1978 Danelectro/Charvel Star vs Gibson SG Custom 1973
The 1978 Danelectro/Charvel Star and the Gibson SG Custom 1973 are both electric guitars.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.54% — moderately similar
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Hard Rock
- Rock
1978 Danelectro/Charvel Star
Danelectro · electric guitar
Gibson SG Custom 1973
Gibson · electric guitar
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$6799via Reverb
This 1978 instrument combines Danelectro, the budget guitar maker known for masonite-bodied guitars with lipstick-tube pickups through the 1950s and 60s, with Charvel, the California shop that became central to the late-1970s custom Superstrat scene before launching its own production line. A Star-shaped body from this era and pairing reflects the period when boutique builders like Charvel were reworking and customising cheaper guitars for rock players chasing more aggressive, higher-output instruments than mainstream manufacturers offered. It is catalogued here with an Eddie Van Halen association, consistent with Van Halens well-documented practice of having guitars modified and rebuilt by shops including Charvel in this period.
Dave Murray can be seen holding a three-pickup Gibson SG on the back cover of Iron Maiden's second album Killers, a guitar likely dating to 1973 based on its block inlays and triple-pickup layout consistent with an SG Custom, and its bridge lacking a tremolo arm, a standard SG Custom feature only through 1973. By the time it was photographed, the neck pickup had been swapped for a high-output bladed humbucker, most likely a DiMarzio X2N, though that pickup wasn't introduced until 1979, meaning the guitar was modified sometime after its Killers-era appearances. The guitar made no further documented appearances following the Killers tour but resurfaced decades later during Iron Maiden's Future Past Tour for a performance of Wasted Years.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Electronic
- Metal
- Blues