Charvel Limited 88

Even though it only has a single pickup and volume,this guitar rocks beyond all the others that I own.And I own alot.Mainly vintage Kramers but this instrument puts all of them to shame.Ive played alot of different Charvels including a Sam Dimas and this guitar is by far the finest that Charvel has ever produced.

I do have to admit that the factory jackson pickup was - well lets just say that I installed a dimarzio evolution and I no longer have any complaints.

Words can not explain the action on this guitar. Ive been playing for 23 yrs and this is the finest yet.

This guitar could withstand anything that you can throw at it. Just remember one thing--the necks on these guitars need special attention,keep the neck oiled at all times.

I have had no problems from this guitar.

Like I mentioned earlier,I own alot of vintage guitars,I have ran across alot in the 23yrs that I have been playing.So as long as I have my Marshall,Rocktron,and Charvel,I will continue to rip it apart.But I am always on the lookout for another.If something was to happen to the one that I own--I would more than likely cry like a 3yr old who just craped himself on the playground.My hats off to Charvel for producing this fine guitar.

THE CHARVEL MODEL 88 WAS MADE IN 1988.ONLY 1000 GUITARS WERE PRODUCED AND THEY CAME WITH A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY FROM GROVER JACKSON.MINE IS #0557 AND IS IN MINT CONDITION.THE SINGLE REAR PICK-UP IS CALLED A WIDE BAND PICK-UP.THEY CAME ON OTHER MODELS AS WELL BUT I HAVN'T SEEN ANY SINCE THE 80'S.IT'S A REVERSED HEADSTOCK WITH 22 NICE WIDE FRETS. THE DEEP CHERRY-TOBACCO LIKE SUNBURST IS STUNNING AND I WOULD FIND IT ON ANOTHER GUITAR

THE THING THAT IMPRESSED ME MOST ABOUT IT'S SOUND WAS HOW IT SOUNDED PLAYING MELLOWER STUFF (IN SPITE OF HAVING ONE PICK-UP).THE FIRST SONG I EVER PLAYED ON IT WAS "LITTLE WING" AND IT BLEW ME AWAY.BY BACKING OFF THE VOLUME AND REDUCING THE GAIN IT REALLY SOUNDS SWEET.FULL UP,IT DOESN'T HAVE A BONE-CRUSHING METAL TONE BUT MORE COLORFUL WHERE PICKING NUANCES AND SQUEALS CAN BE HEARD. REALLY GOOD SOUND FOR GIBBONS,GILMORE AND OTHER TONE-RICH PLAYERS.

THE ACTION WAS GREAT RIGHT FROM THE GET GO.LES PAUL TYPE ACTION WITH THE RHOADS WIDE NECK.ACSESS TO THE UPPER IS GOOD CONSIDERING IT'S A BOLT-ON. AFTER IT WAS ABOUT A YEAR OLD I HAD TO READJUST IT AS IS WITH ALL NEW GUITARS(I DON'T THINK ANYONE HERE WILL HAVE THAT PROBLEM).THE NUT I BELIVE IS GRAPHITE AND SEEMS FLAWLESS.THE LOCKING MECHANISM IS BEHIND IT AND CAN BE OPENED WITH A DIME OR PENNY(NO ALLEN WRENCH!).80'S JACKSON TREMELO.

I DON'T KNOW HOW DURABLE IT IS 'CAUSE DON'T PLAY IT OUT.

CAN'T HELP YOU HERE.

My only complaint is one pick-up and a single volume knob.You can't butcher it up because it's rare.However it's still surprisingly versitile and probably wouldn't look as cool with two pick-ups instead of just one angled pick-up. I would still rate it as a 9 or 10 even today.I'm thinking of sending it to my teenage daughter but wanted check on it's current value.If anyone knows the blue book value please post it.

This guitar has a mohogany dinky style body, reverse headstock,
22 jumbo frets, shark-fin inlays, and obviously non-stock
original floyd rose tremolo unit.
one pickup- a seymour duncan double coil(an awesome one).
I don't think it was stock either.
The serial # is 0590.
I have heard they only made 1000 of these guitars.(?)

With the lone double-coil, of course, it is most suited for
heavy-metal type music, but with different settings on
my digital modeling amp, I can adjust to play what I want-
EXCEPT fender twangy stuff.(I use my glorious '75 strat for
that).For what it has, it it sounds great. no hum.

This guitar quite possibly has the fastest lead neck I have ever
played in my life.
I have been playing blues/rock/hard rock/havy metal for 18
years and have played hundreds of guitars, and owned 50 or 60
of them, and this one has sub-millimeter action with no buzz.
All hardware seems top-notch. A very well-built instrument.

This guitar has given me no problems since I have had it.
(about 6 months).

