Charvel JEL Jake E Lee

Charvel USA Custom Shop introduces the first instrument in the Jake E Lee Signature series, the Charvel JEL Signature in Pearl White. Based on the Stratocaster Jake affectionately nicknamed “Whitey” which was re-painted, stripped down and heavily modified so much everyone assumed it was a Charvel…

For decades now, the most requested Charvel guitar ever is a Jake E Lee signature model based on the distinctive white “Charvel-ized” instrument the great guitarist has played ever since he bought it new back in 1975. With this special guitar, from his first notable successes in the early 1980s through an acclaimed career that continues today with Red Dragon Cartel, Lee remains an admired and influential musician’s musician.

The story of “Whitey” as told by Jake E Lee

“When I got to choose a guitar there were 20 Strats all had bars – except one. Fortunately I chose the Strat without the whammy bar because it sounded way better than the others and it determined my style. By the time Eddie came out everyone was playing Strats, cutting them up, throwing a humbucker in there – because that was a great idea. The single coils were way too weak to match a humbucker so i began experimenting with the pickups. Jimi Hendrix always got a good sound out of his bridge pickup – I always thought that was weird – until I examined it & I thought about it and I said ok so he plays it upside-down so instead of being slanted this way (according to his strings) they were slanted this way and I liked that whole idea because in general I like the top treble strings to be a little fatter-sounding and I like the wound strings to have more attack & sharpness. When I moved to LA everyone had custom guitars (because Eddie did) and I felt like the poor kid with my sunburst Strat. My room-mate worked in the paint room at Charvel so for my birthday he painted it white with a purple pearl overlay and for some reason he cut down the headstock and painted that too. Then I was one of the cool kids! What really set it off was the black pickguard because you’re used to seeing a white Strat with a white pickguard. And I preferred Rosewood necks which I would assume is less popular than a Maple neck. Nobody else grabbed it so it did become an iconic look for me”