Don Dokken's, 1979 Charvel EVH BumbleBee Pre San Dimas!

Checking out Don Dokken's 1979 Charvel Pre San Dimas "EVH Bumblebee"!
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[@vintagetubeamplifiers]

You get the absolute best, rare guitars in your shop. I'm 55 now and right there with you on the 80's metal guitars. We lived the best era and saw all the great bands in their prime!

[@teoortega4061]

Oh man ...this was such a real treat to see this story document on this bumblebee

[@bobpugliese4428]

Very cool! My friend Ryan worked at charvel did work on Randy's guitar but never mentioned. Met Carl Sandoval way back at guitars of fire in long beach. Visited his house while building the polka dot v. Trying to get my guitar back that was being built at the same time. We were kids trying to get a job at fender. Steve Zach guitar tech worked there. Me and another buddy got stoned and missed the interview. The friend who went to the interview was Mike eldrin former head of artist relations

[@CoffeeDrinker71]

Amazing guitar with an amazing story! Thanks for sharing!!!

[@ZIMMSGUITARS]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rona.9731]

E VH interview 1978 guitar player mag The black white strat says its a boogie body with a "Music man" neck.

[@ferdberfle5069]

Great little history lesson! Thanks Dane!

[@bryonkidder6199]

You can see Tom McDermott of Rick James and the Stone City Band play the Bumblebee Charvel in 1979 too

[@JohnnyBeane]

Awesome stuff Dane! 🎸👍

[@majesticpbjcat7707]

Quality stuff!

[@jamesmayfield6683]

Lynn Ellsworth and Jim Warmoth were Boogie bodies until April of 1980 when they split. Lynn made both the neck and body of Eddies Guitar! The only claim to fame Wayne Charvel has was to operate the cash register to sell Eddie the body and neck that Lynn and Jim Made! This must be one of the last Charvel's to carry a Boogie neck as Grover was making necks by 1979.

[@bobowrathsovine.]

I went into the Hollywood Guitar Center in 2010 and Eddie's VH 2 bumblebee guitar was featured behind glass in the front entrance. I asked a drummer friend I had went there with if that was the exact same instrument featured on the record sleeve of the VH2 record. He said yeah that's it. It had the prototype Floyd Rose without fine tuners but it couldn't have been that same ax because it was put in the coffin and buried with Dimebag Darrell in 2004.

[@tommyibanez3958]

On today's episode of 'Pete owns everything'... The 'Get your E strings back' was the Duncan Parallel Axis

[@jonmankuta8741]

Great video Dane and Pete…cool guitar, and SWISS PICKS RULE!!!

[@ZIMMSGUITARS]

Thanks!!

[@ronarmitagejr8758]

Dime has the original

[@stingkirk]

That was a treat! Wasn't sure if I read it correctly, but WOW! Thanks guys!

[@ZIMMSGUITARS]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@majesticpbjcat7707]

Great vid, Zimm! Loved the history! 🤘🤘

[@ZIMMSGUITARS]

Hey, thanks!

[@CapstoneTider]

That's my dream metal axe. One humbucker Charvel Strat, Vivian Campbell style. Killer!

[@joqu6971]

EVH style

[@roosternm6830]

I got to play one of George Lynch's early Charvels in a guitar shop in San Diego. It was a fender type sunburst finish, 6 screw trem, black pickguard, single humbucker and volume, 21 fret rosewood fretboard and fender style headstock. Years later I saw a pick of George playing this same guitar. It was set up perfectly and had just been refretted. I wasnt all that interested at the time. This was in 1985 or 86. I was a BC Rich freak so nothing else was better. Especially after the Gunslinger came out. I wish I could have had the foresight and the money to have bought that Charvel. Bummer.

[@bryantcrawford5664]

Hey Dane I like the content you have been putting out.ive got my brother hooked on your channel to

[@vinniesworld459]

Very interesting episode and learned a lot!

[@angusorvid8840]

I once bought a used mint condition candyapple red Charvel at a shop in L.A. for $100 with a case. It didn't have the logo on the headstock but the tech at the shop confirmed it was a Charvel. It was similar to the Holdsworth model, had 22 frets and a rosewood fretboard with medium jumbo frets, graphite nut, and a double fulcrum non-locking trem that stayed in tune perfectly. The pickup was an old, handwound JB and it sounded amazing. It had a volume and a black pickguard. Amazing guitar. I wish I still had it. I rocked clubs all over L.A. in the 80s and early 90s with that thing. Even if it had the Charvel logo it wouldn't have gone for much more because the L.A. guitar market was super trendy and by '89 players wanted superstrats like the Jem or RG with 24 frets and locking trems.

