CHARVEL GUTHRIE GOVAN SIGNATURE

94
GUITARIST JULY 2022
CHARVEL GUTHRIE GOVAN SIGNATURE
weight of 3.65kg (8.03lb) it feels perfect –
purposeful, and certainly not feather-light.
Called a Charvel ‘locking tremolo bridge’,
which we’d call a Floyd Rose without the
fine tuners, the all-steel vibrato with its
brass block is recessed into the body so the
face of the baseplate is level with the face
of the body. It’s back-routed, too, although
it gives a wide range from just about five
semitones up on the G string down to pretty
much slack. As we mentioned, the nut is
standard style, not locking, yet the return to
pitch is superb, particularly with that range.
Irrespective of its vibrato, it’s a very stable
guitar, tuning-wise.
The pickups and circuit are, according to
Guthrie, the same as his other signatures,
but these pickups are Korean-made to
the same specs as the USA pickups, and
the bridge humbucker, while still direct-
mounted, has some foam underneath to
allow limited height adjustment. The circuit
is simple in action: master volume and
master tone with a five-way level switch
that offers bridge humbucker in position 1;
bridge inner single coil and middle single
coil in position 2; bridge outer single coil
and neck outer single coil in position 3;
middle single coil and neck outer single
coil in position 4; and, finally, the neck
humbucker in position 5. A small-tipped
mini-toggle switch provides a simulated
single-coil voice for either solo humbucker,
too, and, by design, all selections are hum-
cancelling. As with the previous signatures,
the output jack plate is in the dished style of
the Stratocaster, but it’s placed on the treble
side of the bottom strap button so you can
easily thread your lead through your strap
for some extra onstage security.
Feel & Sounds
Despite those extra frets the GG obviously
feels very familiar, both strapped on and
seated. The neck is classed as having a
‘speed’ profile, which equates to its pretty
flat 305mm to 406mm (12- to 16-inch)
compound radius and what feels like a
shallow C profile. It’s very modern Charvel
in style with similar depth (20mm at the
1st fret and 21.2mm at the 12th) to other
models we’ve previously reviewed. Those
frets are big (approximately 2.77mm wide
by 1.45mm high) with plenty of height, but
1
2
The return to pitch is
superb, particularly
with the vibrato’s
wide range… It’s a
very stable guitar
1. These Gotoh rear lock
tuners replace the
Sperzels on the USA
models. Other subtle
changes include a Tusq
XL nut instead of bone
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
GIT486.rev_charvel.indd 94GIT486.rev_charvel.indd 94 12/05/2022 13:5212/05/2022 13:52