How come we all don't play Carvin instruments & amps/cabs?

[DJ Bebop]

Originally Posted by WoodyG3

It would be $1708, actually. I don't know of any other "custom shop" that would produce an instrument like that for less. A base model B40, passive with standard paint, costs $699, add the case and shipping and you are still under $800. So, yes, there is quite a range of prices.



This B40 looks pretty traditional to me.



But, again, everyone likes something different. I just think a lot of people are only familiar with one or two Carvin models and pickup choices, and think that represents the whole brand.

That looks like something Jaco would rock if...

[pgullo64]

Imagine there's no Fenders, it's easy if you try, no need for Zons or Dingwalls, or above all a Sadowsky. Imagine all the people, playing, a Carvin... Ooh hoooo

[Grateful]

Originally Posted by Herrick

Nice! I'd like to check out something like that but with a single coil bridge pickup, and maybe a 3 + 2 headstock. Did you do the routing & pickup installation yourself?

You can get it with the B50 or Icon headstock shapes as well. I did not do the routing. Pat Wilkins wound the pickup and did the routing and installation. I'm probably getting ready to do something similar to a different model, but I'm stuck on which wood and color direction to go.

[Direct Box Rox]

Originally Posted by two fingers

Wow, we're the same age. A post like that and I would have figured you for younger. That was not a stab, just an observation.

Let's take your line of thought to it's logical conclusion, shall we?

Why doesn't everyone drive a hybrid?
Why doesn't everyone watch what they eat?
Why doesn't everyone exercise?
Why doesn't everyone wear jeans from Wal-Mart, because CLEARLY they are the same quality for much less money?????

I won't beat you up too badly. You see where I'm going here.

I have owned two Carvin basses and really enjoyed my time with them. I am really into different stuff right now. It's just that simple. People are into different things.

First off, there' s no such thing as a Carvin P bass. That cuts out 40% of the bass market right there.....

Ah never mind. It's a ridiculous question and I went way too far down the road to answering it.

Glad you like them. Cheers.

Your analogy with Walmart & hyrid cars is not applicable. It makes no sense, although being from NC, I'm sure you frequent Wal Mart often.

I bow down to you, intellectually superior North Carolina man. I am honored that you took the time to respond with a message that made no sense. Thank you.

[Kmonk]

Originally Posted by Direct Box Rox

Unless we are all wealthy (I am not), how come all of do not play Carvin? It would seem to make sense if you are willing to pay $3000 for a Sadowsky (or fill in "Sadowsky" with any other boutique co.) that we would be willing to pay half of that for something that is arguably equal or better.

.

I couldn't disagree more. I have several reasons for not using Carvin. First of all, I will not buy anything that I cannot try first. Second, in the early 1980s my band had Carvin monitors. We were not happy with them at all. Third, last year I bought a used LB75 from a local seller who needed money. I paid $250 for it and figured that even if I didn't like it, I could sell it and make some money in the process. I played the bass for a week and found that while the workmanship was very good, it lacked clarity and punch. I couldn't dial in a good tone. I sold it for $750.

For these reasons I use MIA Fenders, Alembic and Spector Euro. My amps have been Hartke, GK and now am back with Ampeg.

My philosophy has always been that people should play what they like regardless of what anyone else thinks.

[BBox Bass]

This has been most interesting and quite timely for me. I never had much of an opinion about Carvin beyond that I used to play with a guy who had one of their PAs and it sounded good. However, a couple months ago I bought a project LB76 on Ebay. It was a good price and I'd been wanting to try my hand at a 6-string. The bass had a broken truss rod and cracked fingerboard. It was missing the pickups, preamp, and knobs, and someone had started to sand the finish off the body, but the rest of the hardware was included. It also came with a Coffin case!

My tech removed the fingerboard and found what he deemed a flimsy factory rod, which he said was doomed to fail because the neck was weak. He installed one of his own rods, made a new board, and replaced the frets and inlays. I just got it back today and have spent a couple hours sanding off the remains of the finish. I'm going to stain it pink.

