Charvel Model 4

left handed model
strat style body
22 jumbo frets
1 volume, 1 tone, 1 mid boost/cut
jackson stock pickups (passive) H/S/S configuration
5 way pickup selector
bolt on construction
basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard
floyd liscence bridge (Schaller) and locking nut
jackson tuners
mother of pearl sharkfin inlays (beautiful)
metallic white finish

everything you need for metal and good quality hardware. i've glad this guitar has a 5 way selector as i prefer it to the 3 on/off switches that other people have. the 5 way is better for quick switching. i would've loved to have a neck through but the bolt on is still great.

an excellent sounding guitar. the bridge pickup sounds huge, especially with the mid control turned all the way up. the single coils are great as well - the neck pickup has an awesome smooth tone for leads and sustains well. clean this guitar performs well too - chords are clear and beautiful. no need to cover the tone with reverb or chorus. this guitar even sounds good through my crappy practice amp.

the mid control is quite versatile. it can go from an extremely scooped thrash sound to a big in your face crunch. i was happily surprised that this worked as well as it does.

i bought this second hand, so cannot comment on the factory set up. that said the guitar came to me tuned (high to low) DAFCDD (same octave on the 5th and 6th strings) and i immediately tuned to standard tuning. for a floyd style bridge this was relatively easy (compared to ibanez bridges, which are horrible) and tuning has held well since.

i knew this guitar would feel good to play on but i was surprised just how good it feels in my hands. the neck is thin and feels better than my ibanez wizard necks. i wouldn't say it makes me play better but it certainly removes any obstructions from playing as well as i can.

all controls worked as they should without any noise. tuners and the bridge work very well. i was not sure what to expect from the schaller (compared to a real floyd) but have been pleasantly surprised as it's stayed in tune very well.

i've only owned this for about a week, and haven't played it live yet, so can't really comment here. the guitar is around 20 years old though, and all parts are original and still working very well.

haven't dealt with them

i've played for 12 years. i have 2 ibanez RG guitars and this Charvel is easily better than both RGs. everything that is good on the RGs (comfortable neck, general ease of playing, good tone) is better on the Charvel, particularly the sound - it blows the ibanezs away sound-wise. i'm also particularly impressed that the stock bridge stays in tune - both my RGs had AWFUL stock bridges and i replaced one with a floyd and locked the other down (couldn't afford a floyd at the time).

as i sidenote i really wonder why people use stock ibanez bridges - maybe it's just the left handed models but i've owned 3 ibanezs (an SA model which i've sold) and all of them had unusable bridges (one floyd liscenced, one edge and a non locking) that could not even hold tuning when a note was bent (yes, all of them couldn't do this). hang your head ibanez!

the only downside of this guitar is it's not a neck through. i will be looking for Model 5 or 6 now. aside from that everything about this guitar is amazing. i had a choice between this and an ibanez roadstar 2 (80s model) and i'm very glad i went with the Charvel. this is what all super-strats should be like.

Alder or basswood Body, bolt-on Maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, Jumbo frets, active Jackson H-S-S pickup config, tone, mid-boost, volume and three on/off pickup switches. Gloss black with Kahler trem.
The really nice thing about the Model 4 is that you can have any combination of pickups, you are not limited to a 3 or 5 way selector switch. A really good idea which for the life of me I cannot work out why other manfacturers don't do this now. Body is a little heavy but nothing serious. Really well made, in fact its a quality piece of workmanship and QC even after all these years (mines an 86) it stands the test of time.

This is where the guitar really shines. Its got sustain and I mean SUSTAIN. I've got set neck Gibsons that don't have the sustain of this thing. Its amazing. Fantastic for hard rock metal and shred with the rear humbucker pumping out some serious tone. The pickups are extemely quiet - the single coils are the quietest I've ever heard. The nice feature as I mentioned is that you can have any pickup combination due to the on/off switches. This is a fantastic feature and makes this guitar very very versatile indeed. I've strung mine with .10s and the sound is perfect for what I want. I mostly play punk/metal/rock and this thing can do them all, very well indeed.

I bought mine second-hand off Ebay. I'd seen these guitars in the 80s when I was a bass player and thought they were strange (i'd seen the model 1 with just the single volume control and that fascinted me, I was used to guitars with loads of dials and switches). I took the plunge and bought one from the states without even playing it. When it arrived the first thing I noticed was the weight. We're not talking Les Paul weight here but I expected it to be lighter. I strapped it on and was immediately struck by how great the neck was. Its absolutely perfect for me and I mean PERFECT. Its slim but not Ibanez Wizard thin. It reminds me of the neck of a Fender Jazz bass with the slim taper at the nut. Absolutely perfect. I doubt I'll find another non-Charvel guitar with such a perfect neck. The jumbo frets are fantastic and make this guitar a breeze to play and combined with the sustain I'm really loving it. I'm really struggling to find fault with this guitar, I've sat and thought about it and can honestly say its perfect. It was bought second-hand but the set up when I got it was great, although it had 0.12 gauge strings on it. I removed them and put .10s on and its great, no lowering of the action at all and no fret buzz.

This was bought second-hand and it came with a factory installed Kahler trem. The problem was, it has the flip catch locking nut but the screws and shims are missing so I need to get some for it. I can't really say at the moment what the Kahler is like but although I like Floyd Rose trems, the Kahler is easy to restring. Good for when you are gigging. Aside from that everything looks solidly built with quality parts. I would imagine it would keep on going forever.

Never been in touch with Jackson, but there are plenty of Charvel fan sites out there so no problem asking questions etc.

If I could give this guitar 11 I would do so without hesitation. I've been playing music nearly 28 years and I have played a lot of guitars, Gibsons, ESPs, Fenders but this blows them all away. The sustain and the fantastic neck are the winners for me with this guitar. The uncomplicated electronics, versatility and overall quality Japanese build are a bonus too. At present its my perfect guitar. I can't find a single fault with it. If it were lost or stolen I'd get another one and not think twice about it. In fact, I want to get another one although I might go for a Model 5 or 6 with the neck-thru design for even more sustain (if that were possible). I am quite surprised at how cheap these go for and they have to be one of the best kept secrets going. Why everyone gets hung up on Fenders and Gibsons when you could own one of these I will never know. Pound for Pound these guitars compare with the best of them and for the money you pay, I garuntee you won't be disapointed.

Nothing more to add here, fat frets, basswood body and kahler trem.
Great for what i need. Active pu's, active mid-boost, SSHconfig

I use this guitar as an alternative to my strats, I need a humbucker
and the choice of combining bridge and neck pu's is just wonderful for leads. I play Fender and Marshall amps, Jensen and Greenback-equipped. I use an Ibanez TS9, MXR dist+, MXR 6band-eq, MXR phase45 and a Jen-wha. Sometimes I hook up to my old lesliespeakercab too.
As a heavy alternative to my bluesy strats it's perfect.

Bought it used, it's 25 years away from the factory.

Solid as a rock. If I had to take only one guitar to a gig, I'd take
my strat.

Never had to deal with them. Do they even exist?

I love this guitar, cost me practically nothing including the original tweed-case with the metal-logo on.

Made in Japan, 22 frets.
Volume and 2xtone knobs, one on/off switch for each PU (cool)
One bridge humb and two single-coil, pretty standard but effective. Pickups are signed Jackson, electronics originally were passive, then active and now passive again..this guitar has a long story to tell! I bought it about 6 years ago but it has been produced in the early '80s I think.
When i bought it the electronic part was a mess, i tried to fix it and i make it passive again.
Don't know anythings about the woods, the neck is bolt-on, we have a Schaller tremolo bridge with locking tuners and everything over there works perfectly because this guitar can keep the tune for ages.

It can do everything you want.
Fit perfectly to heavy distortion but you may also love its clean tone, amazing sustain (whoa, it's a bolt-on neck!) and you can abuse of the tremolo without losing the tune (NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!)

I've also used it to play a light blues and she sounded gratly with the humb and the neck pu: wonderful warm sound, very nice.

