Charvel has always been an aspirational brand for shredders. This was name behind the original hotrodded electric guitar movement, a brand that evolved out of the need for repairs and go-faster updates to classic Fender designs. It was the guitar to get when you got serious.
But today you don’t need serious money. Charvel has unveiled the Standard SD Series. And for £499/$569 street, players can get their hands on an T-style electric that’s built for speed, equipped with a pair of high-output humbuckers, and with a spec sheet that honours the Charvel logo we see the headstock (speaking of said logo, we have the old-school ‘Jackson font’ or ‘toothpaste’ Charvel branding that is rarely spotted these days).
The Standard SD Series adheres to that San Dimas Style 2 ethos, in other words it is a second-generation reinterpretation of the Fender Telecaster. With Fender owning Charvel, it’s all part of the family, so the headstock with that Charvel logo is actually a licensed Telecaster headstock, and those string trees conform to the Big F’s standards, too.
Article continues belowBut it’s the Tele with a spoiler on the back and a bigger engine under the hood. Those Charvel-branded electric guitar pickups will have more meat on the bone than the single-coils of a classic Tele.
And Charvel is just assuming that you’re not going to be messing around here. There’s no tone control, just a three-way pickup selector and a volume knob.
There are many other points of difference. Note the contours to the body, and the sculpted heel to aid your access to the 22nd of those fat jumbo frets.
The neck itself is a bolt-on but shaved down into Charvel’s über-quick Speed profile, and oiled for your pleasure. The six-saddle hardtail bridge is very user friendly. The sealed die-cast locking tuners, again, makes this a fairly serious proposition, quality hardware for the money.
At this price it is not surprising to learn that we have a nyatoh body – and the bolt-on neck and headstock facing is nyatoh too. The 12” to 16” compound radius is of a piece with its Fender-owned sibling brands EVH Gear and Jackson, making for a comfortable platform for throwing chord shapes around in the lower registers, with the fingerboard flattening out for shred as you venture north.
As per its more expensive counterparts in the Pro Mod and MIJ series, the Standard Series SD has the truss-rod adjustment wheel positioned at the top of the fingerboard for ease of access.
It’s the little details that get us here. Just as you’re perhaps taking a moment to complain about the fingerboard being amaranth, not rosewood or maple, remember we have rolled fingerboard edges as per the Pro Mods. This will be a player-friendly proposition. It will also be a good candidate for modding.
A beginner or intermediate player on a budget could give this a new lease of life after a couple of years’ play by swapping out the electric guitar pickups for a pair of more expensive aftermarket ‘buckers from the likes of Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio or Bare Knuckle.
Charvel is offering the Standard Series Style 2 SD2 HH in Satin Gray, with black binding on the body, or Gloss Black with white binding. They both look the part, and you can check ‘em out over at Charvel.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.