Charvel Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 2 24 2PT HH - Black Ash Reviews

It's a Tele, with some bite to it! It's tone is absolutely incredible. It's also incredibly smooth to play.

I've been in metal, rock, and punk bands. Been playing for about 16 years. Used to play shows with a Gibson SG standard, and also had a nice schecter guitar, but never played a Charvel before buying this one. This guitar FAR exceeded my expectations.

The first time I played it, I turned on my orange amp with some heavy distortion, and I instantly fell in love. If I had all the money in the world, I'd still pick this guitar all over again.

I was very surprised that it is also extremely versatile. I can play all the types of music from heavy, to soft rock. Even some cleans! AND THEY ALL SOUND AMAZING. Buy it. Buy it now.

After purchasing a Made in Japan Fender Aerodyne and returning it to the factory due to quality control issues, I researched several other models and brands to find a replacement. This Charvel is vastly superior to the Japanese Fenders and easily on par with American Strats and Tele's. The quality of the headstock and body is exceptional; the hardware is well optioned, beautifully installed, and complements the guitar well. Tonal versatility allows you to play all musical genres. The compound radius neck with jumbo frets and roasted maple finish is sublime for all hand sizes. The "hot rod" mod design, combining the best aspects of a Tele and Start with additional ergonomic details is one of the best I have seen. If you are looking for a guitar built to PLAY, this is it. At this price point, it's a steal. These instruments are easily on par with $2000 competitors. Enjoy!

This guitar can do everything. The neck feels great and the pickups sound great! highly recommend this beautiful instrument

I am blown away at how great this guitar sounds. The PAF settings are rich and creamy while the modern settings are punchy and crisp. The single coil sounds are spanky and very bell like. The Fishman Fluence pickups to me, are the new standard by which I judge other pickups. This guitar is going to be a live performance and studio recording workhorse. I opted to have the Plek Pro option and I think it's worth every penny. I also ordered the Charvel Standard Molded San Dimas/Pro Mod Case. The guitar fits perfect and was double boxed. Make sure you select ship in case when ordering a guitar and or with a case. Details like that make me happy I went with Sweetwater. The finish is great and the roasted/caramelized maple neck and fretboard look and feel great. My sales rep Jonathan Pass was very helpful with my setup request and with questions about the Pleking process.
I am a happy guitarist.

I've owned mine for a few months now. I just got it back from the shop, had it in for a setup. This is the best guitar in this price break that I have ever bought. The coil splits deliver great single coil tones and the Humbuckers so7nd awesome in all positions. Love the feel of the roasted maple neck and the fret work is very good for a guitar in this price range. Oh, and the Gotoh 510 Trem is great too, stays in tune very well even after being abused. Locking tuners make for very easy string changes. Input jack location is very cool. Everyone should have one.

I was pretty much a Tele purist, however, I got my first Charvel last year, and it immediately took over as my favorite guitar, which was not an easy task. When I saw this guitar, my initial thought was that it was just a hyped Tele copy, but after reading reviews, and watching some videos, I decided to give it a try. It took me months to pull the trigger, but Khaleed was so good at what he does, that he convinced me to give it a shot, and I am not sorry. The tone, from single coil, to PAF, to a flat out scorcher, blows me away. The body is amazingly comfortable, but it's the next that is just amazing. Thicker than my Ibanez, much thinner than my Tele's, and just a bit smaller than my Frankie and my So-Cal, it's right in the pocket. And the roasted maple isn't just beautiful, it feels different somehow, and it's so easy to play. I can't put it down, it's that good. If you have any doubts, don't, this is the Tele that Fender should be offering at a much higher price, it's just an amazing piece of work.

Its got a great rock sound and voicing with the Fishman pickups. The voicings are pretty desirable, and sounds good cranked. It plays well, sounds good cranked and gives versatility. Overall great rock instrument. Not "modern" metal, but rock.

I purchased this guitar based on the written reviews of others and video reviews. I had another brand of guitar on reserve, but saw this guitar and thought it would be a better fit. I'm glad I did. It is easily the most comfortable guitar to hold and play. The different tones that come from it are all useful. I play every week in a P&W band in a large church, and this will now be my go to guitar. Inside the guitar are quality parts.
The pots are not the dime sized pots, but are full sized. The electronics cavity is clean, and the back of the cavity plate is shielded. The early version had extra chambers carved out under the pickguard, this one is now solid. It makes no difference to me, just an observation. The fretboard edges are rolled and the fret dressing is very well done. Mine had the tiniest little dent on the side of the fretboard at the fifth fret, but it's nearly invisible. I'm just extremely picky. It's not enough for me to want to do anything about it. I might steam it out one day, but not yet as I'm too busy playing it. The neck is very fast and smooth and flattens out nicely. The tremolo is smooth and the guitar stays in tune with 9-42 strings. I appreciate the reversed jackplate in the back, it makes sense. On top of it all it's a real looker. If you buy one you won't be sorry. I canceled the order on the other guitar, by the way.

