Wayne Guitars Villain

2 piece center joined alder body with clear coat finish.

Super strat style - elongated horns & bigger lower cutaway

String thru body NOS Charvel Stars fixed brass bridge.

Locking Schaller 6 in line gold tuners

Neck scale 25.5", 22 frets, strat headstock, maple & maple board, black dots, jumbo nickel frets, made to classic Charvel San Dimas specs for neck shape, Zero radius flat fret board.

No included accessories

Made in august of 2006

One humbucker (seymour duncan) JB Bridge pickup. One volume. No other controls.

Simple guitar with one mission: To Shred.

I give a ten because of the lack of features is its biggest feature of all. Complete simplicity

I bought this to mainly play 80s hard rock & metal.

I am using it with a Peavey Triple XXX & a TC Electronics G-System.

The guitar is as quiet as can be. It does feed back really easy, but in a good way. Not the nasty squeal that comes from cheap pickups, but the controlled feedback that makes it sing when the notes fade & turn into harmonic feedback & overtones.

I would say the sound is very rich & full, but definately on the bright side. I wasnt expecting that. Basically, I'll have to adjust my amp settings when using this guitar. Strange, because Ive had an 85 Kramer Baretta for years with an alder body & Duncan JB & it is smooth and not at all geared toward the treble side. There are a few differences though, which Ill get into later. When I play big chords, all notes ring out very clear & distinct. More so than most of my other guitars.

This guitar is made for one thing. Rockin. & this it does very well. Kind of a "one trick pony" if you will. I will say that it cleans up incredibly well when the volume is rolled back & loses a little of the brightness, which I think is great. You can go from "balls out" to medium gain AC/DC type stuff just with the guitar volume.

Likes & dislikes?

Great 80s hair band sound. No real dislikes. Its a little brighter than I thought it would be, But I can work with that. It may be due to the fact that it is a heavy brass bridge combined with a maple on maple neck, string thru body, etc.

This is an area that I am particularly sensitive to & I was completely & utterly surprised by the attention to detail given to this incredible guitar.

The guitar was set up amazingly well. Read on...

First I will give everyone reading a little insight into the makings of this beast....
This wasnt supposed to be my guitar. It was being made for a friend of mine. He commissioned Wayne Charvel to build a special project for him. After many conversations, Wayne agreed. The neck on this guitar was Custom made in the USA by... HA! not gonna tell you. But rest assured its awesome. My friend Danny Joe had it made for him with a Zero fret board radius. Thats completely flat, my friends. It was built to late 70s early 80s San Dimas specs, aside from the flat fretboard. Once Danny joe had it in hand, he spent many hours conditioning it & making it perfect. It feels like a neck thats been played for 20 years - in the best possible way.

Back to the set up.

I have never seen a guitar with action this low. Period.
Neither have you. I guarantee it.
You think youve seen low action. You havent. Not unless youve played a perfectly flat fretboard, which Im guessing most would have to say they havent had the chance & most never will.

No buzzing what-so-ever! To be honest, I actually had to raise the action on all six strings. Too low for me. I have to feel a little resistance when Im playing.

So, basically, in the action dept. this thing kills!

Its only got the one Duncan JB & its adjusted perfectly.

The guitar is a two piece, center joined alder body with a lot of character to it & a great grain in my opinion. There are no flaws at all. Believe me, I looked. And looked again. The body is natural alder with a clear coat but is a little on the dark side of clear with a bit of an orange tint to it. I love it. Its a nice contrast to the light maple neck & board. The nut was cut very well & is bone, I believe. The electronics (one volume & one humbucker) work very well with no scratch or other annoyances.

I also have to give Wayne an "atta-boy" for fitting the custom neck to his guitar body so well. If any of you reading dont know, the wayne guitars do not use a standard strat sized neck pocket (the provided neck is a standard strat spec). Wayne Charvel cut the pocket perfectly. It fits the neck like it was made for it! (which it was, actually)

Flawless body. Excellent assembly. Incredible set up.

10!

Guitar is built as well as any Ive ever seen. Easily withstand years of live abuse.

Hardware is very solid. Schaller gold locking tuners. NOS Charvel stap buttons. NOS Charvel Stars string thru body brass bridge.

Really, the best of everything.

Michael sprayed the clear himself & it looks great! Im sure it will last.

I would never play out without a back up. Ever. But I feel I wouldnt really need one with this guitar.

I dealt with Michael Charvel, & he seems like a good guy. Hes friendly to deal with, and will shoot the shit with you if you want to just talk guitar. Very hard to get a hold of. Small shop & Im sure they are very busy. Ive found the best time to reach them is late afternoon/early evening.

The guitar was done when promised. I was a little scared because I called a week before I needed it & it hadnt been put together & set up yet, but they came through in the end.

Im not sure if it has a warranty since its not officially a "Wayne" guitar. But what the hell could go wrong, really. Im sure if the body split at the seam, it would be take care of. Im sure they would take care of any real quality issues. They are too small of a business to leave people out in the cold. The smaller the business, the better the service should be.

Ive been playing off & on since 86 with a ten year break from 90-2000 or so. Ive owned plenty of gear & I know whats good & whats not.
I currently own (guitars) 2 shadow guitars, carvin ct6m, kramer proaxe & nightswan, parker usa single cut, 03 10th anniversary custom fly, 03 nitefly m.
(Amps) GK 250ml, crate power block, crate acoustic 112, Peavey XXX 60 watt 1x12 combo.
(effects) TC Electronic G-system, evh phaser, ibanez reissue tube screamer, more stuff....

Used to have a slew of vintage 80s & early 90s guitars from Kramer, BC Rich, Charvel, Ibanez USA Custom, etc...bitch ex wife took it all.

Ive had many mesa amps but none can do 80s metal to my satisfaction (recently got rid of my Roadking) like my Peavey XXX.

Again, Ive owned plenty of stuff over the years. I know whats good.

Since I got this guitar out of circumstances, I basically got the guitar my friend wanted. Which is cool. Since the ex-wife got my barettas & gunslinger, I was in the market for a 80s throwback guitar. I really couldnt be any happier. Im trying to get away from floyd rose trems lately. Any trem actually. Trying to get inspired & not use the trem as a crutch anymore & this guitar fits the bill.

If it were stolen or lost, I dont know what Id do. This is a one of a kind guitar that Im sure Wayne would not do again. It was a special project made under special circumstances that I just happened to fall into when my friend fell on tough times.

Cant compare this to any other guitar. Who is making super strats with a flat fretboard? No one. Warmoth wont even do a neck like this! Then again, Warmoth wont do shit anymore...

This is a special guitar. Special because Wayne Charvel is a legend. Special because its one of a kind. It looks awesome, plays awesome, has a cool story behind it...what more could someone ask for?

Well, maybe a serial numbered neckplate & proof that its a wayne charvel creation??? Because the neck wasnt his, he cannot give me a serial plate or even a wayne sticker. No proof that he made it. Bummer. I can see his point of view, but it really sucks for me. Not even a picture of him holding it or putting it together.

Not that I ever plan on selling it, but it would sure help the value to have it documented as a Wayne charvel creation.

No bad feelings here. In fact, Im sure Ill have a full fledged Wayne guitar built for me in the near future.