Charvel Model 5FX Uninspiring Sound

[Charvel1975]

The sound I'm trying to achieve is to be able to cover the the sounds of the songs our band covers Classic rock/Hard rock/80's metal & hair metal like Grand Funk, AC/DC, Ratt, Cinderella, Poison, Judas Priest, Candlebox, etc.

What I like about the guitar is the looks and playability, what I dislike (tonewise) is the Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant.

[gardo]

If I understand it you have EMG pickups.

Have you considered the 18 volt mod ? 

 

[jtr654]

Or get a PA2 boost.

 

[badpenguin]

Ok, I assume you have the single/hum model, with the floyd. Going back to basics, and back to the infamous "tone wood" argument, poplar and maple tend to be on the brighter side. Also the single in the neck, and the all the metal in the Floyd, well, what can you expect?

Put a single coil sized hum in the neck, passive if possible. (If you have an EMG in it, it will have to be grounded.) 

Maybe a different bridge pickup also.  SD JB perhaps? Go for something in the middle range of output. You can always get more metal tones by a pedal. Speaking of which, have you tried an EQ/Boost?

I've never bonded with EMG's in general. yeah, fine if you play metal, but if you need to play with tone, that ain't them get a nice set of passive pickups. Sell the EMG's, and you'll get back most of the money for the passives.

Edited May 24, 2023 by badpenguin