Charvel Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 2 24 HT HH Electric Guitar - Satin Black Reviews

I've had this guitar for over 2 years now, and for 2 years it's been my pride and joy. It's an absolute blast to play.

For starters, I would consider myself an intermediate/slightly advanced player, and after years of playing the guitar I felt it was time to find the instrument that was meant for me. I researched sooo many different brands and their specs, neck shapes, pickups, and I watched tons of rig rundowns on YouTube of artists that I admire and try and model my playing after. Overall I was an Ibanez man up to this point, owning multiple lower end Ibanez models such as the grgs and the rga standards. Being used to the thin wizard necks I made comparisons after charvel caught my eye with this one. I read watched tons of reviews and said screw it, I bought it, and boy I wasn't disappointed.

Right out of the box, the guitar was just insanely well put together. For this price point you get a solid roasted maple neck, locking tuners, the fancy tusq nut, and extremely clean and versatile fishman pickups.

I live in Utah and it's a DRY climate. Other guitars I own with lower end necks tend to lose their moisture insanely fast and start to twist. This one however has not moved a freaking millimeter out of place in 2 YEARS of no humidification (I'm lazy). I can pick this bad boy up and play with confidence in my setup.

The pickups as well, just great as expected from fishman. I've spent who knows how many hours appreciating the distinct and clear tonal versatility of these pickups. I'm not a tone snob as much as some but I'd be shocked if you were unable to match your favorite pickup tones on this thing. The switches and knobs are solid. No need to replace anything in the last 2 years except the 9v battery which I believe I've only changed once with playing on a regular basis.

The body shape is just elegant, with the scalloped area where the neck bolts on and the tapered edge where you picking arm sits being precisely where they need to be. You get all the fret access you could ask for. I got the satin black finish, and it's a great finish though I will note that the spot where my picking arm tends to rest when I play sitting down has worn slightly. when this finish wears down it tend to become more reflective or glossy, but still has that classy black color. Overall the paint job is 10/10 with what I suppose is typical wear on a satin finish. I love it

All in all I love everything about this guitar. When I play It's like slicing through a stick of warm butter and you'll probably find yourself having to force yourself to slow down, because it's just that easy to play. The ability to strum softly and delicately, to the crisp snappiness of an aggressive riff, it's all executed beautifully on this model.

Let's not forget to mention the price point. I'm dumbfounded other brands charge more than this for a guitar of less or similar quality. I needed to shop on a budget and this was worth every penny I spent. Within a day or two of receiving thy is guitar I knew I would never part ways with it, and it's set the standard for any guitar I'll consider buying in the future.

I took the time to write this review in hopes that someone reads it and is blessed by this beautiful guitar, so to the reader I say GET IT

I am happy with this guitar. I prefer this guitar to the 2009 American standard Strat that it replaced. I wanted a Fender style instrument with modern amenities. The neck has a thin profile. The compound radius fretboard is nice. I like the Fishman Fluence pickups. The voicing toggle is useful, and the coil tap is a really nice feature when you want those single coil tones. My strumming hand does hit the volume knob from time to time, but I am learning to live with it. The first instrument I received had a flaw in the finish most likely due to damage during shipping. Sweetwater took care of everything of course and the replacement instrument was in perfect condition and played very well out of the box. Big thanks to my Sweetwater sales rep, Jonathan Appleton for everything. Thank you, Sweetwater!

Where do I even start with this..? The caramelized maple neck and the fretboard is just the best I have ever played. The Fishman Fluences give such a range of tones that it's easily the most versatile guitar I've ever played. It's so comfortable, and it makes me WANT to play. So good, 10/10.

Really nice guitar. I always wanted a tele style guitar and this fits the bill. Neck is impressive, plays smooth. Very versatile guitar with all of the choices you can make with the electronics that are available.

I have never owned a Charvel before and I am not just a huge fan of the Tele body style but there was something about this guitar than I was just drawn to. When I played it the neck was just crazy good. I own Ernie Ball, Gibson, EVH, and Fender American models and I think this neck is smoother and easier to play than all of them. It is just an incredible instrument and I just cannot but it down. The Fishman Fluence pickups sound fantastic. And I love the 24 frets. I highly recommend this guitar!

