For the first time, Charvel is now offering a more affordable version of Jake E. Lee‘s hallowed So-Cal guitar, with the release of his signature Pro-Mod So-Cal. Like his USA So-Cal, this instrument is based on the distinctive white “Charvel-ized” instrument the great guitarist acquired in 1975 by working at a music store to earn trade credit.
Although originally a Sunburst Fender Strat, it was painted by Lee‘s roommate, who worked at Charvel, as a birthday present. While he was at it, he also cut down the headstock and added a Charvel logo to it. Other mods soon followed to the iridescent Pearl White guitar, including a new black pickguard and reverse slanting of the single-coil middle and neck pickups — an idea inspired by hearing the tones Jimi Hendrix was getting from playing his Strat upside down.
This 25.5″-scale Pro-Mod signature offering features an alder body and bolt-on maple neck with graphite reinforcement and hand-rubbed satin urethane finish on the back. Built for high performance, the 12″-16″ compound radius rosewood fingerboard features comfortably rolled edges, 21 jumbo frets and white dot inlays. Neck relief tweaks can be conveniently made on the fly with the heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel.
A Seymour Duncan JB SH-4 humbucking bridge pickup hits with a powerful low end and radiant highs, while the single-coil DiMarzio SDS-1 DP111 middle and neck pickups add punch, warmth and gain with a deeper and darker bottom end. This versatile axe also features a five-way blade switch, single volume Strat-style skirt control knob, hardtail bridge with black base plate and Charvel tuning machines with pearl buttons.
Primed to steal the spotlight, the Jake E Lee Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS HT RW is wrapped in an iridescent Pearl White finish with black pickguard, black hardware and licensed Fender Strat headstock.
Made famous during Jake‘s Ozzy Osbourne era, the Pearl White So-Cal remains a fan favorite that Charvel has now brought to Lee‘s legions of fans in a more affordable Pro-Mod form.
“When I was coming up in the ’80s, Charvel was the cool guitar to have,” says Lee. “40 years later, it still is.”
Lee blazed trails in the 1980s with RATT and ROUGH CUTT before landing his legendary gig as Ozzy‘s lead guitarist. His acclaimed career continued with BADLANDS and now RED DRAGON CARTEL, and Charvel has been there every step of the way. The iconic models that have always accompanied Lee in the studio and on the stage are among the most requested in the Charvel collection.