Charvel The Original Gang

Tonedeaf

Tonedeaf

Power User
Anyone seen this doc? I caught it on Tubi. Doesn't deal much with the guitars themselves, just the people who made them. A couple of things i learned was Grover Jackson didn't build guitars. He was the business manager and later the owner. They made basses for Michael Anthony before they made guitars for Eddie.
 
Picked it up off of iTunes along with the Randy Doc, iI thought they were both really well done, it was cool to see the history.
 
Thanks for passing this on. I kick myself in the ass everytime I think about my San Dimas Charvels I sold over the years!
 
I had 2 original San Dimas strats, serial numbers 1500's and 3000's
Wish I had them now...
Planning to watch soon.
 
I have a Starbody I bought in 1981... been butchered over the years though..keeping it for sentimental reasons. Will check this out- Thanks
 
I just watched this last night! Pretty cool interview. I lived in Redlands for 35 years and used to own an older Charvel super strat style that looked more like a country guitar than a rock guitar. It was a Trans wine red with a thin gold flame graphic One of those guitars I wished I had never sold the neck and body both were signed by Wayne back in October of 81.
 
watched it last night. Very similar arc to the Kramer story. Eddie throws them a bone, they blow up, then collapse under their own weight. At least Charvel/Jackson has made a comeback under Fender's umbrella. I remember trying out a Charvel down on 48th St. Manhattan back in '84. Guitar felt like a dream (White HSS maple board strat headstock) then I looked at the price on the hang tag and realized it was a dream. DAMN....
 
Last edited:
Fender deserves majour kudos for the brands they have acquired and rejuvenated.... unlike that other company. You know who.

Charvel. Gretsch. Jackson. Hamer. Gibraltar. Guild. They do the EVH line, too. I'd call that stellar corporate management.
 
Last edited:
Sixstring said:
I just watched this last night! Pretty cool interview. I lived in Redlands for 35 years and used to own an older Charvel super strat style that looked more like a country guitar than a rock guitar. It was a Trans wine red with a thin gold flame graphic One of those guitars I wished I had never sold the neck and body both were signed by Wayne back in October of 81.
Click to expand...

I lived in Highland from 84 to 92. Wayne had a shop in Mentone for a bit. Worked with Trevor Wilkinson before he made it big with all the hardware and parts. They built a body for me to go with a neck I had. Around 89ish? Hard to remember that far back. At the time he had lost the rights to his name (which is nuts). And was building under WC guitars. I’ll check out the video later this week.
 
skolacki said:
I lived in Highland from 84 to 92. Wayne had a shop in Mentone for a bit. Worked with Trevor Wilkinson before he made it big with all the hardware and parts. They built a body for me to go with a neck I had. Around 89ish? Hard to remember that far back. At the time he had lost the rights to his name (which is nuts). And was building under WC guitars. I’ll check out the video later this week.
Click to expand...
I do recall that! I also heard he was in Calimesa for short time as well. I used to frequent Celebs Guitar in Redlands, Dudley and Rob of Sweet Cheater worked there for quite a while but I always worked with Rey. He is the one that sold me the Charvel and now that I think about it I believe he said that Wayne brought it to the store to sell it. It had been modded with a Wilkinson Trem and EMG 81's but it played great!

I used to work with a guy that would build transmitter sites for commercial radio and TV! My first day on the job was over in Highland on Greenspot RD at the old KCAL radio station putting up that 4 tower directional for the AM side of that station!

I took this pic from about the 180' mark of the 200' we stacked out!
00DBC239-87AA-4F1E-B30B-AD350FD4BD2F_1_105_c.jpeg
 
Sixstring said:
I do recall that! I also heard he was in Calimesa for short time as well. I used to frequent Celebs Guitar in Redlands, Dudley and Rob of Sweet Cheater worked there for quite a while but I always worked with Rey. He is the one that sold me the Charvel and now that I think about it I believe he said that Wayne brought it to the store to sell it. It had been modded with a Wilkinson Trem and EMG 81's but it played great!

I used to work with a guy that would build transmitter sites for commercial radio and TV! My first day on the job was over in Highland on Greenspot RD at the old KCAL radio station putting up that 4 tower directional for the AM side of that station!

I took this pic from about the 180' mark of the 200' we stacked out!
View attachment 106681
Click to expand...


KCAL and Greenspot road. Stu and the Crew. Haha! That road is all built up now. Was a nice drive back in the day.
 
I watched this earlier, pretty cool but a little long. It’s a nice documentary though and I dig Charvel and Jackson guitars. Thanks for posting this.
 
Tonedeaf said:
Anyone seen this doc? I caught it on Tubi. Doesn't deal much with the guitars themselves, just the people who made them. A couple of things i learned was Grover Jackson didn't build guitars. He was the business manager and later the owner. They made basses for Michael Anthony before they made guitars for Eddie.
Click to expand...
I am it watching now. I would say I was always confused about rumors and whatever someone supposedly said Michael Anthony was replaced because he couldn't play or wasn't good enough. I think just the scenes of him riffing around show he knows his way around a bass, no pick, fingers and thumb popping! Pretty cool, everyone says he is a nice guy. I think if you are playing bass with Eddie Van Halen you want to keep it simple and leave Eddie all the room to do his thing, which is what he did on the early VH albums. Running with the Devil is a great song, and the bass sounds great, just a steady groove on bass.
 
Larry Ball said:
I am it watching now. I would say I was always confused about rumors and whatever someone supposedly said Michael Anthony was replaced because he couldn't play or wasn't good enough. I think just the scenes of him riffing around show he knows his way around a bass, no pick, fingers and thumb popping! Pretty cool, everyone says he is a nice guy. I think if you are playing bass with Eddie Van Halen you want to keep it simple and leave Eddie all the room to do his thing, which is what he did on the early VH albums. Running with the Devil is a great song, and the bass sounds great, just a steady groove on bass.
Click to expand...
I think Michael Anthony is a very underrated bassist.

He's not a flashy "chops" player but he played a great supportive foundational role in Van Halen. And he can hold a groove... Check out Push Comes to Shove.

I remember when Wolfgang was first announced as his replacement in VH. There was an interview with Eddie where he said the was the first time Alex had Bass in his monitors in 20 years.

I felt like the was such a shitty, cheap-shot comment...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom