New Guitar: 1988 Carvin DC125 - Pointy Headstock!

This will surprise a lot of people, but growing up I was a really big Bangles fan - even before I played guitar. I enjoyed their musical style, and I appreciated the melodies and guitar riffs, largely played by Vicki Peterson. She was a Carvin endorser during this time and could be seen playing DC125’s and similar models all the time - usually with the “V” headstock but occasionally with the pointy shape too. This band is the same reason I ended up with the Jetglo Rickenbacker 360 too, especially early on in my guitar learning experience.

So I’ve finally gotten a proper, 80s Carvin DC! These are tough to find, and in hindsight looking at the catalogs and pricing I can’t believe these weren’t selling like crazy, especially now that I have one to play. The quality, fit, finish, and hardware is impeccable. Mine is equipped with gold hardware, including an gold original floyd rose (not so common back then!) and Carvin brand tuners which feel very high quality. The pickup is an M22SD, which is a high output mid-heavy pickup perfect for rock and metal, plus a coil tap. Even the mounting screws of the pickup are gold - a nice touch - along with the input jack plate too.

You can also differentiate this 1989 model from 1988 models by looking at the strap buttons, mounted at the tip of the upper horn. 1988 models have the upper horn strap button is mounted on the underside, towards the neck instead of on the tip. It’s also noteworthy that during this time, these could be ordered with flat mount Kahler 2300 tremolos (as used on ‘86 Charvels and plenty of others), tune-o-matic bridges, or Original Floyd Rose bridges.

This one has the “Jackson” style pointy headstock, although this is not exactly a Jackson shape - it has a much thinner profile especially evident on the bottom edge nearer to the nut. This shape was only available for 1988 and 1989, prior to that the either had a more traditional 3x3 headstock, or the “V” headstock I mentioned earlier (check out the Hazy Shade of Winter video for a clear view of that shape, on Vicki’s DC200). From 1990 onwards, Carvin reworked their shape, likely to avoid any copyright conflicts, to a new shape which I also really like. Here is my ‘89 headstock shape below so you can see just how long and thin it is, and held side by side with a Jackson they are actually quite different.

Another interesting thing is the rear of the headstock which has a very large volute, and no screws through the neck for the locking nut. This is also really unique for the time, manufacturers like Hamer and others continued mounting the locking nut screws through the headstock well into the 90s.

Considering the price - this guitar would’ve been under $700 back in 1989 - this is a heck of a guitar and I’m glad to have one in such great shape. Other than the gold hardware, mine looks nearly identical to this one in the 1989 catalog ad - very cool. I’d love to get my hands on another one, especially with some slightly different options (block inlays maybe?).

New Guitar: BC Rich ST-III Ice Blue

After enjoying some time with the natural color ST-III I acquired barely 2 months ago, I really wanted to have another in another color. This one popped up on ebay with the original case, paperwork, and in excellent condition and I had to pick it up.

It arrived in extremely good condition, other than a few small nicks on the top of the body it’s in superb shape for the age. This is another 1987 model, but this time fitted with the factory pickups - two single coils and a humbucker all made by Dimarzio. These pickups do not have model numbers, as Dimarzio provided a lot of OEM specific models that don’t necessarily have a direct comparison to a pickup in their catalog (Dimarzio did this for Ibanez and others). The single coils are very low output, proper vintage sounding, and the humbucker surprised me - medium to low output with a really flat response. I was expecting a higher output, mid-heavy pickup as was the style in this era and especially on a guitar like the ST3 which I assume was aimed more at the shred and rock/metal players.

Of course I have plenty good to say about the Ibanez Edge bridge and the neck, which has a lovely bare feel and a super thick rosewood fretboard. I know it’s tough to do a fair comparison between two guitars that are over 30 years old now, but this one feels very consistent with the other ST-III I have. Both play very similarly, with similar body weights and identical necks. Any tonal differences seem to be just from the different pickups and body finish than anything with the construction of the guitars, which is always a good sign - as a big Kramer collector, I’m not used to very consistent quality control!

I’ve also done some digging and found some details on these guitars from the catalog. It appears these two are both relatively mundane models, but they could be ordered with maple or ebony fingerboards, binding, graphic paint jobs, or even neck-through configurations. I’d love to see an ST-III with a bound maple board, what a cool guitar that would be - and based on some of the other custom configurations I’ve seen around the web I’m sure there’s probably one out there.

New Guitar: BC Rich ST-III with Roland GK setup

I’ve always liked the look of these and they have a pretty unique history, coming out in the late 80s during a time when BC Rich was struggling financially and eventually ended up selling their brand name to Class Axe. This guitar is from before the sale, in 1987 - USA made and a very fine quality instrument. These also used top mounted Ibanez Edge tremolos, which were very new at the time and are close to OFR quality - some even prefer these trems to OFR’s and I can see why.

I picked this one up for a great price from Guitar Center, and it came equipped with a Roland GK-2A pickup. I doubt the natural finish is original, but if the original color was stripped they did a very clean job and the light satin finish is very well done. I’ve never had a Roland GK before either, so I look forward to trying it out - my initial look at Youtube videos makes this system look extremely cool and I’d love to be able to play some synthesizer or saxophone parts on my guitar!

In addition to the satin finished body, the neck is also a very bare wood feeling on the back, with an extremely thick slab of rosewood for the fretboard. When it arrived, this guitar had a Parallel Axis PATB-3 pickup in the bridge position, which is a sweet sounding pickup if a little lower output than I usually prefer in the bridge position, and a Quarter Pounder in the neck which is a highlight - I’m surprised just how much I like this high output, bassy single coil pickup.

New Guitar: Charvel Model 2 Electric Blue

Another guitar center find, this one popped up online for a very reasonable price that I could not refuse. It arrived and is in surprisingly great condition besides a small light colored mark on the top edge of the body - it looks a little bit like paint, like you would use on the walls of your house. It also came equipped with a Seymour Duncan SH-12 Screamin’ Demon, one of my favorite humbuckers for its thick tone and with a single pickup, a versatile one like this helps make it more practical when rolling off the volume than other high output pickups.

New Guitar: Charvel Model 3A '86

I picked this up as a bit of a change in pace compared to my other Charvels - this one is equipped with a Kahler, USA made, fulcrum tremolo called the “2520.” This trem is similar in design to a modern strat trem, with two anchor points instead of the traditional six, and the addition of fine tuners to pair with the locking nut at the headstock. While it’s not a true double locking, floating tremolo like a Floyd Rose, it’s actually a very good bridge - and quite forward thinking for the time. It gets a pretty bad rap around the web, but I was impressed with it, although my expectations were low which helps. The biggest detractor is that the spacing of the studs is too close for a direct swap with just about any other bridge - anyone who had an ‘86 Model 2 or Model 3 with this bridge would have to plug and re-drill holes in order to upgrade the bridge to something else.

I personally would never modify an original like this one, which happens to be in fantastic shape. The factory J80C pickups are meaty and thick sounding, similar to Duncan Customs, and I think this pickup sounds incredible in the neck position even if a bit high output. As long as the heights are adjusted, the volume difference isn’t too bad, and a 3-way blade switch makes it easy to switch between them. Later 3A’s had the 5-way blade switch, which gives split coil sounds in positions 2 and 4 but this particular one is too early for that feature.

Two Single-Humbucker Guitars, One Weekend

It’s been an eventful few days here. My replacement Proaxe neck arrived and is bolted up now finally (thanks UPS), along with acquiring another very special neck (no spoilers yet!). Plus, two new guitars through the door just in time for Thanksgiving - a 1987 Charvel Model 5A in “Black Cherry” finish and a 1989 Kramer Baretta I in “Snakeskin.” Now that’s a rare color!

I actually know an owner of the snakeskin Baretta, it’s changed hands quite a few time since he’s had it, going from east coast USA to west coast, then all the way to the UK, before finally landing back here with me in Florida. It’s a shame in that time it has seen a few mods, such as a hole for a strap button on the rear of the upper horn, jack plate added, and a mini switch added. Still, it’s a great player and certainly eye catching.

The Model 5A came from Guitar Center, nothing too exciting about that, until I picked it up and played it. Wow, that neck through design can really get very low action without much setup effort and it really wails now that I’ve removed the 25k pot (somebody must’ve had EMG’s in this before) and put in a 500k and Jackson J90C pickup.

A few teasers:

As always, there will be more pictures and details on their respective pages.

Baretta I Details

Model 5A Details

Happy Thanksgiving!


A Few Projects Are Coming Together

I’ve been extremely busy with a few projects at work so I haven’t had the time to fully complete some of my guitar projects. I finally have all of the parts arriving this week though, and should be able to assemble them soon! Here’s a mock-up of what they are going to look like - probably. I may change the necks around but this looks the best to me so far:

Special thanks to my friend Jaime who was able to supply a neck, floyd, and a fancy PJ Marx pickup for these.

Tale of Two Maple Fretboard Kramers

I’ve always been a maple fretboard kind of guy. If you know the Kramer collecting market, you know how hard they are to come by, at least in the “pointy” era (1986-1990). In years of collecting these, I have never been able to get my hands on one - the neck I lusted after the most, even more than the coveted “claw” neck; a maple fretboard pointy with the Kramer inlay on the 12th fret. Thanks to a wild stroke of luck, I now have two of them in the span of a week.

The Pacer Custom I

If you have read any of my previous entries, you might remember a project I started to a build - a white Sustainer body that I was able to find a maple neck with dots for on craigslist. The owner of that neck and I talked at length about our projects and guitars, so I knew he had a late Pacer Custom I with a maple fretboard. I’d been thinking about asking about it for several months, but never followed through. While on my way to the UPS center to pick up another guitar, I received a text message out of nowhere:

“I was wondering if you’d be interested in my transparent blue pacer custom?”

As you can imagine, I freaked out. I’d be thinking about that guitar for so long, and I even had a picture of it saved to my phone so I wouldn’t forget who had it. Of course I went for it, so not long after it arrived on my doorstep, original case and pickups included.

Not quite transparent blue - it’s more of a teal color. Even better!

An amazing neck, finally found after years of hunting.

An amazing neck, finally found after years of hunting.

I have another Pacer Custom from this era (only a few hundred away by SN#) with the stock JB/SSL-1/SSL-1 combination, and with the thin body and single volume control, I found it to be painfully bright, even after converting the JB to an Alnico II magnet. I eventually settled on a PATB-1 for that guitar which helped fill it out nicely while retaining bite - so I wanted something completely different for this guitar. I installed a Dimarzio Breed, recently discontinued, which I found at a musicgoround for $30. I’ve had this pickup for a while but never installed it - and after hearing it in this guitar I’ve already bought another. It is dark, smooth, and thick - even played through my aggressive sounding Mesa Mark IV. I can see why someone wouldn’t want this as their only pickup, but for a change of pace it is excellent. It really makes lead lines sound amazing, and with the treble adjusted on the amp itself, it cuts through nicely. I’m looking forward to installing some single coils, but for now those slots are empty. I’m thinking about the Dimarzio SDS-1’s, a true single with a darker character and more output, which sounds like it will pair nicely with the Breed.

The Sustainer

This one was a harder call. Another member of kramerforumz.com posted about this guitar, listed at a Guitar Center in Chicago, along with a few shoddy pictures. I couldn’t really tell what the color of the body was, didn’t know if it had a case, and had no way of knowing if the Sustainer circuitry actually worked. However, I saw the maple fretboard and 12th inlay in a blurry image of the front and figured I would take the risk - worst case scenario I could return it to my local Guitar Center within 45 days (thank goodness for this policy, GC used gear is roughly a 50/50 crapshoot).

Apparently these are quite fragile in working condition, so I will have to take very good care of it.

I’m happy to say that it was well worth the risk. The body and neck are both in impeccable shape, the Sustainer unit works wonderfully, and tonally it sounds nice and thick even with the stock JBJ installed (which I don’t plan on replacing after having a look at that electronics cavity). I did snip the capacitor off of the volume pot, I’m not sure what value but it made the tone extremely thin when rolling back the volume. I was also glad to see it was flip flop red when it arrived, it appeared as more of a flat red in the pictures and that would not have been as cool.

The first thing I noticed after my initial setup was just how much better this Sustain unit functions as compared to my ‘88 Hamer Chaparral sustainiac. It really hangs on to fundamental notes with more strength, and the harmonic functions are easier to control and less “screechy.” It also has an additional control that my Hamer does not that is really unique: a knob to control the intensity and strength of the Sustain unit. This really adds some cool dynamics to the sound, aside from the usual master volume and tone knobs. With this knob at minimum, notes are still sustained indefinitely but they vibrate very softly - nice for letting a note trail off naturally but not disappear completely. When at full power, the entire body of the guitar vibrates with force and the strings generate voltage as if they are being picked hard and constantly. For example, with the amp set to crunch, I can softly pick a note for a slight breakup then roll up the sustain knob and it will smoothly go into a thick overdrive, taking advantage of the dynamics of that channel on the amp. Of course the real fun is turning all of the knobs to full and using it on an improvised solo at the end of a song, and flipping the harmonic mode switch at the same time to make some really unique sounds with a seamless transition between all of them.

