NGD: Charvel Pro Mod DK24 HSS in Primer Grey

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lysanderlysander Frets: 574
edited July 2019 in Guitar
Ok so technically this was two weeks ago but here is my initial report.

Bought as B stock from Andertons for £700 - a very good price, but impressions so far are slightly mixed.

Good points :
- Excellent fit and finish. Love the look and the thin matte finish.
- Perfect neck shape, one of the best I’ve played 
- I love the features, modern neck joint etc
- I like the pickups. Great versatile sounds.

Bad points :
- Setup out of the box was god awful and took hours to fix. The recessed tremolo height adjustment can only be done with no string tension and retuning from no tension takes ages because floating tremolo ...
- The frets are nice and shiny but not all that level ... Can’t get the action close to factory specs without getting a buzzy mess
- The guitar is pretty dark acoustically, not necessarily a bad thing but slightly surprising.
- The middle pickup is right in the way of my picking and the height is not adjustable.

Overall I think it’s a great instrument and most of the negatives are fixable, but the action and setup things are a bit disappointing.
The guitar is nice enough that I wouldn’t want to risk messing up the frets so I’ll have to decide if I do them myself or take it to someone, which is a PITA either way. 

[img]https://imgur.com/a/8fIdEUE[img]

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Comments

  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    Disappointing to hear the negative aspects to this as I was eyeing this up as “the one guitar to do it all” or most of it at least !
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  • soma1975soma1975 Frets: 6627
    silly question, but have you tried changing the strings? 
    My Trade Feedback Thread is here

    Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    edited July 2019
    @DrBob Yeah that was my angle too.
    I had tried one in a shop and I believe the fretwork was better, and nearly took it home, BUT realised last minute that the first fret had a dent, after which the guys sent it back to Charvel...

    I think the fact I got it B stock increases the probability it’s a bit of a lemon ( relatively speaking  ), so the review should be taken with that pinch of salt.

    I did ask Andertons to confirm all was in order with it before it was shipped ...
    The main reason for the price drop was that there was no original box.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    soma1975 said:
    silly question, but have you tried changing the strings? 
    Yup the strings it came with were terrible, I changed them to D’addario XL, I think I went up a gauge too ( I use 10-46, stock must have been lower as I had to adjust the tremolo springs ) which of course added to the setup time.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    I’m going to try changing the g string tonight too just in case even though it’s new. I’m already down a second set anyway as the D broke at the tuner from all the pitching up and down as I was setting it up.
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  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    lysander said:

    - The guitar is very dark acoustically, bordering on dull.
    The g string in particular sounds a bit dead even though the sustain is fine.
    If you've changed strings this is enough reason for me to send it back.  YMMV but personally I wont keep a guitar which sounds acoustically dead.  
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    I need to try with a second new string in case it was a dud one, and spend some more time playing it plugged now I’ve done the annoying part.
    At the end of the day the plugged sound trumps all, I have a high end Vigier that is super bright and alive acoustically but I could never get it to sound how I like plugged in even after installing darker pickups - always has had a sterile edge for me ( not selling it due to sentimental value ).

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  • guitargeek62guitargeek62 Frets: 4067
    Adam_MD said:
    lysander said:

    - The guitar is very dark acoustically, bordering on dull.
    The g string in particular sounds a bit dead even though the sustain is fine.
    If you've changed strings this is enough reason for me to send it back.  YMMV but personally I wont keep a guitar which sounds acoustically dead.  
    Agreed - that's one thing you can't really fix
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  • King85King85 Frets: 631
    I have one of these. I had a few issues with it out the box but none you've had so I think you might have got a lemon. Shame as they're a great guitar.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    Thanks for the info, what issues did you have if I might ask ?
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  • TINMAN82TINMAN82 Frets: 1845
    As the setup issues are fixable I guess it comes down to how important the acoustic sound is for a guitar designed for high gain.

    fwiw you do get used to the middle pickup issue, although I’m surprised it’s not adjustable- are you sure?

    I recently bought a Jem-7v with excellent acoustic and amplified tone but it needed a lot of basic, low level setup work out the box. Granted some of that was because I upped string gauge to 9.5 on a sensitive locking trem and am totally inexperienced with those bridges. Neck realignment (to improve string alignment), pickguard realignment, hours spent balancing the bridge and reaching a compromise between bridge, truss rod relief and action. Worth the effort both for lessons learned and improved playability but earned a small paint chip on the back after losing control of a trem spring in the process. Funny how it felt more like “my guitar” afterwards though, and I’ve totally stopped worrying about the minor finish inconsistencies I’d been disappointed with on such a pricey axe.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    Happy to report that the G is much better after replacing the string again.
    The guitar is stll dark and fairly quiet acoustically, but nothing alarming - comparing it to my other guitars, it's on par with my strat. Agreed @TINMAN82 ;
    Will edit my first post.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    TINMAN82 said:

    fwiw you do get used to the middle pickup issue, although I’m surprised it’s not adjustable- are you sure?

    Hope I will :) Yeah all the pickups are direct mounted to wood with no springs, and the middle one is much higher than on my other guitars so I have to pick closer to the neck which is suboptimal for me.
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  • skullfunkerryskullfunkerry Frets: 4136
    Now that you've got it sorted, can we see some pictures? :innocent: 
    Too much gain... is just about enough \m/

    I'm probably the only member of this forum mentioned by name in Whiskey in the Jar ;)

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  • King85King85 Frets: 631
    lysander said:
    Thanks for the info, what issues did you have if I might ask ?
    The nut was really poorly finished and needed tidying up and the saddles needed some twerking.
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7732
    lysander said:
    TINMAN82 said:

    fwiw you do get used to the middle pickup issue, although I’m surprised it’s not adjustable- are you sure?

    Hope I will :) Yeah all the pickups are direct mounted to wood with no springs, and the middle one is much higher than on my other guitars so I have to pick closer to the neck which is suboptimal for me.
    Tighten the screws. It may have rubber tubing rather than springs but will certainly drop as low or lower than the neck pickup.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    Nope, screws are not bulging, it’s definitely screwed directly to the wood at the bottom of the routing cavity.
    There’s an argument it sounds better this way ( which I’m not sure I buy ) so I can see why it was done this way.

    Also, added pic to first post :)
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  • King85King85 Frets: 631
    How good does the neck smell out of the box! The smell has faded on mine now sadly but the roasted maple smelt amazing when I first got it.
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    lmao, I haven't tried sniffing the neck but will let you know :D
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  • lysanderlysander Frets: 574
    edited August 2019
    After spending more time playing it, have to say I really like it.
    Even with the action higher than what it should be, it’s a pleasure to play, and it sounds damn great plugged in.
    I think it’s going to be my main guitar for quite a while. 

    The neck doesn’t smell of anything though
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