Charvel 650 XL PRO neck through construction Snow white (1990 / 91)
Amazing all original condition Charvel from the absolute panicle of the Japanese production era.
These guitars are from the eighties and early 90s when Jackson were using the Charvel logo to make there more affordable Japanese made guitars. To be brutally honest the attention to detail, build quality and playability were probably better than the US made guitars, other than the great stuff coming out the US custom shop.
Top end Japanese workmanship would rival that of any other builder in the world so don’t think for one second these are any way inferior to the dear old US of A made guitars. Their NOT
Folks cottoned on to how dam good these things are and it started eating into the US Jackson sales. By the start of the early 90s they stopped production of the Charvel guitars and actually just made their own cheaper self branded Jacksons.
The era of the cheap Jacksons had begun.
Up until then the Jackson brand was always high end to pro level guitars. I know as i lived through it, and at that time simply couldn’t afford them.
If you’re looking for an early soloist, don’t knock these till you try them. I played both Jackson soloists and these back to back and they were the same guitar and 1/3 the price, no wonder Jackson changed the business model.
Shortly after that Charvel disappeared for a while and Charvet appeared and they were cheaper guitars, in quality and materials. Al except the quite well respected surfcasters, they were the 1st guitars that were made under the Charvet logo, and are actually pretty dam good, quite collectable themselves now, but that’s another story.
Now for the techie bit.
Snow white neck through body superstrat form Charvel /Jackson. Jackson hardware pickups and trem, from the hay day of Japanese production. Japanese made Jackson soloist. Mega build quality and attention to detail. Plays like butter and can cover everything from blues, to thrash and everything else in between.
CHARVEL made the 650 XL Professional between 1988 and 1991.
The 650 XL Professional was a custom version of the 550XL. This guitar used the same active pickups and circuitry as the Classic Series 475 Special model. The additional middle position pickup further increased the tonal variations. Jackson (shark tooth) pearl inlays and a bound rosewood fingerboard further enhanced its appearance.
Black hardware includes a Floyd Rose licensed double locking tremolo, two J200 bi-level humbuckers at the neck, middle position and one J50-BC humbucker at the bridge. Controls are three knobs: master volume and two tone knobs and a five-way pickup switch.
Finish options were snow white, pearl blue, pearl red, magenta, platinum, desert crackle and metallic black, with matching headstock and body.
(Source 1989 Jackson/Charvel catalogue).
In the 1991 Jackson/Charvel catalogue the 650 model is described as the 650 Custom this model has neck-through “Soloist” construction, with JE-1200 active midboost circuitry. It was endorsed by Hank Duncan of the band Nevada Beach.