My new "Charvel" build

[A.Pulverizer]

The neckplate is awesome

Thanks. I laugh a little every time I see it. I thought it was the perfect finishing touch.

 

 

 

I don't play out. But even if I did, I wouldn't have a problem playing this, anymore than a satanic themed guitar, or a naked lady guitar, or a marijuana themed guitar, or a Soviet flag guitar, or a Che Guevara guitar, or a Japanese rising sun guitar, or an American flag guitar, or a Mohamed with a bomb guitar, or insert anything that could possibly offend anyone anywhere.

Screw that. If I like something, I'll play it.

[BerkleeBill]

 

So Fender removes the swastikas, but leaves the Iron Eagle graphic, which

was a symbol of the Nazi Party?? How do you spell "{censored}in retard?"

[PlayboyChris]

 

So Fender removes the swastikas, but leaves the Iron Eagle graphic, which was a symbol of the Nazi Party?? How do you spell "{censored}in retard?"

 

 

+1. Exactly!

[glenecho]

 

I thought that it was lame to cave in to a couple whiners on the internet. I mean, they can have boob guitars and satanic guitars and rotting corpse uncle sam guitars, but not a finish they had done in the past???

 

 

I think you have deliberately attempted to minimize the issue when you use the phrase "but not a finish they had done in the past".

 

I think for honesty's sake you should have said:

 

"I thought that it was lame to cave in to a couple whiners on the internet.

I mean, they can have boob guitars and satanic guitars and rotting corpse uncle sam guitars, but not a swastika?"

 

While I'm not actively Jewish (or actively anything else religiously), my mom's side of the family is so probably more than most I should be/would be offended by the guitar. Fact is that most of those Charvel paint jobs from that era were based on the paint schemes of certain WWII airplanes. That being the case, it's hard to be as offended because I believe the intent was to evoke the image of an airplane's paint scheme and not necessarily make a political statement.

 

That said, I couldn't go onstage with a swastika on my guitar, regardless of it's context simply due to the fact of what it represents to my family, even though I am not personally offended by it (symbols/flags etc simply don't offend me...actions and sometime words do). I would have picked one of the several other paint schemes that Amir or George used from that era that are just as cool if not cooler. As far as whether or not Amir played the guitar in Rough Cutt, well he has this guitar under the "guitars I used to own" section and I don't remember ever seeing actual pictures of him onstage with this axe. I could be wrong, but I would imagine that a mainstream hair metal band wouldn't necessarily want their image to come under scrutiny because their guitarist was playing a swastika laden guitar.

 

That said, I do love the WWII paint schemes of that era of Charvel. I wonder who did those paint jobs...

[bigdaddyd]

Thanks. I laugh a little every time I see it. I thought it was the perfect finishing touch. I don't play out. But even if I did, I wouldn't have a problem playing this, anymore than a satanic themed guitar, or a naked lady guitar, or a marijuana themed guitar, or a Soviet flag guitar, or a Che Guevara guitar, or a Japanese rising sun guitar, or an American flag guitar, or a Mohamed with a bomb guitar, or insert anything that could possibly offend anyone anywhere. Screw that. If I like something, I'll play it.

 

You might not have a problem playing out with that, but trust me...you play out with that in front of the wrong person and you will get it shoved up your ass. It is one thing to be an insensitive prick in the privacy of your own home, but you should keep it there. Some people have a short fuse, and as some people here stated, you guitar symbolizes a time when members of their own families were murdered and you would be rocking out in front of them mocking that. Just saying.

[Oblivion DC]

I just wonder why it was so important to you to include it on your guitar? What statement are you trying to make? In an artistically challenging way, I appreciate it, but honestly all you seem to be saying is "I'm an insensitive prick, and the attempted eradication of one of the oldest cultures in the World is irrelevant to my need to show what a rebel I am". I have this same problem with the Confederate flag. When placed in context, it is an emotionally and artistically provocative symbol. But most people just slap it on their trucks to be an ass, because they think it's "cool". So it's not the swastika, but the apparent complete lack of thought or sensitivity on your part that becomes offensive. But maybe there's a level of irony or statement you are making with it? Are you Jewish?

 

 

You sometimes strike me as being overly sensitive, very concerned with everyone's feelings, and insanely PC. Fortunately for all of us you're also very well informed and well spoken so, even though I don't always agree with your stance on a particular subject, I find myself admiring your well thought out arguments, the consistency of your viewpoints, and your overall sense of fairness.

Please don't ever stop posting here.

