The Italian virtuoso for PFM and Icefish has spec’d his guitar with a Purple Burst quilted maple top, Floyd Rose 1000 Series tremolo and much more besides
(Image credit: Charvel Guitars)
First trailed back in June, Charvel has now officially launched Marco Sfogli’s signature guitar, the – word salad alert – Marco Sfogli Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR CM QM.
Former Ibanez signature artist Sfogli is the Italian virtuoso behind prog-metal outfits PFM and Icefish, not to mention guitarist for Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie, and he’s spec’d his instrument accordingly, with performance the number-one priority.
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To that end, the guitar’s alder body features a scalloped lower back bout and sculpted shredder’s cut heel, allowing uncompromised access to the graphite-reinforced maple neck and fingerboard, which comes with a 12”-16” compound radius.
Of course, the body also comes capped with quilted maple finished in a succulent Transparent Purple Burst, topped off by a black pickguard and Strat-style knobs.
All of which makes the addition of the classic EMG SA/89 HSS configuration all the more stealthy. It’s more evidence of the company’s renewed interest in active pickups, which – along with Jim Root and Phil Sgrosso’s models – have featured on three Charvel signatures this year.
Additional tonal options come via a push/pull tone control for the bridge pickup, while a master volume and five-way pickup selector come as standard.
Floyd Rose’s 1000 Series double-locking tremolo also crops up for whammy thrills, while other neat touches include rolled fingerboard edges, Luminlay side dots and a heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel.
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All in all, Sfogli’s take on the So-Cal looks to be a well-tooled, versatile design for metal through to mellower progressive moments – lest we forget that EMG SAs are David Gilmour’s active pickups of choice.
The – all together now – Marco Sfogli Signature Pro-Mod So-Cal Style 1 HSS FR CM QM is available now for $1,599. See Charvel Guitars for more info.
Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.