New Charvel San Dimas Production Model

[LP Freak]

I was wanting some feedback on the current production Charvel San Dimas USA Model. I see these going for a very reasonable price on Ebay and was wondering how the quality was. How well are the frets dressed? Are there any flaws in the finish? Or any other issues I should be aware of? I would think at this price that there would have to be some corners cut. Comments please!

[yngwie308]

Join the USA Charvels forum and you will get the straight scoop, sure corners are cut, that's for sure..
yngwie308

[LP Freak]

Can you give some examples?

[yngwie308]

I can't cut and paste from the Charvel forum as it's private, just join it man.
The main deal is if you get the Floyd version, it si cheap pot metal crap. The fret finishing, needs some touch up, there are obvious cost constraints, I didn't care for the one I played, but I am super picky and actually got to play a Charvel real b/y stripes Pre-Pro the day I tried it so there was no comparison.
The Music Zoo models, a little more pricy are better quality.
If they would juts build a single pickup Floyd in White with a maple neck , I would be all over it, enough of these double H/B'ers, for my taste
here are some posts I copied:
good question..the Production Charvel models offers a lower price point because they mass produce the necks, bodies and have them assembled more like Fender (production line). I like the Production models but they do require some tweaking and think they offer a great bang for the buck. However, IMO a better deal would be grab one of the various pointy reissues made over the years by the Jackson Custom Shop

Sadly I never played any of those Charevls with the pseudo Strat head so I can not comment
I'm just curious to know how you guys rate the current production models to the previous models.

I own two 2005 SD's and they seem to have a lot more in common with what I would class as 'Custom Shop' models than they do with the current batch - I'm talking G&G hard case, a real Floyd and, from what I've seen, better finishes.

Having said that, they cost a lot more than the current batch.

I'm not trying to run-down the current production models, I'm more curious to know how close my 2005's are to the custom shop instruments I dream of owning! I'm guessing the one-piece neck is a big difference between the two?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q2aVHfD ... r_embedded" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I have been told that the neck on the "Pro" Custom Shop guitars that Music Zoo sells is a different profile (computer cut from a scanned neck from a 1982 Charvel guitar) than the new production models. I have been considering a custom order but need to touch and feel the instrument before spending good money for one. Especially the feel of the neck. I have played the production guitar and an EVH art series and the necks on these feel the same to me. I have also played a 25th anniversary San Dimas and the neck on that guitar is way different. I liked it, a lot. I would like to know if the "Pro" Custom Shop necks are like an anniversary San Dimas neck or if they are more like the production model. If you can custom order a guitar - neck profile, body wood, pickup configuration, color, pattern, etc. this is a great thing to spend good money on. It becomes the guitar you desire not the guitar you were talked into buying because it was ready available.

There is nothing better than sliding your hands up and down the back of a great feeling neck...regardless of how you acquired the guitar...
There will be NO sugar coating here folks and there will even be some nit picking!!

I got to pick up my black san dimas model 1 from the new Charvel production model series today and thought I’d give a bit of an in depth look at it vs the custom shop I own and the TMZ natural mahogany I also own. Now I say vs but I don’t really mean it since the prices of these guitars don’t make it fair at all to compare them but just to clear up some foolish things I’ve read on some forums I will compare them in some areas. To clear one thing up right away you have to be a flat out idiot to think these production models are anywhere near the caliber of guitar that the custom shop guitars are or even the TMZ natural series. I’ve read people say they can’t see a difference (or similar comments) and please stop taking advice on guitars from these people because it’s obvious they have no idea what they are talking about if they think that. that said, I’ll also give you an inside look at the guts of the pro-mod since I had it stripped on my bench today getting to the bottom of it.

