The Charvel Model 5 and 6 have a neck-through design and unlike the Model 1 - 4, their serial number directly reveal the build year. The serial syntax is CXXXXXX. For example, C 8 00210 is built in the year of 198 8. C 7 01212 would be 198 7.
: I also have a Charvel with a 6-digit serial number on a metal plate on the back and it says Ft. I've been searching for some way to find info. On it, but have been unable to find any info on it.I have one that is the same as yours. It is a 6 (303470) digit number on a plate that says ft worth.I bought it brand new somewhere around 1987. I have been looking to see if I had any records on it, but heh, that was long ago and I was much younger:)Hope this narrows it down for you a little.
I've got a 6 digit also.Try this website guys: I also have a Charvel with a 6-digit serial number on a metal plate on the back and it says Ft. I've been searching for some way to find info. On it, but have been unable to find any info on it.:: I have one that is the same as yours. It is a 6 (303470) digit number on a plate that says ft worth.: I bought it brand new somewhere around 1987.
I have been looking to see if I had any records on it, but heh, that was long ago and I was much younger:): Hope this narrows it down for you a little. I have a similar problem. Mine is a thru neck numbered c803443 and I can't track it down anywhere.
I have no idea whether it was made in Fort Worth, Korea, or timbuctoo! Its kinda buggin me.::: I'd also like to know about my jackson/charvel. I went to the website, and they didn't even have my serial number.it starts out with a C.and that's not even an option on the website.::: thanks.: The same here: Mine is a c 703393 And I cant find any info anywhere. If you have found anything please email me.
I have a Charvel Jackson with a Floyd Rose Tremolo. It is Black with 3 knobs one for Volume. It also has 3 switches below the knobs and a seperate three-way switch to the side. It has a Jackson Humbucker and two single coil Jackson pick-ups.
The Guitar has a battery fitted in the back. It has a 6 digit number251368 from USA FortworthI bought it for £150 from a Music Shop in London England in 1990 Second-Hand in Mint Condition. Does anyone know if it is a real Charvel Jackson????And How much is it worth now???Thanks.
Seven Charvel Spectrums!Metallic Blue Charvel SpectrumFlouro Orange Charvel SpectrumTurqoise Charvel SpectrumCharvel Spectrum in ‘Desert Sand2Magenta Charvel Spectrum deailaSilver sparkle body & knob detailThe Seven Spectrums & their standCustom Sparkle Charvel SpectrumLovely rare Charvel Model 8Jeff Back & his Jackson prototypeCharvel catalogue of the timeJuly ’89 UK reviewMany years later, I was reflecting and wondered if I could find one of these. A few years further on, I have this set including a one-off sparkle/pearloid variant made for a trade show. They were offered in turquoise green, magenta pink, fluorescent orange, black, metallic dark blue and ‘desert sand’ – a pale beige finish with black hairline cracking. All colours were offered with both rosewood and maple fingerboards, and as you can see all of mine are rosewood, so I wouldn’t mind finding one or two with maple boards too. I’m also in the market for several original cases, preferably the shaped ones though rectangular ones would be ok too.The three pickups are stacked Jackson single-coil humbuckers with good output and tightly-focused magnetic fields, so they’re fairly bright.
The tone circuit has a switchable active option, giving volume boost and onboard sweepable tone boost rather like a wah pedal. Great for big hair solos.The earliest of these have jackson-branded Floyd Rose trems (adjustable from behind), no back rout for bending up and no scalloping around the neck plate on the rear to give better access to high notes. The more common later models have a Jackson-licensed trem unit (adjustable from the top), trem routs for upward bends and scalloping around the neck plate to aid access to the upper frets. To my knowledge, this is the only way of dating them as the serial numbers on the neck plates are not sequential.The Charvel Spectrum follows on from the rare Charvel Model 8, which looks identical except for the earlier US Charvel headstock logo (see second last and last pix, sadly neither one of mine), whereas Spectrums all have the ‘toothpaste’ logo.
