Charvel Model 6

This guitar has many cool features. It was made in the mid to late 80's. It has 24 frets on a bound rosewood finger board with sharkfin inlays. The neck is a maple neck-thru which I love. It also has active electronics with a knob for the mid boost which I think is one of its greatest features, the other knobs include bass and volume. Mine also came stock with a kahler tremolo where others come with a jackson floyd.Hum/stacked-single/stacked-single

This thing is fricken amazing. With the mid boost all the way up with some distortion you get a really saturated sound that isn't muddy at all(open chords ring out very nice). It has a very good clean(especially with the mid boost all the way down) sound to. I was very amazed with the clean sounds this guitar produced. Charvels are known for being shredding guitars but this model has a great clean sound. You can really get a good blues or jazz sound out of the single coils. I couldnt ask for anything more excpt a new amp to replace the shitbox I got.

I couldnt be happier with the way this thing plays. Action is very low and easy to play. I bought it used so the neck needed to be ajusted a little.

This guitar is rock solid. They only problem Ive had is with the truss rod which is understandable since its used and the neck is so thin.

Never had to deal with them

Ive been playing for about six years now. I own alot of other guitars like an american standard strat, gibson the hawk that i won and a bunch of project that I have to put together. If this guitar was lost or stolen then I would definitly replace it(hell Id buy as many as I could get for 250) These guitars are incredubly versitile. They are about the same thing as a jackson soloist except this is definitly a better deal because jacksons go for 750 and up used and the model six is probably better because you can get just about any pickup configeration you want with the three many toggle. So if you been looking at one of these or what a great sounding feeling or looking guitar than go get one of these

Made in Japan in 1989. Bought new at the Drum Keyboard Guitar Shop in Houston in 89. 24 Fret 25 1/2" scale rosewood fingerboard. Maple neck through body with poplar body sides. FIRECRACKLE finish. Cream binding on neck and headstock, and pearl sharktooth inlays. Jackson Floyd Rose Trem (with Schaller trem arm assembly). Jackson tuners. Schaller straplocks. EMG s/s/h pickup config, with an SA at the neck (with an SPC mid boost on it alone), S in the middle, and an 89 dual mode at the bridge. With master volume, mid boost for the neck p.u., master tone (with push/pull action for bridge humbucker/single coil switching), and three on/off toggles for each pickup.

Soundwise it is the most versitile guitar I've ever seen or played. I replaced the stock Jackson pickups with the EMGs myself, and chose the components and designed the circut to be as versitile as possible. If you look at the mid boost control on the neck pickup as a psudo humbucker/singlecoil control, then there is EIGHTEEN! different pickup combinations(including "all off".)

When new in 89, the finish, action, fretjob, and overall vibe were flawless. I went to the store to buy a model 6 in black, and was compleatly knocked out (and upside the head!) to find one in firecracle. It looked like lava coming up through cracks in the earth. The only weak spot was the Jackson pickups. They were alright, but I knew the EMGs killed them as far as tone and noise were concerned. I also liked that the neck shape felt more like an SG than a strat, and that the Jackson Floyd had Gibson string spacing instead of Fender spacing like all other floyds on the planet. I also didn't like the press in/pull out chrome trem arm (all other hardware was black.) It wasn't a big deal to replace it with a better Schaller black trem arm assembly though.

Time and use are the best indicaters of durability. It went to the Persian Gulf with me when I was in the NAVY, and has been played for almost a decade now. Its' got a few minor nicks and dings, and the frets are starting to show their age, but it still kills anything else I've tried.

One time around 92/93, I ordered some replacement knife edges, stud bolts, and string lock bolts for the trem. A brand new set was sent out, but I was told that I had gotten some of the very last of the surplus of these parts, and that Charvel had discontinued that model of trem. I had to keep my old parts and sharpen up the old knife edges as I couldn't buy any more parts. (Bummer!)

After reading books, magazines, catalogs etc., I decided I wanted that model before I even walked in the store. Then the icing on the cake was the firecrackle paintjob, (which I've never seen on another model 6 anywhere else in the world!) I had to change the pickups, trem arm, and strap buttons to sute me, but that is a small price to pay to have it EXACTLY the way I wanted it.

Made in Japan from 1986 - 1989. This was the top of the line Charvel at that time. It features maple neck-through construction with basswood wings. The neck is wide and fairly thin. 24 fret rosewood fingerboard with pearl shark fin inlays. Medium jumbo frets. Jackson Floyd Rose copy, pickups, and tuners. H/S/S pickup configuration utillizing Jackson's humbucking series and two low impedence Jackson single coils. There is an active mid booster that uses a 9 volt battery. Controls are 1 volume, 1 tone, 1 active mid booster control knob, and 3 on/off switches. It came with a nice hardshell case.

It was definately designed in the days when heavy metal was in full glory. Hopefully those days will be here again soon. Without the mid booster, it sounds somewhat thin. But, crank the dial for the boost and a rich, full, ripping sound is there. You will never mistake it for a strat. There is very little noise present when clean. A lot of variety is there, you just have to use the tone knob to find it. With the humbucker and mid boost in action, it delivers the type of tone that defines metal. Low crunch for rythem work and well defined, but not scratchy, highs for leads. The singles allow you to try to do blues and more traditional rock. If I were a blues player, I would opt for something else, but it does'nt sound so bad in a pinch.

