The guitar industry is far more cutthroat and trendy than most people know. Favorite brands and styles come and go like fashion. A hot new band or player can turn today's pawnshop deadwood into tomorrow's hot vintage collectable. Witness the renewed interest in the Fender Jaguar thanks to the success of shotgun enthusiast Kurt Cobain (Nirvana).

While players like to think today's "hot" brands reached the top by virtue of superior quality, the truth is most players can't tell a good guitar from a crap one. Instead, they base their choices on what the celebrities play. If it's good enough for Eddie Van Halen or Kurt Cobain, it's good enough for them. Therefore, it is more effective for a guitar company to spend money on celebrity endorsements than on quality control. Association with a name player makes a guitar an automatic success, period.

Wayne Charvel opened Charvel's Guitar Repair in 1974 in Azusa, CA. He started doing custom work on guitars and providing high quality aftermarket parts. He also had a frequent visitor in his shop by the name of Eddie Van Halen. If you have Van Halen I, take a look at the black-and-white striped guitar on the cover -- Wayne sold Eddie the parts for it. Wayne also made, at Ed's request, the black-and-yellow guitar body on the cover of Van Halen II.

What happened next is a little murky thanks, I assume, to contracts and non-disclosure agreements. We know this: because of Van Halen, Charvel became one of the most sought-after guitar makers in the business. He joined up with another high-quality builder named Grover Jackson. Jackson/Charvel became one of the most (perhaps THE most) recognized and respected guitar makers of the 80s.

Much has been written about rock stars and their lack of business sense. These goofs are nothing compared to the business errors and quick sellouts commited by some of the big names in guitars. It is extremely difficult for a craftsman to maintain attention to detail while meeting overwhelming consumer demand. Once successful, small builders almost invariably give way to mass production and corporate profit/loss principles. Over time, Jackson/Charvel became a company and a brand rather than an extension of its founders.

For companies, just making the best on the market isn't good enough. They want to dominate the market. That means reaching out to customers who want their brand but can't afford it. If Jackson/Charvel wanted to sell more guitars, they need to lower the price. If they wanted to lower the price without reducing profits, they needed to build guitars more cheaply. Unfortunately, they couldn't go much cheaper on materials. The solution was to find cheaper labor. Charvel guitars started to be made in Japan.

Truthfully, Japanese factories turned out some damn fine guitars in the 80s and 90s. They were, in fact, much better than the high-dollar American guitar companies would admit. After all, how do they sell an "upgrade" to an American-made product when the Japanese counterpart is as good or better? The imported Japanese Charvels were good instruments. They just didn't have that "American-made" snob value anymore. And they weren't as good as the instruments Wayne originally made.

Charvel had become just another low-cost entry- to mid-level guitar. The Charvel name no longer commanded respect. Even worse, it began to be associated with legions of obnoxious beginning shred metal wannabes.

Meanwhile, circumstances in the guitar world had changed. Eddie Van Halen had long since started using and endorsing Kramer guitars (then Music Man, then Peavey). Ibanez picked up endorsements from most of the other heroes. The whole metal guitar virtuoso sensation eventually gave way to sensitive grunge. Kids didn't want speed demon guitars with cool paint jobs anymore.

The "Charvel" guitars no longer bore any resemblence to the intruments Wayne originally built. The Jackson/Charvel company attempted to capitalize on the name one last time with the "Charvel San Dimas" line of guitars. It turned out to be a limited production run. There are now no longer any new guitars produced under the "Charvel" name, though Jackson Guitars, Inc. is reportedly considering reviving the brand. As for Wayne, he still makes guitars but is apparently legally blocked from putting the Charvel name on them. After all, we wouldn't want to mislead the buyer into thinking the guitars Wayne makes are made by Jackson/Charvel. The fact many people mistakenly believe their Charvel was made by Wayne is immaterial, as are Jackson/Charvel's deliberate efforts to foster that misconception.

Wayne's new guitars are faithful reproductions of his original rock guitars. Having named the company after himself again (first name), I only hope he is more careful this time around. I wouldn't want to see the man risk a lawsuit every time he signs his name.