This Charvel has one of the most recognizable paint patterns associated with Charvel guitars, the black with yellow stripe paint pattern made famous by Edward Van Halen. This pattern interestingly is most often seen on early Charvels (pre-serialized and early serialized Strat Headstock models) and is far less commonly found on later serialized Charvels. I know of only a few late serial number examples (about 5 to date) with the black and yellow paint on guitars with the Jackson (or pointy style) headstock.

The graphic led to a dispute between EVH and Charvel in that EVH did not want exact patterns as his produced and sold to the public. A legal battle ensued and the end result was EVH left his association with Charvel Manufacturing eventually going to Kramer. Hence this graphic is highly prized amongst Charvel enthusiasts.

This Charvel exemplifies the common modifications (some view as upgrades) that these guitars were often subjected to during the 80's; namely changing the tuners and exchanging the factory vintage tremolo with a double locking Floyd Rose unit.

The changing or swapping of the tuners I personally really don't understand. In my opinion the factory installed Gotoh tuners used by Charvel were of high quality and did a great job. The addition of a Floyd Rose tremolo is the single most common modification found on Charvels that involved structural modification. Note a pickup change usually does not involve any structural modification assuming no extra pickups or controls were installed. A huge number have had the Floyd modification mostly due to the superior tuning stability during whammy bar use/abuse. The Floyd Rose tremolo coupled with innovative guitarists (such as EVH and Vai) led to a new style of playing in the 80's. It is easy to forget that the Floyd tremolo was NOT factory standard until the mid to later 80's. This device has been widely accepted as common place now but back in the early days it was a hard to come by item (Floyd Rose trems were standard only on Kramer guitars early on).

I was lucky enough to find original tuners for the guitar (black non-logo'd Gotohs) and switched the non original Grover tuners back out. As a consequence the back of the headstock shows a second set of holes where the Grover tuners were installed.

As mentioned the original vintage tremolo was upgraded with a Floyd style unit. The installation was a pro job with metal threaded inserts used for posts (early versions simply used wood screws as anchor posts upon which the Floyd tremolo pivoted) and the intonation is perfect. When I acquired her she had a Floyd licensed tremolo, namely a Jackson Schaller tremolo (one with shorter block) and not a "real" Floyd Rose. As a result of the shorter block the inside of the tremolo cavity was routed slightly to allow the unit to operate smoothly. I replaced the licensed trem with an original Floyd Rose, which to my eyes looks even better!!!

The first fret of the neck had a small section of the rosewood fingerboard removed and then reattached. I assume there was some confusion to where the correct location for the new locking nut for the Floyd was to be installed. It looks like it was mistakenly placed in front of the original nut and upon realizing the mistake the rosewood was replaced and the nut installed in the correct position! It is very hard to see so (you really have to look closely to notice it) and it does not effect playing. The locking nut used was the Kahler style, which was mounted from the top avoiding the need to have holes drilled through the neck that are required (see write up for Charvel #2364).

When I acquired her she had a non original EMG pickup installed, which I replaced with a cream Dimarizo PAF. She looks great and sounds even better. If you look closely at the volume knob area you will notice a small piece of black tape on the graphic. Yes tape, it was used to cover up two small holes where the previous owner must of had installed two small mini switches. It is very hard to notice because the tape blends in with the graphic so no real biggie.

The neck pocket is dated 4-4-84, written in black marker and the work order (invoice) number 1896 is written in pencil. Markings on the neck are the work order (invoice) number 1896 and "OBD". I see "OBD" written on all the Jackson style (pointy) headstock necks that use the black plastic cap for the headstock face. Comparing the order date and the date in the neck pocket it suggests a build time of about 2 months. Of additional interest is that the graphic is listed as a "B&Y VH stripes" on the build sheet.

This Charvel has serial number 3270 and was ordered by Bonne Music in E. Syracuse, NY on 2-15-84