Charvel Avenger

So, I bought this thing on looks alone from Ebay. I must say I was a little disappointed when it showed up. It looked like it had not been played in at least ten years. The frets were tarnished and the strings were rusty. I thought to myself, "I asked for it". So, I took it apart, polished the frets, changed the rusty trem springs, strings and oiled the neck. Anyway, 22 frets, charvel floyd rose licensed single locking trem, one volume control,5 way switch, charvel single coil in the neck, two stacked and staggered (weird) single coils in the bridge. The neck is maple and very slim and fast. Very nice neck! Body (white,rhoads V style)is probably basswood (not really sure but it is soft).

This is obviously made for hard rock, metal. I replaced the bridge pups with a Dimebucker and the trem with a Floyd licensed double locking. It sounds very good now! I do not have buyer's remorse any longer. I run it through a sniper modded GE-7, keeley Metal Zone, samson compressor/gate, yamaha effect processor (for reverb, chorus), BBE 482i, weber mini mass and into a Orange Tiny Terror. I love playing this guitar, if you can find one, I suggest buying it and making a few modifications. You will have a very nice metal axe that sounds like you just paid a grand for. Did I mention the neck is awesome?

Very solid guitar. For being almost twenty years old the finish looks great and after I cleaned it up, it looks brand new.

Please!

I think I covered most of this, but if it were stolen, I would try to find another one and do it all over again. I paid too much for it because I really loved the body and even the lower end Charvels are decent, but I do not regret it in the least. I have a total of $500 invested in this guitar and like I said before, It sounds like a thousand bucks and I have a very cool guitar that you do not see or hear of often!

Solid White, Black factory pick-ups that sound better than they look and they had a Charvel sticker on them (pretty lame), a 5-way selector switch, a black chrome volume knob, Flloyd Rose system installed (was dusty as all hell). I think the neck is Maple Everything else technical about this guitar I can not find any information on. I believe it was made in Japan, based on my research. Made in the Early nineties or late eighties, can't find any information on it, if anyone can, let me know.

The sound from this baby is unique compared to other guitars, I also own a dozen other electrics a Fender Custom Strat, Epi SG G-400 (factory) and LP Custom (with Duncans in the Neck and Bridge) and even these two do not sound as crisp as the original factory pick-ups on it. Clean, the treble string sound OH SO crisp and clean whne the selector switch is on any of the neck positions. Flip the switch towards the Bridge and stomp on your <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=24&k=distortion%20pedal" onmouseover="window.status='distortion pedal'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">distortion pedal</a> and this baby howls! If you want a rich and thick lead, switch the selector back to the neck. As far as the sound goes I have no complaints, especially for the price I paid for it, which was less the money I spent on putting the Duncans in my Les Paul. I play through a Vox AD30VT and sound AWESOME!

It's not really the guitar or the factory's fault, but this guitar has been sitting at a pawn shop for a dozen years. I have yet to get a set-up or new strings on it but I could imagine that it would play 10 times better, my action is too high. Personally, I hate Flloyd Roses, but you can just take the bar off. The paint job on mines is some kind of cheap solid white paint with chips and dents every where and it has a weird stocky 80's look to it, it was pretty ugly when I first laid eyes on it, but dammit that is what attrated me to it as well, recently I painted it myself to look like those new Eddie Van Halen guitars with the black strips going everywhere and now it looks AWESOME! My main quirk with the guitar, is the shape. It's so funky, its not exactly a flying V, I can't seem to find a case for it, and I have to stand up to play it because of its shape I can't seem to get it comfortably in my lap, it won't fit in any of my conventional stands, and I am always hitting the edges on something. The electronics have not given me any problems, unlike almost ALL of my other more expensive guitars

The Neck is my favorite part of this guitar, it's strong and smooth. This joker's got some weight on her, which adds to the rich and full sound. I have to be incredibly careful where I'm walking though, because I am constantly hiting the head or the tip of the body on something, but so far nothing has broken, luckily. She seems pretty solid and durable, I can suspect I will be playing this guitar for awhile or at least until I can afford Gibson Les Paul custom with Blue Burst, I wish... Strap buttons are good, switch and knob are sturdy, stays in tune good, especially with the Flloyd in place. The paint job is very bland the pick-ups look pretty stoopid, so I have to replace them, I just love their sound though. I would definetly not worry about gigging with this one and not have a back-up, unless everyone laughed at how stupid it looks...

It was hard enough finding out online what the hell this guitar was called, I can't imagine trying to find the people who built it. I hear that Charvel went out of buisiness a decade or so ago. But they did a helluva job putting it together, I haven't had anything break or malfunction, yet...

Basically, I love guitars, I have been playing for 2 1/2 years and found this guitar at a pawn shop for $189.00 I had $150.00 burning a hole in my pocket and talked the guys down, man! Once I got home and plugged her into my Vox i realized what a steal I had! Immediatly after playing I researched the internet to found out what it was (it just says Charvel on the headstock). I soon discovered the rich history and the tragic ending of the Charvel buisiness, but it would take another few days of intense research to discover what this guitar was, and ironically, this is the only site that I found that had reviews on it(a whopping 2, not counting mine's). If my Charvy was stolen I'd cry and and quit playing guitar forever, because she is my love. Well not really, but I'd sorely miss her seeing as though she has a history and rare unlike most mass-produced and soul-less guitars these days. I actually love the lack of buttons and switchs on this guitar, it's just a switch and a knob that control everything, and thats fine by me. I love the vibe this guitar gives off, it's so 80's, not in a cheesy way, its not B.C. Rich over the top, or gold-adorned and classy like the newer Jackson's, or widely known like the Fenders or Les Pauls. The sound is great I think, the neck is butter, the frets are wide enough. This is my, "It's-time-to-save-the-freakin-world" guitar, and for the price and value this blows all of my other guiatrs out of the water. My advice, if you see one of these sitting at a pawn-shop GET IT!! It'll be one of your better impulsive buys, I know it was for me.