I had no idea what model this guitar was until I contacted
jackson/charvel and gave a serial# and description .
It took about 3 weeks, but a nice fella named Mike e-mailed
me back and told me it was a limited 88.

The only thing I don't like is the single pickup config.
But, I will not cut this guitar up.
It plays better than any PRS or gibson I have ever played.
Even though I paid only 200.00 for it, it would take a
hefty sum to pry this guitar from my hands.

Made in 1988, don't know where, but I guess in Japan. It's got 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard with sharkfin-inlays, oiled maple neck (bolt-on), the body is dinky-style, one-piece mahogany with a beautiful tobacco sunburst finish. One humbucker (Jackson USA) with the Jackson je1000-gainbooster (great overdrive), one volume pot, and an on-off-switch for the gainbooster. The finish used to be black with a license Floyd, but the previous owner had installed gold hardware and a gold Original Floyd Rose tremolo(!). It's got Schaller tuners and straplocks. Don't know about the scale, but I guess the the frets are jumbo; they're extremely comfortable to play. I also got a case included in the price, which was a very nice thing to get. Also, it's been owned by Nirri Niiranen from Stone (my favourite), so I love it also for that.

Because of the je1000-gainbooster, the guitar is just the one for speed, trash and death metal. I run it thru a Rocktron Rampage combo and a Zoom 505. The overdrives sound heavenly, unfortunately though, the gainbooster causes a helluva lotta hum and unwanted noise; maybe I should buy a noise gate...? The je1000 must be turned off when playing clean sounds, cause it makes even the clean channel sound like a blues driver; good thing I have an on-off-switch... might get in handy...

The string action could be better, but it's not bad still. The gainbooster had been set to "full blast" - excellent for me. Since it's been used in 90-92 in Stone on numerous gigs and studio sessions, it's got a few scrapes, but they are quite small anyway. The bar is to be changed, since the gold finish has worn off, and it can't be tightened as much as I'd like to... Still, it's comfortable and almost makes me drop down on my knees every time I see the gorgeous finish... Beautiful!

Haven't gigged with it yet, so I can't say.

Never dealt with 'em.

I've been playing for some four or five years (no so actively all the time). I am a rhythm guitarist, so it's no solos for me. Since it's gotta bolt-on neck, it's joint isn't that comfortable as the one on my bro's neck-thru, but it's great for me since I don't play solos. Should it ever be stolen, the guy responsible would live the rest of his life in agonizing pain - both two seconds. I love the finish, the electronics and the Floyd. The drawback is the hum, but with a noise gate, I'll get over with it. I paid only 3000 FIM for it (about 500 USD or even less), but I think it's of much more worth. I would never sell it for anything.
My number on the neckplate says "0989", so anyone familiar with the Limited 88, please tell me how many were manufactured really? I've heard that: A) 200 B) 500 C) 1000, which one is true?

Well, I finally got my hands on another one of these. Some guy read my other review where I said I'd like to buy another one, and he sold me his. It's the exact same guitar as the one I described in my other review, except this one came with the original neckplate, which I was very happy about. However, now I'm confused again about how many they actually made. The serial number on this one starts with zero, but it is way above 200, which makes me wonder if they did indeed make 1000 of them after all, as I first was told. Anyway, this one did not come with any case. In fact, I had to send my case to the guy for shipping. This guitar is not in nearly as good a shape as my other one. I only bought it because it is a rare one, and I like the style of it.

This guitar has some problems that I am still working out. The sound is not good at all, even after installing a Dimarzio Distortion in it. I think the potentiometer is bad. So I can't judge the sound of this one. My other one sounds great, though.

I'm sure this guitar was just fine from the factory. However, it had so much damage when I got it, that I had to replace the neck with one off of another Charvel that I have. Fortunately, I own many of the old Charvels, and parts are not a problem for me. The headstock had been broken off and repaired, there are pretty large areas where it looks like it's been bashed against a wall or something, and it was missing some of the original hardware, which I also replaced. The nut had been cut for a left-handed player and a strap button hole was drilled in the lower horn. Due to the nut problem, when I took off the locking nut mechanism and re-strung the guitar, the low E string wouldn't stay on the nut, but kept sliding off the neck completely. That's when I just took the neck off and replaced it. Even though it now doesn't have the cool reverse headstock and sharkfin inlays that it's supposed to have, it now plays very well.

This guitar looks like it's been to hell and back, and it's still playable, though not great to look at. Once I get the electronics problem sorted out, it'll be one I play often.

Never dealt with them.

All the info that goes here is in my previous review. I would like to say again that if there is anybody else out there who would like to sell one of these, send me an email.

