Love my Charvel, San Dimas Pro Mod 2, MIM, sooped up telecaster, Chlorine Burst. Looks like your looking down into the ocean. Great neck, S-Duncan pickups, hardtail. Great guitars!
Hey there Oldguy- great video. 💯 agree on all new guitars the biggest area to address is nut action. Sometimes even need to break out a file and CAREFULLY remove a little material from the nut shelf. I generally use a pencil and mark up the shelf and then methodically and slowly file away my witness marks. Love my San Dimas Pro Mod as well. Thanks again!
I bought a Charvel pro mod So-Cal last year new at $1100 from Musicians Friend. The neck pocket was dug too deep and I had to buy a 3 pack of shims. The .5 degree was the smallest and worked ok, still a little low on the bass side. The shim under the nut was also too high. It has taken quite some time to get it where I like it, which is all fine and dandy, but I feel kind of ripped off that I had to do a bunch of extra stuff to such an expensive "for me" guitar.
I hear ya! but it does take considerable time (it seems) to get these dialed in. I guess either we do on our own time or pay a Charvel guy ~ chachang! I've got mine pretty dialed in but have some weird, like microphonic pickup sound I'm dealing with... it's like the pickups are WAY TOO HOT or something. Just pressing a string down with my right index finger produces a "shawish" sound...?
Should've sent it back. I had a DK24 FR with hard sanding around the nut and uneven shims visible from the side and the nut action was high. Unaccaptable for 1000 dollars. Make it 699 and then we have a deal, I'll tinker at that price.
Very cool! I still have mine and still really enjoy it. The pickups sound great and yet different, sound great split too. Very comfortable to play. Thanks for saying where you’re from, always fun to know!
Great tips, however I don't understand why people are ok with not being able to pull up on the bar with a floyd rose (for the sake of using a D tuna). Even a subtle up/down vibrato with the whammy bar requires some up movement, let alone Jeff Beck or Steve Vai style bar work. Hence why the D-TUna isn't for me. I might try some of the shimming stuff you talked about, thanks!
I totally hear you and agree that a truly nice vibrato can’t be done without pulling up a bit. The mechanics of the D-tuna just don’t allow it. Then again I don’t think Beck of Vai delve into much D-tuned stuff. If nothing else, t’s a good reason to have two guitars.
Great video. I'm a bass player, but I've always had a soft spot for 80s shred guitars so I'm thinking about getting one of these. Unfinished maple necks are almost unheard of in the bass world, do you wax the neck on this or just let it get filthy like Eddy did? Also, what is the point of getting a guitar with a recessed Floyd Rose if you're just going to block it anyway?
Thanks for the good questions, I’ll let this neck naturally stain up but may hit it with some 00 steel wool or some fine sandpaper at some point, haven’t needed to yet but I wipe my guitars down pretty good at every string change. I actually prefer Floyd rose bridges that sit on top of the guitar because addeding the D-tuna is just easier, but EVH is the only one that does that anymore. Either way, recessed or not, a D-tuna only works with a blocked out trem. I’ve never needed the pull up really although for correct vibrato that goes both above and below the note you need it to float, but I have a Strat for that.
Thanks for shearing. Great sounding guitar but so hart to set it up. I’ m working on it to reach the minimum action - no fretbuzz, and reached 1,5mm , 1,75 mm, or 0.70-0.60”). I’m affaid that’s it.
Good for you man!! 1.5 is not bad at all, pretty darn good. My LP requires more like the 1.75 you mentioned while my Jackson I got down to around 1.2 BUT TOO LOW is not the best either. Try dropping the bridge a bit more if you feel like it, ‘rattle’ and ‘buzz’ are different beasts. I like a bit of ‘rattle’ that then cleans up as the note begins to die off. If it feels good, it is good. I recently did a string change on my Wolfgang and the action changed drastically!?! Weirdest thing ever...?
