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Calling all Carvin X54 (Xccelerator) owners!

pablomigraine

pablomigraine

Commercial User
Feb 9, 2005
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New York
neuraldsp.com
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Director of Commercial Sales - Neural DSP
#1
Carvin X-series owners!! Was hoping i could pick your brain a bit, as im getting ready to order one of these.

A friend of mine whose opinion i trust as regards TONE and live sound, but not so much playability and build quality, has strongly recommended this bass. Im looking for something VERY aggressive sounding, as thats the one thing my Laklands dont do well. My friend knows great tone, but hasn't really owned any hi-end basses to compare to and isn't nearly as picky as I am about build quality and setup... and at $1,700 as optioned, there is some stiff competition... the Carvin is in the lead because i can option it exactly how i want, and based on tonal recommendations. Other basses I am considering are the Dingwall Combustion, G&L USA L2500, Spector Legend with upgraded Aguilar DCB pups.

So here are my questions:

1) Some have said the bridge saddles on carvin basses bottom out before being able to achieve really low action. A good bass with the saddles bottomed out should have the frets literally pressed down onto the last 6 frets. Whats your bass like in this regard?

2) Some have complained about poor fretwork on these. Basses I've owned that I've considered to have excellent fretwork are Lakland, USA Spector, 90's Warwicks, MTD Custom, Pedulla, Zon. How does your X54 stack up in this regard to the nicer basses you've played? How do you set your bass up?

3) How has the neck stability been? Have you needed to adjust the truss often?

4) Can you please compare the tone of this bass to other basses you have played? Some have said their Carvins sounded "thin" live... but the new soapbars in singlecoil have garnered a TON of love lately... my bass will be optioned with the soapbar SC bridge and P neck, but will likely see an upgrade to ceramic magnet pups. I rarely use the onboard electronics on my basses... volume and blend only. All my EQ'ing happens on my amps... GB Streamliner 900 or Carvin B1500. Once or twice I've used the bass control on my basses live to cure "Room Boom" mid-song. ....

Again, the other basses I am considering are the Dingwall Combustion, G&L USA L2500, Spector Legend with upgraded Aguilar DCB pups. If anyone owns any of these AND the X54, I'd love a comparison...

You have my thanks in advance for any help!
 
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#2
I've never played an Xccellerator, but have owned a Carvin LB70 for 17 years, and I'm getting ready to order a PB4 soon. Carvin basses are solid and extremely well crafted. I've NEVER heard complaints of bridges bottoming out or poor fretwork.

My LB70 has a tung oiled 5 piece neck. I am constantly tweaking the truss rod, but it's not a big deal. It goes out a little with changes in humidity or after letting it sit idle for long periods, but I can quickly put it back. And I've had no problems with warpage or twisting.

As for electronics and tone, I think Carvin has come a long way. Maybe they're not for everyone, but they have quite a few pickups to choose from. I'm pretty sure there are some demo videos of X Series and other Carvin basses on youtube.
 
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#3
Bob Coldwell said:
......

My LB70 has a tung oiled 5 piece neck. I am constantly tweaking the truss rod, but it's not a big deal. It goes out a little with changes in humidity or after letting it sit idle for long periods, but I can quickly put it back....... I'm pretty sure there are some demo videos of X Series and other Carvin basses on youtube.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply! Thats a little disheartening about the truss. How has the tung oil finish worn over time? I absolutely despise gloss poly necks....

There WAS a great demo video of the X54 both on youtube and Carvin's website..... but they're nowhere to be found now... anyone have a link?
 
#4
Well, I know lots of people will tell you their Carvins' or any other basses' necks don't budge. Mine does, but it's a minor thing. And maybe I'm super picky about my neck relief.

The tung oil has held up fine. I wipe it with lemon oil three or four times a year. Many say this only cleans, rather than "moisturizes". Either way, it's as smooth and solid as ever.

If you can't find Xccellerator videos, look up other Carvin basses that have the same pickups. That should get you in the ballpark.
 
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#5
Haven't played one of those. But my 3 LB series basses I owned all had rock solid necks and would go to a much lower action than I could play. I loaned one of them out several times for guys to use in the studio because Carvin J99 pickups are some of the best all around pickups I have ever heard. They were able to slam the action down where they liked it just fine.

Order with confidence if quality is your main concern. If resale value is high on your list look elsewhere.
 
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#6
Bob Coldwell said:
Well, I know lots of people will tell you their Carvins' or any other basses' necks don't budge. Mine does, but it's a minor thing. And maybe I'm super picky about my neck relief.

The tung oil has held up fine. I wipe it with lemon oil three or four times a year. Many say this only cleans, rather than "moisturizes". Either way, it's as smooth and solid as ever.

If you can't find Xcellerator videos, look up other Carvin basses that have the same pickups. That should get you in the ballpark.
Click to expand...

two fingers said:
Haven't played one of those. But my 3 LB series basses I owned all had rock solid necks and would go to a much lower action than I could play. I loaned one of them out several times for guys to use in the studio because Carvin J99 pickups are some of the best all around pickups I have ever heard. They were able to slam the action down where they liked it just fine.