Start off on a bit of a bad note, the finish…mine is black, the hardest color to keep clean as we all know which is very easy to get fine swirl marks all over from polishing it…no big deal I knew that going in. however out of the box the guitar was a bit dingy and dull looking as was the other black model 1 I got to pick from (thankfully I got to pick between two and see how they vary) both had this slightly dull finish that I figured was just from shipping and would clean right up with some spray polish when I got home….WRONG!!! once I got it into better lights I realized it was one giant swirl mark, loads of fine scratches from the buffing machine, just a real piss poor job of buffing out the paint. A very rushed buffing job for sure. So that’s when the fun started and I decided to gut the guitar and buff out the body with my buffing wheel. After buffing it out it’s now a 9 out of 10. Before buffing about a 4 out of 10…pure suck. Don’t get me wrong the paint quality itself is good, no drips or runs or anything like that, it was the buffing job that sucked you could see the marks from the wheel and it had a dull haze to it…yuk. Moving on but continuing with the body, I’m a bit sad to see that they didn’t veneer the body front and back like they do on a typical strat to hide the seams of the joined wood that make up the body…in this case 3pc body. If you hold the guitar on an angle you catch a glimpse of these seams. No major big deal to me I’m just stating the facts here and am only slightly bummed they didn’t veneer them like they do on fenders. Thankfully it’s nice and light an resonant, no complaints there seems to be 3 good slabs of tuneful wood that make it up.

Hardware…this certainly isn’t a real deal Floyd rose and it’s not a ping Floyd either from what I can tell. It must be some Chinese or Korean made knock off. It’s not bad but certainly not OFR quality. It stays in tune well but you can tell where corners are cut. Even the block is a bit jagged and sharp…not that you touch it…just stating that it is. It was also (as typical with cheap black hardware) a dingy and dull black out of the box like it was never buffed to a shine…I guess that’s so it matches the dull swirled body paint? LOL. So I took a few minutes to polish it up with some swirl remover and it was looking minty fresh (see pics)! The only other complaint I have with it so far is that the bar comes loose real easy. I like to set my bars a little stiff so they don’t swing all over and if I do that with this after using the bar once and bumping it back down out of the way it’s fully loose and swinging. I’ll look into this more later to see if I can fix that.

The pickups and wiring...real duncans, jb and 59, no complaint there they sound great the JB rarely lets me down and the 59 is a solid choice for the neck! The wiring…I had a broken ground on both pickups out of the box, just a poor soldering job that came loose. No big deal I was swapping out that ghetto toggle switch for an all black on anyway. On that note, It was a nice effort on trying to recreate the metal toggle tip as used on the 80s san dimas pointy head charvels and Jackson but man were they way off on the size and shape from a real one…check the pics of it next to the toggle from my real ’84 san dimas pointy. Yeah I’m nit picking/screw counting a bit here but I just want to point it all out. It’s certainly not the end of the world and a personal preference if you like it or not. However, a broken ground is still not something you want to find on a new guitar for average joe who can’t work on a guitar himself. For me it was no big deal since I knew that switch was a goner before the guitar even got home. The pot seems fine, nice even taper and it even has a brass shaft…we all know brass means better lol.

Continued….
My most HATED piece of hardware…the knob…what f-ing idiot at charvel picked that stupid thing for these guitars come with? he needs to be fired or at least banned from making decisions. I took it off real fast and swapped on the nice black dome knob you see in the pics. I can’t imagine anyone actually liking that knob and keeping it on the guitar. Thankfully nice black metal dome knobs are cheap so it’s an easy fix.

The tuners…well, they work just fine, no complaint there… but I’m not a fan of the penis head looking grovers at all….seriously they look like swollen man meat hahaha. they’ll get swapped for some schallers or gotohs due to my obsessive compulsive nature for perfection even when it comes to petty aesthetics. Again, just me nit picking, the grovers tune the guitar just fine.

Lock nut…works just fine, no issue here. Obviously again not real Floyd (it’s marked BR3) but it works…even if it needed some sandpaper shims to get to the right height. The shims were from the factory, not me. I shim my Floyd nuts with proper metal shims that are made for just that use. I’m not against using a shim and it is a budget guitar so finding some sandpaper shims in there was no big deal. My GMW came with a sliver of white cardboard under the nut to raise it up and my TMZ natural the same, thin white paper/cardboard. My custom shop charvel on the other hand…no shim needed. I use shims on my Clones brand guitars now and again so I can fine tune the action, so again finding a shim isn’t the end of the world….just pointing out my findings.