I have that charvel! Its awesome, and very broken in. My three way pick up switch cap came with a black color instead of your white. I have 5 killa charvels. Love em.
This is only my second but I love them both, very nice guitars. A fellow commenter Blakjakk has a dozen or more :) and then there’s Cameron Cooper who probably has a few truck loads stacked around in cases.
Ive got the very same guitar. What a beauty it is. Ive got a question tho, after a few months my fretboard got all dirty, with this kind of dirty mold-looking residue. Being an unfinished maple fretboard, what is the best way to clean it?
When you replace the strings, spray a bit of windex on the fretboard, massage wit soft toothbrush and wipe clean :-) I find I don’t need to oil maple like I do ebony or rosewood.
I love my Charvels. They’re the best feeling guitar necks ever. I got a Tele FMT HH like you’re talking about (your amber one) but FedEx broke it’s headstock so I sent it back to Fender & ordered a Schecter from ZZounds.
I have to say that you having so many played in to my decision to get mine. It’s a bit similar to my EVH but it’s different enough and dang nice - thumbs up \m/ I thought about you :) At some point try to get your hands on another on of those Special Edition Teles ~ Really, really nice guitar.
I have the same guitar but I didn't put the d tuner on it, the only thing I did was take the shims under the nut bnb out ,I had 3shims 1 bigger one and 1 about half that size but I took both out i didn't shim in the neck pocket my neck is straight I have a little relief not much ,my action is fairly low after I took the shims out, I also have a strat and a Wolfgang standard the wolfgang is hard to set up for me because they go by different specs than any other guitar, but yeah good video ,stay safe
Cool that you're doing your own setups man! I know what you mean about the Wolfgangs, hardest guitar I've ever setup but SO worth it. Love those guitars, and the standards better than the specials. I did a Wolfgang Special setup video, maybe it would help...? Have a great weekend!
@@oldguyjammin9732 yeah on relief on the Wolfgangs I think they want 10k at the 8th fret or something and the floyd is just for dives only so there's a spec on it I forgot I'd have to look it up , but when you get the guitar setup it's great but yeah they are a pain in the butt I went through hell doing mine and it's still probably not in spec but its good enough for me everyone is different in what they want what i like someone else may think I'm crazy it's just personal preference on just about any guitar but you have to within spec or its hell to play anyway ,take it easy stay safe
Hey OG - I remember you saying that you were done buying lol. Knew it wouldn't last Really helpful video by the way and I had no idea about the adjustment to the D-tuner so thanks 🤘
You got it man! Re having to eat another slice of crow pie, I know... kind of embarrassing but I figure we’ve all been there ;-) this time though, I really AM done :o
@@oldguyjammin9732 new gear is part of the hobby, and if you get at a good price ...... you can always sell again later. But seriously a really helpful video and will put to some use with my guitars. I remember how nervous I was shimming the neck for the first time and what a difference it made wished Id done it years before
Sweet guitar! I have the DK24 in Dark Amber with the same set of pickups as yours. I was wondering, can we adjust the pickup height on these ones? I set my action to 1.0 now my pickups really sit high up and almost touching the strings.
I believe they are body mounted :-( there may be a bit of sponge underneath to allow raising them a tad... try tightening the mounting screws with the correct, properly fitting cross-head screwdriver and see if you get anywhere, if not you'll need to shim your neck and raise your bridge a bit. Nice job on the action!
I’ll have to look at some Wayne’s :) I have yet to buy a new guitar that didn’t benefit from a bit of help. Thanks for the suggestion \m/ Okay, looked at Wayne Charvel’s handmade guitars... for $3-$4k it sure as hell better NOT need anything done to it, lol.
@@oldguyjammin9732 if i had the money, i wouldn't think twice. Couldn't think of a better custom guitar. btw Wayne's factory has suffered a major disaster sometime ago ... their factory burned down .. and set them back in the building process ... they had to do funding to start again ... not sure what the situation is right now.
