12 String Charvel Surfcaster?

[Gizzorge]

Anyone with info on these.  Where they were made, materials, opinions, market value then and now?

Thanks in advance......

[mezcalhead]

Made in Japan I believe since Charvel is based there. The neck is maple, not sure about the body which is hollow (well, chambered like a Thinline anyway). Lots of pearloid plus some Rick-like cosmetics: shark's tooth inlays, slash F-hole. Lipstick pickups which seem to be well thought-of.

The 12-string uses a bridge with one string of each pair through the body and one top-loading .. the headstock arrangement is like a Rick 12. The 6-string version is said to sound more Tele-like than anything else. Bilinda Butcher of MBV used one as did the less well-known Martin Phillips of The Chills.

BTW if you're buying, look for the earlier version which says Charvel on the headstock, not the later Jackson Surfcaster which gets no respect.

Not sure how stable these links are, but here's a 6:



.. and a 12:

[flatfiver]

I think originally they were made in the US, but production eventually moved to Japan.  I could be wrong on that, but I know Charvel guitars in general were originally US-made.

The guitar tech at my shop has a 6-string Surfcaster.  The neck is wide and flat with not much depth (think a 1x3 with frets), but not as extreme as an Ibanez.  That said, I didn't mind the feel, and actually got pretty comfortable with it.  It felt like a solid guitar.  Unfortunately the lipstick pickups were replaced with Hot Rails by a previous owner.  I think I'd still agree with Mez's assessment of Tele-like, but with a bit more openness due to the chambered body.  There was a nice spank to the attack of notes.

I think he paid $300-$400 for it within the last year.

[spacecadet]

That's kinda hot.  I've been in the market for a 12 string - I might have to start looking for one of those.

[flatfiver]

Here's an indication of current market value for the 12-strings: from eBay.

[DB]

I think originally they were made in the US, but production eventually moved to Japan.  I could be wrong on that, but I know Charvel guitars in general were originally US-made.

You are correct.  They used to be (in the late 70s early 80s) in San Dimas, CA, and I lived next door or the non-descript town of Upland.  They made a new body for me when my router F()*(* up (I mean, I thought I could freehand route a pickup hole for a J-Bass bridge PU in my P-Bass body!).  They were a very small time shop then, based out of a small low scale industrial park.

DB