Spotted this one in my local Sam Ash. The bridge was leaning very far forward - previous owner must’ve gone up a string gauge and not adjusted the bridge to compensate. The electronics didn’t work and it sounded quite strange - but it was labeled as a “Charvel ‘51 style” and priced very low. This was around the time that Fender/Squier had released the very inexpensive “pawnshop” series with a similar 50s bass style pickguard, so I think they priced it in that area not knowing what it was exactly. I took in my Kramer XL1 and traded it and the case + cash for this Charvel and its own (nicer) case. In hindsight I wish I’d kept the XL1 too, but this was a way nicer guitar!
I took it home and dissembled it, removing the large old strings and lifting the pickguard to reveal a mess of dirt and crud. Despite being neglected for some time, I was able to clean up the body very well and the neck was in really great shape. A new battery and some cleaning restored the functionality of the electronics - and this quickly became one of my favorite features. I loved to set the JE-1500 EQ to a nice “vowel” type lead sound, with some gain to boost it up, and then I’d play my rhythm parts with it turned off and kick it on for leads and solos. At the time, I was learning a lot of songs by The Cars and this guitar was as close as I could get to that type of look and sound.