[glenecho]

 

You might not have a problem playing out with that, but trust me...you play out with that in front of the wrong person and you will get it shoved up your ass. It is one thing to be an insensitive prick in the privacy of your own home, but you should keep it there. Some people have a short fuse, and as some people here stated, you guitar symbolizes a time when members of their own families were murdered and you would be rocking out in front of them mocking that. Just saying.

 

 

This is true. As I said in my post, half of my family is Jewish. And while I probably could not longer beat up a gnat, I can honestly say that I do have family members that, if they saw someone onstage with that guitar, would probably attack immediately.

 

It's not about right or wrong or making a statement...fact is that symbol will evoke a lot of very strong and negative feelings whether you like it or not or whether you think it's fair or not.

[bigdaddyd]

 

This is true. As I said in my post, half of my family is Jewish. And while I probably could not longer beat up a gnat, I can honestly say that I do have family members that, if they saw someone onstage with that guitar, would probably attack immediately. It's not about right or wrong or making a statement...fact is that symbol will evoke a lot of very strong and negative feelings whether you like it or not or whether you think it's fair or not.

 

 

I know, because when I used to do security for shows, at a George Thoroghgood show there was this big, jacked, heavily tattooed skin head Nazi and friend threatening people in the seats. My boss at the time was African American, and I am Jewish. We had to deal with this guy and his friend and they had tons of swastikas tattoed all over. Let's just say, it was a pleasure.

[DeathMonkey]

So Fender removes the swastikas, but leaves the Iron Eagle graphic, which was a symbol of the Nazi Party?? How do you spell "{censored}in retard?"

 

I thought this as well. I remember in the 70's when a lot of German symbolism was coopted by bikers and metalheads, with Iron Crosses and Kaiser helmets everywhere, but it was only the swastika people got their panties in a wad about.

 

I think that maybe because the swastika was purely Nazi - other symbols of the various German branches of the military had been there before Hitler.

 

I agree, symbols are just symbols. What matters is the context, and what we perceive as the message intended by placing it in said context. The same symbol (or word, for that matter) can be used in contexts that are contradictory - in one context, the swastika is a nearly universal wheel symbol, seen in various forms in almost every culture on the planet. There's that fella that has some 1500 different wheel symbols tattooed all over his body in an effort to reclaim the swastika as a symbol of progress and life's cyclical nature. Yet in another context it can be a symbol of fear, ambition, genocide.

 

Without clear context, one has to decipher the intent. And when the historical context is negative, that is what (fairly or unfairly) gets attached to the symbol. In this case, we have no context, except the thought that it "looks cool". So the default implication is one of insensitivity, whereas Serj Tankian or Tom Morello could rock this guitar because the context places it in a different light - that it was an ironic artistic statement. It would still be controversial, but they could "get away with it" - a phrase that always makes me kinda irked.

 

The notion of PC drives me nuts, too. I think people on both sides ignore the importance of context in favor of clear, simple "rules" that oversimplify a complex issue. The specific words are not the issue (some might be shocked to hear ME say that...) but the context. Using words or symbols in a clearly pejorative and insulting way is different that using them for or in discussion, or to make a point artistically. What I hate is that one side dismisses context to try to censor words completely, one side dismisses context to justify the negative uses of the words or symbols.

 

One side will ban the use of the swastika completely, dismantling it's use as an artistic and historical symbol, one side will use the artistic use to justify using it to hurt and insult people. I'm somewhere in the middle, allowing the freedom to say and do what you want, but with social (not political or legal) consequences for the contextual message presented by the user.

 

So to enforce a PC paradigm that effectively says "you can't do that", I disagree with that. You CAN do it. No one is going to put you in jail, or limit your rights. But others have a right to say "you shouldn't do that".

 

So in this case, I just wonder what message, what context is being presented by this guitar? If the answer is " I want to make a thought-provoking artistic statement drawing a parallel to modern religious fanaticism and corporate fascism ", then I support that all the way. I understand the desire to take the piss out of the PC Nazis (irony! I lurvs it!), but I would caution you that this statement might need a bit more help in framing that context. But that's a valid artistic and social statement - it's certainly ironic that the people who would eliminate this artwork are acting just like the people who followed this symbology in the first place!

 

But if your statement is merely " I think Nazi stuff is kool and I'ma do what I wanna!", then I'm gonna think you a bit of a {censored}wit.

 

But I support your right to be a bit of a {censored}wit, as I support the rights of others to tell you you're being a bit of a {censored}wit.

