wise would be a more high end appearance for the rosewood fretboard. This came with I believe Indian rosewood, which sounds great but doesn't look special like say Pau Fero or the rosewood fretboard on a nice San Dimas Charvel. But botton line, the quality of this guitar is very high. The feel of the neck and frets alone is enough to buy the guitar. I really like the active midboost electronics, adds some noise, but the effect is a very hot rodded sound which I love.

This is a stout guitar.

I've NEVER had a single problem since buying this in 1993. Trouble free. So I can't comment on customer support, I've never needed it.

I've been playing for 18 years, this is the meanest lead guitar I've come across. Anytime I want to have my maximum lead guitar, this is the one I take, very confidence inspiring. With the prices of these still being amazingly low, I may pick up another before long just for the hell of it. I really don't miss having a neck thru Jackson, this is essentially the same thing, but I love the bolt-on sound anyway, plus the spacing of 22 frets and the position it puts your neck pickup in produces a better tone than 24 fret guitars.

Late 80's Japanese made S/S/H strat style with liscenced FLoyd Rose Trem. 22 Frets sunburst finish.

Originally had active pick-ups but switched the bridge to a Dimarzio Fred. Very quiet, covers full range of sounds for my purposes - mainly metal/HC and pick to clean ska. Don't really use either of the single coils.

Bought it used, then had it set up and having owned it for over 10 years it has survived well over a hundred gigs and still plays and feels brand new. Finish is superb still to this day, neck is perfect, can't complain about anything.

This guitar has had people fall on it, PA speakers fall on it, fellow band mates fall on it, and more than just a few pints of beer spill on it and it still plays and has held up like it did 12 years agon when I bought it used. I never play without a back up, but it was my main guitar for many years when I was gigging in a H/C band...never failed me.

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Been playing for about 17 years all styles from metal to classical to Atkins Style, and I love this guitar. If it were lost or stolen I would try and find another just like it.

Japanese made Charvel 475 special. I'm the original owner, and purchased in '91 or 92 on clearance I think for around $800. Basswood body,maple top, maple neck, rosewood f.b., je 1200 preamp(mid boost)third knob, schaller tremolo(Licensed Floyed Rose). Serial Number:359504 Red with orange "burst" in center of body. bolt-on neck,"Shark Fin" fret markers. Pickups:1 humbucker, and 2 (single coil or stacked HB, I'm not sure). Controls:3 rotary knobs and a five position flip switch. volume, treble, bass-midrange. Active Pickups/electronics. String locks at nut. Jumbo frets. Hex wrenches for servicing located in holder on back of headstock.

Superb sound for the price. Well know as a shredding machine, BUT if you stop there, you'll miss the excellent dynamic and tonal flexibility, that allow this axe to play many styles from super clean (I mean REALLY clean) all the way to super heavy. Excellent sustain for a bolt-on with a floating bridge, and very even tonal character in almost all positions on the neck. I own several guitars, this is the most flexible, sound-wise of them all. I subtracted a point because of a minor glitch when I first got the guitar - The springs inside which balance the bridge would make an undesirable noise when pivoting the bridge. So, I completely disassembled, put a TINY amount of heavy grease on all spring anchoring points, and put it back together. This completely solved the problem.

I am the original owner of this high quality fit and finish unit. The guitar as delivered was excellent , except for the creaking bridge spings (mentioned under sound) Everything else has been excellent. No other issues at all in many years of playing.

4 years of live playing, and several years of home playing. ZERO issues. If you can play a floating bridge setup with breaking strings, there is no big need for a backup here.

I've never dealt with the company. Even though I had the minor issue with the springs when new, I didn't mind fixing it myself.

I've been playing for 15 years. I have 5 guitars and a fair amount of gear. I wish I had gotten the matching case, but 3rd party one I have looks nice and works well. This is my #1 player because of it's tonal flexibility. I have seen a few of these sell on ebay for $3-400 so if lost this one, I would immedately look there for another. It's hard to find a better axe for the price. I'm not wild about the finish style, but it's OK. When I went shoping I played numerous guitars, including several other Charvel 475's This was my favorite - the "pick of the litter"! An underrated, and underpriced guitar. Get one!