Very Valley Arts Lukather - new from Charvel

Kebabkid

Knowing how much of a Lukather fan I am, dindude kindly alerted me to this and there's more than a nod to the above

Good spec and not bad for around £1300 mark and they're due to hit these shores in October.

https://www.charvel.com/gear/shape/so-cal/style-1/marco-sfogli-signature-pro-mod-so-cal-style-1-hss-fr-cm-qm/2966036592
 
I'm not sure if there are any other finishes available although Marco plays a pink one in a demo video

normula1

That's right up my street. I always lusted after Luke's blue Valley Arts.

newi123

Oooh - that's nice!

PonchoGreg

That looks sick! Given charvel's usual quality, that could end up being an awesome boutique-style superstrat at a quite reasonable price point.

I also like that they used the rounder so-cal body contours, but did a modern heel. Nice touch.

duotone

As a Steve Lukather fan it looks brilliant.  We need more purple guitars!

Is anyone familiar with those pickups? 

“Given Sfogli’s propensity to cut across genres ranging from progressive metal to jazz, he required extremely versatile and well-balanced pickups in an HSS configuration. He selected an EMG® ’89 for the bridge, which houses separate preamps and coils to deliver that warm and powerful humbucker punch along with that bright and chiming single-coil sound. A pair of active EMG® SA single-coil pickups in the middle and neck positions bring even more of that unmistakable Strat® sound— bright and airy with rich low end. Tap into these expansive tonal options using the five-way blade pickup switch, tone control and volume control with push/pull coil splitting for the bridge pickup.“

hollywoodrox

I prefer the sunburst /gold hardware type he used to be pictured with  with the EMG pickups 
  The new cherry burst is close but you would need the gold hardware black pearloid guard & emg ‘s to look close 
  

Bennyboy-UK

Yeah I’ve got 2 guitars with exactly those pickups and they are excellent. My guitars don’t however have a conventional tone control (treble roll off) they both have SPCs and one also has an EXG as well.

personally I don’t often use the single coil model on the 89, although it’s excellent.

I’m really happy to see this guitar at this kind of price. When I saw Marco Sfoglis original custom order and the price of it (about 4 times more than this one) 

Bennyboy-UK

https://www.peachguitars.com/charvel-artist-marco-sfogli-pro-mod-so-cal-style-1-hss-fr-cm-qm-transparent-purp.htm?opt=33170&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIt62bkOmz-AIVQbDtCh3sfwNWEAQYAiABEgIbePD_BwE

£1,300 sounds good.

dindude

PonchoGreg said:

That looks sick! Given charvel's usual quality, that could end up being an awesome boutique-style superstrat at a quite reasonable price point.

I also like that they used the rounder so-cal body contours, but did a modern heel. Nice touch.

Yeah the rear contours are a really nice touch, may even take a little weight out. Really like the vibe of this even if locking trems and active pickups aren’t usually my thing. 

axisus

It looks real nice although I have moved away from Floyds somewhat, plus I do like a dark fretboard

StefB

It is a nice looking guitar, but it also perfectly demonstrates how quickly the oft discussed recent huge spikes in pricing have become embedded in our pysche such that everyone now feels £1,300+ for a Mexican (or is it Indonesian?) made guitar is good value.

I know the artist cut needs considering etc, but 2 or 3 years ago pretty much everyone on here would have baulked at paying even £899 for this.  For further reading/a balanced view, re-read every recent Epiphone thread.

Kebabkid

StefB said:

It is a nice looking guitar, but it also perfectly demonstrates how quickly the oft discussed recent huge spikes in pricing have become embedded in our pysche such that everyone now feels £1,300+ for a Mexican (or is it Indonesian?) made guitar is good value.

I know the artist cut needs considering etc, but 2 or 3 years ago pretty much everyone on here would have baulked at paying even £899 for this.  For further reading/a balanced view, re-read every recent Epiphone thread.

Mexican

Bennyboy-UK

Kebabkid said:

StefB said:

It is a nice looking guitar, but it also perfectly demonstrates how quickly the oft discussed recent huge spikes in pricing have become embedded in our pysche such that everyone now feels £1,300+ for a Mexican (or is it Indonesian?) made guitar is good value.

I know the artist cut needs considering etc, but 2 or 3 years ago pretty much everyone on here would have baulked at paying even £899 for this.  For further reading/a balanced view, re-read every recent Epiphone thread.

Mexican

You know what - reading the points I get it - and I do agree with all of them. I think I was pie-eyed with excitement with the overall design, features and finish etc.

dindude

StefB said:

It is a nice looking guitar, but it also perfectly demonstrates how quickly the oft discussed recent huge spikes in pricing have become embedded in our pysche such that everyone now feels £1,300+ for a Mexican (or is it Indonesian?) made guitar is good value.

I know the artist cut needs considering etc, but 2 or 3 years ago pretty much everyone on here would have baulked at paying even £899 for this.  For further reading/a balanced view, re-read every recent Epiphone thread.

Yeah don’t disagree, it could do with being more like £1000. At its core it’ll be the same build as a £800-£900 pro mod, so you’re paying £500 for the flame top, roasted neck, EMG’s, artist tie in. But they’ll probably churn out less of these, and it’s not enough to put me off if it was a killer guitar. 

welshboyo

I'm already looking at what I can sell to get one of these.....

I had a very Luke VA looking Charvel a few years back that I regret selling (usual story...)

duotone

axisus said:

It looks real nice although I have moved away from Floyds somewhat, plus I do like a dark fretboard

Completely agree about the fretboard. Perhaps not the best stock image to use.

guitarblaster

I’d look at this way … if that guitar was made by Suhr in the USA it would probably cost £4,000. Just looked at the new signature moderns, they’re £3999! Really, if you get a decent one of these and get it set up properly there’s not going to be much in it! 

Funkfingers

EMG-SA = blade polepiece.
EMG-SLV = rod magnets

They sound and "feel" different. My preference is the -SLV.

Litterick

I was listening to PFM before Marco Sfogli was born.

Kebabkid

Litterick said:

I was listening to PFM before Marco Sfogli was born.

Me, too

Aidanspaghetti

Did I miss the headstock photos? Could make or break it.....