Jeff beck played a custom Jackson around the time of which acted as the prototype for the Model 8 and subsequently the Spectrum (the last pic shows him with it on the cover of a contemporary magazine. The video for ‘Ambitious’ featuring the prototype Model 8 is at ).Made in Japan they might be, buy these are great guitars, easy to play, lots of great sounds and naturally resonant. They look cool and come in lots of great colours.I’ve just bought a cheap Chord stand for them on eBay, so I’ve added a pic of them in the stand to the gallery.
Hi, Robert, thanks for your post. Unbelievable as it may seem, a pickguard is just about the only spare part for a Spectrum I have!You might have noticed that Spectrums have become largely unavailable, suggesting that someone apart from me is also hoarding them. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them emerge as very desirable collectibles in the next round of vintage frenzy when the market comes back to strength.
They’re great guitars, quite scarce and also very pretty.I don’t know what you paid for yours (congratulations on finding a blue one, though, they’re beautiful and most of my friends have a couple of pinks/greens/oranges/desert sands but they envy the blue one most. Rosewood or maple neck? As you’ve seen, I’m a rosewood fan) – but assuming you paid the current market price, then what I would want for my spare might be relatively uneconomic for you. But I could send you a pic if you would like.For a more sensibly-priced contemporary replacement I would recommend Pickguard Heaven. They’re part of US Chandler Guitars and I found Paul Chandler very helpful when I needed a pearloid guard for my MusicMan Albert Lee signature to make it just like Albert’s. Try not to deal with his female colleague though – she was really obstreperous when it transpired they had cut me an earlier screw hole pattern, and it wasn’t resolved until I could get past her to Paul.
The Spectrum is listed on the page at, and you’ll see the price is ca. USD 40 depending on material.Finally, I’m not sure about body material, but I don’t think these things were made with luxury in mind so my guess would be plain old basswood.Best wishes, ‘Rockbeare’. Congratulations on acquiring a Charvel Spectrum. As you’ve seen from the site, I REALLY rate these things even though I don’t often play the ‘big hair’ music they were originally intended for.Mu understanding is that most Spectrums had the cutaway on the rear around the neck joint which you refer to.
Only one of mine – the green one which also has the earlier Schaller Floyd trem – doesn’t have it. Nor did the very rare Charvel Model 9 which was the ‘missing link’ between Jeff Beck’s orange Jackson and the Spectrum.So its presence indicates that it’s not an early one, is all. What colour is it, and which fingerboard?
Hi Rockbeare,Thanks so much for the great webpage featuring the Charvel Spectrum a personal favorite of mine from the Charvel brand! I first saw the Spectrum in a Musician’s Friend catalog back in 1989 and I was astounded! I didn’t have the money to get it at the time and it was eventually forgotten until one day in 1992. I accompanied my sister to help pick out a guitar for her guitar class at school at a store called “Bizzarre Guitar” in Phoenix. I wasn’t even looking for anything other than a decent acoustic guitar for my sister. I quickly glanced through the electrics and then the light came down from the heavens upon this bright neon orange guitar, I recognized it immediately as the Charvel from the Musician’s Friend catalog! As I got a closer look I just the chills and a tingling sensation.
I asked the clerk to let me play it and it was OK, I wasn’t overly impressed by the way it played or sounded for that matter. We bought the guitar for my sister and left the store. However, I could not stop thinking about that orange guitar and ended up going back to Bizzarre Guitar and made them an offer for it (.uh let me talk to my manager). I got the guitar for $500 plus sales tax a real bargain for that kind of guitar at that time! I have since then hot-rodded it I replaced the Floyd Rose licensed tail-piece that it came with (adjustable from behind as described above) with an other Kahler brand licensed Floyd Rose (with the tremolo arm that threads onto the tail-piece). I replaced the bridge and neck pickups with DiMarzio Fast track double coil pickups both in green.
The thing totally screams not to mention turns heads when I pull it out of the case!! Thanks for letting me ramble on about my most prized electric. I’ve had other guitars but I can honestly say that I would be lost in life if I didn’t have that guitar.