I am very happy with this purchase. The neck is very comfortable and fast; the frets are silky; the body resonance is articulate and snappy; the tremolo is smooth and substantial; the tuning is solid and stable; great intonation.
The guitar is balanced playing standing up or sitting down. While standing, the headstock won't dive to the ground if you take your hand off the neck.

I'm definitely going to buy (or at least wish for) more Charvels. It will be a standard for which I want all future guitars to feel and play.

Aside from the guitar, the Fishman Classic pickups are quiet, sound and feel passive, and the tone control is 100% usable through its sweep. This is great for me because I prefer to roll the tone off a bit on the bridge pup.

high five.

Wanted a versatile Tele for rock and hard rock. This guitar plays fast and easy. Jumbo frets take a bit to get use to but they make you play with a minimal touch which in-turn make you play faster and smoother. I'm hoping some studio clients like it and want to use in on their projects. For now it is my new toy. Thanks wife... Christmas present.

I never write reviews on guitars, and I have owned dozens in my 30 years of experience. This guitar is good enough that I felt it was necessary.

This was my first Charvel, and my first experience with Fishman Fluence pickups. I am beyond pleased with both. The workmanship is excellent. I find no flaws.

The neck is a pleasure to play. The caramelized maple has a satin feel that is smooth and sanded to perfection. There is no stickiness on the back - you can move up and down effortlessly. It is thin, but not in wizard territory. The nut width is just under 43mm. Of my guitars, it compares with an old PRS wide/thin the closest, but, of course, this is a 25.5" scale guitar. The fretboard is rolled somewhat. The nut is cut very well - no binding issues. The jumbo frets are crowned and leveled very well, with no fret sprout or sharp edges. There is no need to have it plek'd if my example holds true as the standard for the fretwork. I did not need to adjust the setup upon receiving the guitar, as it was perfect for my taste. There were no buzzy frets or intonation issues, and the action was medium-low.
Note:If you like chunky necks, this is not for you.

The Fluence pickups are very articulate with high gain - they saturate and compress well, but there is strong note definition. There's plenty of balls on these pups. The neck position almost gets a natural cocked wah thing going, even with the tone at 10 (I'm a fan). The bridge screams, and is making me bust out my old shred chops. Mode 2 is more vintage sounding than mode 1, but they are more similar than differently voiced imo. The coil spilts are nice, but do not sound like Strat pickups - they're more high-fi. The pups clean up much better than I anticipated with the volume knob. Played through a clean amp, they are once again more hi-fi than vintage. I still have a long way to go exploring these pickups, but I am quite pleased thus far.

My particular example weighs 7 lbs 3 oz, which is light for this model. Most seem to border closer to 8 lbs. The ash has an appealing and subtle grain pattern under the matte black finish.The tummy cut and forearm carve are very nice. The upper fret access is great. The guitar is balanced, and there is no neck-dive.

The control layout is very usable - I'm able to reach the volume with my pinky intuitively, unlike a typical tele. The pots are smooth. The rear input jack location is very sneaky and cool. The locking tuners are very precise and smooth. The Gotoh 510 is awesome as always. The guitar will stay in tune unless you're seriously dive-bombing or being excessively abusive with the trem. The Lumilay side markers are pretty cool also.

So what's there to complain about? Not much. I'd prefer it if the nut were black to match the rest of the guitar. The tuning keys are a bit awkward to access, but that comes with the price of the reverse headstock. I'd prefer stainless steel frets, but I see these jumbos lasting for many years without any issues.

Overall, if you're considering this guitar, I give it a solid 9.5 out of 10. I am comparing it to US made PRSi, Suhrs, Gibsons, and Fenders that I own, and this Mexican axe keeps up with the best of them. I'm not saying that the build quality is as good as my Suhrs or PRSi, but it's not far off. For $... this is a steal and a no-brainer.

The fluence open core pickups are excellent, they're one of the main reasons I looked at this guitar. Also the gotoh trem (flawless) and the locking tuners standard. It actually resonates acoustically like a real telecaster with spank and chime, with single coils selected you can definitely get more traditional tones out of it. Humbuckers have two voicing switches for a vintage PAF and more hotrodded set, both I find are to my liking. I need to add there's something special about the active nature of the fluence pickups... when you roll off the volume knob the pups retains this amazing clarity and rich high end they normally have. You can craft really dynamic tones with some volume and tone knob rolling off.

The neck (beautifully finished with satin oil) is like a modern version of my friends 70 tele custom! The body has some nice contours for added comfort that you won't find on most teles. Charvel did a great job with this guitar, they should release a vintage spec tele with more finishes and two single coils. Mine is in satin black and trust me it looks much better in person. Another cool little feature I love on this are the luminay side inlays, visible in the dark/low light.:) I'll be checking out more Charvel guitars in the future I think.

