Charvel has initiated goth mode with its latest Super-Stock model, which it’s releasing via a limited-edition run. The Californian guitar firm, played by the likes of Guthrie Govan, Slipknot’s Jim Root and Zeal & Ardor's Manuel Gagneux, has always sought to bridge the gap between high-performing and intuitively modern guitars with fairly modest prices. The Super-Stock doesn’t look like it’ll buck that trend.
The Super-Stock DKA22 HH 2PT EB features an arched alder body and comes in a blacker-than-black gloss finish. Its bolt-on, caramelized neck is built for speed, making it “an ideal instrument for dazzling high-speed playing”.
The neck boasts graphite reinforcement, a silky-smooth hand-rubbed urethane finish to ensure you can shred for hours. It’s topped by a 12-16” compound radius ebony fingerboard with hand-comforting rolled edges, 22 jumbo frets and dotted inlays.
Follow the strings up the fretboard and you’ll find a fully-licensed Stratocaster six-in-line headstock, complete with old-school “toothpaste” Charvel logo. A chrome top mount Gotoh 510 tremolo bridge with vintage saddles and a whammy bar holds them in place at the other end.
The rest of its hardware, which is also chrome, includes a three-way blade switch for its HH pickup configuration and heavy knurled dome-style knobs for tone and volume adjusting.
Sitting beneath the strings are two Seymour Duncan humbuckers. There’s a ‘so good they named it twice’ Custom Custom in the bridge pickup and ’59 for warm and rounded neck tones. Both feature chrome covers to maintain that guitar’s stealth bomber aesthetic.
Says Charvel: “The limited-edition Super-Stock DKA22 boasts scorching sound, stunning style and grin-inducing playing feel and performance.”
It follows in the footsteps of the classy Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR. Despite that being something of a mouthful name, it was dubbed the "king in a world of Superstrats" in our guitar review late last year. We're expecting the same quality and tonal versatility with the Super-Stock. So, no pressure.
If you want to get your hands on one, you'll need $1,599.99 to spare, which is fairly modest for this kind of spec. It also comes with a gigbag to sweeten the deal.
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