A great color combination.

Another pleasant surprise is the Schaller made Sustain Unit when used as a neck humbucker. Again compared to my Hamer Chaparral, that guitar has a single coil stuffed right underneath the sustain driver unit, which does not work as a pickup on its own. However this guitar’s sustain unit is a fully functional humbucker, which sounds pretty great to boot. It’s a bit higher output and darker sounding than something like a Jazz or ‘59, maybe more similar to the SH-7 Seymourizer II or something with more output than the usual PAF spec neck humbuckers.

The real reason I went for this guitar was the neck though, and it does not disappoint. It has the thickest slab of maple for the board I’ve seen, and it is noticeably thicker than even the other neck with the same inlays from the Pacer Custom above. It has a comfortable profile, almost no fret wear, and the bound headstock is a nice touch. This may be “new guitar brain” talking, but this is my favorite neck on any guitar I own right now.

Now to fix that chrome volume knob…

Double NGD: Charvel Model 5 and G&L Invader Plus

Well, I’ve done it again. While cruising the web, I found two guitars I just couldn’t pass up for their relative prices, so after some light talks with the sellers, both arrived at my home this Thursday.

First up, the Charvel Model 5. I originally purchased this mainly as a flipping opportunity, due to it’s great condition coupled with an irresistible price. Additionally, I’ve always wanted a neck-through guitar and a Charvel model 5, 550, 6, or 650 is right at the top of that list - with the added benefit of trying out some pickups I’ve never had before, the Jackson J80C. I did hope that the bridge pickup was a J90C or J95, but I wasn’t quite that lucky, both neck and bridge pickups are J80C’s.

The guitar interestingly has a 5-way switch despite having two pickups, and I just learned about this feature. It’s the Jackson JE-0005 “super switch.” Essentially, a standard 5-way switch has a few terminals and the way it switches sounds is by combining the outputs from each pickup in different ways, while this “super switch” has individual terminals for each possible switch position, so in theory you could wire it a multitude of ways impossible on a standard switch. There is a helpful write-up here on the JCF forum: https://www.jcfonline.com/threads/90074-Jackon-Special-5-Way-wiring-tutorial.

This guitar is stock, so the switch goes from neck (series humbucking), neck single coil, both pickups series (all four coils), bridge single coil, and bridge (series humbucking). It takes a little while to get used to it, but I think I prefer this arrangement more than the usual selector + coil tap mini switch. It’s certainly much quicker to use and requires a bit less fiddling when making quick transitions between humbucking and single coil sounds. This switch was also available on the Model 3A and 3DR of the same era, as well as the Predator later on.

It also comes equipped with a JE-1200 mid-boost circuit, which offers up to +6db of boost at around 650hz. On my Model 4’s and 475 Deluxe, I considered this boost an “always on” item that was required to avoid overly bright/shrill tones with the J50BC pickup. However, the J80C’s on this guitar have much thicker mids, and the boost is not as obvious - and certainly not required. That’s great, because I can leave it rolled off for rhythm or clean tones, then roll it up - though a clean amp I get a nice volume and edge-of-breakup sound, fantastic for soloing, and through a distorted amp I get just a little bit more saturation and push. This is a big advantage for me, as with the Model 4’s I’ve always felt like the mid boost feature was kind of worthless because it didn’t give me any extra options - it had to be on all the time. Next I need to get my hands on a J90 or J95 humbucker to try out, since those should have a little bit more output and thicker mids based on the specifications.

More details here: https://www.bretmcgonigle.com/guitars#/1986-charvel-model-5/

The G&L Invader Plus was a lucky acquisition, as I don’t usually look for guitars made past about 1990. I didn’t know much about this model, so I did a lot of digging and research on features, specifications, and values prior to purchasing. Everything came back looking like exactly my type of guitar, so I went for it. The quality of wood on this guitar is truly impeccable, and with quality hardware it’s truly an elite instrument. The figuring of the top is really nice, and a bit more interesting than some of the more common quilt or flame tops that look to me a bit too perfect. The grain gives a sensation of depth even though this top is not that thick, and the natural binding around the edges gives a nice separation between the cap and the mahogany body. The neck is really where it ramps up though, with some strong flame figuring on the player’s side of the neck that' is really nice to look at. The fretboard and neck is constructed entirely from a single piece, so the fretboard also possesses much of the same figuring. The flame is accompanied by a strong birds-eye figuring as well, so the neck really has a lot to appreciate.