I've purchased about 8 or so guitars in my time and this is the first one I strictly bought by research. I'm quite happy. I'm most impressed by the neck and heel joint - better than my PRS guitars, including an American CE. This is my first compound radius neck and has been natural to adjust to. Fretwork is great. Matte black finish is perfect, and so-metal.

These are my first active pickups, which I wanted to try. They are quite flexible, but do lack a little bass. I might prefer the Petrucci DiMarzios, but do appreciate they work with my cheapo Joyo JW-03 wireless system. That doesn't work well with the active ESP pickups in my bass.

Good setup out of the box, although I did my own a few weeks later with Ernie Ball RPS custom 9s. Tuning and intonation stability is good.

Negatives
-Slight neck dive. I tried to go with not the lightest weight one to eliminate this (review I watched was for 7lb 2oz, but I got 7lb 7 or 9oz), but mine still has some dive. I find this an inexcusable design error.
-Cable jack is too tight - have to ram it in. Maybe I can adjust it - haven't tried yet.
-One of the saddle height screws kept backing out. I had to put some lock tight on it. Fine now.
-Little bits of glue on the fretboard around the frets, but barely noticeable.

I was otherwise looking at the $ Schecter, but it didn't have the nice body/heel carve - very chunky, no active pickups and only 22 frets. There is also the $ ESP LTD, but was $ more for arguably less guitar, though it did have a neck through. Or a $ Everytune version, which was quite interesting, but I wasn't willing to buy it without playing it.

This was my first guitar with active pickups. I've had it for about a year now and I just love it. There was a minor issue with the volume pot when it arrives but Sweetwater took care of it quickly (fixed locally and sweetwater reimbursed)

My only real "complaint" is that it took no time at all for fret sprout to occur but that can happen on any guitar so I can't really just fault this one for it.

It plays nice, it looks nice. the neck feels good. locking tuners. I even love how the cable jack is on the back and recessed instead of just on the side of the body.

All in all this is a great guitar and I highly recommend it. Unfortunately it is like $ more expensive now than when I got it but after having it a year I'd say if that doesnt push it over your budget then don't hesitate.

This might be the most versatile guitar I've ever owned! The neck is very fast too! My absolute favorite thing about it is all of the different tones you can create with it. You seriously can go from Stevie Ray Vaughn to Metallica with a few flips of the on board controls. The pull pot knob for single coil sounds might be the best I've ever heard too. The pick-ups are next to impossible to get to feedback as well. This is a great instrument! My only tiny knock, is when I go drop D and play some chunky metal riffs, it is a bit to mid-rangey and not enough bottom chunk, but it still growls. Easy Zakk Wylde pinch harmonics too, I barely need to try to make it squeal. Glad I got it. Also, Sweetwater is just the best there is. They are wonderful to get equipment from every time!!

Love this guitar!

I had originally been looking at Ibanez AZ series guitars, but as far as the features-to-price, this one seemed to compare very favorably.

I'd seen a number of reviews talking about how great these Charvel necks feel, but having never played one, I was a little hesitant. I'm happy to say that the hype is justified. The neck on this thing s just a joy to play. Exceptionally smooth finish, nicely fretwork, no fret sprout, and a profile that is more comfortable than any other guitar I've owned in my… 40-ish (yikes!) years of playing. The body is very ergonomic, and roasted maple/matte black are a great understated combination that looks even better IRL than in the photos. I found no flaws at all in the paint work.

The Fluence Open Core pickups feel more organic and less compressed than the EMG 81TW/89R set in one of my other guitars. While the single-coil sounds aren't quite as "Tele-like" as I'd hoped, they're good, and they get close enough for as often as I need that. Both the vintage and modern humbucker voicings are great.

My other guitars are going to be gathering dust for a while, and I'm now glad I wasn't able to find the AZ I was originally looking for. I can't imagine how it would have provided the same bang for the buck.

Sweetwater service amazing
Shipping amazing
Buying a guitar from fender. Evh charvel from Mexico I would say a disaster the frets were sharp the pick ups were set up terrible