After teasing with prototypes for quite a while, Charvel finally introduces the Guthrie Govan Signature guitar.
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The guitar has been in development for almost 2 years, it underwent extensive road testing by Guthrie himself that resulted in various changes. There are even a few more last minute modifications that needs to be done before it starts shipping on May!
For now the production models that were shown at the recently concluded 2014 Winter NAMM Show have features similar to the last prototype that Guthrie showed off August last year.
As revealed at the NAMM Show, the guitar has a basswood body and comes with either a Birdseye maple top or flame maple top. The body is wrapped in a thin clear matte finish and comes with a specially contoured heel without a neck plate that allow for easy access to the upper reaches of the fingerboard.
The lightweight “San Dimas” shape body is paired with a “caramelized” or “cooked” quartersawn flame maple neck with graphite reinforcement, understandably made to survive the Govan’s busy schedule. It has 24 jumbo frets as preferred by the artist and features unique maple dot inlays with ebony borders that makes them easier to see in various lighting conditions. The specs for the neck shows a scale length of 25.5″, nut width of 1.6875″ and 12” to 16” Compound Radius. Charvel convinced Guthrie to add in a heel-mounted spoke-wheel truss rod adjustment, for convenient neck adjustments on the road.
The guitar features three specially wound Charvel custom shop MFB pickups arranged in a versatile HSH configuration. MFB stands for Michael Frank-Braun, described as the “mad scientist” behind custom shop pickups used on high-end guitars – most notable the Eric Johnson signature. The pickups are wired to a five-way selector with a simplistic master volume and master tone knob combination.
All the metal hardware come in chrome, including the Sperzel locking tuners and the recessed original-style NOS Floyd Rose tremolo bridge with Tremol-No unit and oversized brass block. Checkout the prototype that looks very much like the final iteration:
The upcoming Charvel Guthrie Govan Signature is expected to retail for around $3,500 to $3,600, depending on your choice for the top. More information on the guitar will soon be available at Charvel.
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