Charvel Pro Mod
So the USA models of the San Dimas, So Cal and the limited wild card models have been replaced by Japanese made models (PRO MOD). The question is, are they any good and how do they compare to the USA models?
I’ve played both and I can firmly say that it’s almost the same guitar.
The Japanese are now highly respected guitar builders with incredible attention to detail and let me tell you, this is evident in these Charvels.
First off, the neck; the USA made guitars had a custom shop feel from the neck where this is not evident in the Jap model but don’t get me wrong, they have a great feel about them. The finish on the fret edges are like liquid, no intrusion to your playing at all and at certain angles it looks like the wood is scalped. The radius on the neck is 10/16, very cool for your chords low down and flat and fast for your licks up top.
Body wise it’s standard strat shape made from alder, the difference lies with the classic Floyd Rose tremolo and two Seymour Duncan pickups , a 59 and a JB. 1 knob for volume and the good old 3 way selector switch.
I personally would have like to have seen the inclusion of an all access heel, a modern touch to the hot rod strat but it’s not a big deal as I do appreciate the classic look and feel of those 80’s guitars. I’m not even bothered by 22 frets instead of 24!
So what do you get? Well, the Jap model comes with a hard-shell case instead of the gig bag the USA model came with, it has the same body, superb pickups, outstanding build quality and not forgetting the attention to detail on those frets goes along way to seeing that this could be the best £629 you’ll ever spend.