Unluckily it's a little noisy, i think there's still something wrong in the electronics. Not so annoying after all, and as i said, i think it's due to the electronics customizations it had to endure.

I loved its action, strings very low on the frets and they don't 'fry' on jumbos. As i said, tremolo bridge and tuners make their work since the tune is immortal.

Well i bought it 2nd hand.
It has been produced in the early early '80s they told me.
It's *perfect*.

No rust, no cracks, no scratches...flawless guitar, looks like it will go on playing for many many years.

I dropped her once (it was a gig and i was drunk..we did stage diving together..) and when i ckecked it i discovered it was still perfectly tuned.

amazing.

this guitar is a rock.

Never dealt with.

I thought i was buying something like a medium quality-guitar, basically i needed it for backup aim, but i discovered it was a GREAT instrument.

Amazing versatile sound, highlander hardware and my finger loved that fingerboard more than the Gibson's one..(i have a Les Paul)!

Great.

i bought it in the 90s and it was made in japan i beleve

22 frets
1 volume, 1 mid booster, 1 tone, 3 individual togle switches for pickups
Basswood body, maple neck, Licensed by Jackson Floyd rose non recessed trem, It's a strat body White with black hardware.

This Guitar playes like a dream. i can get any sound i want out of it from rock, metal, to blues.. I have had tons of compliments on this guitars sound and playing.

The guitar came to me perfect.. no flaws and the only complaint I have is that the volume knob cracks.. so I spray it with lube from time to time..

well i have owned this guitar since the early 90s and had NO problums with it at all other then the crackly volume knob..

I have never needed to seek support for this guitar..

I have been playing 15 years.
i would recomend this guitar to anyone looking.. its just plain and simple a great guitar. I recenlty bought a jackson DK-2. but i know I will not give my charvel up. this guitar will always be next to me.

1987 ( I think) in Japan
22 frets
1 volume, 1 mid booster, 1 tone, 3 individual togle switches for pickups
HSS
active electronics (passive pickups though)
Basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard
Electric blue
Licenced by Jackson Floyd rose, JT6, non recessed
Jackson tuners, model unknown types
25.5", the neck is VERY thin, not flat (i.e not like a wizard II: the profile is curved even though very thin)
I give it a 10. It's a strat body and therefore can't really have 24 frets unless the pickups are spaced differently. For what you paid at the time and what I paid, it's great bang for bucks.

I play anything from classic rock to heavy metal (Punk, Ska, hard rock...) on a Peavey Envoy (40 watts). The pickups are silent enough, but I don't use the Single coils with much gain anyway. The humbucker is a good quality and I don't see anything wrong with it. Chords don't sound good with a lot of gain, it's not extremely accurate but it does the job well enough.
It can get pretty heavy but also have a lot of subtelty on the single coils
There's nothing I dislike. The individual switches make ANY combination possible even though I may coil tap the humbucker at one point or another.
I give it a 9 because obviously it's not DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan, but again this guitar was a rather 'budget' guitar. Still, it's totally great.

The finish is old of course but it aged well. Electric blue is a rather nice color. The actions is EXTREMELY low, but it's easily raisable with allen keys. The neck was perfectly straight, even after 17 years, which is aleays a great thing.
The guitar had no flaws. I'll have to clean up but the pots of course... 17 years is quite old hehe

It sure could do live playing. The Floyd stays in tune rather well, but of course gigging a Floyd guitar without backup is always a risk. The hardware lasted 17 years and it works great, so eh why not another 20! I plan on keep this guitar forever (it was my first)
I trust it and I can depend on it. Keep in mind it's 17 years old and it does need some cleaning, mods etc... For instance I had to solder a wire back on to the jack barrel because it had broke. That's a minor flaw that is totally normal in my opinion for a guitar that old.

Never had anything done it by Fender/Charvel/Jackson. I had it set up for .10 strings but the tech said they wouldn't fit? So I just got new strings and no problem at all with them. I have no idea about the warranty.

I've only just started and it's my first electric. I had heard great thing about the Charvel model series and I decided to jump for it. It was a risk as I had never played it. I absolutely loved it for the first moment. It will be a hassle taking care of it, and I am fully ready for it. I want to keep this guitar for a long time. I'll replace the pickups I think but the electronics seem fine. Maybe I'll add a gain booster as well. Who knows. I love it this way but it's open to mods as well.
The guitar is great this way alreayd. Perfectly metal look, while not overly agressive, great original features, good quality electronics and hardware. What more to ask? It gets a 10, the only 'problems' being due to age.

I thought I'd write a review (I'm in a nostalgic mood) on a guitar I used to own - a Charvel Model 4, reverse headstock, shark tooth inlays, 22 frets, Floyd Rose Locking Floating Tremolo (actually stayed in tune even when smacking the whammy bar). Active electronics (if you have passive then you're a model 3 or less). Made in Japan w/high quality construction. Another important point was the finish-a cracked one!! It was white with dark gray/black cracked finish-it looked like the guitar was dropped off a truck on I-95! Very unusual and quite rare (and actually pretty cool)! Sold it on consignment two years ago for $340. Another point was the ebony fretboard-very durable & nice! The neck had wide frets but thin diameter another nice combo. Decent shredder. Original Charvel case I believe it was manufactured in 1988. Jackson tuners.

Very versatile sound 5 way selector switch w/Humbuck/Single/Single arrangement full "rounded" somewhat stratlike sound. Good for 80's to rocky blues, punk, good metal guitar etc. (but not a country tele sound in any way). Used with distortion, chorus and clean - not noisy in any setting I recollect. Good clean (Charvels had their own tone back then). Versatile guitar-retro look (Reverse headstock & shark inlays!?)

Very nice "custom" finish (that cracked guitar look again). Very good factory setup but I also had it professionally done/setup for my playing (lowered). I had no problems with the bridge-guitar stayed in tune better than any guitar I ever had!! (i.e. Whammy Bar It to Death). Since it had active electronics, the one thing to remember is to bring those 9V batteries to your gigs/shows-although truthfully the 9V in this guitar lasted and lasted like the energizer bunny. The 9v had it own compartment-you had to take the screws out ()a little pain in the !@#, but I liked it better than those breakable flip tabs on other guitars.

Played it live for the first year playing out(cover band) - no problems. Finish was as nice 10 years later as it was when I bought it new(the white finish was just starting to age to a somewhat antique white color just a bit). Dependable good versatile axe (I had to get that 80's handle in somewhere)

Never had to deal with them (Jackson took over the operation a couple of years later)

20 years+ ~5 years in dance/cover, blues and hard rock/metal bands. (Nice interesting mix huh?) I believe it rivals most strat type guitars Ibanez, Hamer etc. but below PRS, vintage Fender Strats, customs but you basically get what you pay for. Nice retro look now, but I moved on to more modern guitars in the 90's or got vintage guitars or sold them too. Guitars I still have: 25/50 Les Paul Anniversary model (my fave), 73 Fender Strat RI, G. Washburn Signature Series USA (like an N4 (24 frets)only more custom w/metallic red finish), 6 string acoustic Yamaha Custom D45 with the nice flying eagle albalone inlays (Buy this one if you can find one-only made for one year with these superb custom inlays, great sound!!!!!), custom Bass (made by a local luthier). Sold a lot of guitars and gear over the years to thin the herd as they say. I wish I kept my 58' Gibson Korina Flying V (not the original but the first RI)they only made 1000 of these in 1983(25th anniversary)I believe. Anyway, the Charvel was just a nice guitar and a durable one at that. Recommended for under $350 a good buy if you like the look especially!

Made in 1989 in Fort Worth, TX, USA. It's got S/S/H pickups with three power shifts; proved to be handier than I thought. The pickups are active, made by Jackson (they're okay, although I'm planning to change 'em to Seamour Duncan Live Wire Heavy Metal pickups).
Body and neck are maple and the fretboard is made of ebony. Jumbo frets, nice to play
White finish, looks pretty cool to me.
It's got a Jackson Floyd Rose bridge, which I'm planning to change to original Floyd Rose.

Jackson tuners and yes, it's locking.