Fishman fluence pickups for noisless humbucking, and 9 distinct voicings. A two point floating strat type bridge on a tele style body. Speed neck is just right and very player friendly. Fantastic frankinstien guitar for the money, well worth it.

Strats and Les Pauls don't "fit" me the way I like. But I still wanted the ability to have PAF sounds and a tremolo. This Charvel allows you to have an everything-axe. I have 2 G&L ASATS with chunkier necks that I love, so it takes a minute to get used to a speed style neck. I love that I didn't have to immediately upgrade to locking tuners. I am impressed that flipping from single to HB sounds has an appropriate amount of volume change…I used to have a guitar that became invisible when pickups were split. Love the innovative body cuts for comfort and hand access.

I recommend getting the Charvel branded case, as it fits perfectly with no shifting. My other teles also fit the same in it.
Took off 1/2 star, I believe one fret is slightly high, but totally manageable. The truss rod wheel is just as smooth as a high end music man guitar.
Thanks to Evan M. at Sweetwater, he had the guitar shipped in the case for me, even though they were separate items. And the Dad's Root Beer candy bonus is the best!

Pros:
- Looks great (as advertised)
- Neck looks, feels, and plays amazing.
- Hardware is high quality and functions without fail.
- Fishman pickups make this guitar extra versatile.

Cons:
- I expected the frets ends to be better (Some fret ends are a bit sharp)
- Battery compartment is a little larger than it should be (I have to stuff a piece of foam to lock the battery in place.

All in all great guitar!

I shopped for a lot of guitars before selecting this Charvel. I really like the satin finish and roasted maple neck. It's not a super shredder neck but it's very comfortable and easy to play. This guitar offers a lot of versatility thanks to the 3 voicings. The single coil push/pull tone knob and the active/modern PAF selector switch are all nice. My only complaint is the instrument jack. You really have to force a cable into it and out of it. Maybe it's just a factory defect on my guitar? But I recommend purchasing a right angle instrument cable to make plugging the instrument in easier. Big thanks to Ryan Gregory and the Sweetwater team for setting this guitar up and helping me pick it out!

I ordered an EVH Wolfgang and found the top E string to be exceptionally annoying slipping off the fretboard around the 15th fret ! I had a professional Luther look it over and he said that the string alignment was off , pointing out the gap difference between the bottom and top E strings ! He was able to make it livable after a certain amount of tedious sanding ( so as not to mar the finish on the body ) to enable adjustment so the top E wasn't riding entirely too close to the edge of the fretboard ! This guitar is the same difference ( maybe a little less extreme ) and also going to need professional attention ! Once done right ; the guitar plays phenomenal ! It's a shame that they're NOT coming the way they're supposed to be unless they have extra attention ! Kinda discouraging really ! Not everyone has a lifetime experienced luthier living just up the street ! The potential is there but ; no cigar unfortunately!

I saw this guitar, and instantly had to own it. The review is a bit late, but I like to spend time with an instrument before I even think of writing a review.

To begin, the guitar is beautiful. The pictures don't do the finish justice. The grain of the wood really pops under light. The neck is amazing, and probably my favorite part of the guitar's aesthetic. It also helps that it fits perfectly in my hand. I've got weird in-between sized hands, and necks are usually too big, or too small, and it's always a struggle to find that comfort zone, but it feels like my hands were made for this guitar. I really like the input jacks location, and with a 90 degree cable it's almost as if I'm playing wirelessly. The locking tuners are nice, but as another review stated the tuning keys are a bit awkward if you're not used to reversed headstocks. The pickups are decent. I'm personally not blown away by them, but they're not too bad. I don't dig the coil split at all, but the voicings are pretty neat, and I find myself switching between them a lot. I'm not in any rush to change them any time soon, but a change will be in the future. I just can't put my finger on what about them I'm not sold on.

As far as the bad goes, I'm sure I just got unlucky with mine. I had nothing but wiring issues with mine from the moment I received it. The pickups would constantly cut out in the middle of playing. At first I thought it was the battery that had died, but no matter how many fresh batteries I would put in, it would always cut out shortly after. It would take smacking under the bridge for life to return. It was clearly a short somewhere, or a solder point had come loose, but was fixed when I took it to a local shop, since I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to those kinds of things, and didn't want to keep beating on the guitar. And while I'm in love with the look, and feel of the neck, I was not in love with the multiple sharp fret edges that I had when I received it. I've bought guitars in the 300$ range that had better dressed frets... Again, I'm sure I just got unlucky, but I'm kind of disappointed in the level of quality.

Despite all this I'd still recommend this guitar to anyone. After my issues were addressed it's become my go to guitar. The rating strictly applies to my situation, and if it didn't have those issues it would have absolutely been five stars.