Carvin Build Quality, Efficiency, And Reliability...

[wraub]

The Carvin basses I have played have been uniformly pretty and seemed well made, but they have tended toeards a clean, sterile tone that I just can't get into. Not a lot of juice, oomph, balls, guts, whatever you want to call it. They sound good, just kinda... polite and flat imo.
Above is my opinion, ymmv and all that.

 

[Skip_NJ]

I got my Carvin new made-to-order in mid 2014, its a great bass. I'm still blown away every time I look at it, and its not even one of their insane finishes with the fancy top woods. The neck has the satin finish and feels amazing. It feels "more alive" than a lot of other basses I've owned and played, whatever that means. The pick up blend thing is slightly annoying but I can live with it, and I thought I read they went to a new blend system recently. The worst thing about the whole experience was waiting 10 weeks for them to build it. I would buy another one if this one was lost or stolen.

 

[jsdratm]

I just recently had a Carvin X54 made and it took about 8 weeks to get it from initial order to my door. I am really happy with it and it cost about $1800 with the options I chose. Their new Vanquish and Xccelerator series basses have the same electronics, although the Vanquish is more customizable. I was a bit nervous buying a bass that I had never tried, but I liked the tone from the videos I saw and they offer a 10-day trial period where you can mail it back for a refund. The X54 ended up being an excellent fit for me since I like thinner necks and the pickup combination can give you a nice growl if you want it.

 

[Djadja]

I've owned two Carvin guitars that I got used and built two kit guitars. Both pre-built guitars were a disappointment to me. Sterile is a good descriptor. The kit guitars were/are astoundingly good for the price. I still have one and don't see myself selling it. I'm not sure how that may help you...

As was said, resale of Carvins is not so good... but if this bass is an anniversary present, perhaps you'd never sell it anyway.

With a budget of $2500, I think I would look somewhere else. There are a number of small builders who could hit your target with a bass built by hand for you. I play a Bee Bass and I think Fred could meet your price. It wouldn't have the bells and whistles of the Carvin at the same price but it would be a killer bass.