Charvel Guthrie Govan Signature MJ San Dimas Demo

[@brucegregori]

Nice video. Just to clarify the middle selector is not the middle pickup. It is in fact the two humbuckers split. It is GGs tele sound.

[@brucegregori]

@@davidwonpu353 no. You have 1-bridge 2-bridge and middle 3 - bridge and neck split 4-neck and middle 5-humbucker. The alter switch simulates a single coil sound for the bridge and neck by rolling off lows. The 2 and 4 positions makes the humbuckers single. Nice set up and I find the 3 position A lot more usable.

[@nickfarrow4788]

​@@brucegregorithere Is a volume drop?

[@brucegregori]

@@nickfarrow4788 not too much.

[@SouthpawSatch]

The middle position isn't the middle single coil. It's the outer coils of both humbuckers together which simulates a tele tone

[@DMSProduktions]

Seems LIKE a very versatile, all round guitar that can cover a LOT of sonic, & stylistic ground! \m/

[@gitarmats]

I love my original Charvel GG signature, but the finish on this one makes me jealous.

[@flearhcp]

what do you like the original Charvel GG, does it sound shrill?

[@santehhh]

Yeah, this new version is just flawless

[@088Noir]

I have the American one. Didn’t buy that bc it wasn’t available. Tuning stability is superb. The guitar smells very good too 😁 like roasted wood. It’s a really fine instrument. I had an American tele which I liked and was my main guitar for 20 years thought when I picked up the charvel man… I cannot go back to any fender. The playability is just outstanding and the weight does not hurt my shoulders. Yes I like Guthrie but I bought considering mostly the reinforced graphite bars on the neck. I live near the sea was constantly fiddling with truss rods. One year went by and I never had to touch the charvel except playing it. 🤟

[@froblivion8284]

Gotta say Richard is one hell of a tasteful player - really enjoyed the video / demo & the outro was excellent. It takes a brave man to demo a Govan guitar but it takes some skill to sound worthy of the review. 👏👏👏

[@dwftube]

This is the best demonstration I've seen of the Charvel GG signature - great tones, great playing (as always from Mr. B.)👍

[@michael1]

It can't possibly be because Guthrie has demonstrated his signature guitar.

[@dwftube]

@@michael1 Perhaps I should have qualified my comment with 'by someone who isn't a guitar deity'. Guthrie used to be a tutor at a guitar school I attended and he often played whatever was to hand - he made some awful guitars sound amazing.

[@racerx3065]

I like how well thought out this guitar is, i'd love to see a HSS version

[@frantisca]

Very nice GG impersonation indeed ! 🎸👍🏻 It so happens that I’ve assembled 2 Strats lately, apart from my Vintage ‘62 reissue fitted with Texas Specials. I’ve got one with a loaded pickguard featuring a Suhr SSV+ in the bridge position + 2 M Landau in the middle and neck positions. As an alternative, I have another one, with an HSH pickguard loaded with French boutique Tornade MS Alnico 2 humbuckers. Close to PAF 7,6 K output which is very good too. The middle pu is a SD SSL2. Quite similar to the Charvel you demonstrate, only I chose a chunkier neck with an LSR roller nut. Cheers Richard !

[@clovis2012]

Blows my mind that it’s $1k less than the US version and sounds just as good and has the same top shelf quality. I’m buying one tomorrow and couldn’t be more excited. Personally I prefer the look of this to his US models, so win win.

[@darkestfugue]

does it have the same pickups?

[@aarondcruz2458]

@@darkestfugue Same design, made in S Korea. Guthrie claims he can't tell the difference...

[@ericbrown9503]

The necks on these are the standard roasted maple necks similar to the dk24 charvels. The USA models use beautiful flamed necks

[@GuiitarBilly]

Great demo. So from what I’ve been able to find out the main component differences on the MJ compared to the USA Guthrie (basswood): Gotoh tuners instead of Sperzel (sp), graphtek (sp) tusq nut instead of bone, ‘custom wound’ pickups instead of USA MF pickups and no tremol-no. Also possibly: the instrument cavity and tremolo covers are plastic on the MJ and may be metal or some other sturdier material on the USA. For me the big one in these differences are the pickups not being MFs. In Guthrie’s video about this guitar he basically says the MJ pickups sound the same as his USA pickups, so there’s that. In a shootout video between an MJ and a USA I could hear sonic differences but they weren’t drastic, could have been the difference between any two Guthries..and they both sounded fine, just slightly different. If I were buying a new Guthrie, saving 1k+ on the MJ would probably be my path. But with careful shopping you can find a used USA for $2500-2700. And in a year, probably a used MJ for 1800. Hmmm For those commenters wishing for other tonewoods or colors, good luck but you never know. As far as other component features or pickup configs I don’t believe those will happen unless Guthrie changes up what he plays. But you never know.