[@donnieyon8658]

Sweet 79 charvel so awesome

[@davidkastin4240]

Oh dam what a sweet axe 🎸

[@joqu6971]

Cool as it gets

[@donsmith5385]

I had a Charvel Kit guitar, so many people felt that were inferior to a Fender back then lol

[@Ogrelord5150]

Awesome! Great story.

[@jimnicholas7666]

Awesome find!

[@metalsoso5460]

That magazine article was interesting! Thanks Zimm.

[@jonnybgood9376]

Awesome man that’s a keeper no doubt. Dig man piece of the most imperative period in Guitar History.

[@OdinHammersmith]

Dude, that was so cool. I’ve got that magazine. Gonna dig it out and reread it. 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

[@JaniceLalla]

I''m enjoying the replay!

[@brownsfan7753]

Love this!!!

[@richb6291]

Thanks Dane - what a superb video - great insight too into a wonderful guitar . I can understand why Ed was hacked about them cloning his original. Interesting about the preamp too ?? Have you about some guy who wrote a book about How to Make one of these ?

[@bobpugliese4428]

They mention the 6 black and yellow and talk about Eds reaction in the video charvel guitars the early years on you tube

[@markjohnson1020]

44 years later an still no one has cleaned that flux residue off that groud wire. Lol!

[@TylerJohnstonGuitar]

Hey Dane, my birthday’s in 2 days if you’re feeling generous lol. Great video as always!

[@jjshouseofjams522]

Insane guitar . Hellzzz Yehhhh

[@steveeckert8396]

Grover Jackson is the one that built/striped the Bumblebee AND worked through the night so EVH could have it for the VH II Photo shoot. EVH rewarded Jackson with a cease and desist. Nice guy huh???

[@kg4st]

It could be argued that respect goes both ways. When working with a big name client, it may be a good idea to nurture the relationship rather than peddle their ideas out the back door.

[@scottdunn2178]

In "The Charvel Gang" documentary Karl Sandoval falsely claimed he built bumblebee. He's full of shit too.

[@ceazerzeb333]

Holy crap this is awesome! Damn I wish I had one😭I’d love it forever and ever I have a 87 model 2 charvel and a kramer Stryker with a u2 Dan electro neck

[@bobbyodell8676]

My land what a beauty!!

[@rjc7289]

Wow, a pre-production, pre-San Dimas Charvel? It must be worth a mint today! Does it have the original hard shell case with it? Was further surprised with the fact that it came with a locking nut. I didn't think locking nuts or bridges were a thing until about the early 80's or so.

[@petepunckowski]

Yep, came with the original red lined case. Former owner thought the lock nut would work without the Floyd in 1982, which didn't have fine tuners at that time. HE WAS WRONG. LOL Thankfully he just left the original trem on it.

[@glennyocklin2884]

Great video 👍👍👍

[@ZIMMSGUITARS]

Thank you 👍

[@Razrback]

it always scares me when people take these iconic guitars apart

[@fargeeks]

The price for these guitars is gouging!

[@rockdaddy2168]

🤟😁👍Greg history on this guitar.

[@doctoribanez]

I never knew Jackson grover stole his idea.

[@petepunckowski]

Oh yeah.. Grover saw opportunity to sell some guitars. The Bumblebee was the first attempt by Charvel at a graphic.

[@Ibaneddie76]

Badass!

[@sqrly2u]

Im gonna call bullshit on this. EVH used the same body, a Boogie body, for more than 10 years. NOT just the Boogie neck. Painted many different colors. Pawn Stars Revisited!

[@petepunckowski]

You are correct. This is a Charvel body with a Boogie Bodies neck as Charvel built it in 1979. This guitar WAS NOT owned by Eddie.

[@p_1210]

Man those frets have virtually no bevel , almost standing vertical. I wonder what the fret ends feel like when playing or running your fingers along it. Cool guitar guys 👌

[@jayteesgear]

Badass

[@tubesoupio]

Does anyone know how many of the Bumblebee copies Grover actually sold back then? And what years were they sold?

[@scottdunn2178]

Very few. Guitar Center had ordered a bunch but Eddie found out and put the kaibash on it. They sold for $595 through the Music Emporium catalog circa 1982. Don't know how many they sold... or if they even received them from Jackson.

[@stenmark2235]

Where can i buy one???

