Charvel Model 550XL Custom [for sale]

A serious shredding machine for serious shredders. Seriously.

My brother and I have always had a lot in common… we’ve always been cartoon nerds (Con was the Batman fan, I was the Superman fan), we’ve always liked the same bands (both of us are metal heads) and we share a lot of interests. So when I started playing guitar and really getting into it, Con decided he’d give it a go and bought some gear to learn on. Now, where I started on a shitty $40, five watt practice amp and a Squier Strat, Con bought an Atomic tube preamp Line 6 combo and this….

It’s a custom ordered Charvel Model 550XL. Con found this for sale in a local music shop and decided he liked it. I was blown away… neck thru Charvel’s are a serious guitar. These aren’t some flimsy feeling Ibanez super strat. Charvel’s are built like a tank. And this one had a feature that I hadn’t seen before which pushed it into super shredder territory.

The whole fretboard was seriously scalloped…. Yngwie Malmsteen style. This, along with the extra jumbo frets make this guitar ridiculously easy to play. You really have to have a light touch to play it… dig in deep and you’ll push the note out of tune. This feature leads me to suspect that this guitar was a custom order. They don’t look like they were done after-market, as they’re too well done and the inlays etc look perfect.

The hardware on this guitar is top shelf. The Floyd Rose is a German made Schaller, which is pretty much the best there is.And the standard Jackson pickups are high powered and certainly complement the guitar.

The neck join is just fantastic on these guitars. Charvel & Jackson really were the king’s of Super Strats back in the day. The workmanship is faultless. The neck join and the weight make this guitar feel like a weapon. As in you could actually hurt someone with it.

The best thing about the guitar is the finish. It’s a beautiful metal flake that would look spectacular on stage. The flakes are pretty big and give a real 3D effect… it looks like a cement (concrete) texture but is smooth as glass.

The headstock is in the same finish… with the later Jackson-ised Charvel logo.

As this guitar has been sitting around for a few years and my brother has a guitar that’s more his style (a sweet Mosrite Johnny Ramone model), he’s decided to sell the Charvel to someone who’ll appreciate it. If you have fingers of lightning and the shredding skills of Dragonforce, this guitar may be for you.

Con’s looking for $800 (Aus) for the Charvel and it comes with a hardcase and it’s tremolo arm. It’s all there and in great condition. If you’re interested, contact me at guitarnerd.