Guitar sugestions :)

[Dragoneti]

Hello everybody!!

I’m looking for your guitar advice. I have several guitars in my possession (4 electrics + 1 acoustic) but my main ones are a 5 year old Mexican fender HSS (JB /hot rails in parallel /lil59) and a 1.5 year old Japanese RR3 with Super Distortion/Jazz and OFR.

The thing is that I play mostly 80s hard rock/ hair metal and the RR3 is a little awkward in my hands (although after some mods such as repositioning the strap on the neck plate is much better than stock) and can only be played standing up but its neck is wonderful, and the fender has a far more “difficult” neck to play with 9.5’’ radius and vintage fret wire.

So I figured that my options are the following (and at the same time make a Christmas present to myself), either replace the neck on the strat with another that will have a 12’’ radius + jumbo frets which will cost something among the lines of 250 Euros as I have seen on the net (I would like suggestions on where to buy such a neck preferably from inside the EU), or leave the strat alone and buy another Japanese Jackson such as a DK2 or DK2M.

What would you do?

Thank you in advance!!
Stelios

[Jonny]

New neck.

[Frank]

dunno, a Jackson just screams 1980s hair metal to me

[Dragoneti]

Thank you for your answers!!

After a series of unexpected events...i'm now the new owner of a MIA Charvel San Dimas Style 1 2H!!

The guitar just screams... :) :) I tested in the store...and i knew that it had to be mine...:)

Thank you all for ypour help!

Stelios

[dheim]

i was about to suggest you an ibanez (excellent cost/quality ratio and one of the best quality controls at the factory), and i can hardly think at something that's more hair metal than some RGs!

but i see you already bought a charvel... nice one!

enjoy, geia sou!

[Ribboz]

Egh Ibanez and Rgs came out right after they had the time to influence. And jacksons were usually used my poser guitar players in the 80s who wanted to be big. The true 80s guitar for a guitar hero was the Charvel 100%.
(speaking from the 80s point of view)(it was the best then)

[FELINEGUITARS]

+1 to Charvels dominating the 1980s LA rock scene - along with BC Rich, Kramers, Gibsons, etc
Jacksons were common too - look at bands like Armoured Saint, Ratt etc

Vai had been a big Jackson user and modified the inner cutaway to make more room for his big hands

Ibanez had their Roadstar series out during the mid-late 80s heyday
When they got involved with Vai (after all his guitars got stolen during the warm up for Dave Lee Roth's 1986 Eat Em and smile tour) he had them base their RG design on the Jackson soloist he had been using but in a bolt on design like his Green Charvel.
The Jem & RG didn't appear until about 1988 - and in reality the LA glam scene was past it's peak at the time

[shobet]

Ribboz, you don't make a distinction between the USA made and Japanese made Charvels, are you refering to one or the other or are you lumping them in together?

I agree the RG was a bit late to the party in 1987, but I wouldn't dismiss them as they are very consistent planks.

Note that Jackson and Charvel guitars were made in the same factory from 1978 until the company merged with IMC in 1985 and then we then start to see the mass produced Japanese line of Charvels, which are fantastic guitars in their own rights. With this in mind I'd have to argue that those early Charvels and Jacksons - effectively all being one off custom guitars - were of the same quality. The only real difference is that Jacksons were generally neck through and the Charvels were bolt-ons up until about 1986.

As feline said it's worth noting B.C. Rich and Kramer as well, but funnily enough the early B.C. Rich guitars were made by Jackson.

I've been trying to remember who the main Charvel endorsers were and all I can remember are EVH, Alan Holdsworth, Gary Moore, Jake E. Lee, George Lynch, Warren DeMartini and Steve Vai. There are probably loads more but my memory fails me.

Also I'd hardly call Jackson's endoree list a bunch of wanabees! Randy Roads, Chris Holmes, Robbin Crosby, oh and several of the people I mentioned above as Charvel endorsers.

[shobet]

If you like the early pre-pro charvels and some of the later ones, have a look at Trace's site, I guarantee you will shiteee yourself at his collection! http://www.usacharvels.com/index.htm.

Also http://www.jacksoncharvelworld.net/Home.html has a nice list, just click on the archive.

