Charvel Custom Shop 1982 Style 2 Stephen Stern Masterbuilt Tribute: History, Specs and Story

A one-off Style 2 built by Stephen Stern during his days working at Charvel rebuilt as a modern limited-edition run for The Music Zoo - this is the Charvel Custom Shop 1982 Style 2 Stephen Stern Masterbuilt Tribute!

The story of this run starts with a single guitar: a 1982 Charvel Style 2 that was built by Stephen Stern during his time at Charvel, before he grew to fame as a Gretsch Custom Shop Masterbuilder. He built it as a personal guitar for himself before gifting it to a close friend. The guitar came into the possession of Zoo owner Tommy Colletti after acquiring it from fellow shop owner Harvey Moltz of Rainbow Guitars. Once we learned of the history of this guitar - it being built by Stephen who we've worked with closely before on Gretsch Music Zoo runs, we knew we had to remake it in as close detail as possible.

Watch the Charvel Custom Shop 1982 Style 2 Stephen Stern Tribute Demo Video Now!

What's different from the original 1982 Style 2?

Every spec of the original guitar has been recreated, from the neck shape and fret sizes along with matching Seymour Duncan '59 pickups to the pearl block inlays. A few pieces of hardware had to be chosen for modern availability; the fixed bridge and the tuners are now Legacy crown head tuners. A touch we also took to the next level is that the rosewood fretboard on the reissue guitars are all Brazilian rosewood.

Just like the original guitar this one is signed by Stephen Stern in the neck pocket and each Certificate of Authenticity is signed by Stephen and Red Dave. This guitar is a collectible just as much as it is an incredible musical instrument. The finish on this one is a "Journeyman Relic" which has very light finish checking and small dings around the body to replicate the look and feel of the original guitar.

Pictured above, we have Stephen Stern holding the original Style 2 he built in 1982 alongside Dave Nichols holding a completed Tribute guitar!

1982 Style 2 Stephen Stern Masterbuilt Tribute Specs

• Nitrocellulose Lacquer Cherry Sunburst Finish
• 5A Grade 3/4" Flame Maple Top
• Genuine Mahogany Body
• Flame Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard
• Pearl Block Inlays
• Cream Top Body Binding
• Neck Profile Scanned from Original 1982 Charvel Style 2
• 25.5" Scale Length
• 1 5/8" Nut Width
• 12" Fretboard Radius
• Dunlop 6110 Frets
• Seymour Duncan '59 Humbuckers with Individual Volume and Tone Controls
• DiMarzio 500k Volume and 250k Tone Potentiometers
• Stephen Stern Pencil-Signed Neck Pocket
• Legacy Brass Crown Head Tuners
• Graphite Nut
• Fixed Bridge

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Have a question?

Contact us at (516) 626-9292 or sales@themusiczoo.com