When I have changed the pickups and the bridge, I'll give this baby's features a sure 10.

I play many kinds of metal, from bands like Morbid Angel to traditional heavy metal, like Iron Maiden. I mostly play thrash and speed, though.
This guitar is made for metal. The Jackson pickups do their job, but they could be better, of course. Still, they're not too noisy. This guitar sounds just the way I want it to sound, it's really versatile! If only it had a little more balls, though..

As soon as I can get those Seymour Duncans, this section will get a 10 too.

I have found no flaws whatsoever in this guitar. It works just perfect and nothing I can complain about this section. The person I bought it from had changed the frets about two months before he sold it, but I don't think there's been any errors in the earlier frets. They just wore out too much for him in 13 years, I guess.

This section is definitely a ten.

I've done several gigs with this fine lady over a year's period, and it has never failed me. I play in an active metal band, and we do about 25-30 gigs a year. It keeps the tune just perfect.

I've had this guitar for about 14 months, so I can't really say for sure, but to my experience, it only gets better.

There are a few dents in the body of this guitar, but that's only normal and has nothing to do with it's durability.

I have a 100 per cent trust in this guitar. I've used it without a backup guitar several times on our gigs. If the strings can last the gig through, there's nothing to fear.

Never contacted them.

I've played electric guitar for six or seven years now. This is my number one guitar (the other one is an Epiphone Les Paul). I use this baby girl with a Marshall JCM2000 TLS100 head and two Marshall 1960 cabinets and I tell ya: there's nothing heavier than a Charvel and a two-meter pile of Marshall amplification!

This is a real quality guitar, just as good (if not even better) as USA made Jackson guitars. If it was stolen, I'd hunt the thief down and strangle him. I think no other guitar could do it for me (custom-made don't count :D).

If you can find one of these babies for less than 1000?, buy it. It's worth it.

Late eighties, japanese made Charvel Model 4. 22 fret, strat style guitar, but sans the pick guard. Shark tooth inlays. H/S/S-configuration, with a toggle switch for each pick-up - great idea IMO, why don't they do this anymore? The pu's are active Jacksons, the bridge humbucker a J-50. Active mid-boost. The body wood is maple (I think), and the neck is rosewood on maple. The body is finished in what I think is called "burgundy mist" - a dark pink with a metallic effect. Very nice. The bridge is a recessed Gotoh floating trem - non-original? - which is a very nice trem, perhaps the best Floyd-knock off. The tuners are Jackson. The neck has Jumbo Frets, and not too fat, not too thin.

Perhaps the stock Jackson pu's aren't the best, but they sure can scream. In the bridge position it's full spead ahead, with a great hard rock/metal sound, great for both leads and rythms. The neck pu produces a nice dark and mellow sound, and combinated with the bridge pu you get a clear and distinct clean sound, almost bell like. I hardly ever use the middle pu, so I won't comment on that. I always set the mid-boost to ten when playing dirty with the bridge-pu, and rolled back almost all the way when playing clean. The variety of sounds you can produce with this guitar is truly astonishing, given that you can turn each pu on and off individually. I've been thinking about swapping the stock pu's for some Duncans, but after experimenting with the pu-height I'm not so sure anymore, as the bridge pu has got a lot more bite now, after I heightened it.

I got it used so I don't now about the factory setup, but when I got it, the setup wasn't really to my liking. It was easy to get right though, and now it's very good, nice and low, perfect for my playing (shredding!). The neck is extremely fast. The finish on this one is just perfect, even now it's about 16 years old. Virtually no scratches and only very little play wear. The volume knob was loose and kept falling off, but all it needed was a little tightning. No noisy switches. The bridge is in very good condition aswell, but since I don't think it's original to the guitar I can't say how old it is.

Seems like it's built to last forever, I would definitely trust it to whithstand the hardships of gigging! ;-) Of course I wouldn't play it without a backup, but definitely a very high-quality instrument.

Never dealt with Jackson or Charvel (or Fender for that matter, who owns them now).

I've played about 12 years, and I currently own a Kramer Baretta as well. The two guitars compare well in quality and playability. I'm very happy with this one, and if I came across another one at nice price, I'd probably jump on it. These are very great axes indeed, and they can be had cheap these days - perhaps one of the best bargains on the used market, if you're into this kind of guitar.

Japanese Charvel Model 4, 22 frets, Vol, Tone, and Mid boost. Mini toggle for each pickup instead of 5\3 way selector. Great for muting the guitar, or using all three pick ups. s\s\h pups config. Active Jackson pickups. unsure about the body wood, metallic blue paint(very cool) Neck is maple w\ rosewood fingerboard and white pearloid dot inlays. Strat style w\ Kahler trem. Very good bridge. I was looking for a guitar with locking bridge that i didnt need to clip or clamp the strings into the bridge. The nut has a lock, and the bridge has rolling saddles. The 9-volt placment could been better, maybe its own compartment with a clip, instead of screws.

Obviously suits 80's metal, but great for any other kind of rock. But i mainly play hardcore\pop punk music (thursday, sum 41, lots of indie stuff) I play through a Carvin X-100B head and matching 4x12 cab. Charvel\Dean> electro harmonix big muff pi> mxr octave> boss TU-2 tuner> custom built by me tracking\octave\chorus\flanger pedal(basically a bunch of old boss pedals i wired together inside one big metal case) the charvel is great for anything distorted. but the cleans are great as well. very full sounding, even unplugged. Not a noisy guitar at all, unless your at 10 on your gain, but whats to be expected? No dislikes at all. why would i buy a guitar that sounded bad to me?

well, i got it used so the intonation was the first thing i set up, it was ok, but its always a plus to do it yourself. Pickups were fine, right where id want them. The fret work is great! smooth edges! I can barley feel the frets when i run my finger along the sides of the fingerboard. but this is really a guitar to guitar thing. the one made right after mine might have razor sharp daggers as frets. All the hardware was tight and clean, no rust. I like the fact that there is a regular nut, and then the locking nut is further up on the headstock. Great condition when i got it. its just sad when people let their guitars sit in garages and stuff. who wants a guitar with rust on the frets and shit?? and who would buy it used?

its survived this long so i dont think itll fail me anytime soon. its got the Kahler trem, and i read somewhere that in 86 or 87 they switched to floyd roses, so its old..but its in perfect shape. still trying to find someone to get the age of it, serial is #243965, with the "Ft. Worth, Tx" on the neck plate. I have two main guitars, so when i play one the other is my back up tehnically. but id use it solo if i had to, no problem. string change is a snap since it doesnt clamp the strings at the bridge. and all the points on the bridge that contact the strings are round. so no worries, about breaking a string. i also use 11's so.....

ehh jackson\charvels site isnt very informative..and the fact that the model name is nowhere on the guitar bothers me a bit. serial numbers on the site are only for US models...so.. used, no warranty, but if you own a guitar and cant fix it your self..(aside from a neack braking in half or something) who cares..fix it yourself..$$ saved!

Been playing for about 5 years (i am 20) i own a silver face fender champ amp, a Dean Evo FT guitar, a 1989 USA fender HM (heavy metal) strat (which im selling w\ a hard shell case.. ebay item number 2369095802) a bunch of solid state combo amps, none over 25watts. A BC Rich warlock rave bass, peavy musician 400 head, and lots of other random junk. my room is a pawn shop basically. Id definitly look into getting this guitar again(or something very similar) if it were stolen. Although insurance is a sweet, sweet thing :) if i had to add anything i think id add a switch to turn off the electronics so i could leave it plugged in and not drain the battery. also some LEDs wouldnt hurt the 'coolness factor' but thats just for looks, other than my little silly wants, its a great great guitar..go get one!!!

My Model 4 is a 22-frets beauty, made in USA. Serial number says the year was 1988 or 1989, not sure. Think it's '89. Quality work, I'd say.
Okay, the electronics are the coolest part of this one, I've never seen such thing before: Instead of a 3- or 5-way selector, I've got three power shifts for the pickups. I noticed it was a good system when I first time tried the front and rear pickups together, with the middle one off. The pickups are the original Jackson active electronics (S/S/H), no need to change them.
I've got the Jackson's licensed Floyd Rose bridge, which is pretty good too.
I changed my frets this summer. Got the Jumbo now.