This is a correction to my previous review of the Limited 88. I have been searching for other information on this guitar for months, and only just now came across some. On another website, a guy has one displayed and he apparently sent a photo to Jackson Guitars asking what the heck kind of guitar it was, because he also couldn't find out much about it after having one for 10 years. He got a response back from somebody named Kevin at Jackson who owns 3 of these guitars. In the response, Kevin says that these guitars are very rare and hard to find, and in fact, they only made 200 of them, instead of the 1000 that I stated in my review. So I stand corrected if this info is true. That certainly explains why I have only seen one other one, and why I couldn't find out much about it. Kevin also stated that these guitars are worth around $1500 today, so I guess I got a steal. ($450) Anyway, the person I bought the guitar from told me they made 1000, so that's the only info I had on it. Sorry for the mis-statement.

The Charvel Limited 88 is a limited edition strat-body guitar which was made in Japan in 1988. There were only 1000 of these made, and from what I understand, they came with a certificate stating this, and the number of the guitar. Of course this item is long gone on my guitar, which I bought used, as is the original neckplate on the back. So I have no idea what number mine is. The body is African Mahogany, and is a gorgeous tobacco sunburst color. This guitar is very similar to the "Model" series, except that the body is the "Dinky" style, which means it's a little smaller and with deeper cutaways than the other strat-type bodies. One other main difference is that it has a reverse headstock, which is very hard to find on any Japan-made Charvel from the 1980's. The LTD 88 came with one passive pickup, and one volume knob...that's it. Just like the Model 2. The pickup was a Jackson J-95, and it sounded terrible. I replaced it with a Dimarzio Distortion, and now it sounds great. It also has the Jackson Floyd Rose Licensed double-locking vibrato, which was made in Taiwan. I prefer the USA-made Kahler systems which came on many of the old Charvels. But this one is alright. Tuners are the standard Jackson Gotoh type, and are very smooth and tight. The neck is also the standard bolt-on neck which was used on the entire "Model" series. These necks are wide, thin, and great for easy, fast playing. I also received with it the original case, which is not in as good a shape as the guitar is.

I love this guitar for fast leads, and the sound is rather bright and trebly. Clearly, there are not many different sounds you can get out of this guitar, since it only has one pickup, and no tone knob. But I bought it for heavy-type music, and it fits the bill well for that. I use old Marshall amps (1971 100 watt, 1969 50-watt plexi, and 1977 Mark II 50 watt) and the POD amp modeler. I really love the way this guitar looks with it's unique tobacco sunburst see-thru paintjob, and the reverse headstock. It plays really great as well.

I don't know how well this guitar was set up at the factory, as I bought it used. It has no flaws that I can see, and everything is very tight and well put together, which is typical of the Japanese Charvels made in the 80's. The mahogany body with the finish they put on this guitar is really attractive to look at.

I'm sure this guitar would stand up to lots of live playing, as I have many other Jap-made Charvels which have been used for that purpose. All of them are rock solid, and this one is no exception. The finish is really durable too, as is the hardware, with maybe the exception of the Jackson Floyd copy vibrato. This vibrato looks rather cheap and breakable, and is nowhere near the quality of the USA made Kahlers that came on many of the old Charvels. You should never gig without a backup guitar.

I've never contacted Jackson guitars, but if I write about one more good review for them, I'm going to start asking to be put on their payroll. (just kidding) Seriously, the parts for this and other 80's Charvels are just not available any more, so the only way to get parts is to buy pawnshop Charvels, and strip them down for the parts. There are many of them available, although there are not many LTD 88's.

I've been playing for 23 years. I have around 30 guitars, including the Charvel Model 2, Model 3, Four Model 4's, a Model 5, the LTD 88, and Two San Dimas Jacksons. I also have a large amp collection, ADAT Studio, and more. The LTD 88 is one of my favorites because of its' rarity and good looks. It also plays fantastically...even better than many of my other Charvels. I do wish it had the Kahler vibrato instead of the Jackson Floyd copy, but I'd buy another one of these in a heartbeat if I could find one. If anybody else out there owns one of these guitars, and has any other info on it that I don't know about, I'd love to hear from you...especially if you'd like to sell it. I've only seen one other of these guitars besides the one I own, and it was not for sale. I do know also that there is a Jackson LTD 88 of which they only made 500. It is a denim blue color, and similar to the Charvel. Of course, these are more expensive, as they are USA made. Normally in this section, I go into my rave about Japanese-made Charvels, and how great they are. (which is true) I also usually go on about how many of them there are in the pawnshops these days. But in this case, I can't say that about this particular guitar, because there just aren't many available. However, check your local pawnshop for any of the old "Model" series of Charvels and you can get a lot of guitar for a little money. These guitars were middle to high-end guitars in the 1980's, but can be had now for usually $200 and less, at least where I live. (Austin, Tx)