Summer NAMM 2017: Charvel reveals new looks for Jake E Lee and Warren DeMartini signature guitars
Ozzy Osbourne and Ratt guitarists channel classic '80s vibes
SUMMER NAMM 2017: Break out the reverb and hairspray, as Charvel launches new finishes for Jake E Lee and Warren DeMartini's signature guitar models, paying homage to the Ozzy Osbourne and Ratt guitarists' classic instruments.
Jake E Lee's USA Signature Blue Burst replicates the guitar used during Ozzy's Bark At The Moon and Ultimate Sin years.
It features a poplar San Dimas body, one-piece bolt-on quartersawn maple neck, and 12" radius rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and white dot inlays.
Pickup-wise, it's packing a customised Seymour Duncan JB Alnico II humbucker, plus DiMarzio SDS-1 middle and neck single coils, a five-way blade switch, single volume control knob, brass Charvel hardtail bridge and output jack plate, and black Gotoh tuners.
Warren DeMartini's USA Signature Frenchie, meanwhile, recreates the Ratt axeman's iconic '80s model, which depicts a French tribute to classic James Dean quote: 'too fast to live, too young to die'.
The guitar packs a Dinky alder body, one-piece bolt-on quartersawn maple neck, and 12"- 16" compound radius maple fingerboard with 22 jumbo stainless steel frets and black dot inlays.
Elsewhere, there's a Seymour Duncan Custom Warren DeMartini RTM ('Rattus Tonus Maximus' - really) humbucker and SSL-4 Quarter Pound neck pickup, three-way toggle switch, single volume control knob, as well as Floyd Rose Original locking vibrato and Gotoh machineheads.
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Both models are due to land later this year for £2,819 (Jake E Lee) and £3,389 (Warren DeMartini).
Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