Order with confidence if quality is your main concern. If resale value is high on your list look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Thanks all... As far as videos... There really isn't anything else in their lineup with a P/SB pickup combo... As far as resale.... This is going to likely be a forever bass.
 
#7
1) My Late 90s/early 2000s LB76F action could go lower if it wasn't for the big ole bridge saddles. My 2012 LB76 has the newer bridge which is slimmer so the action gets lower... the saddles are still bottomed out. My 2012 LB76 has a great low action though, B string is around 2mm, I doubt you would want it any lower.

2) I have never heard the poor fretwork complaints. Both mine are good, yes they both have dead spots, but the board/fret work is solid. The biggest complaints I heard about were with neck stability, but this was limited to the 90s and one-piece necks from everything I could find. I built my LB76 with a multi-piece neck just to be safe.

3) Good but it is still a California bass. My climate goes through pretty drastic changes though so basses move a lot. The Carvins are not extremely stable nor are they notorious for moving. My EBMM Stingray moves far more.

4) My LB76F had a very jazz bass tone. It had much more character than my 2012 LB76, it has the radius humbuckers. I would define my radiused soapbars as safe. They lack real character but they are pretty flexible. The tone is solid it just doesn't stand out in a crowd if that makes sense. I put Lane Poors into my LB76F and they sound absolutely fantastic. Check out Alien Ant Farm's "Movies" for an idea of their tone, those are my exact pickups.

If you are after "aggressive" tone then I would not recommend Carvin based on my experience but Carvin does have lots of options so I cannot really speak for the entire brand. I only have experience with LB76 basses, nothing else. The radiused humbuckers do play nicely with dirt though, you can always try and make them a little more aggressive. I would definitely say playability is Carvin's strong point while tone is their weakpoint, the piezo is the highlight of the electronics in my LB76.
 
#8
I don't want to sound like a fan boy, but I'm buying my first new bass in many years and it's probably going to be a Carvin. The reason is that they have so many options and their R&D is always busy. You really can't judge their current products by what they did ten years ago.

About the stability of their necks: They advertise that their wood is kiln dried for months before the necks are manufactured (or something like that). Also, they install graphite (?) rods in all of their necks, which I think they did for a while in the past and are now doing again.

Agreed about the fretwork and action. It is among the best, at least in that price range. My LB70 is a 1999, and the bridge saddles aren't bottomed out. I have it set at right around 3/32" at the last fret, which is Carvin's spec.
 
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#9
Sounds like, at worst, the bass may need a pickup upgrade. I rarely, if ever, use the onboard electronics on active basses, but it sounds like this may need to go as well. I'll have to factor in the cost of these upgrades in my decision.

Anyone else?
 
#10
Bob Coldwell said:
I don't want to sound like a fan boy, but I'm buying my first new bass in many years and it's probably going to be a Carvin. The reason is that they have so many options and their R&D is always busy. You really can't judge their current products by what they did ten years ago.

About the stability of their necks: They advertise that their wood is kiln dried for months before the necks are manufactured (or something like that). Also, they install graphite (?) rods in all of their necks, which I think they did for a while in the past and are now doing again.

Agreed about the fretwork and action. It is among the best, at least in that price range. My LB70 is a 1999, and the bridge saddles aren't bottomed out. I have it set at right around 3/32" at the last fret, which is Carvin's spec.
Click to expand...

If I had an LB70F my saddles wouldn't be bottomed out either, it's the B string that causes issues. Sorry, I wasn't very clear in my previous post.
 
#13
Bob Coldwell said:
Wait, are you saying you have the single coil radiused pickups and you're changing to the humbucker radiused? Or are you talking about the regular soapbars?
Click to expand...
No I have the single radiused pickups in but I'm changing them to the Aguliar Super Doubles. I do have the carvin humbucker radiused in my Kiesel Vader bass,(shown in my avatar), and I really like them, but don't want to same pickups in my Vanquish, plus I'm intrigued to hear the Super Doubles in there.
 
#16
pablomigraine said:
Last try.....

Any X54 owners who want to chime in?
Click to expand...
This may bump your question. I just want to say that I changed my mind and actually really like the tone of the single radiused pups now. I think since my technique developed it's making very desired sounds now. I thought at first the low b was weak, when actually it was well balanced with the other strings and I leaned how to make it louder with dynamics if I wanted to produce that larger low b tone. Also I leaned how to dime in the active eq. All I need now is to have a passive tone knob installed..
 
#17
Bumping a 10-year-old thread…

Can anyone confirm the location of the p pickup on these?
I’m trying to find a six string p bass, and one of these looks like my best bet. Guitar center has got used one for sale right now.

I was about to pull the trigger on another bass, and I was surprised to confirm that the precision pick up is not located where it would be on a fender.

can anyone measure from the metal of the 12th fret to the center of the plastic pick up covers? Just the front (neck) coil should be enough to confirm. If I recall its supposed to be 11 1/16”?
 

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