Initially about an hour but I had decided ahead of time exactly what I’d be doing. Dialing in a guitar is a continuous process with just fewer and fewer tweaks made over time, until one day when.... ahhh, butter! Ha ha
@@oldguyjammin9732 Wow only an hour. I have this phobea on working on guitars. I bought a Jackson Rhodes js32 used from guitar center, very cheap. The neck is great. The tremolo is not good. I am going to replace the pickups with a jb and 59. This is going to be the first time soldiering in 40 years. Yeah I'm an old guy too. Thanks for your content. It inspires me to do more.
@@oldguyjammin9732 thanks. I hear the tension change and the string detunes. But it doesn’t seem to be providing much relief. I’ll see if it settles and check it tomorrow.
@@jturquoise - check relief by pinching the string at the 1st and 15th frets and then check the gap between the string and frets 5 thru 9... the slightest gap is all you need. I usually turn my truss rods a half turn and then wait a few days, play it, see how it responds.
The aluminum is denser than a business card or plastic and theoretically will conduct audio frequencies better, plus it’s very stable AND each layer is 0.005” which is great for estimations when shimming the neck is necessary. I don’t like my pickups or bridge buried so deep in the guitar body.
Love my Charvel, San Dimas Pro Mod 2, MIM, sooped up telecaster, Chlorine Burst. Looks like your looking down into the ocean. Great neck, S-Duncan pickups, hardtail. Great guitars!
I’ve seen that one, very nice :)
That chlorine burst is gorgeous
Hey there Oldguy- great video. 💯 agree on all new guitars the biggest area to address is nut action. Sometimes even need to break out a file and CAREFULLY remove a little material from the nut shelf. I generally use a pencil and mark up the shelf and then methodically and slowly file away my witness marks. Love my San Dimas Pro Mod as well. Thanks again!
You preach a good word brother
Thanks my dude; you as well!
I got a lefty DK 24 today and was listening to this video while setting it up.👍👍
I bought a Charvel pro mod So-Cal last year new at $1100 from Musicians Friend. The neck pocket was dug too deep and I had to buy a 3 pack of shims. The .5 degree was the smallest and worked ok, still a little low on the bass side. The shim under the nut was also too high. It has taken quite some time to get it where I like it, which is all fine and dandy, but I feel kind of ripped off that I had to do a bunch of extra stuff to such an expensive "for me" guitar.
I hear ya! but it does take considerable time (it seems) to get these dialed in. I guess either we do on our own time or pay a Charvel guy ~ chachang! I've got mine pretty dialed in but have some weird, like microphonic pickup sound I'm dealing with... it's like the pickups are WAY TOO HOT or something. Just pressing a string down with my right index finger produces a "shawish" sound...?
@@oldguyjammin9732 Hmm. The microphonic pickup issue I don't have the, thank the Lord. lol, I don't know what that could be.
Should've sent it back. I had a DK24 FR with hard sanding around the nut and uneven shims visible from the side and the nut action was high. Unaccaptable for 1000 dollars. Make it 699 and then we have a deal, I'll tinker at that price.
Hi! I bought it with the same colour. Tnx for the video!! Greetings from Argentina
Very cool! I still have mine and still really enjoy it. The pickups sound great and yet different, sound great split too. Very comfortable to play. Thanks for saying where you’re from, always fun to know!
Great tips, however I don't understand why people are ok with not being able to pull up on the bar with a floyd rose (for the sake of using a D tuna). Even a subtle up/down vibrato with the whammy bar requires some up movement, let alone Jeff Beck or Steve Vai style bar work. Hence why the D-TUna isn't for me.
I might try some of the shimming stuff you talked about, thanks!
I totally hear you and agree that a truly nice vibrato can’t be done without pulling up a bit. The mechanics of the D-tuna just don’t allow it. Then again I don’t think Beck of Vai delve into much D-tuned stuff. If nothing else, t’s a good reason to have two guitars.