You can see it pictured on my Myspace page. All the best,Eddie (aka Ed D. RockbeareI´ve asked you questions about the Spectrum that I own before, but now I´ve completed my work on it. When I bought it, it wasn´t in a good shape and the original parts where replaced. Now it´s put back together again and working like it should.I have noticed that my Spectrum has a cutaway, much like the Stephens cutaway from the Washburn N4 series. Not quit as deep though. On all the photos that I have seen of the Spectrums, none of them looks like mine.
Around the bridge pickup and the middle pickup on my guitar, there´s a steel chrome plate, that surrounds the pickups. It also has a Schaller floyd rose trem. But what realy makes me wonder is this. On the inside back plate for the trem system, it says Chandler made in USA #850-2 Charvel Spectrum BP.
The numbers are handwritten. On the plate for the controls it says ” Chandler made in USA #848-2 Charvel Spectrum control plt.” numbers are again handwritten.Can you tell me anything about it, or do you know where I can learn more about this guitar? Could it be a bastard type Spectrum maybe or a prototype?I hope you know the answers for my questions. Best regards from Denmark.
I just found this thread. I’m not sue anyone’s on it anymore, but I’m Spectrum convert. I traded for a desert crackle that belonged to Mike Hampton of George Clinton’s band (Kidd Funadellic- R and R hall of fame-er). This was his main axe.
Used on stage and to record. He pulled up on the Floyd Rose too hard and broke it, and subsequently gave it to his friend, autographed, who is my friend, from whom I acquired it. It’s great to play, but I hate the j 1200 system. I’m thinking about the Seymour Duncan Everything Axe pickup configuration. Any ideas?Thanks! Hi, Jesse and thanks for your post. Your Spectrum sounds like one of the few with some kind of provenance.I’m guessing the break was in the wood of the body between the treble side trem post and the bridge pickup – it’s only about 4mm thick at that point and I’ve seen a number of examples where the trem was yanked back in anger and the wood had just shattered.
It’s an easy fix for any decent luthier, but subsequent refinishing really adds to the cost.As for your pickups, I love the J200’s and wouldn’t change them. In fact, I’d be quite interested in buying yours if you do decide to replace them as I need two.But if you do decide to drop something else in, the very best S-type pickups I’ve come across are Lollar Special S or, more esoteric, Amalfitano SVL Daytonas.
Bear in mind I’m a vintage guy, so these are moderate output but lots of tone. For something hotter, I can’t beat Seymour Duncan Hot Rails and I can attest that they sound good in Spectrums.Please contact me if you do decide to replace your pickups, and maybe we can do a deal.All best.
Hey Rockbeare,I’m received a most excellent gift from a friend: a mint condition Charvel Model 8 (I think). I’ve been trying to identify it and date it. From what I can tell, the 1988 Model 8 is very similar to the Spectrum, with the main difference being the tremolo.
The model 8 has the older JT-6 licensed Floyd Rose, while the Spectrum has the Schaller Floyd Rose. Visually you can tell the difference because the Schaller has tuning knobs on top of the tremolo, where the JT-6 tuners surround the allen bolts that hold the strings in place.The reason I mention all of this is because everything I can find on the Model 8 tells me that it should also have the old guitar-shaped Charvel logo on the headstock. But mine has the toothpaste Charvel logo. So that makes me wonder if it is truly a Model 8 or a Spectrum.
The headstock logo makes me think Spectrum, while the older JT-6 tremolo makes me think Model 8. I know that my friend bought it new and never modified it. But he doesn’t remember what year or model it is. Any ideas on how to identify it for sure?Also, while I’m on the subject, do you know what the approx. Value of a mint condition Model 8 or Spectrum is? I don’t want to sell mine, but I’m curious what it is worth.Thanks,Tom.
Thanks for your post, Tom. From what you say, I think you have an early Spectrum, not a Model 8.All the Model 8’s I’ve seen have the previous guitar-shaped Charvel logo, and all the Spectrums have the ‘toothpaste’ logo.However, the early Spectrums (my green one is my earliest and has this) have the slightly different trem you describe.