Randy Rhoads style V
Black Locking Floyd Rose Tremelo
Ultra Thin Neck
Jumbo Frets
Made only 1991-1993
22 Frets
Volume Knob and 5 Way Selector
Single coil at the neck and makeshift humbucker at the bridge [REPLACE IT!]

I have 3 of them and they're great guitars. The black one I paid $150 for, the blue one was $190, and the red one [which is near MINT] was $220. Much cheaper than a Jackson and better in my opinion.

Obviously, these guitars are made for one thing: METAL. I have three Charvel Avengers [red, black, and blue] and they perform above and beyond guitars that cost 5 times the price. The guitar is simple, with just a single coil and 2 single coils pushed together to form a cheapo humbucker. Needless to say, all my Avengers have new bridge pickups installed because the stock ones just don't cut it. Just a volume knob and 5 way switch keep things simple, although I'm a fan of how BC Rich uses toggle/kill switches, so that's something I would add. The neck is EXTREMELY thin and FAST and it's a joy to play, like most Charvels. All of them come with black hardware and Floyd Rose setup which is great for thrashin'.

I bought all mine used for a low price in comparison to a Jackson of the same style. All of them are well put together and I have no complaints with anything. Of course, like any guitar with one, the Floyd Rose can be a royal pain, but you're used to that and it's not the guitars fault. The guitars were made only for a short time, and I find it weird that the three I have all have different Floyds.

No problems at all with the guitars build quality. The paint seems to be of good quality as well. My black Avenger has a scraped up point, and the part where you rest your arm is beat up from someone who I'm guessing played this champ with spiked gauntlets on. For that reason alone, it's worth it!

Never had to contact them, but I have 8 Charvel guitars, a 20 watt practice amp, and a rare 80 watt Charvel head and all of them are bulletproof.

I'm mainly a drummer but I play guitar as well. I've been playing for a few years and I now have 18 guitars, mostly Charvel's and BC Rich's. I use a Marshall Mode Four and a Fender MH-500 Metalhead for 900 watts of intense Death Metal drive. For all my recording and jamming, I always grab a Charvel, be it an Avenger or a strat. There's something about the way they play that can't be topped!

If someone stole my Avenger, I'd just use one of the other 2 I have.. But I'd eventually get another one. The Avenger is the "if you were stranded on an island" type guitar because I doubt I'll find anything else that feels as perfect as this guitar.

The only thing I'd change would be a tone knob and a toggle switch. Actually, I'd just ditch the neck pickup and the 5 way and just add a couple knobs.

Late 80's Randy Rhoads Style flying V by Jackson's sister company Charvel. 22 frets, Made in Japan. Black alder body with bolt-on hard rock maple neck. Charvel single coil neck p/u with Dimebucker rail style humbucker tilted towards the neck on the bass side. licensed floyd rose by charvel with black hardware/

Perfect for metal, no tone knob though, reminds me of the new kelly style jacksons. great bass tone, not so bright like most flying v's. great crunch, yet i think the single coil sounds AMAZING for light "metal style" intros and what not.

bought this guitar from ebay after it sat idle in a pawn shop for 12 years. STILL IN TUNE. pawn shop bought it from someone in 1991 for $597. only problem is, if you dive bomb it once, the strings slip thtough the locking nut. that's ok though, all my other guitars are floyd roses and i just save the bombing for those. if i dont dive bomb, it will stay in tune forever. have had strings on it for over 6 months now, never even had to adjust an intonation job. if it could dive bomb and do that, i would have found the perfect bridge.

i had to replace an input that was filled with dust after 12 years, other then that, i can play al night with no problems. good thick finish, will last as long as not bumped (watch your tips for you flying v guys, none of mine are chipped on any of my v's, but they do go easily!) might be neck heavy, but i dont know since the upper bout is so long my arm rests on it and it balances perfectly. i never play a show with just one guitar, floyd rose or no. i always keep a tuner with a mute function inline with my effects in case i need to ditch it mid song and switch guitars. THE MUTE SAVES YOUR TUBES GENTLEMAN (and ladies), if you have solid state, whatever goes, just expect a pop when a new one plugs in. Very solid and straight hard rock maple neck! i'll check the truss rod and update this if i ever need to move it.

not sure if anyone at the factory even worked there when this was made, either way, havent had to deal with them. parts are nice, but as with any solid body electric, are still a cheap replacement. i recommend everyone learning how to rebuild your own guitars, saves hundreds of $$$$ in the long run. Just have a professional show you first, especially the truss rod.

been playing for about 10 years now, i collect guitars from the jackson/charvel company. if someone stole it, id be ticked, but id just move on to another one of my guitars. it definitely reminds me of my jackson ps-6t (z-shaped kelly model) in sound, but plays (obviously) like a ps-3t (for anyone who's not a jackson buff, that's a randy rhoads!) if i could have anything changed on it, i would only change the input, it's on the lowe bout, but my USA flying v's are on the upper. this allow me to set the V on my leg without the cable poking me. if anyone wants to buy or sell any jacksons/charvels, please email me!!!!