Frets this is where my Clone brand guitars, my GMW, my past Wayne, my TMZ natural and my custom shop charvel all KILL this thing in quality. The frets are OK and OK at best. They are very much playable but nowhere near my standard of good fret work. I didn’t expect them to be though and fully plan to level and dress it at the next string change…I just did a quick dress of a few problem areas and a polish with some steel wool and it’s VERY playable with no buzz or anything sharp hurting your hands. They were they covered in a film from what I guess was the oil used on the neck but they had a few spots where they weren’t dressed even and smooth some 1000 grit and steel wool fixed that 1-2-3 for now. Put it this way if you’re one of those guys who sadly thinks you can play a warmoth or USACG or Musikraft neck out of the box with no fret dress or level you’ll love these frets. They are on par with a typical USA made fender I’d say…not the best but not perfect by all means. If you play custom shop charvels and custom shop fenders or Andersons and Suhrs or any guitars on that level forget it and bust out the level and dress tools because these won’t be up to your standards!! If you play modern gibsons or modern fenders these are right along that alley…hit or miss, pretty good, playable with potential after at least a dress. Again, there’s no buzz or sharp ends, they are just done sloppy, a little flat spot here an overly round spot there scratch marks on the edges and tops from crowing and not polishing them out fully. All things you find on a typical production line guitar like a strat or les paul even. Hell some Gibsons I’ve seen lately suck FAR FAR worse than these!! Corners need to be cut and time saved so these don’t get the attention that their big brothers in the custom shop get and don’t fool yourself into thinking they do or they should….they are budget production line guitars! Again, they are nowhere near a custom shop or TMZ natural, don’t be fooled by foolish posters who think they are. Odds are they’ve only seen pictures of custom shop charvels. Also keep in mind I got to go to the music zoo and see them and pick mine out so this just isn’t based on my one and only guitar. The first thing I looked at when comparing the black ones they had in stock were the frets and mine were better than the other. Right now all I did was a quick dress of a few problem areas and hit them up with some 0000 steel wool and they are very playable until the next string change when I go all out on them. Hey, I wanted to play the thing not work on it all day hahaha.

Continued
Neck shape another area they differ in. the one I picked from the zoo had a bit of an extra roll to the finger board edge which I liked. The shape falls in a C to D range where it’s not as flat a D as my TMZ or custom shop charvel it’s a bit more round (but I wouldn’t jump to call it a C either) and it’s also thicker being .790” at the 1st and .850” at the 12th. It’s a very comfortable neck, no complaints here since truth be told the standard neck shape on my Clone brand guitars (which is based off my past Wayne with the original neck) is .790” - .850” it’s also in the ballpark of the Suhr Reb Beach neck in terms of thickness. A+ on the shape from me! As for the wood, it does seem to be ¼ sawn as stated but it’s certainly B stock ¼ sawn. It’s NOT the stuff they use on custom shop models or fender uses on the Eric Johnson guitars for example. It’s nice, but you can tell it’s not the best since the grain isn’t super tight and digital looking like real high quality ¼ sawn. It also has a decent amount of mineral stains and small areas where there were grain imperfections that were filled. Nothing major but another cost cutting area…you didn’t think they were using the best wood on these did you? It’s a step up from a typical strat that’s for sure but again not on the level of the better guitars. The neck on the one I chose had a better grain pattern and less stains and fills, the other one was acceptable but mine was the better of the two IMO.

One thing that did bum me out that I need to fix is the neck pocket angle…it’s way too steep forcing you to float the Floyd a bit which I hate. This is another quick fix with a router to decrease the angle but not something I got into today (again I wanted to play it) but I will do it down the road. My custom shop charvel, TMZ charvel, past wayne, my GMW and all my Clone brand guitars have the correct neck angle that puts the Floyd flat on the body of the guitar making it dive only which is the way I like it. some may dispute this and say these are correct and in all honestly this is a situation where it would be based on the players taste. I like my floyds flat on the body just like my custom shop charvel came and thus the router will be going after this neck pocket to match it to the specs of all my other non recessed floyded guitars. I’m not sure why they decided to go with the steeper pocket angle giving the pull up since charvel are loved by most people for being dive only with the Floyd resting on the body to aid in tuning changes (drop D by using the fine tuner) it also keeps the other strings in tune if a string breaks and increase resonance and sustain with the base of the trem resting on the body.

