Raw Power

We all love our vintage-spec Stratocasters, but if you need to go up a gear or two, the Fender-owned Charvel brand is becoming the place to look

- Dave Burrluck

Is it just us or are Charvel guitars becoming rather classy? This Pro-Mod was launched at the start of this year and certainly caught our eye. It continues the theme of an instrument with progressive but pared-back and simplified style – a real rock staple without the ubiquitous double-locking Floyd Rose vibrato. Even the goldplated hardware looks right against the light red-brown colour of the natural finished mahogany body and that ‘caramelised’ maple neck. In the flesh, we’re just as impressed. It’s a classy piece.

The roots of Charvel – as a hot-rod ‘Strat’ maker – remain very evident here. The slightly smaller ‘Dinky’ body shape, with its deeper cutaways, looks classic enough viewed face-on, but flip the guitar over and additional shaping is everywhere. There’s the curved and domed heel, with its four screws inset in thick washers rather than a neckplate, a deep palm contour on the treble side joining the more usual rib-cage contour. Then there’s that shaved edge where the Strat-type output-jack dish sits. It’s actually a two-piece body, just slightly off-centre-joined, but it’s next to impossible to see any glue line. The au naturel finish means that the sanding and this very light satin finish have to be perfect. And it is. The downside is that without a harder protective coating it can mark easily, but for many that natural ageing from playing and use is surely part of the attraction here.

UNDER THE HOOD

A closer look at the heart of this Charvel