Though it is 10 years old, the playability has not diminished. I have done no real setup on it since it was purchased 2 months ago. The bridge pickup had to be brought up a little. The controls all work well. The finish is well done and the binding along the neck and headstock have aged to a bone color. The neck is very very fast.

The only real concern I have is the tremelo system. It seems to be a little too fragile. I have owned true Floyd Rose systems on my Kramers and have been able to abuse the hell out of them. The locking nut is like a Khaler type and sits behind a regular nut and has straight headed screws, not allen types. You really have to torque them down to get them to lock the strings. On a real Floyd, only light pressure with the allen wrench is needed. You should never play without a backup, unless you play simple chords and strum very lightly.

The best places to find information on these is at Rob Lane's Jackson/Charvel world or www.vintagecharveljackson.com

This guitar is owned by my rythem player. We play metal from the 80's, 90's and some punk too. I love the fact that it is neck through. It is really top of the line in it's construction and features. We searched long and hard before he commited to buying this one. We looked at new Jackson Pros, but they were more expensive and were'nt quite as nice. Also they were bolt-on necks. We also played some Ibanez and various other guitars that are in the same category. None were this nice for the price. For me, put on a real Floyd and it's ideal.

Neck Thru..see the other review for features. The additions to my particular axe that make it kick ass are as follows : EMG-81 pickup at bridge with two EMG singles in the middle and neck slots. The real kicker is an EMG active midbooster that makes it sound very fat...especially if used with the 81 in the bridge.

I think it might sound somewhat thin with EMGs without the midbooster and I have no idea how it will sound with passives, since it has had the EMGs since I bought it. For a guitar with a floyd it gets a 10 rating, but for all guitars about an 8. The neck pickup with the midbooster on kicks ass for clean playing.

When I got it it was used and had a few dings and needed some setup, which allowed me to learn the mystical inner workings of the magical Floyd Rose locking system...

Built like a brick, but as with any guitar I would never, EVER gig without a backup (my LP)

I have no idea

Its a damn good guitar, even considering it has a Floyd and I think this guitar, especially since it has EMG parts is basically best suited for heavy metal... But it wont match a nice strat for blues, or a LP for that matter. But for heavy metal its got outstanding playability and a sizzling tone.

1986 Charvel(Jackson) Model 6 made in Japan, 24 frets, poplar body, maple neck thru body construction, Jackson S/S/H Active pickups, toggle switch for each pickup; active volume, tone and mid boost (+6db) knobs. White gloss finish with black hardware, Jackson (Floyd Rose) tremolo bridge. mother of pearl fin inlays on the neck w/ jumbo frets. Locking nut, Jackson tuners, double action truss rod.

Great match for hard rock/metal. Active Mid boost knob gooses front end of amp and adds +6db to mids - good for solos/ Rhandy Roads tones. Active controls extremely quiet. Wide frequency response with good output level from the active circuitry. Neck pickup very full and rich, while bridge signal is biting and strong. Currently using with Marshall DSL100 w/ TC G-Force in effects loop. Booster pedal not needed with this guitar/amp combo. Probably not the best guitar for gritty blues, earthy, or degraded signal tones. Great for those wanting a clean strong non-noisy signal at the guitar output to start with. Harmonics are preserved well with the solid neck thru design helping to compensate for the floating bridge attenuation.

Original action setup was fast with .09 strings... very little adjustment needed. Upper register is very accessible with neck thru design. String spacing great for tapped lines but not too wide. I think they had fast 80's metal in mind when they made this guitar.
Fit and finish was superb with no flaws detected. The steel knobs are very solid and high quality. Pickup toggle switches are solid but kind of thin and I would be careful of banging them on something.
The locking nut design won't always grip the high E string, due to the design angle at which the string passes thru it from the headstock, so it slips slightly every now and then and requires a quick twist of the microtuner.
Otherwise, quality is excellent.

Requires occasional tightening of hardware and cleaning of pots like most other guitars. The original hardware is very solid in general. The fancy Jackson (Floyd Rose) tremolo bridge was an exception... small pieces break off occasionally and are easy to lose. The original tremolo arm even broke in half! Poor casting all around. Jackson doesn't make these bridges anymore (I see why) so I eventually had to install(pressure fit/drill) a new Schaller housing and arm to the Jackson base. This aftermarket arm setup is far superior to the original Jackson design.
The original finish is outstanding and has aged distinctively to a slight cream flavored color. The finish is very very tough and durable.
The main reliability concern is the active electronics which require a 9v battery. The battery can last many many months unless you leave the cord plugged in. Otherwise it's very dependable as long as you tighten everything up once in a while.
I'd feel ok without a backup if I didn't have to worry about string breakage.

Jackson has friendly and helpful staff; though, the system for ordering parts from them isn't the smoothest.

I've owned, compared and played many guitars and this is probably my favorite due to it's action, access, and versatility. It is of high quality build and has held up and kept my interest for over 10 years regular playing almost every day. My Fender Strat lasted thru only 3 years of similar use. I love the Charvel for hard rock and heavy metal. It's hard to find a well made neck thru design these days. I'm not overly impressed by many of the new guitars in the shops these days. My next main guitar will probably be a PRS or maybe Anderson, but I'll still use the Charvel when it's time to play some old Ozzy.