[XBurnwithMeX]

Uh does anyone realize the original custom guitar was made for Amir Derakh that dude was totally in Orgy...Yeah that band lol

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amir_Derakh

[bigdaddyd]

we know who he is.

[Veyron]

I understand why someone would be upset buy the glorification of death squads and madmen that oversaw the deaths of a few million people .

 

+1

 

[glenecho]

 

So in this case, I just wonder what message, what context is being presented by this guitar?

 

 

I think it's safe to say that based on the evidence of the other guitars this Charvel artist did around the same time that the ORIGINAL paint job was very simply meant to cop the look of a WWII German fighter plane. The same artist also did Kamikaze as well as US warplane related paint jobs. And honestly, even with the swastika I think those paint jobs are cool. Japanese warplanes had the red sun on them, and German warplanes had swastikas (well some of them did)...those are just the facts and I believe the ORIGINAL artist was simply trying to be somewhat authentic.

 

The question of what the OP's intent is in insisting the swastika be there is a wholly different story and not one I can speak to. If it is because he wants a paint job that is 100% true to the original, than so be it. That doesn't offend me in the slightest. If it's the whole "rebel" thing, that's fine too. The OP is the one who has to live with the reaction that the paint job will illicit in a live setting. If he is playing in Nowheresville, Midwest he'll be fine, but I wouldn't be caught playing it on say, Chicago's North Side.

[n0fx]

Guitar looks great...some people will be understandibly offended...

[StoneM]

Thats sweet build man, can you tell me where and how much you got the body and neck for? I am planning on doing a similar build and I want a quality neck.

[tequila_titan]

Those kamikaze guitars offend me, since kamikaze's were used to destroy U.S. warships and kill American servicemen.

[BerkleeBill]

Ok, so it's far from the perfect Bar Mitzvah guitar

[Bobby D]

 

oh give me a {censored}ing break. yeah that symbol was around for a while, just not with the eagle or anything. its very very clear what it represents. I am not offended by the symbol but I acknowledge what it represents, mass hate and genocide.

 

 

Judas Priest, Unleashed in the East....

 

"GENOCIDE!!!!!!"

 

such a great song!

 

It's a tough call. The build looks AWESOME. And I would think the GL kamakazi guitars are very bit as offensive as the nazi one.

 

But yes, being that I am in a house filled with three jewish women, that guitar might not go over to well 'round here.

 

FMIC are pussies anyway....

 

If you play gigs, that guitar might get you into some trouble, though......I hope you've been going to the gym!

[Ferdinandstrat]

 

Judas Priest, Unleashed in the East.... "GENOCIDE!!!!!!" such a great song! It's a tough call. The build looks AWESOME. And I would think the GL kamakazi guitars are very bit as offensive as the nazi one. But yes, being that I am in a house filled with three jewish women, that guitar might not go over to well 'round here. FMIC are pussies anyway.... If you play gigs, that guitar might get you into some trouble, though......I hope you've been going to the gym!

 

 

I dont understand why people have to be so hard?

 

I mean George Lynch toured a lot with his Kamikaze, I never heard anyone yelling to him whatever you yell.

[Bobby D]

 

"Sorry son, that's all we had" I dont understand why people have to be so hard? I mean George Lynch toured a lot with his Kamikaze, I never heard anyone yelling to him whatever you yell.

 

 

personally, i love all the military graphics that Charvel used to do, they are awesome finishes.

 

but as an earlier poster said, there are people that would literally come out of the audience and shove that guitar up your ASS if you were playing it at a gig.

 

i think the OP said he doesn't do gigs, which is probably good for him....

[Kenny Powers]

I was thinking about getting a custom graphic of a black man hanging from a tree. I mean, I like trees, and I like the idea of black people defying gravity, like michael jordon!

[LP Heaven]

hey guys than know Charvel, could you please let me know if it is worth it to buy right online here ? Ive been looking for a susper strat and was going the JS1000 route but I think i might like this better.

 

Can anyone explain the different models ? style 1-2h , 2 2h etc ? And should i be buying online or from a dealer etc tks !

 

http://www.charvel.com/price_sheet.html

[wok]

i am thinking of getting them to build me a custom KKK guitar with custom burning crosses inlays... Flames are cool and the cross is the symbol of Jesus.

 

You think they will cave in to a couple of internet whiners?

 

[Ferdinandstrat]

How come no one beaten up guitarists in the 80's who looked like girls and played rainbow colored guitars?

[StoneM]

cause they got respect for their chops and the badass cars they crashed and hot chicks they screwed. If you look at the women back then they look retarded too but at the time nobody seemed to notice.