For Jacksons have a look at Jani's site at http://www.jacksonguitarpalace.com/ he has some very famous Jacksons.
The JCF has a nice selection of pics as well http://www.jcfonline.com/gallery/

They all remind me of my yoof.

[Herbie the Rad Dorklift]

The USA Charvels are great!

[Ribboz]

I was talking about charvel before it was sold to grover. Once he bought it, it went all down hill.
Honestly, kramers were junkie in the 80s. I really dont know what to say, they just were.
All kramers had was a headstock shape that I love, and Eddie behind them.
(headstock shape was the beak shape)(the same one suhr uses now)

[shobet]

I was talking about charvel before it was sold to grover. Once he bought it, it went all down hill.
Honestly, kramers were junkie in the 80s. I really dont know what to say, they just were.
All kramers had was a headstock shape that I love, and Eddie behind them.
(headstock shape was the beak shape)(the same one suhr uses now)

OK so you're on about the guitars the Charvel company put together from necks and bodies purchased form Fender and Boogie Bodies. Charvel didn't actually manufacture any of their own guitars until after Wayne Charvel had left the company.

The definative Kramer headstock shape for me would be the banana one.

[Ribboz]

ugh, you mean the hockey stick headstock XD
Nah see what wayne brought in was a slightly high quality than what existed before hand. (Better setups) Companies like fender were releasing cr@p up until this point. See I said charvel, because the guitarists who used charvels were the ones that really created the dominate technique of the 80. (other than yngwie who use his own idols guitar)(jimmi and Richie)We could argue this endlessly, its just he wanted pinnacle of the 80s and I would think the biggest symbol for 80s lead guitarist is the Charvel. I'm sorry if you didnt use them, and want to justify the worth of the other guitars. But Charvel is a iconic symbol. :\

[shobet]

I'm not disputing the quality or the dominance of the players or indeed the strat head Charvel's iconic image. A lot of people who I know who are lucky enough to have some of those early Charvels rave about them. However I don't believe there were that many made and certainly not many of them made it to this side of the pond.

As for setups improving you'd have thought a company called Charvel's Guitar Repair would have had their setups sorted before Wayne Jackson arrived.  ;)

I'd still argue that Jackson had way more exposure than Charvel from the mid to late 80s. Simply from the fact they stopped making Charvels around 86. It also goes to show how mercenary many of those influential players were when it came to their gear as I believe they almost all jumped ship from Charvel in the early to mid 80s.

Oh BTW, just to be a pedant, those Kramer classic chicken beak headstock necks were made by ESP as were a lot of the subsequent Banana or hockey stick (call it what you will) ones, in fact the majority of them up to 1990 were made by ESP with two other companies called LaSiDo (Godin these days, may not have been then, I can't find out) and Sports.

ESP that's another brand I'd forgotten to mention.

I best shut up now! ;)

[Ribboz]

I'm not disputing the quality or the dominance of the players or indeed the strat head Charvel's iconic image. A lot of people who I know who are lucky enough to have some of those early Charvels rave about them. However I don't believe there were that many made and certainly not many of them made it to this side of the pond.

As for setups improving you'd have thought a company called Charvel's Guitar Repair would have had their setups sorted before Wayne Jackson arrived.  ;)

I'd still argue that Jackson had way more exposure than Charvel from the mid to late 80s. Simply from the fact they stopped making Charvels around 86. It also goes to show how mercenary many of those influential players were when it came to their gear as I believe they almost all jumped ship from Charvel in the early to mid 80s.

Oh BTW, just to be a pedant, those Kramer classic chicken beak headstock necks were made by ESP as were a lot of the subsequent Banana or hockey stick (call it what you will) ones, in fact the majority of them up to 1990 were made by ESP with two other companies called LaSiDo (Godin these days, may not have been then, I can't find out) and Sports.

ESP that's another brand I'd forgotten to mention.

I best shut up now! ;)

ok? Charvel was still the one company used by a majority of influential artists. The guy asks for 80s that guitar was the most iconic. He asked, I answered. It could be argued that most companies after were influenced from wayne, so one could say I went right to the source. AND even the guy who started this thread GOT ONE XD