My god. It is true: the best heavy metal guitars were made in 80's! This guitar here is a living proof. The Jackson active electronics are great for riffing, shredding, harmonizing, ballads, blues and stuff like that. I gotta tell ya, when I plug this monster into my Fender amp and Boss Metal Zone pedal, there's no other such thing. Really nice heavy sound.

The variety is pretty good, I think. The sound is not too thin, so you can play blues too with this one. Actually, you can play almost anything with Model 4. Well, maybe not classic..

This guitar is fully hand-made, so no quality breakdowns really. I really like this neck. My fingers aren't the longest ones, but I still can play this. The neck is fast to move around and feels good in your hand and under your fingers. White. Beautiful. Gotta love this.

Yup, this thing lasts. Changing frets once in 14 years really ISN'T that much. Actually I was quite amazed how this one doesn't even cut the strings easily (yes, I do use my Floyd Rose a LOT). That's always a good thing.

Haven't had need to contact them.

I've played since I was a child. This guitar is still the dearest to me. First REAL guitar I bought (after few cheap ones), so I'm pretty much bound to this one. It still serves me at gigs, mostly as a backup guitar (I usually use my Jackson RR3 at gigs). REALLY reliable, REALLY good to play. If only I'd buy a license Floyd Rose, this one would be pretty much perfect.

I just purchased amy mid to late 80's Model 4 w/ s s h pick up configuration finished in flawless blue metallic. I stopped in to the shop to sniff around and found this gem. It was exactly what I wanted. They are all strat style this has the floyd rose. It came with a hard shell case but I had to call three places to find the whammy arm. The toggle switches are different but cool to play with.

I play VH, Kiss, Aerosmith. Its has great sound for what I do. I am still checking out some of the features. I play through a 5150 combo with a grunge pedal.

Action, fit and finish all seem great. I am not that particular so if its off at all I cant tell. Everything is tight and works fine.

Where as this is at least a 15 year old guitar, it seems it was treated like a museum piece. It looks brand new. Absolutely expect to have it always. I have 4 guitars Jackson, Wolfie, Kramer and ths Charvel.

If you are lucky enough to find one of these grab it. Its an awesome instrument and I cant imagine anyone being unhappy with the purchase.

I bought this guitar new in 1986 for #6oo and still use it today.Jap Charvel Model 4, 22 jumbo frets with double active humbucker at the bridge and two singles mid and neck. Controls are volume and two tones, the back tone pot being the active one and 3 switches for pickup selection making it way more versatile than any strat. It has jackson's own floyd rose locking trem which is far superior stability wise than the ones they fit today. It has a rosewood fretboard with sharkfin inlays and it's just a dream to play.

Used it through a Marshall JCM800 with boss pedals until i switched to a GT-5, right into the desk using amp sims and it rocks. The sound of this guitar is hard to equal, bought Ibanez and numerous others and nothing comes close. Any sound i need, i can get it from this guitar, from Floyd to Metallica you name it, i can get it. I can find no fault with this guitar at all, i love it to death...and i'll probably take it with me when i die.

Right out of the box this guitar was set up to perfection. Action, finish, pickups and setup were and still are amazing.

In the 17 years i've played this guitar live it's never let me down, it always keeps it's tuning no matter how much i dive the trem. i know when i go out to a gig i don't need a backup as it's so reliable. This guitar was built to last and it's served me well, if i was to lose this guitar i don't think i'd play again, to say it's become a part of me is an understatement. My wife says i love it more than her....if only she knew.. :o)

Never had a need to contact them in 15 years...maybe i never will.

I also own a Peavey Wolfgang which is almost as amazing as the Charvel, an epiphone Gothic with EMG's in it, a Tokai Telecaster circa 1980 and a 90's charvel that doesn't get used 'cos it's a joke compared to the Model 4.I love everything about this guitar, it's part of me, if it could have anything, i wish it had a twin!! If you're thinking of buying a Charvel, don't buy a new one, they suck. Go find a Model 4 and fall in love...it should be a classic. If it was lost or stolen?? i don't even wanna think about that...i'd look for another, but whether it would be the same as this on i don't know..it's my baby.

I am giving a good guess that it was made in 1987 in Japan. Its got 22 frets. Shark-tooth inlays. Rumour has it that this was the only model made by Charvel that had these inlays. Basswood for the body, maple neck & rosewood fretboard. Volume/Tone/Boost. A very cool feature on this guitar is the 3 mini-togles, you can turn off/on your pickups. The pickups are made by Jackson, S/S/H, active(uses a battery, 9V). The guitar also has Floyd Rose bridge & locking nut. And the machine heads are also made by Jackson.

I play alot of Mudvayne on this guitar, the pickups are good, the single coils have a good clean tone, but the bridge humbucker-..mm, not all the best. But then again, this guitar was made in 1987. But, I own a Strat with a Seymour Duncan SHR-1 Hotrails bridge humbucker, and it is hotter than this Jackson humbucker. However, I don't blame it, technol. increases everyday!. I think I am going to buy a EMG81 for its bridge.

Bass wood(the body) cannot take a beating that much, so it has got some dents, and scratchs, but I don't blame it. My guitar is a red finish. Also, the volume knob had to be replaced before I could take it home because it was jammed. Strange but true!

Well... the guitar has a Floyd Rose, and strings don't break that much, so, I know I can depend on this guitar at all times. Just be sure to unplug your cable out of it as soon as you are done. Or it will drain your battery.

I play this guitar to a Line6 Spider 212, and it just rocks! If your looking for a rare heavy metal guitar, hunt this guitar down!

1986 Charvel Model 4. Pearl white,sharkfin inlays,s,s,h. active 9 volt.Basswood body, very heavy for a strat style guitar.The original Kahler has been replaced with an original floyd rose that doesn't lock at the bridge.Really quiet pickups, the humbucker screams in high gain situations.The best feature is the san dimas neck.If you have never played one,try it.Nice and flat but not too thin like an RG.Real thick rosewood board with jumbo frets and 12" radius feels great when shredding.Heavy body adds to the control of high gain situations.Neck pickup howls and the middle is very clean.

Like I said, very quiet, great gain boost from active pickups.

NECK.NECK. NECK! Best neck ever.Ask any pro player.And can be had for a steal!The finish on mine is Pearl white which aged to a yellow color.Looks well used and has some long clearcoat cracks ocross the top.The floyd rose sucks,and I have been looking for a better replacement used.I keep this guitar for backup as I rely on my Les Paul Custom and strat mostly. But when shredding,this thing is top notch!!!Had an RG770 which I loved,but this neck kicks it's ass!Perfect fit,fast,slick.She may be outof style now as far as looks go,but for playability,she is unbeatable!Anyone that plays it falls in love with the neck immediately!No shit!

Whith exception of the shitty bridge,it's great!Better than the new affordable guitars out there,and the market is flooded with them! Can be had cheap!And the quality of the neck is outstanding!

Mine is a late eighties Model 4, dunno where it was made though. It's a standard 'pointy headstock' super-strat with 22 frets and, 2 single coils, 1 humbucker, 1 vol pot and 2 tone pots. It's also got 3 on/off switches for each pickup.
It came with a Floyd Rose whammy bridge which was awful and I swapped it for a Schaller which was a vast improvement.
Not that it matters really, but it's 'off' white in colour.

This is without doubt the most tonally versatile guitar I've ever owned.
You want Dimebag? It'll do it.
You want Knopfler? It'll do it.
You want Dave Gilmour? It'll do that too.

My only slight complaint is the humbucker could be slightly more powerful - that's the only thing that stopped me giving it 10/10 in this section!

With the exception of the aforementioned Floyd Rose - everything about this guitar is extremely solid and well made.

Only slight problem these days is that the volume pot is very noisy - but it IS about 16 years old!

Technically, it has never, ever, let me down.