After reading the last 13 pages of posts, I'm really anxious to find out how it sounds and plays.

[Showdown]

Originally Posted by BBox Bass

This has been most interesting and quite timely for me. I never had much of an opinion about Carvin beyond that I used to play with a guy who had one of their PAs and it sounded good. However, a couple months ago I bought a project LB76 on Ebay. It was a good price and I'd been wanting to try my hand at a 6-string. The bass had a broken truss rod and cracked fingerboard. It was missing the pickups, preamp, and knobs, and someone had started to sand the finish off the body, but the rest of the hardware was included. It also came with a Coffin case!

My tech removed the fingerboard and found what he deemed a flimsy factory rod, which he said was doomed to fail because the neck was weak. He installed one of his own rods, made a new board, and replaced the frets and inlays. I just got it back today and have spent a couple hours sanding off the remains of the finish. I'm going to stain it pink.

After reading the last 13 pages of posts, I'm really anxious to find out how it sounds and plays.

Several years ago, 2009 I think, Carvin beefed up their truss rods. They are much heavier now.

I have an Icon 6 with the old "flimsy" truss rod and it has been solid. I never need to adjust it, even when I went from nickel RW to TI flats it didn't need an adjustment. I also have a 5 string B5 with the old rod and it also has been solid. But the old rods are smaller, so I can see why some might think they are flimsy.

Most of the time when a truss rod is broken it is because someone forced it when it was already at the end of the threads. In that case the "flimsy" old rod might break easier than the new ones, but you should never do that anyway.

[Floyd Eye]

I do have a couple Carvin guitars/basses and I like them very much. Very high quality instruments with necks to die for.


You couldn't give me another Carvin amp or speaker cab though.

[Showdown]

Originally Posted by Floyd Eye

I do have a couple Carvin guitars/basses and I like them very much. Very high quality instruments with necks to die for.


You couldn't give me another Carvin amp or speaker cab though.

This is another thing they have improved in the last few years. I had a Carvin bass amp in the 90s that wasn't very good, especially the speakers, but I have a BX-600 head and 2x10 cabinet that are really nice, clean and powerful with a lot of tone shaping ability.

Lately I have been playing GK though.

[bucephylus]

Originally Posted by Direct Box Rox

Unless we are all wealthy (I am not), how come all of do not play Carvin? It would seem to make sense if you are willing to pay $3000 for a Sadowsky (or fill in "Sadowsky" with any other boutique co.) that we would be willing to pay half of that for something that is arguably equal or better.

You will find as many answers as there are musicians out there.

In my case, my wife wants to know the answer to the same question and can not understand my obsession with finding "the perfect bass," even after 42 years of playing!

However, the other day, she consented to listen to a blind test comparing several basses I have recorded on gigs where the band posted on YouTube. Lo and behold, she picked out the Sadowsky in about 2 seconds. Though a Carvin was not involved, several other well accepted and respected basses were represented (Fender, Tobias etc).

Then she reminded me that, though there was a distinguishable difference, the average listener doesn't care.

OK, fair enough.

But, it depends on your objective. In my case, I go in and out of cover bands where the bass position is VERY competitive. Having a superior sound counts.

Oh, BTW, you can buy a drop in Sadowsky on-board preamp and put that in a used Fender Jazz for about what you pay for a Carvin.

So, there are options. Just depends on what you intend.

Also, BTW, it helps to play well to begin with.

[mjac28]

All this Carvin talk is making me hungry for a Carvin.

[wvbass]

Originally Posted by JoeWPgh

I'm sure they're better than they used to be, and they aren't as ugly as they used to be, but they used to be over priced El Cheapos that were horribly set up off the shelf. I've never felt the need to revisit them.

I am not sure this has ever been true. I've played and owned Carvins from the past several decades, and I just don't agree.

