Pots
Charvel guitars typically have DiMarizo volume and tone pots. More specifically, 500K for humbucker pku equipped guitars and 250K for guitars with single coil pkus.
These pots are very useful in dating your Charvel as the are stamped with
a code at time of their manufacture. As illustrated in the pic the code inlcudes the date (week and year codes) in addition to code identifying
the manufacturer.
Charvels made prior to 1985 used potentiometers made in the USA and feature an EIA manufacturer and date code. This 7 digit code breaks down like this:
AAABBCC
AAA- 3 digit manufacturer code. Typically this will be 137 (CTS), 134 (Centralab/CRL), or 140 (Clarostat). Yes, even if the pot is stamped "Dimarzio", the EIA code is correct as Dimarzio never actually made pots, they outsourced them from manufacturers, typically Centralab and sometimes Clarostat.
BB- The last 2 digits of the year. 81, as an example, would decode to 1981
CC-Week number. 05, as an example, would indictate the 5th week of the year, the first week of February 1981.
Despite the usual train of thought, this code is NOT applied when the guitar is assembled, but when the potentiometer was manufactured. Add up shipping to Dimarzio, the shipping to Charvel, how long they hung around at each shop, these could be several months, maybe even a year old before they ended up in a guitar.
Also typically stamped on the rear is the value, such as 500K or 250K. Very early Charvels may also feature a part number depending on whom they sourced the pots from.
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