Great video. I'm a bass player, but I've always had a soft spot for 80s shred guitars so I'm thinking about getting one of these. Unfinished maple necks are almost unheard of in the bass world, do you wax the neck on this or just let it get filthy like Eddy did? Also, what is the point of getting a guitar with a recessed Floyd Rose if you're just going to block it anyway?
Thanks for the good questions, I’ll let this neck naturally stain up but may hit it with some 00 steel wool or some fine sandpaper at some point, haven’t needed to yet but I wipe my guitars down pretty good at every string change. I actually prefer Floyd rose bridges that sit on top of the guitar because addeding the D-tuna is just easier, but EVH is the only one that does that anymore. Either way, recessed or not, a D-tuna only works with a blocked out trem. I’ve never needed the pull up really although for correct vibrato that goes both above and below the note you need it to float, but I have a Strat for that.
Thanks for shearing. Great sounding guitar but so hart to set it up. I’ m working on it to reach the minimum action - no fretbuzz, and reached 1,5mm , 1,75 mm, or 0.70-0.60”). I’m affaid that’s it.
Good for you man!! 1.5 is not bad at all, pretty darn good. My LP requires more like the 1.75 you mentioned while my Jackson I got down to around 1.2 BUT TOO LOW is not the best either. Try dropping the bridge a bit more if you feel like it, ‘rattle’ and ‘buzz’ are different beasts. I like a bit of ‘rattle’ that then cleans up as the note begins to die off. If it feels good, it is good. I recently did a string change on my Wolfgang and the action changed drastically!?! Weirdest thing ever...?
I have that charvel! Its awesome, and very broken in. My three way pick up switch cap came with a black color instead of your white. I have 5 killa charvels. Love em.
This is only my second but I love them both, very nice guitars. A fellow commenter Blakjakk has a dozen or more :) and then there’s Cameron Cooper who probably has a few truck loads stacked around in cases.
Ive got the very same guitar. What a beauty it is. Ive got a question tho, after a few months my fretboard got all dirty, with this kind of dirty mold-looking residue. Being an unfinished maple fretboard, what is the best way to clean it?
When you replace the strings, spray a bit of windex on the fretboard, massage wit soft toothbrush and wipe clean :-) I find I don’t need to oil maple like I do ebony or rosewood.
String height at the 17th fret? Low and High, please! Strong work! 🙂
I love my Charvels. They’re the best feeling guitar necks ever.
I got a Tele FMT HH like you’re talking about (your amber one) but FedEx broke it’s headstock so I sent it back to Fender & ordered a Schecter from ZZounds.
I have to say that you having so many played in to my decision to get mine. It’s a bit similar to my EVH but it’s different enough and dang nice - thumbs up \m/ I thought about you :) At some point try to get your hands on another on of those Special Edition Teles ~ Really, really nice guitar.
@@oldguyjammin9732 That’s cool! Glad I helped you decide to get the Charvel.
I may get another FMT HH Tele but not sure yet…………
Awesome video with alot of really good info. Your great at talking to the camera. Liked and subbed 👍.
Well thanks Man \m/
Very good advice here.
Did you measure the action you set? Looks pretty low.
I believe this neck it 12-16 compound?
I have the same guitar but I didn't put the d tuner on it, the only thing I did was take the shims under the nut bnb out ,I had 3shims 1 bigger one and 1 about half that size but I took both out i didn't shim in the neck pocket my neck is straight I have a little relief not much ,my action is fairly low after I took the shims out, I also have a strat and a Wolfgang standard the wolfgang is hard to set up for me because they go by different specs than any other guitar, but yeah good video ,stay safe
Cool that you're doing your own setups man! I know what you mean about the Wolfgangs, hardest guitar I've ever setup but SO worth it. Love those guitars, and the standards better than the specials. I did a Wolfgang Special setup video, maybe it would help...? Have a great weekend!