I was hoping for a different bridge pickup (this has a Duncan JB, of which I have 7 or 8 at this point), but it sounds very thick and warm in this guitar so it’s hard to deny it’s a great sounding guitar. The JB can be a bit touchy depending on the guitar - for example, my ‘89 Pacer Custom I had a JB originally and it was so frustrating to have such a nice guitar sound so thin and harsh on almost all of my amps. The ‘59 is a neck pickup I’ve never had the chance to own before, so it’s nice to be able to play one of the bread and butter pickups so commonly discussed among guitar players. It has a great sparkle through a clean amp that none of my other guitars can quite match.

That said, the neck on this one is quite thick in comparison to my other guitars and I’m a bit surprised myself that I’m reaching for the Charvel above more than this instrument. Part of that is the G&L is in impeccable shape, with not even a visible scratch on it - it arrived with the original case, hang tags, certificate of authenticity, and even the plastic film still present over the plastic cavity covers. I’m almost afraid to play it for fear of marring its perfect form. Still, it has one of the most toneful clean sounds I’ve ever heard from an electric and I expect to be using it for those styles - perhaps this would be a good guitar to try some lower output pickups in (perhaps a Pearly Gates, or ‘59 Bridge?).

More details here: https://www.bretmcgonigle.com/guitars#/2002-gl-invader-plus/

A few Kramer guitar project updates

It’s been a while since the last update, but I’ve been traveling a lot for work and have had little time to work on my guitars. I was able to take a few evenings this week and I finally have completed one - and made a few changes to my others. The exciting news is that all three are fully playable - I may make a few minor changes moving forward, but I’m very happy to be playing them instead of staring at a pile of parts.

On the left, the transparent red Pacer C1 body from late 1989 - this body has some unique cutouts, despite sharing the 7/8 sharp-radius shape like the others. It has the recessed floyd cavity and lower horn scoop, but also has beveled scoops on both upper and lower horns on the rear side, similar to a Proaxe body. I’m not sure how it ended up this way - my speculation is that this is the final evolution of Kramer bodies, but based on the serial number this was one of the last ones out the door before bankruptcy so there is not a lot of information about.

This guitar was always very brittle sounding, so I removed the JB A2 and put in a PATB-1 Parallel Axis. I thought it would be funny to put the PATB into a guitar with the slanted humbucker mount, and it does sound great. I also wired up a tiny tone pot which sits fully open inside the control cavity to help tame some of the highs associated with having only a single volume knob.

The trans red pacer previously had the “claw” neck, which I moved to the FF Red sustainer body in the center. The action on the FF Red sustainer is as perfect as I’ve ever seen, really a fantastic player. This has a TB-4 JBJ that I removed from a ‘94 or so ESP Mirage, and the neck is a regular SH-4 JBJ, set much lower to keep the volume in check. This is a surprisingly great combination, and the JB is really fun in the neck position. The body was NOS, so it did not have holes drilled for pickup rings - so I mounted them directly to the wood since this would be the only opportunity to do so on a body like this. For now, there are only volume/tone and a selector, but I plan on wiring up some type of electronics to make use of the extra holes drilled in the body.

The white Sustainer finally has a neck pickup, a Dimarzio PAF Pro which I really enjoy - I think I’m growing to be a big fan of high output neck pickups. The Dirty Fingers in the bridge sounds awesome as always, but to occupy the extra holes in the body, I’ve installed a wah/midboost circuit from GuitarFetish. When it is turned off, I have access to volume, tone, a 3-way selector, and a 3-way coil tap switch towards the neck. The next switch is a two-way, which turns off or on the circuit, and the last switch changes the mode of the circuit, either Wah or Mid-boost. The third knob controls the active electronics - for example, I can preset a cocked wah sound with that knob, leave the effect off while playing rhythm, then flip it on with just the toggle for an instant solo tone, especially useful when covering songs with synth lead parts. Alternatively, I can set a boost amount, then flip on the mid boost with the switch for more gain. It’s a lot of fun, and I may use the same electronics on the FF Red project as well.