Charvel DK24 HH HT Review – Comfort, Speed, and Tone

Charvel Pro-Mod DK24 HH HT M Mahogany with Figured Walnut

It’s clear that Charvel experienced a strong resurgence after becoming part of Fender. Especially with their Mexican- and Japanese-made models, they’ve been able to offer decades of accumulated know-how to guitarists at relatively more accessible price points. On top of that, their broad product range—featuring models that reflect both the spirit of today and the unmistakable vibe of the ’80s—has done a great job of keeping players satisfied.

I’ve been following Charvel’s modern operations with genuine interest and curiosity for quite some time, yet I’d never had the chance to own one of their guitars… at least not until the end of 2025. One way or another, I finally managed to get my hands on one of these intriguing Charvels: the Charvel Pro-Mod DK24 HH HT M Mahogany with Figured Walnut. Let’s take a closer look at what this long-named model—hereafter simply referred to as the Charvel DK24—has to offer in terms of details and design.

Meet the Guitar…

I picked this guitar up through a trade. Of course, I had already seen plenty of photos beforehand, but guitars with attractive, figured tops like this always look far more seductive when you see them with your own eyes. That rule definitely applies here as well: the walnut top on the front of the guitar is genuinely very hot. The flame figuring creates a beautiful contrast when combined with the mahogany body and the maple neck. Yes, the guitar has a very luxurious look thanks to its gold hardware. Normally, gold is not my preferred choice when it comes to hardware finishes. No matter the brand or the quality, it tends to wear down or oxidize over time in one way or another. Still, it’s hard to deny that it suits this guitar exceptionally well.

Let’s start by going over the official catalog specifications.

·         Made in Mexico

·         6 strings

·         25.5" scale

·         12" to 16" Compound Fretboard Radius

·         Figured Walnut top

·         2 piece Mahogany body

·         Maple neck

·         Maple fretboard

·         Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan Full Shred

·         Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan APH-1N with double hex screws

·         1 volume and 1 tone Dome knobs

·         5-way Switch

·         Charvel HT6 String-Through-Body Hardtail bridge

·         Charvel Speed Bolt-On neck

·         24 Jumbo frets

·         Charvel-Branded Die-Cast Locking tuners

·         1st Fret: 0.77'' (19.6mm) - 12th Fret: 0.83'' (21.1mm)

·         Nut Width 42.9mm (1.688'')

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxc5il-LZhc

While the figured walnut top definitely gives the guitar a very high-end appearance, I feel that the choice of black pickups gets a bit lost on the body and ends up looking somewhat understated. If it were up to me, I’d go for double-cream humbuckers—something that’s unfortunately not an option with Duncan—or at least zebra humbuckers. Even gold covers could have worked nicely, although the hex-screw pole pieces might have become an issue in that case. Still, any of these options would have looked more elegant than standard black humbuckers.

I’ll go into more detail about the pickups and the sound later on, but purely from an aesthetic standpoint, double-cream DiMarzios would have looked incredibly classy here. A double-cream PAF Pro and Super Distortion pair with black pole pieces, for example, would have been a stunning match.

As for the maple fingerboard, it’s not a bad choice in terms of contrast at all. That said, a dark ebony fingerboard—or an exotic, figured wood like cocobolo—could have pushed the visual impact even further and made the guitar look absolutely scorching.

When you Touch It

The very first thing you notice when you pick the guitar up is how surprisingly light it is. I absolutely love that—I’m a big fan of lightweight guitars and actively try to choose them whenever possible. In terms of the body, neck, and neck joint, this is an extremely comfortable and player-friendly instrument. I can safely guarantee that you’ll enjoy playing it both standing up and sitting down.

I’m not sure exactly which type of mahogany is used here, but the body is genuinely very light. In fact, in terms of density, it feels closer to something like abachi than traditional mahogany. On the flip side, this ultra-light body does result in a slight amount of neck dive. That said, since the neck is relatively thin and there’s no locking nut or similar hardware, the balance is nowhere near as problematic as on an SG. Still, if you’re using relatively slippery straps—such as DiMarzio locking straps—you may notice the neck dive a bit more, so it’s worth keeping in mind.