[@gabrieltaylor6196]

This guy sounds like Steve Vai

[@deandee8082]

Lynn Elseworth

[@slayer666ere]

🤘❤️🤘

[@MrMike-fm8bp]

Quick. Somebody at fender make a clone of this for 50k…..

[@maxmustardman298]

Never took Don for the superstrat guy anyway, he always showed up with les pauls of some kind

[@DavidMadeira29]

That wasn't EVH 🆕️ design, that was Eddie's last guitar fix, when 2Pac passed away and I haven't seen Kiko and Koala having any discussion about it. Plus that tape on the Maximizer, remember that?! That was a good save of time when it was closed. Trash my memories away. A nicer spaghetti wrapping?! Do we have to dig Rockabilly and Elvis shoes again? The used locker comes always good to do the tremolo bridge. ¿But what side of the very 🆕️ locker we all remember related to Permanent Vacation? Don't call it Floyd Rose, we're not hiding the Queen's Crown on a rockaway carrier. The who were four or five, Jack still there?! I spit like union workers do. Parking to taxi and men at work?! I don't know. Namastè.

[@tito.tarantula]

Dane would hack any guitar up 😅

[@scottdunn2178]

Not buying this story. Too many holes. The biggest one being that Charvel never put a pickguard on any of these. There were probably less than 20 sold at Guitar Center in LA before Ed found out and went ballistic. These Bumblebee Charvels were also offered in the 1982 Music Emporium catalog ($595),but I don't know how many if any were actually delivered. If anything, this is a parts guitar from that Boogie/Charvel era. They're not that uncommon. But this certainly isn't the Bumblebee Charvel was offering the public for sale for a brief time.

[@RichardGutierrezRG]

There have been two on ebay/Reverb that I've seen over the years but those had a Charvel neck plate, no pick guard and maple necks, gold hardware, and they had a lot of stripes and pinstripes. Rick James' guitarist had one (there are videos of him on a tv show with it). They looked a lot like Ed's, not like this one. I agree, this was not the production model, it may have been just a custom order to copy Ed's but have things the owner wanted for his tastes.

[@scottdunn2178]

@@RichardGutierrezRG I suspect this is probably an 80's Warmoth/Hoshino, etc parts guitar. Literally no one ordered their Charvel with a pickguard back then... that was the point of owning a Charvel. Allan Holdsworth had a couple with a pickguard, and Steve Vai's Green Meanie was actually Grover Jackson's personal guitar that was originally dark sunburst before Vai painted in green.

[@danielhendriksen9232]

Why can't this guy talk without making them smacking noises.

[@roytofilovski9530]

I would have sold it back to Don. I would have asked for a solid amount, but I think in the end I would have sold it back to him.

[@petepunckowski]

Don just wants to resell it.. It's nothing sentimental to him.

[@jaimesanborn308]

Your history is way off the mark on this guitar... This is definitely not legit...

[@petepunckowski]

Then.. enlighten me...

[@RichardGutierrezRG]

​@petepunckowski My two cents: The lawsuit Bumblebees had gold hardware, gold trem, no locking nut in 79. They had more stripes and pin stripes. These were some of the first strat bodies ever that were rear loaded, meaning you didn't need a pickguard. It was something Ed really liked at the time. The traditional trem without locking bridge saddles would have never worked. The lawsuit guitars also had a Charvel neck plate with serial number and had the Charvel logo on the headstock. Charvel lawsuit guitars had an all maple neck as well. The Floyd Rose trem and locking nut would not have been available to the masses in 1979 as they were hand made in his shop in Seattle. Floyd would take these handmade units and get them to guitarists to use and grow his company. Randy Hanson got Number 1, Ed got the 2nd, Neil Schon got Number 3. It wasn't until Kramer and Rose struck up a deal that Rose could start mass producing these. These early units would also be rusty as the steel used was not optimal...so Charvel would not have been so forward thinking in 79 to create a Floyd Rose nut BEFORE Floyd could even get one to Ed. Don may have modded a strat style guitar he had to look like Ed's, or found it/bought it that way. Someone could have just had Karl Sandoval paint a body that way. Many of the real lawsuit guitars were modded by players to suit their needs not knowing that they would be worth a ton in original condition however, this guitar missing all the true features of Ed's original or looking like the ones that are documented...looks like a home job and not legit. I mean, Karl and Grover are still alive and are easily reachable, and there was no attempt by anyone to verify this as a Charvel made guitar? If it were important and not just Don's old guitar...it would be worth doing that.