Jake E. Lee’s Charvel signature guitar has been revived, with the Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HSS HT RW taking key inspiration from his infamous Ozzy Osbourne-era electric guitar.
Following the tragic death of Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee brought stability to the Prince of Darkness’ band, producing two albums – Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin – during a five-year spell in the group.
Much of that period was defined by his Blue Burst Charvel Superstrat, and after a triumphant return to Ozzy’s side at Back to the Beginning, the guitar has been reprised, colorway and all.
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Unsurprisingly, it’s well-spec'd, with an alder body carved in the San Dimas shape that Lee was one of the earliest supporters of. There's also a bolt-on maple neck and 12-16” compound radius rosewood fingerboard, capped with 22 medium jumbo frets and white dot inlays.
There’s an interesting, all-powerful pickup combination: a Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker pairs with a DiMarzio SDS-1 middle and neck slanted single-coils for an HSS configuration.
The slanted pups, he says, is a result of Jimi Hendrix, who's leftpaw playing on right-handed guitars meant the pickups were angled in a unique way. So, expect this sleek beast to be capable of “expressive playing” aplenty as it “covers every corner of Jake’s dynamic playing style.”
While whammy bar enthusiasts might decry its Charvel hardtail bridge, it’s in place at Lee’s request to be able to withstand his vibrato style, bolster sustain, and keep its tuning in check.
In a launch video, Lee tells Charvel he’d dreamed of owning a Strat for ages before he had enough dough to buy one. He’d always imagined having one with a whammy before, but after trying eight or nine different models out, he found the hardtail model “sounded better.”
Yet of all the specs, the one that’s perhaps most exciting is the return of the Blue Burst finish that colorized his Ozzy days. As Charvel says, “its return on this signature is a bold, unmistakable nod to the era that defined his legacy.”
In the early ‘80s, after taking his Sunburst Strat to Hollywood, Lee's friend, who worked at Charvel, offered him a respray for his birthday, resulting in what he calls a “lavender sheen”. He played that for much of the Bark at the Moon era, alongside a model originally made for Allan Holdsworth.
As Lee puts, it, “They were sending me leftovers that other people hadn’t picked up. After Ultimate Sin, I felt I should have something a bit more personalized.”
The Blue Burst arrived ahead of The Ultimate Sin tour, and was actually green at first. But he soon realized it looked ugly under stage lights.
“Everything about the Strat is so beautifully designed and perfect,” says Lee. “It is the quintessential electric guitar, and this is my home base.”
The Charvel Jake E. Lee Signature Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HSS HT RW is available now for $1,399.99/£1,399/€1,649.
See Charvel for more.
Meanwhile, Lee has spoken to Guitar World about his battle with Ozzy to make The Ultimate Sin a more eclectic record, and has stood by it, regardless of what the critics may say.
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