PRO MOD SO-CAL 2 HH

I've been lucky enough to own American guitars and basses. Audio engineer for 20 years. Bought this instrument before COVID and it changed the way I think about guitar. It’s playability and tone push boundaries and inspire growth. It’s wicked hot when the modern voice is dimed, but likely there are better options for metal. Otherwise, the other 98% of the volume knob is incredibly useful in all of its pickup arrangements. Ultralight. Feels good. Looks good. Smells good.. etc.. have a good tech set it up and it will not come out of tune. Install the whammy bar and so much as think about touching it, it will absolutely come out of tune. Minus one quarter star.

This is a Telecaster-style guitar that leans more Les Paul by default, but thanks to some fantastic pickups has stellar versatility. This guitar is made in Mexico at the Fender facility (Fender is Charvel's parent company). While some people scoff at made in Mexico Fenders, I have zero issues with the ones I have. For the most part, the machinery is newer at the Mexico factory and workmanship is very good. The made in the USA Fenders, Charvels, Jacksons, etc. just get a lot more finishing time. The roasted maple neck is an absolute joy to play on, if you're a fan of modern necks. People that favor vintage 7.5" radius necks might not dig it. Telecasters in this price range do not offer roasted maple necks and fingerboards, so I very much appreciated this option. The body is ash with sculpted bevels at the neck, belly, and shoulder. It's very, very comfortable to play. Again, Telecasters in the price range do not offer ash and all three sculptings. Rounding out the hardware are the locking tuners and Gotoh tremolo system. Both are high-quality and contribute to this guitar's tremendous value. The Fishman Fluence are the real stars of this show. I absolutely love this Fluence line. The Open Core Classics used in this model offer a vintage PAF voice, a hotter humbucker voice, and a single coil voice. Between the three voice and the three-way pickup selector, you can pretty much hit any genre of music. They really are remarkable pickups. Just note that a battery is required. You also have the option to install a Fishman battery pack that lets use a lithium-ion battery and charge via USB. Now as much as I love this guitar, some people might think that it's going to sound like a modern Telecaster. To my ears, it does not. Between the ash body and PAF default voice, it's much closer to a Les Paul than a Tele. Even using the single coil voice that the Fishman Fluence pickups offer, to my ears it's more like a Stratocaster style and doesn't quite have the twang of a Telecaster. As long as you aren't expecting Telecaster-style sounds from this guitar, you'll be impressed by the quality woods, workmanship, hardware, and (especially) pickups. While it's true that there isn't one guitar that can do it all, the Charvel Pro-Mod So Cal Style 2 comes closer than most. Best of all, the price is more than reasonable for what it offers.

Well, you never know what you're going to get when you buy a guitar online and I've bought a few. Although this is a cool/good guitar and I don't want to deter anyone from buying one because $999 for this guitar is a steal, here's what I got. When mine arrived, it was in the "bare bones-est" FACTORY cardboard packaging I've seen from a major (Fender/Charvel) manufacturer. This guitar must have been sitting in a very hot, very dry warehouse for a long time because every single one of the 48 fret ends stuck painfully out. The strings were almost tuned to pitch and were about 1/4" (way high) above the fretboard. If I didn't have a good guitar tech and $80, I'd have had to return the guitar. Luckily, I do and it's now a killer guitar. Like I said, maybe just mine was sitting in the desert somewhere, BUT these are great guitars especially for the $$ and the Fishman pickups are everything they say. Incredible.

Absolutely killer. Gotoh tremolo holds tuning rock solid through deep dive bombs and soaring pulls. Fluence Moderns are game-changing - objectively superior to any hand-wound pickup by a long shot. Sparkling clean output with uniquely even balance across all six strings. Oh - and it's f_ing gorgeous, too. I can barely put mine down. Pretty close to a perfect instrument. I'm a Charvel man now.

Brilliant service, seller answered all my questions before hand quick delivery! Only down point and not knocking this off the seller at all, was that the volume pot was a bit loose and the action a little low resulting in slight string buzz, all easily sorted though! Thanks guys