[@michael1]

And it looks ugly and Guthrie doesn't actually play it does he? I mean he played it in a demo video on Charvel's youtube channel, and probably a few times for whatever contractual obligations he had, but although he's not on youtube regularly when I see a clip or a photo he's playing one of his USA charvel signature guitars.

[@GuiitarBilly]

@@michael1 On the Aristocrats 2022 summer tour Guthrie played one. He had both an MJ and a USA and kept one in drop D tuning for the tunes in their set that are tuned down. I can’t recall which guitar was in which tuning. They both sounded fine and seemed interchangeable. I don’t know what he’s doing this year. I’d have to think some about the MJs looks before buying one, but I’ve seen used ones recently with asking prices of $1700-1800 …which puts them in reach of more players. After I wrote my original post I picked up a beautiful USA flamed maple used for $2400. It took awhile to find one that low back then. ymmv

[@nucemgd]

as others have said this was a very well done review - excellent playing and professional presentation

[@Russell_Optics]

It looks like they did it right, for sure. It looks good, sounds good, and has great appointments. Well done. If it had medium height S/S frets it would be like a custom order guitar for me.

[@mrperson6773]

absolutely beautiful guitar

[@RodrigoCFD]

6:23 That's wrong... position 3 is *not* the single coil... it's the outside coils of both humbuckers, mimicking a Telecaste tone.

[@donciseau]

What a fantastic guitar!

[@gregmize01]

This guy shreds!!!!!😳😳😳😳

[@Squidz66]

Nice one. Smashed the last solo bit.

[@CFChristian]

Enjoyable presentation. I'm not even in the market for this.

[@kevon217]

Great overview. I’m sold!

[@ChickenatorJr]

Bro your Jam at the end was sick as

[@steveg219]

Excellent review and superior demo!

[@MatteoFarindolini]

Position 3 is wrong: just the external HB, spitted.

[@MoreMeRecording]

Really great, comprehensive review and I dug the play out as well. You can approximate GG a heck of a lot better than I could have lol. Wish I could afford one of these but even this one is quite spendy...Cheers, M8

[@jaapvanwageningen9931]

Charvel (Guthrie Govan) forgot to provide the Tremolo Locking Bridge with set screws to fix the octave....

[@Hanssone]

this is kinda everything i want a super strat to be like

[@robsthedon]

Good impression 👍

[@nenadsimic6220]

what speaker is in your vox ac15 amp? Cheers

[@Phrygian12]

I thought position 3 was the inner bridge coils and outer neck coils and not the middle pickup at all.

[@martyrey8063]

do they make it for a left handed player!?

[@AlexVonCrank]

I’ll have two! ✌🏽

[@JohnLloydDavis]

Great demo and playing, as usual :) I wonder what capacitor they use for the treble bleed circuit? I would like that on my Charvel DK24.

[@perrymahoney7772]

According to the write up in Guitarist mag, it has a 680 picofarads ceramic disc capacitor with a 150kohms resistor in parallel across the usual 2 lugs of the volume pot.

[@makaronhuj]

3rd position is both outside (screw) coils. So you are wrong.

[@gregmize01]

Pretty sure my local GC won't get one of these in...sigh😔

[@iDominic42]

Richard, can you just clarify a discrepancy between your review (here) and the printed word in Guiarist Magazine? At 6.25 / 6.28 (ish) you describe position 3 as Middle pickup on it's own The Magazine write up says "Bridge outer single coil and neck outer single coil in position 3" The latter (in the magazine) follows the idea that every position is "hum cancelling" simply because the middle (single coil) pickup on it's own is simply not going to do that,... Sorry, just being pedantic. But this is (as far as I know) different from the most famous HSH guitars - Ibanez Jem and RG series (as done by Steve Vai) that did have the middle pickup on it's own in position 3 (I'd have to check that against my (cheap as chips) Ibanez Gio) but I'm pretty sure that a HSH Jem had position 3 as middle pickup on it's own)

[@iDominic42]

So, just to clarify this - if the review in the magazine is correct - this guitar is hum cancelling in all of the 5-way switch positions?

[@richardbarrettguitar1228]

@@iDominic42 Hi, the printed review is correct - this guitar is hum cancelling in all positions. I must have mixed it up with the Ibanez JEM wiring…. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@bucketheadothers2384]

Who is this guy? I like him

[@chocolatecookie8571]

It's a big misconception that fiber rodds in the neck give more stability. I had a neck like that and necks without and there is no difference when it comes to stability. It does make the neck feel stiffer. I personally don't like the feel of a too stiff neck. Necks in the past who had no fiber rodds were just as stable if not more stable. Same misconception goes for laminated necks. It doesn't make the guitar neck more stable. One piece necks are just as good or better.

