Woops, NGD.............

dindude · August 2013

I had no intention of buying another guitar when I went to work yesterday, but in rare a quiet moment I did a bit of browsing, saw this in GuitarGuitar's used secton, press the correct sequence of buttons to make it go out of stock, then DPD banged on my door at 08:30 this morning with a parcel. Not bad considering the guitar was in Glasgow and I'm in London.

Been trying to quench my thirst for an occasional rock machine for over a year now, was in no big rush as I have something to tide me over, but I've always liked the look of these.

I'll do a write up in a week or so as I've learnt that NGD's are not the best time to write an objective review. But first impressions couldn't be better, it's absolutely mint condition, it feels like a quality piece that could hang with anything, and what I love about Charvel's is that you can still feel the hod-rodded Fender heritage. By the time you get to square edged body, flat-backed necks, locking trem type Ibanez's, you've lost me.

mike_l · August 2013

sweet guitar sir, comgratumaltions on gettings an awesomes cousin to my own Charvel, I hope you have a lot of fun with it (I'm sure you will)

Also, the simplicity of a pup selector switch and a volume pot has a lot going for it. You won't mess around trying too many different settings, just simple tune it, choose your pup, hit the gas and rock......

As a little aside, Charvel pickups are pretty hot (at least the ones in Sammie are) and may take a little getting used to, don't be afraid to adjust the height of them, I did and it made a whole lot of difference....

Dave_Mc · August 2013

very nice

McToot · August 2013

I likes that a lot Dan - very nice indeed. Sparkly orange is an underused colour...

grungebob · August 2013

I like the look of those, was a few on that there ebay a bit back but out of my price range.

Congrats!

Lexie1 · August 2013

Very Nice Indeed.

Dave, all you can do is Edit the post. Thing that looks like a cog in the top right of the post in the grey banner above the smilie icon.

stonevibe · August 2013

Orange.

Nice.

mike_l · August 2013

First impressions? not a full review just first impressions please......

dindude · August 2013

First impressions then: Built very nicely indeed, neck pocket spot on, finish is very tidy and the orange looks great in person, the ebony fingerboard is a big slab, thicker than most I've seen, no obvious shortcuts or compromises that I can see, and it's sitting alongside a custom shop fender and a Gibson for comparison.

The neck feels great, really comfy rolled edges and slim and fast but still not alien to a die hard Strat guy, nice weight at around 7.5 lbs. Sound wise, acoustically it's a lot like a good Strat, plugged in the neck pup is straty for sure, but a little crisper, the bridge is hot hot hot, and pushes my rig (not massively high of gain) into areas that my other guitars can't manage, so does the vintage hot (think early van halen) thing very well. Probably does crushing gain equally as well but that's not me ting. Overall I'm very impressed, and just as important, it has a great vibe about it.

mike_l · August 2013

@dindude, that's pretty much what I thought of Sammie when I first got it, I'm assuming the pup's are similar spec, so yep, the stupid massive gain thing is easily to do.

Very, very nice colour too.

I'd like to read a full review in a couple of weeks, it'd be interesting to compare 2 similar guitars (Sam's 2 'bucker/Floyd equipped)...

dindude · August 2013

@mike_l it's a seymour JB in the bridge which is pretty pokey, what's yours, aren't they Dimarzios if I recall? Still not dissimilar though I would imagine.

mike_l · August 2013

Yep, Di Marzio's I can't remember the model though. I do know, the neck has a ceramic mag, and the bridge has Alnico5.

I'd estimate the output/tone to be pretty similar from both.

Dave_Mc · August 2013

Lexie1 said:

Very Nice Indeed.

Dave, all you can do is Edit the post. Thing that looks like a cog in the top right of the post in the grey banner above the smilie icon.

Thanks

Yeah I know you can edit it, but I didn't think of deleting what I posted. Still not ideal, I still look like an idiot, but I suppose it's not just so obvious...

)

Fez · August 2013

Nice gas well done that man!

guitargeek62 · August 2013

Awesome gas! I've got a bit of a guilty-pleasure soft spot for these

>-

bluechargeboy · August 2013

I agonised over these for a long while! The headstock colour put me off in the end, and the heel (I was going through an Ibanez phase). This has awakened the demons. :-S Lovely!

Moltisanti · August 2013

i have the same guitar as my number 1 , ridiculous value for money, and these limited wildcard hardtails a pretty rare, apparently the new Mexican version isn't even close. The bridge weighs about a pound on it's own which is good! enjoy and let me know how the neck single coil sounds, i have a mini HB in mine

Bidley · August 2013

That is awesome. I've been lusting after something with the H-S configuration and this isn't helping!

ICBM · August 2013

The guitarist in my band had one of these for a while - great guitar, fantastic for all kinds of rock/metal widdly stuff... but rather let down by a weak neck pickup.

If you're finding that as well, try a Duncan Li'l Screamin' Demon - it matches the bridge JB perfectly.

Jalapeno · August 2013

Dave_Mc said:

EDIT: Aw cack I tried to post a bunch of times and nothing happened. Looks like it did post after all. And I can't figure out a way to delete it. Sorry

No Problemo - blitzed 'em for ya !

Jalapeno · August 2013

Excellent & Retrotastic GAS !!!!!! B-)

Travisthedog · August 2013

That's lovely - @Drbob will pee his pants when he sees that

dindude · August 2013

Cheers all, more playing time today an it really is a corker, covers a lot more bases than I first thought. The neck single is pretty good with medium gain as its hum cancelling and crisp enough to cut through, but ICBM is right, next to the JB there is a big power difference. Looking down and seeing the metallic orange paint makes me smile every time too!

Dave_Mc · August 2013

ICBM said:

The guitarist in my band had one of these for a while - great guitar, fantastic for all kinds of rock/metal widdly stuff... but rather let down by a weak neck pickup.

If you're finding that as well, try a Duncan Li'l Screamin' Demon - it matches the bridge JB perfectly.

I haven't tried this one, but I remember not much liking the classic stacks when I tried them in a Jackson. I think the neck route is kinda tight in charvels, though, you'd want to check any pickup upgrade would fit before buying anything...

Jalapeno said:

Dave_Mc said:

EDIT: Aw cack I tried to post a bunch of times and nothing happened. Looks like it did post after all. And I can't figure out a way to delete it. Sorry

No Problemo - blitzed 'em for ya !

Awesome, thanks

John_P · August 2013

I really like the look of that - sounds like the neck is great too.
If it had a trem it would be perfect! I must try one very soon!

mike_l · August 2013

@John_P I recommend you do, they're awesomes.......

Barney · August 2013

now that looks lovley....bet it sounds it as well...

stickyfiddle · August 2013

I can't play the kind of stuff those are made for at all, but they really are all kinds of retro/semi-ironic/godawful/awesome cool

DrBob · August 2013

Travisthedog said:

That's lovely - @Drbob will pee his pants when he sees that

You're not wrong brother, should've snared that one back when it was available..

BluesyDave · August 2013

Lovely colour. Do you have the perm and spandex yet?

Pyroman · August 2013

stickyfiddle said:

I can't play the kind of stuff those are made for at all, but they really are all kinds of retro/semi-ironic/godawful/awesome cool

Me either, but these hot rodded metalish guitars sure are fun to play anyhow. I have an Ibby RG for those times when I want to burn my eyebrows off- it can do med gain and cleans well, too.

Nice GAS, man- I wouldn't mind having a nice Charvel like that, either.

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Woops, NGD.............

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