As the Camp Fire continues to rage in northern California, it has been reported that among the victims who lost homes to the blaze is famed guitar builder Wayne Charvel.
One of the most celebrated guitar builders of the past 40 years, Charvel helped to usher in the Eighties “superstrat” era by producing guitars and selling parts and aftermarket modifications for the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, former Ratt guitarist Warren DeMartini, former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee and Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora, among many others.
“Eddie came by the shop a lot and sometimes would sit on the floor and play the guitar while we repaired some of his other guitars,” Charvel recalled to Guitar World in 2010. “One day, Eddie came over to the shop and asked if I had an extra body and neck. I told him that I had an extra Boogie Body neck and an old body in my shop. I gave Ed the parts, and the next time I saw the guitar he had used a spray can to paint it white with black stripes. He used nails to hold the pickup in the body.”
Charvel’s current home and workshop was located in Paradise, California, and it was destroyed along with the home of his son, Michael, and other family members who lived in the area. Michael spoke to Popular Mechanics, recalling:
"After we evacuated, my brother-in-law, the fire chief, checked on all of our places including our workshop. He said, ‘I’m sorry to tell you guys but there’s nothing here anymore.’
“Gone. My dad’s got years and years making the templates and the jigs and all the tooling and the custom bits and in less than a couple hours,