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1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 1 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 2 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 3 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 4 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 5 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 6 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 7 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 8 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 9 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 10 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 11 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 12 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 13 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 14 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 15 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 16 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 17 1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar — 18
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1981 Charvel 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar

Charvel
BrandCharvel
TypeElectric Guitars
PhotographyActual Photos
Archive ID3213-C
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The Story

1981 'Pre-Production' Black and Yellow Striped Guitar

This is a fun one from the early days of Charvel! This is a 1981 pre-production guitar which was custom-ordered to mimic the look of Eddie Van Halens 'Bumblebee' with its black and yellow stripes. This was not a highly advertised thing that Charvel did (for obvious reasons), but back then - you could call up with the request and the shop would quietly oblige. What a time!

The guitar is unserialized, and is built with a bolt-on maple neck, 21 frets and a single DiMarzio humbucker. The guitar is super clean with just a few small dings around the body and the slightest bit of fretwear on the first three frets. The neck is incredibly straight with no tension on the truss rod, it plays wonderfully! The neck plate has a good amount of tarnishing to it, and the screws on the backplate cover are stripped, but still able to be turned and removed. One thing to note is that the original DiMarzio 500k pot sounds scratchy when turned and even after a good cleaning, however on 10 it's clear. It should likely be replaced, but that is up to the next owner of the guitar. The code on the volume pot is dated to 1981. It includes the original case and tremolo arm for the brass bridge!

Includes: Hardshell Case and Tremolo Arm

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The Specifications

As it left The Music Zoo Tech Bench.
  • Solidbody Electric Guitar
  • Black and Yellow Striped Finish
  • Maple Neck
  • 25.5" Scale Length
  • 43mm Nut Width
  • 21 Frets
  • DiMarzio Double-Cream Humbucker & DiMarzio 500k Pot
  • Master Volume Control
  • Brass Tremolo Bridge 
  • Crown Head Tuners
  • 7 lbs, 4 oz.
  • .740" Neck Profile at 1st Fret
  • .810” Neck Profile at 12th Fret

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