The original 'off' white finish is now a bit yellowy but that could be down to years and years spent in various moke filled dives up and down the country!

Never had to contact them.

If you can only ever afford one guitar - try and get something like one of these. It's so versatile.

The only drawback is the pathetic second hand values - I've seen them on E-bay for as little as #120!!!! This may have something to do with the 80's metal design - sadly so unfashionable these days!

It's a lefty 1986 Charvel Model 4. Dot inlays. 22 frets. Locking Floyd Rose trem. Passive electronics. S/S/H pickup config. 5 way pickup switch. Solid alder body. Simple and classy black finish. Nothing excessive.

Well, I got it with the stock humbuckers. The bridge pickup was plently hot and bright but very microphonic. I swapped it out for a Duncan Distortion. Plenty of punch and doesn't squeal like Ned Beatty. Stock single coils are OK. I swapped out the neck SC for a Duncan JB Jr because I wanted more output. I kept the middle SC because I only use it clean and a humbucker there just wouldn't sound right. Anyway, I guess my guitar is an oddity because of the passive pickups.

It feels like a real player. Big frets and low action. The upper frets are showing some wear but it was made 17 years ago. The neck is very thin and has a very flat fingerboard radius. The Floyd Rose trem is a pain to setup (they all are!) but it'll stay in tune once everything is all set and the string are stretched. No matter what kind of crazy whammy antics I do, it'll stay in tune. Pots are clean and the electronics work properly.

These guitars have a great reputation for being durable. The headstock has a crack in it but I don't worry about it. I have no doubt it'll stand up to some hard playing. Besides, it just FEELS solid.

I dunno. Never dealt with 'em.

This guitar quickly supplanted my other guitar as my main axe. It sounds great after a pickup change, plays great, never goes out of tune, and is rock solid. Basically, a great value and a great guitar for just about everyone except folkies and country players. I'm quite lucky to have found one and for a great price.

1986 Black Cherry Charvel Model 4. Made in Japap, active electronics, locking systems, tremolo.

Very versatile guitar. Won Guitar Player "Guitar Of The Year", citing it as most versatile guitar around. Play through Mesa Boogie Tremoverb Dual Rectifier combo amp...it sounds awesome. Very full. Need to play guitar with GHS Boomers. Clean sound is not as good as my 2000 Fender American Strat.

Set up well, but Chuck Levins will provide free tune-up when buying instruments. No flaws.

Very reliable. Need to change battery every so often. Frets are beginning to show age (1987). Very dependable. Again, need to play this guitar with GHS Boomers or strings will break more often than others.

Never had a need

Very good and versatile. You can play anything on it....Jazz, Metal, Rock, etc.... I would definitely buy this guitar again if I could only have 1 guitar. Been playing for 15 years.

http://www.jacksonguitars.com/FlshSite/pages/HISTORY/charvel/M4.html

My Model 4 is 1986 model with dot inlays and
Kahler tremolo. There seems to be two different types of Kahlers used, eventhough Jackson's infopage says only Fulcrum. My guitar does have this another version (I think it's Flyer but I'm not sure...). I prefer this version which doesn't have springs in the back of body like Floyds and Fulcrum. (Hard to describe the design, but you'll see difference immediately if you see this tremolo). It gives better sustain and it is also easier to handle if you for example want to drop tuning.

Basic sound is very much like everyone exepts from 80's guitar with active electronics and locking tremolo but this guitar is anyway very versatile. I think you could find good sound for almost everything. If you need really bright tone this is maybe not a guitar for you. Great guitar for rock and metal.

It was 15 years old when I bought it. It was for sure played a lot but condition is still good. Even frets are still in good condition. These guitars are made to last.

Make sure that battery is OK and you can trust on Model 4! Of course I use a backup guitar when playing live... Strings could break etc.

They are helpful but quite slow!

I've been playing 15 years or something... I have had american made strats, Gibsons, Kramers, Jacksons etc. This is absolutely one of the best guitars I've ever had!

"Super-Strat" style guitar, Made in Japan.
22 frets, Jackson floyd-type locking tremolo.
Active electronics, H/S/S configuration, Jackson pickups, individual on/off switches for each pickup. Master volume, master tone, active mid-boost.
Excellent neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Not sure about the body woods.

Bought it new in 1987. At that time I was mostly playing quite heavy music and needed a tight distortion sound, and the bridge humbucker in this guitar excels in that area, especially with the mid-boost circuitry. I used it mostly with Boss ME-5 multieffect and Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 combo amp.
Later, I've been playing with less distortion, using both crunchy blues-sounds and completely clean sounds, and the Jackson single coils give decent strat type sounds, maybe a bit sterile.
The guitar is not noisy at all, despite of the completely unshielded circuit cavity.
Variety of sounds from this guitar is amazing, you can get almost anything you'd expect from any solid body except for Tele-type twang.
Dislikes: the high E-string sound is a bit weak compared to other strings, and sustain could be better (although it's not bad for a floating tremolo guitar).

I cannot recall how the set-up was originally.
Now it's very good, but I have adjusted it many times myself, and switched from .009's to .010's.
This is a well-built guitar with decent quality in every area, and EXCELLENT neck, one of the best I've ever played. It's quite flat and narrow but still substantial compared to 90's Ibanezes and the like, and the semi-matte finish feels very smooth under your thumb. Fretwork is also excellent.
The color is pearly white, and although the finish is still in good condition it has got quite yellow during 15 years, and I don't like it anymore.
The tremolo system keeps in tune very well.
The rating is 10 for the neck, 8 otherwise.

It has been reasonably reliable, and after about 20 gigs and 15 years of use, it's still in very good condition. The only problem was the output jack, which I had to replace at some point. Apart from that, no scratches in the finish, no problems in the hardware or electronics, and susprisingly little fretwear.
I wouldn't gig without a backup, because changing strings is quite slow with this tremolo system. Actually I've started to break quite a lot of E and B strings lately on the bridge side, I guess I should do some filing or something.

Haven't dealt with Charvel/Jackson.

Jackson kinda ruined the reputation of Charvels by using that name for their cheapest low-quality guitars in the early nineties, and I guess that's why Model 4's are not worth much nowadays. At least in Finland you can find used ones for less than 300 euros - now that's a bargain for anyone looking for a good super-strat.
Myself, I will keep this one forever. Although it doesn't fit my style very well anymore (I don't like the pointy headstock, yellowish white color, or floyd-type tremolo), I will occasionally want to use this type of guitar for recording or "heavy" jamming, and I don't think I could find a better super-strat under 2000 euros.

active electronics,1 Humbucker, 2 single coils, nice neck, 3 mini switches and a kahler pro tremelo.

It sounds decent. I love the neck!

Like I said, I love the neck!

I recently got this guitar out of storage after about 7 years. the pots are all crackly and because of this I can barely play it. I also hate the kahler. I've been looking for a replacement non tremelo kahler bridge and cannot find one. Because of the big hole that's left from routing it specifically for the kahler, no other bridge will do. I've decided to take it apart and sell the parts (body, kahler, etc)But I will keep the neck and look for a replacement body. If anyone would like to buy the body or the kahler, let me know.If you have a body that will fit the neck, also let me know.

Jackson/charvel has the worst customer support I've ever experienced. I emailed them eons ago to ask if they could reccommend a replacement body for my neck and I've yet to recieve a reply. Nice. I also called them and could not get a tech on the phone, so I left a message and never got a reply. What a bunch of losers! I bet if I wanted to order a custom guitar they'd be kissing my ass.

It was my first quality electric. I'm more of a Les Paul man now, but like I said, I love the neck and am on a mission to find a replacement body.

1985 colbalt blue with kahler flat tremelo the trem is great but now im needing parts like string saddle and T IM LOOKING FOR ALSO A NUT FLIP LOCK MADE 10 TO 12 YEARS AGO PLEASE HELP

GREAT

GREAT

ALWAYS THERE

DONT KNOW WHERE TO FIND THEM

IT THE BEST I HAD SOME OF THE BEST BUT THE OLDER MODEL 4 WORKS FOR ME

Bought it back in England in 1987 I think. The serial number is 252262. It's a beautiful bright red with S/S/H pick-up configuration. However, unlike the other reviews on this page, mine has dot inlays and not the nasty shark fin fret markers. The pick-ups are Jackson...Well at least that's what it says on the plastic covers. The electronics are active with 3 small toggle switches for pick-up selection, a volume control, treble, and bottom controls. I have no idea what wood the body is made from, but it is stratocaster in shape with a pointy headstock. The tremelo is Floyd Rose.