[@jasongoad1084]

Ive owned this one for over a year. Best guitar purchase I have ever made.

[@karamarios2001]

Greetings! What amp are you using? Great review!

[@sneed777]

Need a 7 string version of this guitar

[@williamrobinson7435]

Is this similar to the Suhr (Indonesian) Guthrie Govan Signature? I'm a bit out of the loop guitar wise.. Wonderful playing and a lovely concise review as ever! Nice one Richard. 🎶👍

[@alexjackson8841]

It's definitely similar but there are differences. The Suhr I think has a 16" radius but this has a 12-16" compound radius. The Suhr's pickups and the Charvels pickups are different although both are similarly versatile. The charvel has a more unorthodox Floyd-rose bridge with no Locking tuners whereas the Suhr has a more normal floating bridge. There are differences but both are similarly extremely versatile. I wouldn't put one above the other, they both sound and feel similar just whichever is more comfortable to you 👍🏻

[@williamrobinson7435]

@@alexjackson8841 Thanks! I also noted that the Suhr sports a pao fero f/bd, which is a very swanky way to put available darkness in.. And the Suhr does also have that 'Kill Switch', bypassing the controls & engaging the br pickup, but I don't know how much use THAT is. Cheers for the info! 👍

[@alexjackson8841]

@@williamrobinson7435Yeah personally i wouldn’t find that Kill Switch massively useful. Maybe very occasionally in live situations? But the Charvel has the Series/Parallel switch so you can great great single coil tones too so i’d say Sonically the charvels much more versatile. Unfortunately I do think the Suhr looks much better !

[@PocketDelicious]

So floyd rose-ish but not locking... I think I can work with that.

[@ten5ionator]

One day...... 🥲

[@DavidMadeira29]

To me it's just a Strat made by Ibanez technicians and it sounds perfect...

[@adhaskym.a9536]

A proper fender

[@theSmolniy]

I just hate when guitars painted solid, this black back is no go for me. In other case I would definitely buy it.

[@phil12323]

Position 3 isn't just the middle pickup...do you're research man! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJ7bd3yhg8Sgbq8

[@ratedrsuperstarthega]

Love the stainless steel frets. I'd prefer it in Ash body or Mahogany or atleast Alder. Definitely not basswood. That's the only thing, otherwise love this guitar.

[@zonakmahanta]

Exactly not basswood at all...very soft wood...one of the USA models is ash...

[@ratedrsuperstarthega]

@@zonakmahanta Yeah. Basswood is too soft. It's always better if it's Mahogany or Ash. I prefer Mahogany since it's very dense and rich in tone. Add a maple cap to it and it's sweet balance.

[@warrenoids]

Guthrie chose basswood because it's "better for the cleans and filthy overdrive" (in his own words). His USA models has basswood also.

[@zonakmahanta]

@@warrenoids Guthrie's favorite wood is mahogany... But according to his language, it's very difficult to unmahogonized a mahogany guitar. So he chose a much neutral wood basswood, that can be easily tweaked to make it sounds like any guitars...

[@juankmarte4046]

I thought it was a ash top 1/4 not a veneer...it will sound different than the USA one

[@LegatoTactics]

Too expensive for veneer top finish.

[@alexjackson8841]

I don't think the sunburst with the wood grain looks very nice, a colour like on his old suhr models would have looked a lot nicer. It's a shame, otherwise this would be my dream spec guitar especially since it's cheaper than the USA version. Does anyone know why the cost of this model is so much less money than the USA model?

[@tetra3000]

Firstly there is no tremol-no which saves costs but a majority of the cost saving is that it is made in Japan and not USA, you could probably guess why when you think about it.

[@tetra3000]

Also it's a not a thick maple top it's a veneer which is more cost saving. All this comes to about the grand which he says in the video.

[@alexjackson8841]

@@tetra3000 Shame the neck isn't flamed but I guess that saves a bit on cost too given that it's not really needed. I find it a bit silly that Japanese made is so much less than USA, when Japan has such a great reputation of making some of the finest instruments

[@bazitube390]

$2800 for a Japanese superstrat and the couldn't even use a proper light weight swamp ash body. a thin veneer over bloody basswood like its a $1400 Indonesian made Ibanez. I don't know what they are smoking over at Charvel, But i definitely want some lmfao.

[@juankmarte4046]

@@GCKelloch It isnt bad...but basswood without a maple cap or a wood that compliment it...would not sound as versatile as alder alone or basswood/maple

[@philjhon]

1

[@straightshooter8662]

What's with these reviews no one ever talks about the most important thing the neck shape size feel etc. Thumbs down