Charvel 650XL

I own 2 of these. The first is a pearl blue and was made in or around '89. The second is metallic black and I am guessing it was made in '91. Both have Active Jackson electronics with mid-boost. Has a Jackson J200 in Neck and Middle Positions, and a J50 (I'm not sure if it's a J50b or J50bc) 5 way toggle switch with a volume, tone, and mid-boost knob. Floyd Rose copy by Schaller and locking nut. 24 big frets. The tuners just say Jackson on them. Neck through body construction. Shark fins inlays (why would you own a charvel or jackson without the sharkfins?) Cream-colored binding on the fretboard. The main difference is that on the blue guitar, the pickup covers have a raised Jackson logo. On the black guitar, the pickup covers have the Jackson logo silkscreened on. I prefer the raised pickup covers. These guitars were made in Japan.

The pickups are really quiet. I have never really found a lead sound that I liked, but I have never experimented much with that. I just turned everything up. It sounds better with distortion than on clean, but the clean sounds are passable. I keep one tuned standard, the other tuned 1/2 step down. I would say that the guitar tuned 1/2 step down sounds much better, so I think this guitar is better suited for that. Neither guitar is very good for playing harmonics. However, for metal rythm playing, this guitar is great.

The blue one I bought new, so it was great. I raised the pickups a little. I put 10-52 strings on, which some say is a little heavy for a Floyd, but the tech that did it adjusted the bridge and added some strings. The guitar plays just fine. Minimum of fret buzz. The black one I bought used, and the previous owner did not take very good care of it. The neck was extremely bent, lots of chips in the finish, the 19th fret was popping out and needed replaced anyway. Some of the parts are rusting, however, that can be fixed with a little oil. No big deal. However, in a testament to how good these guitars were made, the tech I took it to, (same guy as worked on the blue one) was able to fix the 19th fret, file down the sharp edges on the other ones, set the black one to have the same measurements as the blue one and did it all in one hours time. (Thus saving me lots of $$$$ on labor). I was able to help get rid of some of the finish problems with lots of Maguires #7 car polish. Also, on the black one, I had to modify the string gauge to accomodate the alternate tuning. The black one uses 52-48-42-18(p)-14-11. The action is very low and even, due to design of Floyd Rose. The drawback is that Floyds do not allow you to develop finger strength in your left hand. If you do not believe me, try playing barre cords on a floyd, then on a fixed bridge. However, the low action allows for extremely fast playing. Also, the black guitar seems to have better sustain when I use the whammy bar.

I can only rate the blue one in this category. I would say that if you take care of these things properly, they are very reliable and durable. As described above, the black one was transformed from a mediocre guitar to a really good one in short order and a minimum of work. So I would say that helps the reliability/durability. However, the binding does yellow with age, but this in no way affects playability, so who cares. Also, the body is made of Poplar, which does not take kindly to have screws screwed in and out often. This really sucks since the active electronics require a 9-volt battery which has to be changed every so often.

At one point, I thought the pickup was going microphonic. (It just turns out it was the setting on my Boss Metal Zone pedal) I wrote to Jackson customer service, and they told me that the parts I would need are still being made and overall were very cool about answering my questions about the guitar. They could have easily said that they make Jacksons and don't deal with Charvels, but they understand their legacy.

Overall, I would rate this an 8 1/2. This guitar can take punishment, plays great for metal, ok for other styles. This guitar can be whipped back into good shape in relatively short order. This guitar just looks awesome, really well made for a Japanese guitar. Some minor irritations due to use of soft Poplar wood. I have both loved and abused (through playing) these guitars, and they have not failed me. I searched 4 years to find the black one, so that shows that people don't want to give these guitars up. When and if I have money, if I find more of these, I will buy them up.