This turned into a bit more of a project than I thought it would be but I love projects like this to be honest! That’s why I started my Clone brand since I love working on guitars! At the price I paid (well under $999 is all I’ll say) it was a kick ass deal even with all the work I did and having to buff out the body. If I had paid full $999 for it I’d be a bit more upset that’s for sure and may have even thought about taking it back before tearing it down to buff it out and clean up the frets and fix the ground wire. I think they’re a great bang for the buck but NO WHERE even remotely near the quality of the TMZ naturals or custom shop charvels. If you want quality you have to pay for it!! Again if someone says they are just like the customs or the naturals please stop taking advice from them because they are clueless as to what makes a good guitar. I’m very happy with the guitar and it’s now certainly a player that sounds great. Resonates real well, no fret buzz and even with the Floyd having to float a bit it’s nice and full sounding. How does it sound ??? like an alder super strat with a maple neck a Floyd and a JB in the bridge….you’ve all heard it before and there’s no magic here it falls in line with that typical sound in everyone’s head. It’s a real solid guitar that had some minor quirks that were an easy fix.

Continued…
If you’re getting one I’d say go into it knowing if you get black odds are you’re going to need to do some polishing, I just went overboard since I have a buffer, odds are the candy colors won’t be as bad since they hide swirls unlike black which shows them all. Both of the black ones I looked at today were pretty bad though. This was disappointing since I’ve had black MIJ, MIM and MIA fenders and NONE had a finish this swirled and dull out of the box. Also at least take some 0000 steel wool to the frets on the first set up to get rid of the film on the frets from the factory (see pics). on that note…out of the box it was actually playable and nearly in tune, a plus I guess but don’t kid yourself about playing it or any guitar out of the box, plan on doing a set up to fit your needs. it comes with 9s on it and I can’t play them so a set up and string change was a must for me no matter what. Just keep in mind these are budget production line guitars just like a typical USA made strat so go into it knowing a few tweaks will be needed. If you expect custom shop quality out of these you’re flat out delusional and should seek help.

Now on to the pics, lots of gut shots and parts comparison pics for the screw counters

The naked body after buffing to a perfect shine…
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Neck pocket markings (built 3 days before my birthday on May 21…cool)…
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Heel sticker…
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Headstock face (no nut)…
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Headstock back with horrid grovers…yeah I hate these ugly ass tuners:p also, that’s just a sticker from fender, it comes right off don’t worry…
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Body with the pickups back in and new all black toggle and new dome knob (much better!!!)…
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“Floyd” yeah I used “ “ marks on that hahaha…
All dirty and dull before I cleaned it…
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After a good cleaning…
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Bottom shots and #’s…
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Continued….
Close up of sloppy factory dressing before polishing…notice the flat spots on the tops of the far two frets VS the more rounded top of the closest fret. This is just one example and the flat/round varies from fret to fret. thankfully the frets on mine were better than the other one, it had more of an uneven dress. A quick fix with a dressing for me but may piss those of you off who don’t know how to dress frets. Again, they don’t buzz and they feel ok, it’s just sloppy work that you should honestly expect on a guitar being cranked out on a production line, don’t fool yourself. You need to think of these in the same ballpark as a typical USA made fender, hit or miss off the line.
oh please don't take it to heart man i just had to find a way to get my point across and i alway slike to be overly dramatic when i do so i hang out in a guitar shop every saturday and have learned from one of the best luthiers out there how to do just about everything to a guitar and have had my hands on some crazy guitars over the years and really learned what sets a playable guitar apart from a good guitar and a great guitar and an amazing guitar. that said though, i really don't feel they are on par with guitars that cost ~$17xx (naturals) and ~$27XX (customs) it's just not in that same league when it comes to fit and finish and fret work and body woods and hardware and everything. mine is a bad ass fun to play comfortable guitar that i'm happy to have but cost for cost would i take ~3 of them over my custom shop strathead or TMZ natural or bullseye reissue...hell no they're all on another level.

i'm not kocking the guitar, it is what it is and it does what it does very well but people can't expect custom shop quality from a guitar that at the most is selling for $999 but in most cases well under that, it's just not realistic. there's reasons why the custom cost so much and attention to detail is one of those reasons. if you go into it thinking...cool player guitar you'll be happy that's the easy way to sum it up.

oh and after playing it more, i really like the 59 in the neck!!

-Mike
Mike.....thanks for the great read. I'll go into my little rant now.................

First impression, nice color but after popping it out and TRYING to play it the first thing I noticed was the Floyd was not even setting right. Whoever set this up had no clue what they were doing. The Floyd was underneath the pivot posts then the pivot post screwed in!! I dont know how else to explain it but the Floyd was not resting in the groove that it normally does. Easy fix, loosened the strings, remove the backplate, pull the springs and reassembled. That problem solved.

