Charvel Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HH Floyd Rose - Snow White Reviews

I have been playing guitar since 1978 but not professionally.Mostly just playing with family and friends and sessions with bands so I have been around music for quite a while and I finally pulled the trigger and bought this awesome guitar after buying numerous Strats to just butcher them and get tired of them to only sell them off.This guitar is a keeper and it has everything I need at an affordable price (the Les Paul will have to wait).It plays well,does great divebomb harmonics with the Floyd,it just sounds,plays and looks killer,you can't go wrong with this……fwiw,I hate Strats but loooooove the Charvel!!

Started playing again after a couple year sabbatical. And was looking for a shredder.
The pro mod immediately caught my attention so I called Sweetwater and talked to Dan about my needs. He was very helpful and had it at my house the next day. I could not be happier with my decision. The look the feel everything was perfect! Thanks Dan. Keep shredding!

Guitar arrived in immaculate condition and packaging. The only cons would be that the heel where the neck plate is might be a little chunky for some players and might give you a hard time accessing the higher frets. I'd go with something contoured. The other thing is that the volume pot is sometimes scratchy which could just be an isolated incident and a no big deal item if you find yourself not messing with it constantly.

First a big thank you to Jeff Bohan for all his patience and time regarding my questions over the past three years. I have owned (and still own) a number of original San Dimas Charvel's from 1979 to the last of the American made era. These newer production runs truly give my old work horses a run for their money. Phenomenal versatility from Andy Summers, to Gary Moore and beyond. Again a huge thank you to Jeff and the team at Sweetwater.

This guitar is perfect for a wide range of musical styles & sounds. There are 6 different pickup combinations: 3 in humbucking mode & 3 in coil tap mode. This guitar does it all too well from the country twang of Brent Mason to the smoothness of Buddy Guy to the searing edge of EVH. The playability is outstanding with the 12"-16" radius neck that feels as smooth as silk ! I'm currently playing in a cover band that does old/new country, old/new rock, & old/new r&b which requires a WIDE range of guitar tones. The thing is that I don't even have to switch guitars. This one gets all the tones I need ! Last but certainly not least Sweetwater (Paul Lea) had this guitar PLEK'd, Setup, & shipped in an amazingly short period of time so it arrived in time for me to gig with it last weekend ! On a side note I had a question of how to set up this newer style Floyd Rose to my "old guy" preferences (All of my Floyds are O-L-D & a little different like me) & two techs helped me over the phone Saturday morning before the gig that night ! Man, Sweetwater ROCKS....EVERY TIME !!!!
thank you,
KarlW

This guitar is incredibly versatile and plays fast and smooth. I have yet to find something I dislike about it.

Great guitar. Highly recommend.
Zack was absolutely amazing as well.
You definitely need this guitar.

Like the others have said these guitars are made for lead guitar players. Amazing to shred with and my favorite guitars by far. I have 2 and a USA Wolfgang..., no need for any other electric. I've owned Les Paul's and have played everything. No better action once you set them up per your liking! Have FUN

I own and have owned quite a few guitars from Les Pauls to Strats to Super Strats... This stock Charvel with absolutely nothing changed from the factory, is by far my favorite guitar. I have had it over a year and I am still stunned at how good it sounds.

No matter what I do the guitar won't come out of tune. Mine didn't come from the factory that way but once you adjust the Floyd right it won't go out of tune. The pickups sound amazing for everything, even on the clean channel with coil tapping.

The compound radius fretboard is really nice. I have disliked other Floyd guitars I've owned because of how flat the fretboard was. With this, you get a more round fretboard where you play the Chords and then it goes flat as you go up the neck, instead of it just being flat the whole way.

The Korean Floyd works just as well as my German Floyd, the fine tuners are a bit more stiff but honestly I don't have to use them much at all, except when I change strings. If I pick this guitar up after a few days of not playing it and it's not in tune all I have to do is push the bar down and when it comes back up, it's in tune.

The intonation has also stayed perfect. I keep the action around 1.5mm at the 12th fret. I do not know how much relief I have in it but it looks really straight with just enough relief.

Very awesome guitar, stays in tune, even when going wild with the whammy bar. Nice low action and comfortable neck.

In the beginning I only bought it because I always wanted a Strat style guitar with a Floyd Rose tremolo so it was more likely to just be a wall hanger. Well, that all changed to more I played it. Pickups more than adequate for my playing style. Excellent tone. Stays tuned no matter how rough you are with the tremolo. Guitar came set up no adjustments required. Not really much more to say other than buy it! Top quality for it's price range. You will not be disappointed.

Charvel guitars have the greatest necks known to man. The tone on this so cal guitar as well as the san dimas is to die for. Puts 3k guitars to shame. I own a custom shop gibson and play this beast more than any other axe that i own. Rocket Red looks gorgoeus in person and it sbsolutely screams. From funk to metal, this thing does it all!! The so cal is going to be a bit darker than the san dimas model and
more suited for heavier styles of music, since it's also stocked higher output super distortion pickups. I think somewhere around 17k resistance.. They push your amp and usually I usually don't care for the tone of ceramic pickups, but these have great tone ad harmonics. The weight of the so cal is worth mentioning since it's heavier than it's compatriot the san dimas , which adds to the tone. I personally like a heavier guitar and that most certainly adds a smidgen to the sustain an low end. Can't remember how many times picked up a 6 pound strat and it felt and sounded so thin and shrill. Also, the sh6 super distortion cleans up real nice as well, contradictory to what some people think state on the web. All in all this is a phenomenal instrument, my 2nd charvel, and most certainly not my last.