For this guitar, I went with an Ibanez GST62 strap to better match the body aesthetically, and functionally it worked just fine. I genuinely love Charvel’s body design here: comfortable, functional, and highly versatile from every angle. The neck-to-body joint, in particular, is outstanding—easily one of the best out there, right after the new-generation “Super All Access” neck joint found on Ibanez AZ models.

Aside from these points, I should also say a few words about the finish. The guitar features an extremely thin, transparent finish. For me, this is a definite plus, as it has clear advantages ranging from contributing to the guitar’s resonance to the tactile feel under your fingers. That said, because the finish is so thin, its protective qualities are quite limited. For this reason, I can easily imagine that some players may not be particularly fond of this aspect.

The Neck

Let’s move on to the neck. It’s made from a single piece of maple, and in my book, it’s a textbook shred neck. It’s not ultra-thin, but it’s certainly not thick either—a slim D-profile. Whether you’re playing standing up or sitting down, the level of comfort remains the same.

The maple fingerboard (seperate) features a compound radius, which allows for low string action without any choking during bends. Both lower and upper positions feel equally comfortable, and the string spacing is set up in a way that further supports this overall playability. Speaking personally, as a long-time Ibanez fan, I’ve reached a point where I can no longer get along with those paper-thin Wizard / Super Wizard-style neck profiles. If you’re in a similar situation but still play shred, rock, or metal, I think you’ll find a lot to like in Charvel’s neck profile.

On the other hand, if you’re a fan of R7 or R8 Les Paul neck profiles, or classic “baseball bat” Telecaster necks, Charvel necks will likely feel far too thin for your taste, and you may not feel at home with them.

The neck comes with 24 jumbo-size frets. They’re quite wide and truly jumbo in size (you can check out my dedicated article for more detailed thoughts on frets). This is another detail that reinforces the guitar’s shred-machine character. Another comfort-enhancing feature is the hand-rolled fingerboard edges. They deliver exactly what people refer to as a “broken-in feel,” and honestly, I haven’t experienced this level of comfort or quality of execution on any Mexican-made Fender I’ve tried so far. I was very pleased with this aspect.

Now, is this an absolutely essential parameter? Of course not. It’s not a must-have feature. But that soft, smooth feel in the palm of your hand is genuinely enjoyable—if you know what I mean ;)

Personally, I would have loved to see stainless steel frets here; for me, that’s a shortcoming. The headstock, as you know, is Fender-licensed. I really like this headstock on Strat-style guitars, but on modern instruments like this, I can’t help but think the old Charvel “beak” headstocks might have worked even better—what do you think? Also, applying the same walnut veneer to the headstock could have further enhanced the aesthetics.

The nut is a Graph Tech TUSQ XL, and I have to say it performs much better than I expected. It’s genuinely not bad at all. Could it have been better? Sure—there’s always room for improvement. But in a guitar world where you often end up having to modify or replace the nut even on so-called premium instruments, the level of workmanship here means you won’t feel the need to touch or upgrade the nut in any way.

The frets came very well set up. I'm not sure if it's just my luck, but there are no issues with any of the frets. No choking, no dead notes on bends, no fret buzz. It's all clean. When you slide your hand along the neck, you won’t feel any sharpness. Very well dressed.

I haven’t had the chance to remove the tuning machines for a closer inspection yet, but I can say that they perform their job flawlessly. Tuning stability is excellent, and the materials used feel solid and well made. I don’t see any real need to replace them.

The essence tone of the guitar is warm to neutral. No spesific frequency group dominates to others. There is no muddiness or dullness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcTVg9-PG0o

The full name of the bridge is the HT6 String-Through-Body Hardtail bridge. It looks like a fairly typical fixed bridge design. I assume it’s made of brass. There are no bad surprises here, nor any exceptionally good ones either—just as expected, it does its job perfectly well.