Started tuning up and noticed it was fretting out, I knew the neck was going to need adjusting but didnt think I would have to, shim the nut, raise the Floyd, pull the neck off and remove the stupid sticker and I'm still not there. Would I buy another, nope.

I know most of you have had good results but I have not so far. I have not even plugged it in yet so hopefully that will help sway me towards the good. I'm going to walk away from it for a while, let it settle in to my enviroment and see what happens. I'll keep you guys posted but again, not impressed so far.
I just got my So Cal Tangerine today and I really like it. All except for the few things that have already been discussed, Volume know, toggle switch, floating floyd etc.... But I do have one problem. The sound from the pickups is okay but on the low E and A strings there is a flabbiness (spelling?) in the sound that kind of makes chugging away on power chords or E minor sound like crap. Its weird it's like the sound isn't tight and the decay lasts forever. pretty much on those two strings. I usually use Duncan JB's and this is the first time using Dimarzios for me. It's like the sagging of a tube amp (i have a solid state old 80's GK) but un-natural. Any ideas on the remedy. Also, Mike where do you buy your parts? I want to get a new smaller toggle, pickguard and volume knob, etc.. What products/tools do you use to buff out your bodies. Neck oil, is lemon oil fine or do you recommend something different. Your help is appreciated .I love this thing and my daughter and friends love the cool color.
yeah, it seems with some tweaks these can be great players.

as for the pickups, in general (but not in all cases) dimarzios tend to be much fatter sounding pickups than duncans. sure this doesn't count for the X2N or all of them but from the many duncans and dimarzios i've played (i'm a pickup junkie) i've always found dimarzios fatten up a guitar. the tone zone is one of the fatter duncans for sure. i have had it in many guitars and my custom shop eldred actually has one. that said, it may be you're just not a fan of dimarzios added chunk over the JB your used to. i swapped my pro mods JB out for a duncan C5 and i'm happier with it. the only remedy i know of is a swap to a pickup you know you like. you can also play with the height of the pickups to tune the sound a bit. perhaps moiving it down a bit will tighten it up for you.

for parts, the all black toggle i got from http://www.guitarpartsdepot.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; they also sell black dome knobs but the inner diameter is small so they would need to be drilled out to work. if you want to skip that, the knobs i like best and use on my Clones often are from http://www.stewmac.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; another source for parts if you need other random bits is http://www.guitarpartsresource.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; i've used all of them and more for my Clones and other projects. for a pickguard, i usually use good ol' warmoth and order the guards with no holes for knobs and toggles and drill them in the location i want them.

for buffing out bodies i use all the stuff i used when i was doing pro auto detailing. 2 different buffers (one random orbital, one not) and various comounds and swirl removers and wax) this would be crazy overboard for a typical person to do so i suggest just picking up this kit.... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... sku=420795 it comes with the foam applicator and microfiber cloth and all the cleaning and polishing stuff you'd need to take out basic marks and shine everything up. i went nutty with the buffing wheels on mine since it's black and had a haze/swirls from the factory buffing job and i didn't want to start off with a worn looking guitar i wanted to start off from fresh and new. it now looks pretty much as perfect as a black guitar can look...under all the fingerprints that is LOL.

for neck oil, you shouldn't really need to oil it for a long time but birchwood casey tru-oil is the best oil to use on these necks and it seems to be the standard that every company uses on their oiled necks. put it on with a clean lint free cloth (old white t-shirts work best i've found) and rub it in real good, let the neck sit overnight (so do this before you go to bed and are done playing for the day) then the next day you can go over it with some 0000 steel wool and you're good to go back to a nice matte finish. just make sure to blow off (if you have a compressor or those cans of air for computer cleaning even work) or vacuum off the neck to get all the little steel wool bits off. you can also use synthetic steel wool, i've done that in the past too just use fine stuff 0000.
There you go
yngwie308

[LP Freak]

I guess bottom line is you get what you pay for! For the price you can pick up a used one for, I'd say they're worth the money even if they require a little tweeking.

[yngwie308]

Sure if that's what you want, go for it, for myself I own no Charvels or Jacksons, but have guitars that are very close to them or inspired by them so I am set.
Good Luck
yngwie308

[johnny q]

Wow - I had my eye on these for a possible purchase, but now I am not so sure!

