Wayne Charvel, Superstrat Pioneer, Dies at 85
Wayne Charvel, Eddie Van Halen's guitar builder and a pioneer of hot rodded electric guitars known as the godfather of the Superstrat, died on July 12 at 85. His modifications and replacement parts helped establish a custom guitar culture built around player needs and performance.
From repair shop to hot rodded guitar pioneer
Charvel became interested in country and rockabilly as a teenager, then played in Southern California surf bands during the early 1960s. While working as a spray painter at a sign shop, he refinished his Fender Stratocaster in candy apple blue and began painting and repairing guitars for other players. Fender later hired him for out of warranty work, including refinishing and refretting necks and replacing coverings on amplifiers and Rhodes pianos. He first operated from his garage in West Covina, California, then opened Charvel's Guitar Repair in Azusa in early 1974. Early products included a metal jack plate for Gibson Les Pauls, a stronger Stratocaster tremolo arm and replacement pickguards. Customer demand led him to sell bodies and necks for players building or modifying their own instruments. His shop flattened fretboards, installed jumbo frets and fitted humbuckers in Stratocasters and Telecasters when players wanted more sustain than single coil pickups provided. Dave Schecter taught Charvel to make bodies, while Charvel taught Lynn Ellsworth to produce bodies and necks for the business. He also worked with Boogie Bodies, Schecter and Seymour Duncan, and stocked pickups from DiMarzio and Mighty Mite. The shop moved to a larger San Dimas facility in the fall of 1977.
Why Wayne Charvel matters to guitar players
Charvel helped turn guitar modification into a practical custom shop and DIY culture. Players could combine Fender style instruments with humbuckers, jumbo frets, replacement necks, bodies and upgraded hardware instead of accepting a factory guitar unchanged. Those performance focused combinations contributed to the development and popularity of the Superstrat, which joined familiar guitar shapes with parts chosen for rock playing. As Eddie Van Halen's guitar builder, Charvel also belongs to the history of high performance rock guitar and the player driven modification methods that shaped it.
(Via: Guitar World)