The Plugged Sound

First of all, I traded the guitar without any pickups installed. As you already know, this series normally comes as a combo with a Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro in the neck and a Full Shred in the bridge, paired with a 5-way selector. However, I picked this one up pickup-less, with a 3-way selector switch and two additional DPDT mini switches.

You’ve already read my reviews of the Duncan Alnico II Pro and Full Shred set—those were, in fact, the very pickups that originally came out of this guitar. That said, starting from the guitar’s acoustic tone, I decided to go with a more classic setup. I installed a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge and a DiMarzio PAF DP103 from the ’90s in the neck. The Classic Iron Maiden combo, heh? ;)

This is not a 36th Anniversary PAF, nor is it the vintage DiMarzio PAF I previously reviewed. It’s a ’90s-era PAF, and I’ll be sharing its details and measurements in an upcoming article, so I won’t go too deep into it here right now. The Super Distortion, on the other hand, is a pickup I’ve already covered extensively—and it’s actually that exact unit—so I don’t feel the need to dive into tonal specifics again.

In general terms, the neck delivers a warm and powerful tone, while the bridge offers a strong mid-focused growl. I haven’t wired or activated the mini switches, as I don’t think they’re particularly necessary for a guitar that’s essentially a rock machine. I might consider wiring one for the neck pickup at some point, but I’m not entirely sure yet. As it stands, with the simple 3-way Fender-style selector, the guitar is a straightforward and highly effective rock/shred machine—and I’m very happy with it.

Of course, I’d love to experiment with other pickups in this guitar as well. A double-cream Super Distortion would be an excellent match, for starters—and yes, I’m still working on that :) Maybe a PAF Pro in the neck too… especially if it comes in double cream. As you may know, i already have double cream Al DiMeola set. So i may think of putting that set on my Charvel. Time will show :)

With this pickup configuration, the guitar can easily cover a wide range of rock styles—and do so very successfully. Rock, heavy blues, classic heavy metal… it’s an excellent fit, especially for that ‘80s hard’n heavy style.

Conclusion

The Charvel Pro-Mod DK24 HH HT M Mahogany with Figured Walnut is a guitar that feels purpose-built for players who value comfort, speed, and practicality without sacrificing character. Lightweight construction, excellent ergonomics, a highly playable neck, and a genuinely impressive neck joint come together to create an instrument that feels inspiring the moment you pick it up. It’s clearly designed as a modern rock and shred platform—but one that still respects traditional tonal balance and musicality.

There are a few minor shortcomings worth mentioning: the control cavity cover design isn’t particularly user-friendly, the output jack could be more practical, and stainless steel frets would have been a welcome upgrade at this price point. That said, none of these issues are deal-breakers. They’re small trade-offs in an otherwise very well-thought-out instrument.

Tonally, the guitar provides a warm-to-neutral acoustic foundation with excellent balance across the frequency spectrum—no harshness, no muddiness. This makes it an ideal canvas for pickup experimentation, as proven by the DiMarzio Super Distortion and ’90s PAF combination used here. With the right pickups installed, the DK24 easily covers a wide range of rock-oriented styles, from heavy blues to classic and ‘80s-style hard rock and metal.

In short, the Charvel DK24 is not trying to be everything for everyone—and that’s exactly why it works so well. If you’re looking for a comfortable, versatile, and modern-feeling guitar that excels as a rock and shred machine, this model deserves serious consideration. For me, it’s a guitar that does what it promises—and does it convincingly.

Pros

✔ Lightweight, ergonomic, and very comfortable

✔ Fast, shred-friendly neck with compound radius

✔ Excellent neck joint and upper-fret access

✔ High-quality fretwork and hand-rolled edges

✔ Balanced, warm-to-neutral acoustic tone

✔ Strong tuning stability and reliable hardware

Cons

✖ Control cavity cover is not user-friendly

✖ Output jack design could be more practical

✖ Very thin finish offers limited protection

✖ Black pickups look visually understated✖ Stainless steel frets would have been welcome

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