An ADHD Find: The Charvel Pro Mod Guitars

We are living in an incredible age. Great guitars can be found at most price levels. And I'm always on the lookout for a good gear deal. I was surprised when a friend of mine called me (not text or email) freaking out over these guitars.

Here is the back story. He and I are both big Van Halen fans, he bought the black and white striped EVH guitar almost as soon as they were released. After we ran a setup on the EVH Striped Guitar we were both impressed with the fit and finish and play-ability of the guitar. It's a very comfortable guitar to play. I remember saying to him if Eddie wants to expand this line he should put out this same guitar with solid colors and dual humbuckers. I'm not sure who at Fender corp was listening in on our conversation but Charvel has done just that with the Pro Mod series. I had no idea how close these guitars were but a friend of his brought over his new Charvel Pro Mod Guitar and they both couldn't believe it. Everything is identical! The neck carve, the fretboard, of course the standard body shape ect. The only real difference are the dual humbuckers which are a Seymour Duncan JB/59 set and a tone knob that disconnects if you roll it all the way up. And of course the finish options. There are solid colors, see through quilt tops, and metallic flake, with and without a pickguard. There is even a hardtail version. Apparently these are made in the same factory in Mexico along side the EVH guitars.

These aren't for everyone but this is a killer guitar for the $500-1000 price range. Check the Charvel Pro Mod Guitar

ADHD Reviews: Playing the Fender Frankenstein copy

Back in 2007 or 2008 (I really don't remember which) Chip Ellis who worked for Fender Corp got permission from Eddie Van Halen to build a limited run exact replicas of Ed's famous Frankenstein. According to legend they wanted to build more but could only find the exact parts for 300 of them. That last part (only finding exact parts) has been disputed by various self proclaimed experts but we do know that they released 300 of these and only 180 were released in the USA.

even the case is cool

So imagine my surprise when, right after they announced it, an old friend of mine called to tell me he had one on order. This really surprised me because the ticket price on these were a whopping $25,000!!! This guy was a HUGE Eddie Van Halen fan so I knew owning this guitar was going to be very special for him. A few months later when it arrived he called to set up a time for me to drive up to his place and spend an evening checking it out.

dig the wiring in the center cavity

While he had checked it out he had boxed up the guitar so I could have the fun of opening the box. This of course added to the excitement of the whole thing. Every scar on this thing tells a story, and it looks like it's been dragged through battle. Burn marks from Ed's cigarettes, screw holes where he tried something and then moved it, areas where the paint has rubbed down... all tell stories.

Not gonna lie, I got a little giddy at this point!

The guitar plays well, but the action is not particularly low. The neck is super comfortable, I've gotten into fat necks the last ten years and prefer them to thin necks but the Frankie neck hits a sweet spot, not too thick for fans of thin necks but I certainly wouldn't call it a thin neck. Just very very comfortable.

 The pickup is fairly hot, I would describe it as a PAF on steroids. Similar to but not exactly like the current wolfgang pickups they are dropping in the EVH line.

a close up of the 1971 quarter

The scars of battle and the reflectors 

all of the these layers of paint are very smooth 

We had a great time that night, trading Van Halen riffs, drinking beer, swapping stories and catching up the way friends do. I'm not nearly the Van Halen player he is. I know a bunch of the licks but I've never worked on getting that swing down that Ed has. This guy has put the time in, and it shows. Some people are almost offended by limited run copies of famous guitars with exorbitant price tags. And while I wouldn't buy one I don't have a problem with people who do, or those companies who make them. I love that this guitar exist, it's as close as I will ever get to playing THAT guitar! If you've dedicated time in getting those licks perfected you can do them on most guitars. I remember this my friend playing a Les Paul through a solid state Marshall (a mosfet 100) with a tube screamer and sounding damn close to the Van Halen I tone. So him owning this guitar made sense to me. He's got the chops down perfect. He has since sold the Frankenstein guitar for a nice profit and of course he has picked up one of the new EVH striped guitars (the bumblebee).

Five Signature Guitars I would buy

Signature guitars are occupy an interesting space in our strange musical world. On one hand playing what your heroes play is kind of cool. On the other hand most of us get into music to express ourselves and to find our own voice. It used to be that signature gear didn't mean that the artist really played that guitar, that it was just a name and a paint job but these days most artist won't put out gear that they won't use.

EVH red stripe- One of my closest friends owns the black and white version and another one of my close friends owns the bumble bee, so I kind of have to get the red one don't I? There are several versions of this guitar but the red is my favorite, and I'm pretty sure I'd put some 5150 stickers on it. I really dig the wolfgangs too but if I had to choose I'd get one of these. I've read some mixed reviews but everyone of these I've played has been amazing.

Keith Merrow KM-7- If your into shred guitar and don't know who Keith Merrow is go to youtube right now and type in his name. Keith made a name for himself 1st playing along with his own music, then demoing gear on youtube and then making music with other shred heavy musicians. This guitar comes in 6 and 7 string versions and they have an extended scale making down tuned riffage pop a bit more. I really dig the Lambo Orange version of this guitar with the carbon fiber binding but that new green one with the sustainer looks pretty awesome too.

Zach Myers PRS- This is hands down the best looking PRS SE guitar in the line up. It looks like a custom shop model and the SE series are the best built budget models on the market. There are a few different versions but that Trampas green has a unique look to it and the satin finished neck feels great. Say what you will about Shinedown but they have carved out their own notch in a time period where many hard rock bands are struggling to stand out.

Jim Root Jazzmaster- All of the Jim Root models are pretty killer. These USA built guitars are straight forward hard rock machines. They aren't made to look pretty but somehow make me think of a killer built hot rod. I would love to get that flat black Jazzmaster and let a friend of mine do some pin striping on it. Check out more of Jims gear here.


Andy Timmons AT10- If you spend a moment looking around on my blog you'll know I'm a big fan of Andy Timmons. He always inspires me to to work on my craft and his signature guitar has much of the same features I've been looking for in my own guitars. The new White one with the Rosewood board is my current favorite. check out more of Andy's gear here.