CHARVEL GUTHRIE GOVAN SIGNATURE
96
GUITARIST JULY 2022
CHARVEL GUTHRIE GOVAN SIGNATURE
PROS Very t-for-purpose working guitar;
faultless build and very stable in terms of tuning,
not least the non-locking vibrato; widely diverse
sounds; fully hum-cancelling
CONS As good as it is, the GG faces some sti
competition – some di erent colours might
broaden the appeal
CHARVEL GUTHRIE
GOVAN SIGNATURE MJ
SAN DIMAS SD24 CM
PRICE: £2,449 (inc case)
ORIGIN: Japan
TYPE: O set double-cutaway San Dimas-shaped
solidbody electric
BODY: Basswood with ash veneer facing
NECK: Caramelised ame maple with graphite
reinforcement, bolt-on
SCALE LENGTH: 648mm (25.5-inch)
NUT: Graph Tech Tusq XL/43.1mm
FINGERBOARD: Caramelized ame maple,
Crème Dot inlays, 305-406mm (12-16”)
compound radius, Luminlay side dots
FRETS: 24, Jumbo stainless steel
HARDWARE: Recessed Charvel locking vibrato,
Gotoh rear-locking tuners
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE: 50.5mm
ELECTRICS: Charvel Custom humbuckers
(bridge and neck); Custom single coil (middle),
5-position lever pickup selector switch, master
volume and tone (w/ knurled dome-style Luminlay
numbered knobs), 2-position ‘single coil’ mini-
switch (bridge and neck pickups only)
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.65/8.03
OPTIONS: None
RANGE OPTIONS: There are 2 USA GG
signatures (both £3,699), the USA Signature
HSH Caramelized Ash and the USA Signature
HSH Flame Maple. Other MJ Charvels are the
HSS Rick Graham Signature MJ DK24 2PT CM
(£2,549) and the HSH MJ DK24 HSH 2PT E
Mahogany with Figured Walnut (£2,299)
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISHES: Three-Tone Sunburst – satin body
and neck, sunburst colour to top only, back
and body sides are black
9
3
vintage. But the tricks don’t stop there
because with such a well-voiced treble
bleed circuit on the volume control, pulling
it back tames some of the bluster without
dulling the attack. Certainly, if you drive
this guitar with those controls full-up then
it’s cool, but you’re missing a lot – especially
when you’re working with your pedalboard.
Verdict
It’s all right for big league guitar players
to take out 10 or more guitars – they have
roadies and techs to lug them around,
restring and maintain them. Yet here is the
antithesis of that: a perfectly aimed working
tool that covers vast amounts of ground
and could just as easily be used for your
jazz sit-in gig as it could be on your arena
rock tour. A decent gigbag and some spare
strings and you’re good to go, wherever
your music takes you.
There are some seriously big sounds here
contrasted by quite shimmery single-coil
voices, and everything is hum-cancelling by
design, so that’s something else you don’t
have to worry about. For the performing
musician or studying musician who doesn’t
want to limit the sounds they can produce
from the one guitar, it’s hard to fault.
3. This wide-travel vibrato,
based on the Floyd Rose
design, is recessed into
the body and back-
routed. It’s an all-steel
design with brass block
and push-in, tension-
adjustable arm
There are some
seriously big sounds
here contrasted by
quite shimmery
single-coil voices
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
GIT486.rev_charvel.indd 96GIT486.rev_charvel.indd 96 12/05/2022 13:5212/05/2022 13:52