I have used this as my main instrument for 14 years. It has never failed me (except for the occasional catastrophic tuning string break) even under the harshest environments. The choice of sounds is unbeatable..everything from jazz to metal, funk to fusion. I fell in love with this guitar in 1987 and it's still my main squeeze. Any guitar that can sound good in Los Angeles, London, and Narvik Norway can't be all bad.

The action is fast, low and accurate. The workmanship is first rate. The only issue I've ever had is with the cap head screws that secure the strings at the bridge. They wear out too quickly.

First rate reliability.... Compared to my old Strat , this is a gem.

Never had to deal with them.

I doubt that I will ever own a better made or more reliable instrument.

The Charvel Model 4 was my first guitar, back in 1987. I didn't know anything about guitars, but I saw an ad in a bunch of guitar magazines stating it was "guitar of the year" for two years straight. All my favorite 80's bands were playing 'em, so that was enough for me. Obviously, I made a good choice, because I didn't buy a second guitar until 1999. It's a S/S/H config on the pickups, which are Jackson (licensed by EMG, I believe), active electronics with an on/off switch
for each pickup. The trem is a locking Jackson, licensed by Floyd Rose, and the damn thing never goes out of tune. Well....

Nice, FAST, rosewood neck with the nifty Jackson sharkfin inlays. Put on some rouge and Aqua-net, and you're good to go. Hehehehe.

This guitar is also a hell of a lot heavier (and I mean weight) than anything I've acquired since.

I started out playing things like Crue and Ratt, and you just couldn't beat the humbucker on of this thing, 13 years ago. It screamed then, and it does now. The neck pickup was great for some of those Yngwie-style leads, and also good for those clean, arpeggiated intros that all 80's style power ballads are loaded with.

Sometimes it's difficult to get a screaming pinch harmonic out of a guitar. That is not a problem with this guitar.

I have a very lame 50 watt Laney combo amp that I also got in the late 80's. I'm not too impressed with the distorted sound I get with the guitar straight into the amp. A friend of mine had a Marshall half-stack back then, and the guitar rocked through it. I'm somewhat of a gear-head anyway, so I rarely pay attention to what a guitar sounds like straight into an amp.

The action was extremely high off the rack, but that's just me. I happen to like the action just low enough that you don't get fret buzz. Otherwise, this thing was and is solid. I had to adjust the truss after a year, but again, this is due to my obsession with ridiculously low action.

My Model 4 has taken more abuse than I'd expect. If I was this guitar, I would have grown legs and run away from me a long time ago.
I dropped it in the studio MANY times, the most notable being a six foot drop off the top of a stack. Though it did carry away a few battle scars on the body, nothing broke, and nothing had to be adjusted. I did have to replace the output on it entirely after about four years, as it went dead, and lately when you flip the humbucker on, you get nothing. This is corrected by cursing, flipping the switch off, and then back on. This is how most musical gear is fixed, by the way.

Since this is the only guitar I owned for over 10 years, I had no choice but to use it without a backup. It never failed me.

The screws holding on the plastic covers over the bridge springs and the battery compartment, have, for the most part, fallen out. The guitar is old, and I didn't exactly baby it, so I'll chalk it up to that.

Never dealt with Charvel. Nothing happened I couldn't deal with myself.

As previously stated, I've been playing since 1987. Aside from this guitar I own a Jackson Dinky Reverse, and a Fender Standard Strat. I still play through my lame Laney 50 watt combo (though this is going to change in the very near future). I've owned numerous effects pedals and multi units, currently still using a Digitech RP-6 (which has hideous distortion, btw, and I don't mean that in a good way).
I bought the Fender because I worship Malmsteen and the neck pickup on a Strat is about as close to his lead sound as you can get without buying everything else he uses.

When I bought this guitar, I played most of the competition available, but I wasn't a good player back then, so I mainly went with what my 80's heroes were playing. If it was stolen, someone would have to die, because there's nothing quite like your first guitar, especially if it's not a Sears special and you still play it.

Made in Japan in the late 80s. Nice somewhat thin neck. A really awsome player, extra smooth. 22 frets, 1 vol, 1 tone, 1 mid boost, 3 pickup on-off switches. S/S/H Jackson (emg style) pickups. Nice electric blue finish on a strat style body. Kahler trem which I'm not a big fan of. The g-string would constantly get caught on the locking nut, i tried modifying it, but eventually just removed it.

I play many different kinds of music. This guitar is definately the most versitale guitar i own. The bridge active humbucker with the mid boost rolled up gives you a great 80s shredder sound. Also, the 2 single coils can give you a good strat sound without the hum. It gives a sterile sound, but you can get a wide range

I bought this 10 years used, but it was in perfect condition. This one is easy to set up yourself. I use really heavy strings and the action is perfect. Aside from the poor locking nut that i mentioned earlier, it's all working fine.

This guitar is heavy. I treat it pretty well, but i think it could withstand a lot. It appears to be more solid than my am std strat. Strap buttons are big (strap never falls off). I use this at gigs without a backup (even though i shouldn't, floyd rose's go out of tune badly if one string breaks)

I've been playing for 8 years now. I own a fender strat, epi lp, hamer echotone, ibanez ax90. This and the strat are tied for my favorates (even though i paid half as much for the charvel). If i lost this guitar i would definately buy another. I think for the price this is THE BEST guitar. I've played other $300 guitars and they come nowhere near this one.

I have a Charvel Model #4, It has 22 frets(jumbo), Active pickups, And a Floyd Rose(The one where you can tune from behind instead of on top, And it is navy blue.
All I can say is that this guitar was a Road-Dog in its time and I still own the thing. I have a small studio and I can get a wide variety of tones out of it and when it is destorted properly I get great sustain. It has been dropped on its neck on stage and the tip of the neck broke at the 1st tuner key, I then drilled a whole into the other side and put the tuner there, sanded and refinished the top of the neck, So unless you really look it looks like a 5 string guitar. I bought this thing in 1987 and it has been down highway after highway, dropped, kicked, drinks thrown all over it and I have never had to replace anything but the battery. They made a tank when they made this guitar, It is very solid and reliable and I recommend it to anyone who don't mind shark-tooth inlays...OUT!

It sounds great thru solid state amps(but I prefer tube now).
I played this guitar thru a peavey 60wt citation head, and a 4-12 Cab. We use to set our amps on the side of the stage, And i never heard one soundman bitch about my tone. I ran korg effects and got a sound that not many people could achieve with marshalls. I use to get people asking me what i played thru and they could not believe it.
However certain venues that had poor wireing would make the active electronics a bit noisey, So i gated it sometimes.

Good to go right out of the gate, Changed strings and lowered the action and that was it...

I have been playing guitar since for about 22yrs, I also have a Jackson, and a Takamine acoustic, I have a rackmountable Boss effects unit and other various toys in my small home studio. I have had tons of other guitars and I have chose to never let this guitar go. It is part of my life and we had some very weird times together so I owe it some rest and relaxation, It kept working for years ... I definately got my money out of it!!!!

USA made (texas) the guy that sold me this baby said he bought it new in 1991. 22 frets. Ahh voy a hablar en castellano. tiene un sistema de capsulas muy raro pero q es la raja (tiene 2 simples y 1 doblke), podi elejir muchas opciones. las capsulas son jackson standard (muy huenas). El cuerpo es como stratocaster. microafinacion Khaler con vibrato.

mi estilo es muy variado pero toco por lo general PUNk, METAL, y BLUES y es super buena pa tocar estos estilos. No es pa nada ruidosa.
Sonido bueno pero podria mejorar cambiandole las capsulas ya q la guitarra da pa mas (mas sustain).
es la raja tocarla, la encuentro parecida a una Ibanez pero mas blusera.

