Charvel Model A+ Pro

Japanese Charvel with an American look! The body is made of Mahogany and has a nice (bleu) looking maple top on it. Neck is made of Birds- eye maple although mine has not much bird eye's. It's a bit darker then normal maple which is fine.....ebony fingerboard with 24 JUMBO frets. The frets are low and wide! Seymour Duncan pup's which I like cause I'm a fan of his. Floyd Rose and tuners of lesser quality, the only components on this guitar that falls out of place, but do the job if you take good care of it.

Currently I play in a 80's classic rock cover band and since we are going to perform I wanted a versitile rock axe so I wouldn't have to use my other expensive guitars. Further I'm playing over a Marshall JMP-1 pre, Peavey 50/50 classic power tubeamp, a Marshall AV 1960 Vintage cabinet and Alesis effects. I also use a Boss Power V-wah. I have to get used to the sound of this guitar a bit because the Pearly gates (Bridge) is pretty raw and direct. It sounds a bit like a single coil. For chords the mid's are a bit to much but it's very lively and responsive, using distortion. You can used it for cleans as well, the highs are a pre here. Soloing is something this guitar can do well and it is a good thing that the place of picking the strings really make a difference, meaning that you can go from agressive to more mellow sounding. The 2 other pup's ("lil screaming) are reduced to only 1. I threw the middle out....never use it and gets in the way while picking. Now I only have to mount a 3-way selector to switch fast from bride to neck and vv. The neck pup is of very good quality and suits the Pearly well. Both have harmonics and react very precisely the way you pick and where you pick . Overall I will have fun with this guitar and just have to tweak the eq to get it perfect.

The neck was not in line with the body but loosening the screws and resetting helpt. Action was good but to low for me. The finish of paint, body and neck is awesome and professional. Good quality! The only thing that I don't like is the fact that both E-strings jump easily of the fretboard when hitting them. Maybe I just have to get used to it because my other guitars have wider necks. The Charvel neck is fast and great for 16 notes runs and doesn't fight you. First, I found the playability was even too easy but it's oke now. Floyd Rose copy (light) and tuners (not smooth) are of less quality and I think I will replace them once gigging.

Good quality except Tremelo and tuners. This guitar will do fine on gigs however and would I thrust it without back-up? I have to play a little longer to find out. Important is that it stays in tune and till now it does alright.

Louzy web-site. I mailed them about it but got no answer. Bad!!!!!

Been playing for 27 years on and off. Fender stratocaster, Hamers, Maverick, Ibanez etc. I also have a home studio where I record instrumentals. When stolen, I would buy another one or maybe one of the newer models. The neck is very nice and the sound versitile. It looks great, not flashy but classy. It will be my main guitar and is a band workhorse for me now. Only wished the neck was a litte wider for both the E-strings. Better tremelo and tuners for the original price would haven been fair. But since this was a cheap bargan I won't complain. Have fun!!

2003 Made in Japan,Jackson quit production on import Charvels' I believe after these were made.

24 frets, S/S/H pickups (SD pearly gates and 'lil screamin deamons)

Volume/Tone/ 5 way pickup

not sure what wood it's made of, but seems solid.

Strat styled body type

Floyd rose copy trem ( Jackson)

Nice fast neck, a little thinner than a Strat.

you can get a lot of different sounds on this guitar. I've hacked for about 30 years on guitar and play a lot of ballad type 70-80's rock. It can get solid strat sounds (though with a bit more beef), for those types of music.

No fret buzz at all, and even the single coils are pretty quit with gain & distortion maxed.

My son traded me his used MIM strat for it and plays Metal music ( he wanted the FR option for divebombing). Its his top guitar now over his prized BC Rich NJ warlock! Gives him all the sounds he wants, for his heavy cording and fast paced lead work too.

Locking nuts hold it in tune, even with some heavy divebombing action.

Overall this guitar gives you a lot of sound options, the pickups are VERY good and probably would never need to be upgraded ( near top quality).

