Earlier this year, Charvel offered us a teasing glimpse of its signature guitar lineup for 2022, among which was a battered-and-bruised Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 electric guitar for Swedish progressive heavy metal maestro Henrik Danhage.
Now, the Evergrey guitarist’s all-new battle axe has been officially launched, in all its heavily relic’d glory.
As per the initial announcement, the brutal-looking model comes equipped with a Strat-style ash body, which is treated to an immensely worn White Relic finish. It's joined by a bolt-on maple neck – again, relic’d to the nth degree – as well as a 12”-16” compound radius maple fingerboard.
Elsewhere, the 25.5”-scale model features Charvel-branded die-cast tuners, a heel-mount truss rod wheel and neck-reinforcing graphite rods that promise to provide “superior support against bending and extreme environmental fluctuations."
As for controls, the two pickups are dictated via a single tone-labeled volume control – a neat homage to Eddie Van Halen’s own guitar – which serves as a push-push pickup selector pot. While the down position engages the bridge pickup, the up position toggles the single-coil.
Of his new six-string, the Swedish axe slinger says, “Charvel nailed every aspect of my signature model. It’s radical and extreme looking with the relic pattern and the reverse headstock, and it has the perfect feel and playability.
“And sound wise,” he added, “it has everything. I can do the most brutal things with it as well as super-clean beautiful and atmospheric soundscapes. It’s the whole package."
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Henrik Danhage’s Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 is available now for $1,699. For more information, visit Charvel.
It’s the latest Charvel signature to be officially unveiled, following the arrival of Sean Long's signature Pro-Mod San Dimas Style 1 HH HT M earlier this month. New Jake E. Lee and Satchel models are also set to officially arrive later this year.
