Charvel Model 4

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.