Gold Production Tele #001242

In 2002 Charvel became part of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) and began the processing of rediscovering its past glory. Since then Charvel has reintroduced Strat heads first as Limited Runs, followed by Custom orders and on June 13, 2008 Charvel introduced the U.S.A. Production Model Series. This new line consists of three models in standard black: San Dimas Style 1 &2 (rear loaded/no pickguard with either a 1 or 2 hum layout) and So-Cal Style 1 (front loaded/with pickguard and 2 hum layout). To keep things interesting, every three months or so, each model is released in a limited custom color replacing its previous incarnation. This rotating custom color option on a production guitar has been met with wild enthusiasm by Charvel fans.

Charvel spent 2 years on the Production specs to ensure that every detail was true to the original guitars feel, tone and playability. Both the Strat and Tele style bodies are essentially identical to their Fender counterparts except for a slightly more square edge route.

This Tele was the first limited custom color introduced by Charvel and I immediately feel in love with the “pagan gold” finish. I was not sure what to expect but thought I had nothing to lose at $800 (street price set by most dealers). The finish was not perfect and did show a few little flaws but the neck felt great and I was impressed with the sound thanks to the stock Duncan pkus (JB bridge and ’59 neck). While these guitars come equipped with Floyd Rose trems in my opinion the trems were not of the same quality as the original Made in Germany models. The Floyds felt stiff and the fine tuners hard to turn. Oddly the biggest complaint was the new style knob - jokingly referred to as a meat grinder or Thor’s hammer (check out the Thor pic with the knob). Setting these small beefs aside these guitars offer an incredible bang for the buck and gives Charvel fans a chance to own a USA made Strat head for under a grand. Being both a Charvel and Tele fan this purchase was a no brainer for me.

Sadly the Tele model (San Dimas Style 2) was not popular and many dealers were unable to move them. From what I read online a lot of folks did not like the Strat head neck - Tele body combination. Not surprising, in September 2009 Charvel announced it was discontinuing the Tele stopping production after offering only 4 limited colors – pagan gold, candy red, candy purple and the final run in polar white.

On September 28th 2009 Charvel posted on their website that it modified the U.S.A. Production Model Series. The San Dimas Style 2 (Tele) has been replaced with the limited "Wild Card", which takes the modified vibe a step further by offering features, options and configurations that change every three months. Each limited Wild Card release takes its cue from the Custom Shop menu of graphics, pickups, body, neck and fingerboard woods etc.

I think every Charvel fan should at least try out one of these production models. The neck feels great with the rolled edges and oil-only finish. Furthermore, these Production Charvels are cheap enough to be used as a blank canvas to further customize to individual taste. After all, Charvel guitars have always been about hot rodding!