I remember it well. It was 1984 and I was at
one of the hottest concerts of the summer.
There was a big buzz about this band from
Los Angeles that had just exploded onto the
music scene. They were all over MTV and the
radio, and their music was catchy, loud and
just plain rocked. Sure, they looked really cool
and had good songs, but the thing that drew
me to them right away was the guitar playing.
I had just started playing guitar that year, and
there were plenty of guitar heroes to look
up to at that time. This band had two guitar
players, but one was definitely the lead guitar
hero of the group. So there I was in the front
row watching this band rock out, and standing
right in front of me was this tall, skinny
guitar player. He was playing notes so fast
that they were a blur! I couldn’t believe the
sounds and tones coming out of this cool-looking
guitar. He switched guitars many
times that night, and all of them sounded
great. He had cool paint jobs on every guitar,
and the graphics kept getting better with
each one he played.
The band was Ratt, the guitar player was
Warren DeMartini, and the guitar was a
Charvel. I didn’t really know about Charvel
guitars at the time, but this was the year
that I was introduced to them. (Yes, Eddie
Van Halen played them first, but he had
already switched to Kramers by that time!)
Two of my favorite guitar players that year
were Warren DeMartini and Jake E. Lee from
Ozzy Osbourne’s band. Both guitarists were
from L.A., both played in Ratt (Warren actually
replaced Jake) and both had incredibly
innovative styles, not to mention tone. They
both played hot-rodded superstrats and their
guitars of choice were Charvels. I also learned
that year that those cool-looking Jackson
guitars that my ultimate guitar hero Randy
Rhoads played were actually Charvels as well.
The company has gone through a lot of
changes since its inception. I was happy to
hear that Fender had bought Charvel a few
years ago, and the intent was to return to the
high quality American-made guitars that they
were originally known for.
When I heard they were releasing a line of
Warren DeMartini signature guitars, I knew
I had to get my hands on one! The Warren
DeMartini - San Dimas line consists of three
guitars with the same basic platform, but
three different graphics to choose from. The
platform is an Alder body and the bolt-on
neck is one-piece quartersawn maple with a
12˝ – 16˝ compound radius and jumbo frets.
The hardware includes an original black Floyd
Rose tremolo, black Schaller tuners and NOS
Charvel brass strap buttons. It has a signature,
custom-designed Seymour Duncan humbucking
pickup controlled by a single volume
knob—just like every guitar Warren plays.
I often pick up new guitars and immediately
think of what I would do to change it to fit
my preferences, whether it is string height,
pickups, the feel of the neck, etc. Fortunately,
this guitar looked and felt great right out
of the box. I was impressed by the overall
craftsmanship of the guitar, with high quality
parts and flawless artwork.