Exelentemente bien echa. no hay mas q decir.

no e tocado en vivo toavia pero es ovio q se puede usar en vivo.
el weon q me la vendio la tuvo como 9 a?os y me la entrego como nueva,
despues yo la cague ya q como 2 semanas despues se me cayo y se isieron unas marcas chicas en la pintura (las q no me influyen pa nada, sigue siendo la raja).
0 problemas con la guitarra.

nose

llevo poco tocando, como 2 a?os pero progreso rapido.
tengo tb una squier stratocaster q tb es super buena por el precio, es mucho mejor q hartas guitarras mas caras de otras marcas (hecha en china). Si me la robaran conseguiria otra (dificil) o me compraria una Ibanez.
Comparada con otras guitarras q e tocao es bakan (Ibanez JS 1000, Jackson Ps-3, Fender satandard amerian strato, etc)
por el precio a q me la consegui, esta increible esta wea, si teni oportunindad de comprar una la recomiendo.

The Charvel Model 4 is, I think, one of the best deals out there today. I have 3 of them, all with the old style Kahler tremelo system which I much prefer to the Floyed Rose. These guitars are "super-strats" and were built in Japan in the mid to late 1980's (don't let the neckplate which says Ft. Worth, Tx. fool you) and have a hum-single-single pickup configuration. The electronics are active, and controlled by a volume, two tone, and 3 mini toggle switches. The pickups say Jackson on them, but I don't know if Jackson really made them or not. Same with the tuners. The fretboards are all rosewood or ebony with huge, jumbo frets. I have 3 colors:Red, White Sparkle, and Black Cherry...sort of a dark purple with sparkles. I do not know what kind of wood the bodies on these guitars are made of. The necks are quite thin which makes them easy to play fast, along with the low action. The strap buttons are oversized on these Charvels, which acts as a "poor-mans strap lock" of sorts.

These guitars are perfect for the style I play, which is sort of an advanced heavy metal...old Queensryche, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc. The necks are really, really fast, and have a great feel to them. I almost never use the single coil pickups, but the humbucker absolutely screams! The sound is bright, but full, and sustains quite well. The guitar was designed as something that would get any sound you might want, and in my opinion, it does a fair job of that, but again, I don't use the singles much at all. I use these guitars almost exlusively with old Marshall amps...a plexi 50, a Mark II 50, and a 1971 100 watt.

I bought all my Model 4's used, so I don't know how they were set up at the factory. As far as I can tell, the guitars are very well made, solid, with good quality hardware. However, without fail, on every single one of mine, I have had to replace the input jack. They get very loud after some time, and eventually fail altogether. Additionally, on all 3 of them, the volume control gets very noisy, and sometimes the mini toggle switches are noisy as well. For these, you just need to make sure that the pots and connections are clean. As far as any other flaws, I certainly can't see any. Everything fits tightly, the frets are nicely filed and smooth on the edges, and overall, these guitars are well put together.

The Model 4 will definitely stand up to live playing, as I have been using one of them for 13 years for just that purpose. I purchased my first one barely used in 1987, and that was my main guitar until the mid 90's when all these Charvels began showing up in pawn shops...more about that later. The finishes are great, and show no wear, although admittedly, I am very careful with my guitars and try my best not to bang them up. I do have a few nicks on my first one that go down to the wood, but that can happen on any guitar. These guitars are very dependable, and I have indeed used mine without a backup before I had more than one of them. The strap buttons are very secure, and I have never dropped a guitar while playing...although I did knock one over onto the hard floor at a gig one time. It survived well.

I've never had to deal with the company. I don't even think you can get parts for this guitar any more, but then again...I've never needed any except for the input jack which can be purchased anywhere.

I am 36 years old, and have been playing for 21 years...so I am no beginner. I have owned literally hundreds of other guitars, and right now have around 30. Six of these are Jacksons or Charvels. I also have a large amplifier collection and have tried out many different combinations over the years. I would definitely buy another Charvel Model 4 if mine were stolen...in fact, I am looking for them all the time even though mine have NOT been stolen. One of my favorite features on this guitar is the old style Kahler locking tremelo system. If you have used a Floyed, but never tried one of the Kahlers, you are missing out. While you can't pull up very far with this vibrato, it is simple and quick to change the strings, it stays in tune beautifully, looks nice, and it is durable. In addition, you can rest your hand on the bridge without pulling the strings flat or sharp. I have never had to replace any parts on the Kahler vibratos on any of my Charvels or Jacksons. And by the way, you can find these vibratos on other guitars from the 80's, too. I recently found a Strat with one on it, and bought it just for the vibrato. Initially I chose Jackson/Charvels because I was young, and that's what all my guitar heroes of the day were playing. But now that I am older, I realize what a great guitar this really is. And these guitars are showing up in droves in pawn shops these days. You can get them for $200 and even less. I believe that they were around $800 when they were new back in the 80's, so they really are a good deal, and people don't seem to realize that at this point. And don't forget that there is a Model 2 and Model 3 which were even less expensive, and are basically the same guitar without the active electronics. I got a Model 2 the other day for $140, and it is a wonderful guitar. As I said before, the only complaints I have ever had with these guitars is that the input jacks go bad. Other than that, what a steal they are!!

I bought it new in 88 (I think it was the first year the Charvels were made in Japan, and the Jackson label was for the USA made guitars) Jackson active pickups S/S/H. Jackson licensed FR trem (more about that later) Basswood body, maple neck with a rosewood fretboard.

I just loved the sound of the guitar! The Jackson active pickups were very flexible. Everything from Blues to metal sounded great.

The action fit and finish on this guitar was just awsome... really I just loved everything about it.

The active circuitry took a dump on my about 5 years down the road. I replaced the humbucker with a duncan destortion and it just killed the guitar.
Now to the stupid tremlo bar. (or is that a stupid player?) I was doing a Steve Vai thing -- shaking the guitar holding the guitar by the neck and tremlo arm and busted the damn thing. I was not able to find a replacement for it so I ended up blocking the tremlo.

No Clue

I just loved this Guitar.. I want another one, or maybe a 80's era Jackson. One of the best neck designs of all time.
I sold it to a friend who was a far better player than me. Now I want it back and he is not gona let me have it.

I purchased this guitar new in 1986. It is black with a maple bolt-on neck and rosewood fretboard and sharkfin inlays. 22 Jumbo size frets, and the classic wide-thin type Jackson neck. Strat shaped body with pointy headstock. Made in Japan. I've kept it in good condition and it still plays fast and easy. A true 80's shred machine that has some cool strat-like tones as well. At the time, the features compared very well against American Strats in terms of playability and sound choices.
It has active EMG-like pickups s-s-h. Three mini-toggle switches give you all the combinations of each individual pickup, each pair, and all three. Toggle switches are a little strange to use if you are used to a finder 5-way or a Gibson 3 way, but easier to deal with than a PRS-style rotary knob since you can look down and immediately see which configuration you have. I also like that you can have all the pickups "off". This is great in high gain situations.
Electronics controls are volume, tone, and mid-boost. The mid-boost has quite a noticable effect and adds a lot of sonic variety to each pickup configuration. These are quiet pickups and sound good for most purposes. Uses an internal 9 volt battery that is accessable by unscrewing a rear plate
This guitar has a Floyd Rose locking system. This is effective in allowing wild use of the tremelo without going out of tune, but the need for hex tools makes it a pain if you break a string live. The tremelo arm is a push-in type, but it has a slight amount of "play" that diminishes the ability to make pure and accurate tremelo bends.
I received a hard shell Charvel case when I bought this.

