CHARVEL MODEL 1B

  • Charvel Model 1B electric bass guitar
    Charvel Model 1B

Overview

Brand name: 

Product: 

  • bass guitars

Series name: 

Dates of manufacture: 

1986 to 1989

Production of the Charvel 1B began in 1986 and ended in 1989.

Penny Braybrooke reviewed the Charvel 1B in Guitarist magazine in July 1988:

IN TERMS OF BODY design and contours this Charvel 1B bass has no surprises and is certainly as reminiscent of traditional designs as any other production instrument around today. However, true to the standard of the guitars that Charvel have put out on to the market so far, both the finish and construction of this 1B bass is superb.
A matt lacquer has been applied to the neck and fingerboard which is smooth,fast to play and very attractive, allowing every detail of the grain to show through. There is no shabby finish to any cavity or edge and the neck fits the body snugly. Needless to say, the instrument balanced nicely, was comfortable and the neck, while a little on the chunky side, certainly offers the type of contoured design which is so good for speed.
The pickup and control arrangement is just about as simple as it’s possible to get - a single split coil pickup with just two controls, one volume and one tone. As regards the tone,I initially thought this bass was a little too bottom endy, which is a pleasant change from all the modern, toppy-tone basses we look at. But with the control turned fully to the bass it almost seemed too muddy to be really usable without the help of a graphic. However, with the tone control turned further up to the treble the 1B does yield a bright sound with rounded bass — a bit Rickenbacker 4001ish. Incidentally, the tone pot was stiff to begin with, but loosened off with a bit of use.
For a single pickup passive instrument though, of a reasonable mid-range price, this bass is surprisingly useful and versatile. It can basically sound the way it's played; slap sounds slap, jazz sounds jazz, blues sound blues.

  • Body material: poplar 
  • Neck material: bolt on neck, of quarter sawn maple
  • Fingerboard: maple with black dot inlays
  • Pickups: J20 vintage-type split coil
  • Finish: vintage ivory
  • Nut width: 41mm
  • No.& type of frets: 21, wide oval, nickel silver
  • Weight: 8.5lbs
  • Hardware: Jackson, black finished
  • Machineheads: Jackson GB7B, enclosed
  • Controls: 1 volume; 1 tone
  • Country of origin: Japan
  • RRP: £369.00 (inc. VAT)

Specifications (20)

General

Weight
8.5 lb
Finish colorsblack finish, red finish, white finish
Made inJapan
Number of strings4 strings

Controls

Tone controls1 tone control
Volume controls1 volume control

Electronics

Pickups brand and modelCharvel pickup(s)
Pickups configuration1 split coil pickup

Body

Body materialpoplar body
Body shape featuresdouble cutaway
Body styleprecision bass style

Hardware

Bridgefixed bridge
Hardware colorblack hardware

Fretboard

Fingerboard inlay materialpearl fingerboard inlay material
Fingerboard materialrosewood fingerboard
Fingerboard position markersdot fingerboard position markers

Neck

Neck jointbolt on neck
Neck materialmaple neck
Number of frets21 fret
Tuner layoutfour-in-a-row tuners

Prices (2)

DatePriceConditionNameComments
1988Ā£369.00newguitar-listRRP
1998$100excellent

Reviews (0)

Gallery (0)

Players (0)