[rbolanos]

just ordered a SB5000
ash body
maple board with black block inlays
chrome hardware

can't wait for this thing to come..at that price, can't go wrong. its supposed to be a really good fender jazz bass replica (single coils), with high quality materials.
from the reviews, sound clips, live shows. i think it sounds great. i am sure it'll be a keeper.
but I can see why a warwick,ken smith, P bass type of guy wouldn't go for this type of sound 9fender jazz).
cheers.
bass will look like the one on the right, except with block inlays and black pickguard...sorry if this is not the right spot to place this.. just saw Carvin, and jumped on it

[bassgod0dmw]

I'm sure they make a nice bass, but they do absolutely nothing for me.

[Pbass4003]

Originally Posted by boristhespider9

It's always been the pointy headstock shapes and then the half-hearted attempt to add some less-pointy ones. Also, Carvin's logo is the ugliest in the business -- boxy, outdated, unelegant, all caps, looks like a bad WordPerfect font. The ugly logo taints everything they put it on even when the rest of the product looks good.

Again, headstock shapes, logo and general association with unknown artists. When they do finally get a "big-name" endorser like Joe Walsh or Hugh McDonald, it's pretty rare to see them play their Carvins in public.

Did I mention pointy headstocks and ugly logo?

Oh...and I own an SB4000 and used the Carvin PB500 full stack as my main rig for many years.

Yup, this!

[lowphatbass]

From a visual point of view they just don't sit right with me, I don't care what the name or logo on the headstock says. I find the shapes either boring or overdone, the hardware looks cheap and the designs seem to lack in forward thinking yet aren't "classic" either...if that makes any sense.

I don't mind the concept of "boutique" type basses at a bargain price...it's obviously not a bad business model for them. I find the lower line, or "boutique bargains" from companies like G&L, Lakland, Warwick, MM, Sadowski, Dingwall, even Ibanez, etc carry the DNA and design goals of their premium line pretty well. You tend to get a similar tonal range, feel and playability considering the price differential. With a Carvin you don't get that well to draw from. It seems like they're just building bass guitars out of nice wood with a lot of options at a really fair price....but what is that Carvin sound? I've never been able to identify it, I know it's "clean" and maybe that's a good thing for some folks, I can certainly respect it!

[ggvicviper]

I took a look at the Carvin website after dinner. The standard bolt on models are nice, particularly the SB series. The rest really aren't my cup of tea at all.

Regardless, I'm sure as many others have said, they are really nice playing basses.

[cybersnyder]

Originally Posted by ggvicviper

I took a look at the Carvin website after dinner. The standard bolt on models are nice, particularly the SB series. The rest really aren't my cup of tea at all.

Regardless, I'm sure as many others have said, they are really nice playing basses.

I'm not sure it they would sell a lot more SB's if they went with a standard Jazz styling or if it's better to go with a unique design. I think the SB's sound great, but something about the body / headstock remind me of those odd Japanese guitars from the 70's.

[hsech]

Carvin is not a "boutique" bass nor is it meant to be. I have two Carvin Basses (4 string and 5 string) with active/passive electronics. I also have an American Standard PBass and a Gibson SG/EB3 short scale. The Carvins are my go to basses because of all the tonal variation I get out of them. Not only that, they are beautiful basses with through body construction and string thru Hip Shot bridges. I added Hip Shot brass bridges to both my PBass and my Gibson bass, but they just don't sing and thump like the Carvins. To each their own, but Carvin makes a well made, good looking work horse of a bass that gets good comments every time they come out of the case. The Gibson and PBass are a dime a dozen, seems like everyone owns one but I've found that each Carvin is unique and has it's own character. If I wanted a high priced boutique bass I would buy one but I prefer reasonably priced and practical. At 64 years old I know what I like.

[NelsonNelson]

^^ I like this guy's response. My "mentor" friend who is in his 60's, who got me into bass owns about 20 Fenders...and about 5 or so Carvins, and he loves the Carvins more than his 20 Fenders for all the same reasons.