Set up was very good out of the box ( bought online). pretty much just tune and go.

Never played a Floyd rose before, so did some research on how to tune and set up properly. But really didn't need to do anything.

Glossy black finish picks up all fingerprints, is about the only thing I can say bad about it. Also had the input jack back out of the locknut....could be a little longer threads on the jack itself there.

Again seemed to be well finished coming out of the factory, noting appears undone at all.

Hard to rate this catagory, only had it about 6 months or so. My son practices with it in his metal garage abnd once or twice a week and he tkaes it to guitar lessons once a week...so it get moved around a bit. So far it's held up well, he did put a couple deep body dings in it, when it fell off his guitar stand...ouch! But no harm done to the workings and it didn't lose its tune even.

Has a floyd rose, so even though my son swears it stays in perfect tune....I'm sure if you played it out, you would pop a string in the first set, because thats the way it goes. Gonna take you 10 min to change and tune it back it then.

Charvel..I mean Jackson...I mean Fender, well the guitar came with the allen wrenches and thats it! No warranty card, no manual/card for the Floyd rose. nothing.

I called the number fomr the Jackson/Charvel website and I got Fender. They told me to keep my receipt, thats my warranty...So I guess there really isn't any...LOL.

American Music Supply has a really good return policy though, if you need it.

Purchased online from AMS, but right out of the box you could tell it was a quality guitar. Everything was in it's place and tight, in working order...just tune and go.

Bought it becase my son got into playing and wanted to find another piece for him to try beside the MIM strat he had bought second hand. I also have hacked around on guitar for over 30 years now, on and off. Used to have a 60ish American made start years ago, this guitars plays better then that one believe it or not!

I currently have a Washburn WM-100 Custom shop I got off e-bay, I've owned an amrerican strat and a MIM strat , that was used by a friend of mine for about 8 years as his main player in country bands. My son has a BC Rich Warlock NJ series. This Charvel stands up to all of them and outplays them all in one style or another.

IF I had to rank the guitars it would be as follows:
1. Charvel
2. Washburn ( add a whammy bar and it moves slighty above the Charvel)
3. Warlock
4. American Strat (I know, but I cant rate it higher)
5. MIM Strat

This guitar had a list price of about $1300, I would assume a street price around $800-900.

If you can find one for under $600 and you want something that can give you the Fat strat type sound/playabliity..with a floyd rose option...this is it.

Made in Japan(2003) guitar with a Mahogany Body, Trans Blue Maple Cap, 24 fret Birdseye Maple neck w/Ebony fretboard(1 11/16" at the nut). Seymour Duncan pickups, Pearly Gates HB (Bridge) and two Lil Screamin Demons (middle + neck) JT580 Lisc Floyd Tremelo.. The fretboard radius is flat and fast.

The Pearly Gates matches up very well with the Lil Screamin Demons! I was very suprised at this. Good Harmonics with both the Bridge and Neck pickups. Ihad been told that the Ebony fretboard would have an icy tone to it but I don't hear it, I suppose the Mahogany body more than balances that out. I play Metal mainly.. Excellent tone for that genre.

Excellent finish,, Setup is a non issue as I expect to have to set my guitars up.. I've had to set every one that I've aquired in the last 20 years and this one was no different. The out of the box setup was better than average however. And the fret work was immaculate. Giving a 9 based on the finish alone

The JT580 is a bit suspect. I'm going to be looking for an OFR to replace it with. It certainly isn't the worst Floyd copy I've seen but no OFR either. The rest of this guitar SCREAMS quality! I don't understand the choice of a Lisc Floyd. Would be a 10 if not for the JT580

I've never contacted Charvel/Jackson/Fender

I've played for 30+ years. I own 14 other instruments. This one will be in the upper echelon along with my Jem. I love the tone and feel of the Ebony board. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another and I may buy another slightly different model.. This instrument is loaded with extras for the price!! Where else will you find a Mahogany bodied birdseye maple neck w/Ebony board, Seymour Duncan, Floyd equipped guitar for <$600??