The main reason I bought this was I was impressed by the variety of sounds I could get. It still is one of the most flexible guitars I own. I play Rock, Jazz, and Blues and this guitar was my main axe for about three years. I've been able to get a number of other guitars over the years, but I still find myself picking up and playing this guitar on a regular basis.
For power rock, (maybe metal), the active humbucker really screams in high gain settings, and adding or subtracting the mid-boost adds a lot to the sound.
A quick switch to the neck pickup and backing off the mid-boost gives some very bluesy sounds.
The "in-between" sounds of the neck and middle, and all three pickups together sound very sweet. Adding the mid-boost to taste also adds a lot to this pickup combination.
Like many active pickups, you get a little of the sterile but very clear sound many people attribute to EMG's. I'm ok with this, and use different guitars when I want a different set of sounds.
Overall I continue to be impressed at the sound quality of this guitar. Others have complained about these pickups, but I haven't had any problems or need to replace them.
It's no '57 Les Paul, but I give the sound a 7 overall.

This guitar has consistantly been a great player from the day I bought it. The combination of the Jackson style neck and jumbo pickups has a very confident feel.
Everything on the guitar was tight, and has remained so with just a little bit of care on my part. I've had to clean the pots a few times, but the finish and parts have held up well.

I played this guitar every night for about three years after I first got it... Three nights a week playing out, the others in our rehearsal area. It never let me down.
No strap locks, but oversized "top-hat" style strap buttons have worked out well.
I always have a backup, but this is vital with this guitar because of the Floyd Rose.
I expect this guitar to still look and play well for many more years.

I'm lucky, I never had to deal with any support issues on my guitar.

I've been playing for over 20 years. I also have a couple of new American Deluxe strats, a LP Standard, a PRS Standard 24, a Carvin AE-185, and several other guitars.
I've put the Charvel away for a few months over the years, but I always have fun playing it again when I get it back out. If I ever have to play live in a setting where I don't want to bring my more "high-end" guitars, it's the Charvel that goes with me.
It's a little strange to play blues or jazz on a "pointy head" shred guitar from the 80's, but I have gotten a few compliments on the sound when I've used it in these settings.
I think these guitars are great "pawnshop prizes" and if you come across one in nice condition, pick it up and play it. I think you may find it to be a cool sounding, easy to play guitar. I've seen them used for $100 - 300, (the American Charvels are the only ones that have any real collectable value), but the Japan made ones are still nice.

Made in Japan in 1988, bought 12/88 at Lavonne Wagener Music in Savage, MN. 21 fret "super strat" with one volume, one tone, one midrange boost. The pickups were Jackson active with the S/S/H configuration, a Jackson Floyd Rose licensed trem, and a Jackson locking nut and non-locking tuners. Basswood body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard with large frets. Back of the neck was finished with tung oil. Body shape was that of a Fender stratocaster. Finish was a somewhat repulsive orange "fire crackle" finish with a clear coat over the top. It was not my intention to get into a custom graphics guitar but the neck on this guitar was better than all of the other model 4's in the store I bought it at. Neck was rather wide and thin (made to Holdsworth's specs essentially). Guitar included a hardshell case. After the first eight or nine months, the Jackson tremelo was replaced with a real Floyd Rose, and the Jackson pickups were replaced with two EMG S active strat pickups and an EMG 81 at the bridge, and the Jackson midrange boost was removed and replaced with an EMG SPC (FAT) control. This improved the quality of the sound and improved the reliability.

Again, I play progressive jazz rock fusion (with an emphasis on the rock part, I guess) so my sounds range from quiet drones to raging distortion for power chords and solos, to quiet pastoral jazzy diads. Amps and effects used: Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp with Roland JC-120 amplifier, Chandler Tube Driver, TC Electronic Booster-Line Driver, MXR Blue Box, Boss OC-2 Octave Divider, Boss DD-3 Delay, Ibanez Swell Flanger, ART SGE, Lexicon Vortex, etcetera. The Jackson pickups installed with the guitar were rather un-distinctive and were noisy (one gig in particular I remember where the flourescent lights of the bar were causing the thing to buzz like a swarm of angry bees in single coil mode). This lead to my replacing the Jackson pickups with EMGs which are far quieter and had a much more distinctive tonal voice. In retrospect, the EMG S single coils I had installed at the time were a tad on the thin side (think of the Jamie-West Oram compressed, clean, chorused strat sound on the tune "Outside" on the "Reach the Beach" CD and you get the idea of how this guitar sounded in clean single coil mode) and if I had to do it all over again I would go with the SA which is a bit warmer. The FAT control did help this considerably, however. The lead tones were a bit more searing than singing (think of the Joe Satriani lead tone on "Lords of Karma" and you get the idea). Even with the FAT control cranked, it took some special EQ'ing to get the guitar to get out of the thin lead thing, although with the right strings and tone settings I did once nail a convincing Les Paul/SG style tone for a recording project. The guitar seemed to have a personality all its own and would change subtly from day to day, which was both annoying and endearing at the same time. Perhaps the basswood was prone to moisture or had absorbed moisture prior to being sprayed and sealed, I can't really say for sure.

Action was excellent as shipped from the factory, the pickups were set-up as well as they might be - the bridge and all fittings were just fine when I received it. Frets filed correctly, finish was pretty much spot on (for an intergalactic puke design) and I had no complaints initially. See the reliability section, however. All is not as it seems.

I played this guitar at the majority of the gigs my band played between 1989-1992, which was probably 20 gigs if not more. It withstood live playing, but some of the components as shipped were weakly designed or inadequate for the task. The Jackson tremelo of the time used bushings to keep the whammy bar stationary instead of flopping around - a bad design all around as the bushings required frequent replacement. The replacement bushings only delayed the inevitable and finding more was next to impossible so using cut up some audio cassette labels proved necessary. Also, the bar itself broke on one occasion, surprising myself and the band members I was with at the time.. When some of the saddles in the tremelo cracked, I finally buckled down and replaced it with a real Floyd Rose and those problems stopped. I always thought it strange because I was never a neanderthal guitar player, yet the guitar acted as if it was being hit with hammers or something. The original electronics really let me down on one particular gig - at one point the humbucking pickup simply stopped working - the only pickup that worked was the Jackson single coil at the neck - it was HORRIBLE because I rely on different sounds for many of our tunes. I was not in a position to try and fix it on the gig.. Everything ended up sounding like a mediocre single coil for the duration of that gig - awful. Later I found that the wiring for the humbucker was being crimped internally, once this was corrected the sound came back but my opinion was soured and quickly replaced the original pickups with EMGs (my preferred pickup of choice anyway) and then the guitar sounded a lot better. After I dumped $ on a Floyd and EMGs the guitar itself was pretty stable for four or five more years. Then the tuning stability problems happened. I replaced the original Floyd with a different one (long story) once and I could not get the tuning to stabilize - after discussing the issue with Gary Brower it was found that the barrel shaped housing that the whammy bar fits into was bumping into the edges of the tremelo cavity - I had to sand the edges of the trem cavity to keep the housing from hitting the edges and preventing the tremelo from going back to its original position.. Since then, no problems but occasional intonation and tuning stability issues continued to plague this instrument. Also, after five or six years, a very obvious dent was to be seen at the second fret on the B string - normal wear and tear I imagine. The bottom line is - for a nearly $600 instrument I should not have needed to replace the bridge, pickups and electronics at all, but in order to have a decent instrument I did. And to be fair, Jackson has come a long with with providing better hardware on their guitars since 1988. I actually traded this guitar last weekend in on a current made in USA Jackson Soloist and the build quality is significantly better - electronics are Duncans, all metal parts (bridge, locking nut, tuners, switches, knobs) are significantly more solid and robust.

Never had to deal with them, mostly dealt with the dealer. Warranty was for one year I believe.

20 years playing. Own other guitars, amps, fx, synths, drum computers, etc. If it had been stolen I would have replaced it with something more robust I imagine. At the time I bought it, the action was great and I always wanted a guitar with a whammy bar. It did eventually sound pretty great and I had a lot of fun gigs and jam sessions with it and the weird paint job did get a lot of attention. The unreliability of the original hardware in conjunction with the on-the-gig sound problems has given me pause as to whether I'd buy another Charvel 4 of the time. I compared it against Fender Strats, similar Kramers, and Washburns of the time when I originally bought it. In retrospect, I should have bought a good Gibson SG or something and left it at that.