[vanhalen5150]

I played the Magenta colored one Saturday. They feel good but the floyd trem is way to high from the body. Major tone suck there. At least 1/3 rd of an inch I think.

[yngwie308]

Guys, the general consesus of opinion over at the USA Charvel forum, is that these are great value for the money, especially compared to what FMIC is even charging for run of the mill MIM Strat's.....but if you want that extra 30 to 40% playability factor that a great Charvel of the days of yore would provide out of the box..these new production guitars aren't going to do it for you stock.
As mentioned on the Floyd equipped guitars, the bridges are junk. The fretting on the necks leaves something to be desired, ala finishing. There are to many issues to be corrected and it is good that Charvel/Fender is looking back to their golden years. The Music Zoo special order models are quite better in the respect of attention of detail, yet more expensive.
Obviously the hardcore Charvel collectors will be intensely critical, but I have played on of the new production models, albiet not plugged in, ect.
It was ok, for me over 80% of the appeal of a Charvel is the neck and the actual neck isn't that bad, if you want to rebuild the guitar after paying the buying price, it turns into an extensive proposition.
Many feel that due to the lower price it can be turned into an affordable gigger, that wouldn't be such a financial loss if stolen.
For my 2 cents, I obviously to those that know me, my Washburn Steve Stevens models, which are based on a San Dimas style profile, have the best necks of this style for me.
That the Charvel/Jackson custom shop is spread slightly thin lately would be an understatement as they are involved in the building of the Fender EVH models as well.
You have to spend quite a bit more with Charvel to get a higher quality guitar, so the idea of making a mass appeal Charvel at lower cost entry prices is a good one, it's just they have a lot of past high standards to live up to.
Many may like them, I would like to see a rear mounted single bridge humbucker/Floyd guitar with a 22 fret maple board, that would make a better project guitar for me personally, the dual humbucker models I don't particularly care for.
Hopefully they are listening to the feedback. But with the Custom Shop Warren DeMartini models for example, these aren't inexpensive and they still have some glaring differences from Warren's actual stage guitars. The Performance Guitars built WDM models (not officially called that if course), but they are way more flexible and are some great guys, who are highly specialized and know how to build these types of guitars as well as the current Charvel shop!
These are hand built and can be customized to the buyers exact spec, which FMIC/Charvel will not.
The price point of these new Charvels is a step in the right direction, but realistically, one needs to spend closer to $2K plus for a quality type of these guitars.
The massive failure of the recently introduced Grover Jackson reissue models, showed that people aren't in the market for even a top level attempt at re-introducing these types of guitars. The Schecters and many overseas produced guitars, have taken over this market.
So don't expect a Pre-Pro Charvel to pop out of the case of these new models, which don't come with a hardshell case I believe either..

yngwie308

[77custom]

I really dig my San Dimas II, sure it's no custom shop, but thats why they are inexpensive. The only tweaking I did was change out the JB in the bridge and put an OFR (german) on. Best bang for the buck for an American made guitar!!

[Kapo_Polenton]

I'm with Yngwie! How about a freakin white body with single humbucker and gold/black/ or chrome hardware or better yet, H-S with a higher power front pickup for some sweet neck runs alla shredding! I'm glad you guys posted this though.. i was thinking of getting one in the new year. I think i will just look for a nice used Washburn N4 though! Love those Nuno axes!

[bdc]

I own a San Dimas 1 2H that I traded for a while back -also Black! I don't have the eye for detail of Ingvie...(I thank Ingvie for the well thought out detailed post which I'll re-read and learn from)...No buzzes and plays pretty good, I set it up with 11 guage strings......I prefer my low E to be a 46 as opposed to a 48 or 50-other than that it's a standard 11 set. I have built a couple guitars, but I wouldn't let Ingvie see em' up close......They work for me though......I own about 13 guitars and play which ever one I want whenever I feel like it....My #1 ax is a 92 LP standard......Everything else is for back up or whenever the mood hits.......Including the San Dimas......which is brighter than most of my guitars due to the maple neck.....Sometimes I like like the brighter sound though.....and I have a couple amps that sound darker than others I own......I play in an original rock group mostly for fun and alternate amps (My 3 builds and a couple 70s 50 watt Marshalls)as well as guitars.....