“Push the boundaries of modern guitar design”: Rick Graham’s second Charvel signature is an ode to his reconnection with the guitar – and it’s got a killer relic’d pink finish

Charvel has reunited with British virtuoso and online educator Rick Graham for another signature guitar. The firm says the Pro-Mod DK24 2PT has been designed to “push the boundaries of modern guitar design.”

Graham is something of a player’s player, with Nuno Bettencourt, Greg Howe, and Joe Satriani all calling themselves fans. Meanwhile, Graham’s guitar lessons and workshops have seen him build a healthy online following.

His first signature with Charvel came in 2021. It was built off a Dinky body with some tactful scallops and contours, Gotoh hardware, and a HSS configuration of Bare Knuckle pickups. Its successor takes a fresh approach to that recipe.

Once again employing a Dinky body, it pairs alder wood with an all-maple bolt-on neck, said to be “super fast”, and a 12″ – 16″ compound radius fretboard with 24 jumbo frets and rolled edges. There’s also a Stratocaster-style reverse headstock with a bare maple finish, rather than matching the aged and flaking body finish.

Gotoh’s presence remains among the hardware touches, with a Custom 510 fixed bridge with chrome whammy bar augmented by Charvel die-cast locking tuners. There’s also a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut and Luminlay side dots, while the fretboard inlays are black dots.

For the electronics, the Bare Knuckles have been cast aside in favour of custom-wound Charvel pickups, with the HSS setup retained. Charvel promises the pups will deliver Graham’s signature and ultra-versatile voice on a well-rounded instrument.

Aesthetically, it’s impossible to ignore its distressed satin shell pink nitrocellulose finish, with chrome hardware, and its maple fretboard capping the look.

“When my first model came out, it felt like a milestone,” Graham reflects. “It captured who I was, what I needed, and what I wanted to say, but time moves on. A lot has changed in my playing and in my life – I’ve been through some ups and downs.

“But in that space, I found myself reconnecting with my love of the instrument; the feeling it gives you. This new signature is a reflection of that – of who I am now, and where I’m heading.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of relics,” he adds. “They look and feel like they’ve lived, like they have a story to tell. It’s calling out to be picked up and for those stories to continue.”

The Charvel Rick Graham Signature Pro-Mod DK24 2PT is available now for $1,799.99.

Head to Charvel for more.

It’s not the first time Charvel has leaned into the relic hype in recent times, with its Pro-Mod series, standard range, and its SoCal Superstrat all getting in on the act.

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He’s also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.