Both this and the later version are branded Jackson and are made by Schaller.They also have two critical differences on the body: no curved rout on the back around the neck join & plate, and no rout beneath the trem plate, so the trem plate sits flat on the body. Good for tone, some (including EVH) say, but a nuisance if you forget and yank the arm up hard in anger because the wood between the trem and bridge pickup on the treble side is thin and you can pull the mounting stud clear out of the body. A costly repair.So I think you have an early Spectrum. Do send me some pix if you like – I always like to see others.As for value, Spectrums seem to have gone to ground, the sellers of those those that do surface usually asking for almost $1000. Model 8’s are so scarce that a few silly people like me would probably pay even more than that!Hope this helps and all the best / Rockbeare.
Thanks for the info, Rockbeare! Mine doesn’t have the body cut out around the base of the neck. The tremolo plate sits up away from the body a few millimeters – maybe a 1/4 of an inch, and the body cut-out beneath the tremolo is only behind it for rocking backwards rather than the full cut-out on the Schaller models. Looking closely at the photos of Model 8s and Spectrums, mine’s definitely got the Model 8 style body and tremolo. The serial number is 317467 and the neck plate has the Ft.
Worth address on it. According to another web site I found, the highest serial number for the 1988 model series is 321475. That puts mine in the Model 8 range, I think. But that toothpaste logo keeps throwing it off!I’d be happy to send some photos. I just tried with my phone, and the quality is terrible.
So I’ll wait until my camera battery charges. Is there anything in particular that you’d like to see?Thanks again! Hi Rockbeare,really interested to see your fantastic site on these! I bought my Charvel when I was in high school in 1990. It’s serial number 317558, and is a desert sand colour with a rosewood fretboard. Hey, Martin, thanks for your post.Spectrums were only made for about two years, ’89-’91, and can’t be placed more precisely between those dates as the numbered neck plates were produced in a single lot and not used sequentially.The only way of telling if it’s an early one is by the routing on the body and the Trem unit. The smaller number of early ones carry features over from the Spectrum’s rare predecessor, the Model 8: a Jackson-branded Floyd Rose trem unit which sat flat on the body with no rout beneath, and no rout around the neck plate on the back of the body.The later models, of which there are more, have a Schaller-stamped Trem, a rout beneath the trem which allows it to float, and a curved rout around the neck plate to assist access to higher registers.(There’s not much wood between the bridge post and bridge pickup on the treble side of a Spectrum so it’s prone to breaking.
On Model 8’s and early-model Spectrums, the trem is bottomed on the body behind it, so any attempt at uptremming creates a moment of leverage around the bridge posts which causes the thin surrounding wood to fracture. If this happens, the bridge edges forwards under string tension, destroying intonation and rendering the Trem nearly useless. It’s an expensive repair job, which given the guitars’ value was seldom undertaken.
In the Van Halen ‘make your own bitsa era, such guitars were usually raided for parts and the bodies scrapped, which why you sometimes see all sorts of Spectrum parts, even necks, turning up on other instruments).You’ve probably already seen the pix of two lovely Model 8’s under guests on my site.Hope this helps – enjoy your Spectrum and happy playing! Apologies for my sloth, travelling.
Not much – a few model 8’s were made after Jeff Beck’s custom, set neck orange Jackson, of which there were allegedly three. The only difference between Model 8’s and Spectrums is the headstock logo.
Apart from that they’re identical, to play as well. The earlier US Charvel guitar logo just makes them (much) rarer which is why collectors go wild for them and pay 2-3 times as much. Seen them in green, pink and orange, always with rosewood fingerboards which I prefer. I don’t think they were made in desert sand, blue or black, or with maple boards. Hope this helps. I got a Dessert crackle i picked up in a pawnshop a few years back. It had a couple small paint chips.
I started my bidding game with the rep and the winning factor in my steal was when I shook it and a big rattle came from the back plate. I looked at him and said“If it comes with a hard case I’ll give ya 225 for it” He pulled the original case down and took my money LOL. The rattle was the 9 volt battery HAHA. Best deal I ever made and the best all around player I have and I have many. Someone had put the SD dual rail in the bridge and I replaced the FR with a real one. Other than that its all original.
If you have a wiring schematic on these send it to me please.