I have owned this guitar for over a year now, finally getting around to writing a review. I rarely leave reviews but figured I would do my part.
First of all this isn't a stratocaster. Buuut, that by no means, means it's inferior in any way. I own several MIA, MIM strats, a couple of Jackson USA soloists, an 90's ibanez s540, a Gibson Sg (just for some perspective). I pick this guitar up the most by far. If I was trapped on a deserted island with electricity and could only have one guitar, this would be it.
I'm not sure why this guitar is so much funny to play... the neck of course has a lot to do with it. I've never played an 80's charvel from their heyday, but I can't imagine it being any more fun.
Being made in Mexico didn't concern me all that much, the MIM strats (late 90's i think) I have, are solid instruments with little to no issue whatsoever.
I didn't like the set-up from Sweetwater, personal preference. But after a few days and doing my own setup, I got it dialed in.
Pickups are very hot, but for the price this isn't a guitar I would have a problem modifying if I chose to. I enjoy the neck and versatility so much that I will probably never buy another true strat. I know some may not wanna hear that.
Zero quality issues, fun to play, worth almost double the price IMO. If you are on the fence, go ahead and take the plunge, worth every penny and more.

Excellent guitar as I expected. Plays and sounds amazing. What was the most impressive is Sweetwater's customer service. The guitar arrived in just a few days followed by phone calls asking if everything was satisfactory. Amazing customer service to back one of the best guitars I've ever played.

Thanks for the 55 points inspection. Sure that made a difference in first impressions. She sounds pretty dang good and holds the tune even when I'm stomping on the tremolo! Looking forward to years of jamming with Charlene the charvel. Btw, customer service is always great from sweet water! And the pics you sent are amazing!

Tyler Moore and Sweetwater come through again. This Charvel brings me back to my teens in the eighties. The versatility in this instrument is mind blowing. Can match wits with any style you throw at it. An all around go to guitar.

I've had this for a couple of days and I'm really digging this So-Cal. The neck isn't too chunky for my hands. It feels a lot like my Les Paul. And as always Sweetwater's staff is great to work with. Kudos to my Sales Engineer, Rob for effortless transactions.

Thanks to Sweetwater & their Holiday 24 DayGiveAway Contest I get to keep & enjoy mine . I really love this one & I highly recommend it to you if your in the market because the guitar plays beautiful & sounds incredible . There's no joshing about that . It really is worth the $$ you spend . I can get any sound I want to . You can play any song you like on it from today & yesterday . Both S.D. Pickups are real nice & rich ( you can hear every note clearly ) & the neck is fast & smooth . The only issue Ive had is keeping it in tune & working with the Floyd Rose but that wont be too much to straighten out & after that I think every thing will be fine . ( That's the 4.5 stars ) So get it , got it , good !!! You wont be disappointed !!!

This one fine guitar for sure! The build quality is on par with Fender USA, Ibanez Prestige (even better than many Prestige!), Jackson USA, etc. IMO, I found that the Charvel has the same quality as any US made gtrs, with a downgrade on the hardware and electronics. Having said that, the hardware is still solid and the guitar stays in tune no matter the abuse on the FR bridge. My only complaints are the stiffness of the FR bridge : not in regard of the springs' tension, but really the smoothness of playing that you get with a German made FR and the SD pickups are WAY TOO LOUD and harsh. I had to lowered them way down to get a decent tone. Now the tone is OK, but it's still too agressive and harsh for what I was aiming for. I'll probably swap them for Bare Knuckle VHII neck and Holydiver bridge pickups to have less output and more richness and balance in tone.

Bottom line :

PROS: Definitely a keeper, excellent build quality, stays in tune, the frets and neck/fingerboard are A1, a mean machine!

CONS: FR stiffness and electronics (mostly the SD pickups).

The guitar industry did us no favors by giving us poly urethane finishes in this era.
This type of paint durability does no favors to tone in the music industry.
Please go back to lacquer finishes instead.
No one needs a hard turtle shell to restrict the tone of wood instrument whose tone is more important than the stupid finish.
What a dumb concept for a musician to be concerned with........
I'll take tone over durability any day.

I bought this guitar as I've always wanted a Fender with a Floyd Rose and hot humbuckers. The black and white color scheme with oak neck was very attractive to me. The problem is it just wasn't what I was hoping for. I don't play my Fender guitars nearly as much as my ESP Horizon EII and MH350FR. I guess I wanted something between both worlds but this was no where near my ESP's and too much a Fender. I know these are 2 completely different guitars but I wanted to like it. I like Seymour Duncan pickups but the distortion pickups sounded muffled to me and not crunchy as I hoped. Also when I used the floyd rose - specifically pushing down, the neck would make a "click" noise every time. This didn't give me a feeling of quality especially for this price point. This was my first Charvel. I have returned this with a Schecter Hellraiser, which is more my cup of tea. I didn't get another ESP because the Horizon is just too perfect. Again a great guitar with a couple of issues. It just wasn't for me.

While I'm mostly enamored with vintage style guitars (mostly LPs), there's a part of me that likes SuperStrat guitars. What attracted me to this model was that it didn't look out of place on an "older guy" like me. It looks more Strat than Shred, and the White w/Black hardware is kinda sharp. Not a big fan of tremolos, but if I'm going to use one, I'm going to use a Floyd. Pickups were way too hot, but I knew that, swapping them would have been no problem. My biggest gripe was the setup & supposed 55 point inspection. I guess they didn't bother to check for uneven frets, which this one had a few. Also, when using the trem, you could hear popping/shifting noise coming from the neck pocket. For the price, and no case or gigbag, I expected better quality.