After purchasing the company, Grover Jackson tooled to produce guitar bodies, which were sold to Mighty Mite and Dimarzio. The proceeds were used to fund an expansion into crafting necks. During this time BC Rich, SD Curlee, and Music Man approached Charvel with prospects of contract manufacturing of various wood parts. The income from these sales provided the Charvel shop with additional tooling and experience that would give Grover the footing required to grow the Charvel brand into a market contender.
Beginning in the late 1970s, Charvel popularized custom revamps of the Fender Stratocaster design - often consisting of a Strat-shaped body with a single humbucking pickup and Fender style tremolo bridge systems. This modernized Stratocaster configuration (commonly referred to as the superstrat) was particularly well suited to the heavy metal style of music that was hugely popular at the time. Charvel guitars became renowned for its use of creative graphics, unfinished maple necks, and various innovative appointments.
In 1980, Grover Jackson was introduced to Randy Rhoads, who had recently secured the job of guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne's new band. They worked together to develop a guitar to complement the polka-dotted Flying V built for Randy by Karl Sandoval. The initial prototype was not angular enough for Randy, but the second design resulted in a shape that Randy referred to as the Concorde. Grover was concerned that the radically styled, neck-through guitar was too different from Charvel's familiar 'Superstrat' theme, so he decided to label the instrument with his own name on the headstock in case the design proved unpopular. Contrary to Grover's concerns, the visual impact of this guitar would spawn the "Rhoads Model" that would soon become iconic in the industry, and served as the impetus that inspired Grover to found Jackson Guitars.
Charvel (and Jackson) guitars continued to be manufactured at the Gladstone Street shop in the city of Glendora, California until 1986. In 1986, the manufacturing facilities were relocated to Ontario, California, and the production of U.S.-built guitars carrying the Charvel name ceased shortly thereafter.
The success of Charvel in the 1980s led to Grover's planning to mass produce popular configurations in Asia. Whereas each Charvel guitar produced in California was essentially a hand built, custom instrument, the Japanese assembly line versions that appeared in 1986 would be categorized into model numbers. Grover eventually sold Charvel/Jackson to the Japanese manufacturer IMC (International Music Corporation) in 1989, and Charvel guitars were produced exclusively in Japan from 1986 to 1991.
The Japanese made Charvels that appeared in 1986 could be easily identified from the San Dimas instruments by several distinct differences:
Neck plates circa 1982-1986 stamped "San Dimas, CA" (then briefly "Ontario, CA") were changed to a plate that read "Ft. Worth, TX", the location of IMC's U.S. offices. This was confusing to many consumers, as all guitars with the "Ft. Worth" neck plate were made in Japan, without exception.
The gold logo labeled "Charvel - Made in USA" that was affixed to the headstock of the Sam Dimas era (U.S. made) instruments was changed to a white logo that read "Charvel - By Jackson/Charvel".
In 1989, the Charvel line was expanded into a number of different series, including the Classic, Fusion and Contemporary. The Classic series included the 275, 375, 375 deluxe and 475 models. The Fusion series had shorter scale necks and included the Fusion Deluxe and Fusion Custom models. The Contemporary range included the Predator and Spectrum models. The Spectrum guitar was inspired by a Jackson guitar custom built for Jeff Beck, and was based on a Stratocaster style body, but with a reversed pointed headstock, an early 50s Fender P-Bass-inspired pickguard, wild colors, and an active tone circuit that produced a wah effect. The three single-coil pickups were in fact stacked humbucking coils. Most of the guitars at the time were equipped with Schaller hardware, including a licensed Floyd Rose locking tremolo. The Korean-made Charvette brand also came into being to do business in the lowest end of the market at this time.
As the 90s progressed brand fell from favor due to changes in music fashion and a drop in quality, as the Charvel name was applied to even lower quality budget instruments.
In more recent years various attempts have been made to revive the brand with higher quality Japanese and American made offerings. Today, the original late '70s to mid '80s U.S. made San Dimas models remain the most highly collectible examples of the brand.
Charvel presently offers several series of guitars, including both lower-priced Japanese and boutique-priced American made instruments, and operates a full-service custom shop. Perhaps the most notable product of Charvel's present custom shop is the Eddie Van Halen signature model - a short run of which are actually paint stenciled by Eddie himself.
USA Production Models
USA Warren DiMartini Models
USA Custom Built
Wayne created a namesake model offered through Gibson, the "Gibson W.R.C. Signature Model" - of which only a limited number were made, but this saw little recognition and was short-lived due mainly to a lawsuit filed by Jackson. The Gibson W.R.C. models were made from 1987–1988 and were offered in three standard colors: red, black, and white. Of several hundred produced, 200 were 'show case' models that featured Wayne Charvel's signature on the bell and were accompanied by a letter from Wayne. The WRC model came with a tan faux leather case with hot pink interior and combination locks. The earlier models were equipped with a Kahler Spyder tremolo, while later models featured a Floyd Rose Original. All featured a maple bolt-on neck with ebony fingerboard.
Today, Wayne and his son Michael own and operate Charvel Music, a full line music store in Paradise, CA, and currently manufacture guitars as a joint venture under the name Wayne Guitars.
Category:Guitar manufacturing companies
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