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Price Paid
$899
Condition
New
Country of origin
Japan
Body wood(s)
Alder
Neck wood
Maple
Fretboard
Maple
Fretboard Scale
25.5
Number of frets
22
Pros

 

Basically the standard features you find on Charvel USA Pro Mod's:

12"-16" compound radius fingerboard.

Thin C neck contour.

Jumbo frets, with superb fretwork.

Great classic Duncan JB/59 pickups.

Simple knob configuration.

Chrome hardware.

Comes with a quality SKB case.

Cons

The Floyd's fine tuners are hard to turn, finding this a lot now. The toggle switch flips straight up and down, which is an awkward motion considering where the switch is, and speaking of which I had to replace, My USA So Cal hasn't had parts replaced because they were faulty. The neck finish, it's not terrible, I haven't felt it get sticky like a heavy lacquer, but it's not the oil finish of the discontinued USA Pro Mod's, steel wool can fix that up if you don't like it... For the record I like it because it covers the fret edges, but the oil finish is much better.

Summary

Overall this guitar is solid, and a bargain at $899. Stays in tune, the fret work is really good, very clean smooth edges which I'm a stickler for. The Duncan pickups are excellent. In spite of the fine tuner issues, the Floyd has a very loose feel out of the box, but needed a little tweaking to get it intonated and level, this is the 3rd guitar I got from that Japanese factory where the Floyd felt good, where as the USA's were notorious for having stiff setups, it's also the 3rd straight guitar from there that had the fine tuner issue. The inclusion of a hard shell SKB case is great. Would definitely buy another. The price is a bargain, similar offerings from Ibanez and ESP at this price point are made in Korea, Indonesia, and China, yet the Charvel's quality is every bit as good as their top line MIJ guitars. Comparing it to a custom shop neck, the USA is closer in feel, but the MIJ is no slouch. Fine tuners aside, toggle switch position aside, it plays like a 4, it sounds like a 5.