Charvel is no stranger to producing high-performance signature guitars. In 2021, the company launched the Pro-Mod DK24-6 NOVA for electric guitar virtuoso Angel Vivaldi, and let slip it was working with Slipknot's Jim Root on a new Floyd Rose-equipped axe.
It might come as no surprise, then, that the company has kicked off 2022 with four new signature models for artists from across the metal sphere.
Teaming up with While She Sleeps' Sean Long, Steel Panther's Russ “Satchel” Parrish, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E Lee and Evergrey's Henrik Danhage, Charvel has created a series of stunningly appointed six-strings that are perfectly matched to each guitarist.
Without further ado, let's take a deep dive into each model's spec sheet.
Sean Long Signature Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH HT M
Built for While She Sleeps founding guitarist Sean Long, the Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH HT M is touted as “a formidable model designed to keep up with his high-speed playing, scorching sound and sinister, yet eccentric style”.
Playability is a key component of the guitar's design; it features a Speed neck profile – designed for “blazing-fast playing and completely unhindered position shifts” – as well as rolled fingerboard edges and a hand-rubbed satin urethane back-of-the-neck finish.
Electronics include a pair of EMG humbucking pickups – a 57 in the bridge position with a striking neon yellow cover and a 66 in the neck – controlled by a singular dome-style volume control and a three-way blade switch.
Other features include an alder body, bolt-on maple neck with graphite reinforcement, Luminlay side dots, a heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel, 12"-16" compound radius maple fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets and a Charvel HT6 string-through-body hardtail bridge.
Price-wise, this one retails at $1,199.99.
Satchel Signature Pro-Mod DK22 HH FR M
With its black-and-white, tiger stripe-style Satin White Bengal finish, Charvel couldn't have designed a more fitting signature model for the Steel Panther lead guitarist.
It joins the shredder's existing Satin Purple Bengal and Slime Green-finished Charvel signature models, and sports an alder Dinky body – with sharper-radius top edges – as well as a bolt-on maple neck with graphite reinforcement, 12"-16" compound radius 22-fret fingerboard with black dot inlays and a top-loaded Floyd Rose 1000 Series double-locking tremolo bridge system.
Pickups consist of a pair of black-and-white Fishman Fluence Classic humbuckers, controlled by a single volume knob with push-pull coil-splitting functionality and a three-way selector switch.
The Satchel Signature Pro-Mod DK22 HH FR M comes with a price tag of $1,399.99.
Jake E Lee Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS HT RW
Based on the white “Charvel-ized” guitar Jake E Lee has played since 1975, the Jake E Lee Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS HT RW features an alder body, bolt-on maple neck 12"-16" compound radius fingerboard with 21 jumbo frets and rolled edges, and a heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel.
It's equipped with a combination of Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio pickups: a Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 humbucker in the bridge position and a pair of slanted DiMarzio SDS41 DP111 single coils in the middle and neck positions.
Other features include a single Strat-style skirt volume knob, five-way selector switch, hardtail bridge with a black base plate and Charvel tuning machines with pearl buttons.
This signature model is priced at $1,299.99.
Henrik Danhage Limited Edition Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HS FR M
And last up in this new batch of Charvel signature models is a battle-hardened axe for Evergrey guitarist Henrik Danhage.
This guitar sports an ash body, bolt-on maple neck with graphite reinforcement rods that provide “superior support against bending and extreme environmental fluctuations”, a 12"-16" relic'd maple fingerboard with rolled edges, 22 jumbo frets and black dot inlays and a top-mount Floyd Rose 1000 Series double-locking tremolo bridge system.
Electronics include a Seymour Duncan JB TB-4 humbucker in the bridge position and a DiMarzio Area 67 DP419CR in the neck, controlled by a white Strat-style skirt volume knob with push/pull functionality for pickup switching.
This guitar is the pricier of the four, retailing at $1,699.99.
