CHARVEL PM BASS SD PJ V PLATINUM PRL

This new addition to the San Dimas bass family from Charvel is brimming with everything that makes these instruments legendary. The sleek design with modern touches and, in particular, the utmost attention to playability and comfort, make this bass a real treat for even the most demanding players.

At the heart of the instrument is a body made of light and wonderfully resonant alder, which provides easy access to even the highest positions on the fingerboard thanks to traditional deep cutouts. The neck, with its extra thin and fast profile, is made of specially treated baked (or caramelized) maple, which not only has improved sound characteristics and extreme strength, but also gives the instrument a unique look. The fingerboard is then fitted with twenty jumbo frets with precisely rounded edges, a variable radius that flattens towards the body, or Luminlay side position markers, for example.

As with the original instruments from the 1970s, this model features a top-of-the-line set of pickups from DiMarzio. Specifically, the J model at the neck, which can produce a very punchy and pleasingly round sound, and the P model in a position closer to the neck, which in turn gives the instrument a warm and thick sound that, when distortion is added, provides a predatory midrange. The sonic possibilities are then greatly expanded by the active electronics with a three-band EQ that can be removed from the signal path if required via the push/pull function of the volume potentiometer.

Of course, the emphasis on the hardware used in these instruments is also a matter of course. The HiMass headstock made by Charvel is capable of transmitting vibrations perfectly to the body of the instrument, the precision tuning is taken care of by a set of open-gear mechanics and the zero fret is made by Graph Tech.