Charvel USA Select Series

Charvel has a new flagship line of guitars called the USA Select Series, starting off with four new guitar models.

This new line of guitars were unveiled at the previously concluded 2016 Summer NAMM Show in Nashville, and as the name implies, these new guitars will be made in the USA.

The company describes these new guitars as an old school throwback to original era Charvel guitar designs. Each one features the company’s distinctly sleek and sharp shapes, all of which follow ’80s-style body specs. The classic look of these guitars are complemented by hot-rodded specs like non-recessed Floyd Rose bridges, and as expectected – they will have fast playing necks, with finely tuned compound radius fretboards, rolled edges, comfortable neck profile and more.

The launch of the new Charvel USA Select Series will include four new guitars, three of which follow the San Dimas shape but with different pickup and bridge configurations, and the fourth one follows the So-Cal shape. The three San Dimas shaped guitars include the USA Select San Dimas Style 1 HSS FR, USA Select San Dimas Style 1 HSS HT, USA Select San Dimas Style 2 HH FR. The fourth model to come out of this line is the USA Select So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR.

Two of the three San Dimas USA Select models features a super-strat style double cutaway alder body, while the third model has a Tele-style body which Charvel calls as San Dimas Style 2. All three feature one-piece quartersawn maple necks, one way vintage style truss rod, 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, compound radius design and rolled edges.

The USA Select San Dimas Style 1 HSS FR & USA Select San Dimas Style 1 HSS HT hints that they follow the same HSS configuration, and differing mainly on the type of bridge used, the first one having a Floyd Rose (FR) bridge, while the second one comes with a Hard Tail (HT) bridge. For the pickups, Charvel opted for a DiMarzio DP100F Super Distortion bridge pickup and two DiMarzio DP-116 HS2 single coil pickups for the neck and middle position.

All three pickups are wired to a 5-way “super blade” pickup selector which allows for an interesting combination of sounds: bridge pickup only (position 1), bridge pickup inner coil and middle pickup (position 2), bridge pickup inner coil and neck pickup (position 3), neck and middle pickups (position 4) and neck pickup only (position 5).

Other features include a master volume knobm , side-mounted “football” output jack, black hardware. As mentioned, the FR model has a Floyd Rose Original non-recessed bridge with 37mm block, while the HT model sports a string-through-body bridge.

The USA Select San Dimas Style 2 HH FR model has two humbuckers, namely the DiMarzio DP100F Super Distortion on the bridge and the DiMarzio DP-151 PAF PRO on the neck. Both pickups are wired to a five-way “super” blade pickup switch that allows for more versatile sounds: the bridge pickup only (position 1), bridge pickup inner coil (position 2), inner coils of both pickups (position 3), neck pickup outer coil (position 4), neck pickup only (position 5).

Finally, the USA Select So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR has a more traditional Strat-like design, complete with pickguard cover on the body. It follows the same specs as the San Dimas Style 1 HSS, having the same pickup configuration that includes DiMarzio DP100F Super Distortion bridge pickup, and two DiMarzio DP-116 HS2 single coil pickups. Speaking of traditional Strats, this guitar has the output jack on the pickguard for a true old school look – while still retaining the faster playability and hot-rodded specs similar to the San Dimas models.

Note that all maple fingerboards will also be available for all models except the USA Select San Dimas Style 1 HSS HT. Available finish options include Pitch Black, Satin Plum, Snow Blind Satin and Torred. More information will soon be available at Charvel.

Related Articles:

Charvel Limited Edition Guthrie Govan Signature

Click here for our list of impressive guitars that you can buy for under $1000