@@oldguyjammin9732 yeah on relief on the Wolfgangs I think they want 10k at the 8th fret or something and the floyd is just for dives only so there's a spec on it I forgot I'd have to look it up , but when you get the guitar setup it's great but yeah they are a pain in the butt I went through hell doing mine and it's still probably not in spec but its good enough for me everyone is different in what they want what i like someone else may think I'm crazy it's just personal preference on just about any guitar but you have to within spec or its hell to play anyway ,take it easy stay safe
Hey OG - I remember you saying that you were done buying lol. Knew it wouldn't last
Really helpful video by the way and I had no idea about the adjustment to the D-tuner so thanks 🤘
You got it man! Re having to eat another slice of crow pie, I know... kind of embarrassing but I figure we’ve all been there ;-) this time though, I really AM done :o
@@oldguyjammin9732 new gear is part of the hobby, and if you get at a good price ...... you can always sell again later.
But seriously a really helpful video and will put to some use with my guitars. I remember how nervous I was shimming the neck for the first time and what a difference it made wished Id done it years before
Crow Pie is DELICIOUS if you baste it with F-one oil!
Sweet guitar! I have the DK24 in Dark Amber with the same set of pickups as yours. I was wondering, can we adjust the pickup height on these ones? I set my action to 1.0 now my pickups really sit high up and almost touching the strings.
I believe they are body mounted :-( there may be a bit of sponge underneath to allow raising them a tad... try tightening the mounting screws with the correct, properly fitting cross-head screwdriver and see if you get anywhere, if not you'll need to shim your neck and raise your bridge a bit. Nice job on the action!
Would love to try a Wayne Guitar ... no need to set those up :)
Cool Charvel guitar btw
I’ll have to look at some Wayne’s :) I have yet to buy a new guitar that didn’t benefit from a bit of help. Thanks for the suggestion \m/ Okay, looked at Wayne Charvel’s handmade guitars... for $3-$4k it sure as hell better NOT need anything done to it, lol.
@@oldguyjammin9732 if i had the money, i wouldn't think twice. Couldn't think of a better custom guitar.
btw Wayne's factory has suffered a major disaster sometime ago ... their factory burned down .. and set them back in the building process ... they had to do funding to start again ... not sure what the situation is right now.
Good job at explaining what you did. How much time did it take you?
Initially about an hour but I had decided ahead of time exactly what I’d be doing. Dialing in a guitar is a continuous process with just fewer and fewer tweaks made over time, until one day when.... ahhh, butter! Ha ha
@@oldguyjammin9732 Wow only an hour. I have this phobea on working on guitars. I bought a Jackson Rhodes js32 used from guitar center, very cheap. The neck is great. The tremolo is not good. I am going to replace the pickups with a jb and 59. This is going to be the first time soldiering in 40 years. Yeah I'm an old guy too. Thanks for your content. It inspires me to do more.
Which way to turn the wheel for more relief?
Put your thingy in it and pull it towards the top of the guitar… hold it like you’re gonna play it and pull the tool up.
@@oldguyjammin9732 thanks. I hear the tension change and the string detunes. But it doesn’t seem to be providing much relief.
I’ll see if it settles and check it tomorrow.
@@jturquoise - check relief by pinching the string at the 1st and 15th frets and then check the gap between the string and frets 5 thru 9... the slightest gap is all you need. I usually turn my truss rods a half turn and then wait a few days, play it, see how it responds.
@@oldguyjammin9732 thanks .
I have to say that, having no money or ability to afford a single guitar is quite the cure for G.A.S.
That's funny, but a real bummer too.
ok so your putting cans in your new guitar? 7 layers? realy? is pepsi or coke better?
The aluminum is denser than a business card or plastic and theoretically will conduct audio frequencies better, plus it’s very stable AND each layer is 0.005” which is great for estimations when shimming the neck is necessary. I don’t like my pickups or bridge buried so deep in the guitar body.
Blah blah blah .. to much talk
I know :-)