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Carvin LB20 Insecurities

M

mikedarctuesday

Sep 16, 2008
18
0
OCNJ
#1
I am feeling pretty itched by the Carvin LB20 but also pretty concerned about the tonal characteristics of the electronics. I really dig a vintage bass sound hence my use of an ampeg svt3, and 115 cab with a pbass loaded with dimarzios. I am looking for a really woody jazz bass sound and I don't want an actual jazz bass because I am not a fan of the tapered neck. The options that carvin provides seem quite nice. Please Talk Bass community, help me with my struggles!!!
-mikedarctuesday
 
#2
This may or may not help, but I have an '88 passive LB-70 and a newer swamp ash B4 (also passive). I was unhappy with the sound of the B4 until I put a set of Carvin flats on it (which are really good strings), which gave the B4 a more vintage tone. I usually get compliments on the sound of this one when I play it. Might also work on the LB-20 (or not, my LB-70 sounds a lot more modern than the B4, even with flats).

Billy-Bob
 
#3
I have a 2002 lb70p. Very modern sounding , though that probably doesn't mean much since you're going passive. Any mod or switching option found on this site that has been done to a jazz bass can be done to an lb20, though personally I'd go for the B4. If just for price alone. I don't think you get much benefit of the neck through vs the bolt on in this case. Plus you have the option of swapping a neck should an issue arise.
Stick with a maple neck vs multi lam neck if going neck through. A little more stable imo. My 5pc mahogany/maple neck is not particularly stiff compared to my other one piece neck basses, though I had an lb75af (fretless) that was as stiff as anything and never needed adjustment.
There's a green b4 for sale in the classified's btw.
 
#4
I went to the Carvin store in Hollywood on Monday to try out the different pickup options on their basses and left with one conclusion; if I were to order a bass from Carvin I would have the stacked humbuckers installed. These pickups sounded the best to my ears and really had good solid tones across the board. The soapbars and the big MM style pickups really did nothing for me at all.

Carvin really puts out a nice product at a very reasonable price.
 
#5
west*coast*bass said:
I went to the Carvin store in Hollywood on Monday to try out the different pickup options on their basses and left with one conclusion; if I were to order a bass from Carvin I would have the stacked humbuckers installed. These pickups sounded the best to my ears and really had good solid tones across the board. The soapbars and the big MM style pickups really did nothing for me at all.

Carvin really puts out a nice product at a very reasonable price.
Click to expand...

I like the stacked humbuckers also. I've got a 2007 LB75AP Anniversary with the H50S in the neck and the HB5 in the bridge and I don't care for the bridge pup at all, it sounds mushy to me.
 
#6
west*coast*bass said:
I went to the Carvin store in Hollywood on Monday to try out the different pickup options on their basses and left with one conclusion; if I were to order a bass from Carvin I would have the stacked humbuckers installed. These pickups sounded the best to my ears and really had good solid tones across the board. The soapbars and the big MM style pickups really did nothing for me at all.

Carvin really puts out a nice product at a very reasonable price.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I'd love to have the chance to play a few different Carvin setups. What I usually see are the 5+ year old dogs that make it to the used instrument stores. Did you try the J99s too?
 
#7
Okay folks...I always hear 'Carvin makes a great bass for the price'

If you were to take the 'for the price' away would the first part still stand?

How does Carvin compare to the higher end basses for fit, finish, and feel?
Can you really feel the bass come through the instrument?

If you were to put a Carvin up to a similar 'brand name' bass how much more would it generally cost?

$50?
$300?
$500?
$1000?
 
#8
I'm not sure who you would compare them to since nobody offers the custom selection that Carvin offers unless you look at boutique basses which cost 2x or more what you would pay for a Carvin. But then you gain the advantage of more selections of woods than Carvin offers and more selections of electronics.

Stick with a base model and don't add a lot of eye candy and you have a bass that is an incredible value. As you add more options, the value proposition decreases somewhat, but you have a more custom, individual instrument.

So then, who would you compare them to? The more I think of it, I guess I'd compare them to high end Yamaha instruments. You save about a grand and get the eye candy the way you want.

The other complicating factor is that the level of quality of the imports has increasing considerably. Ten years ago, made in Indonesia would mean that it's sold at WalMart or Sears. Not so today.
 
#9
thanks to everyone who posted. I'm figuring on the LB20 because I enjoy the neck through body option. It gives you access to the higher frets and helps sustain. Walnut body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, tung oil finish, and stacked buckers. If I don't like the pups I'll take them out and install dimarzio dp123s. I like that carvin gives you options with body woods, etc. Just looking for a jazz bass style configuration with good acoustics and good transparency..
 
#10
I can trick out a BB70 or 75 with the woods I want, including a sick looking top for about $1500... There are not many builders out now that can offer that. I have no idea when the Carvin line got such a bad rap but I can tell you this, the basses I played the other day were all excellent in fit, finish and feel. I didn't care for any pickups other than the stacked humbuckers but since those are standard with any bass I would get the best sound to my ear and not have an upcharge in that area.

Don't get a Carvin if you don't plan to stick with it and get your money's worth out of it - the resale value is crap. All I know is that they are built extremely well using the same tone woods that any other builder uses - stick with the simple electronics and you should have a great bass that will serve your music well for years.
 
#12
I owned and recorded with a 2000 LB20 until 2007. I didn't like the stock pickups a whole lot, but I replaced them with DiMarzio Model J pickups and that took care of that...except that I had to file down the sides of the bridge pickup to fit the routed cavity.

The reason the Carvin is gone is that I did not like the shape, and it was uncomfortable for me to gig with -- fine for sitting down and recording, but unnatural feeling while standing.

I also didn't like the skinny neck. I realize that puts me in the minority, but I have long fingers and skinny necks make my hand cramp up when I'm playing down by the nut.

Build quality was excellent: mine was all mahogany, with chrome hardware, natural gloss.

CarvinLB20.gif
 
#13
mikedarctuesday said:
thanks to everyone who posted. I'm figuring on the LB20 because I enjoy the neck through body option. It gives you access to the higher frets and helps sustain. Walnut body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, tung oil finish, and stacked buckers. If I don't like the pups I'll take them out and install dimarzio dp123s. I like that carvin gives you options with body woods, etc. Just looking for a jazz bass style configuration with good acoustics and good transparency..
Click to expand...

For me the most frustrating part of Carvin basses is that they use bridge pickup dimensions for both the bridge and neck pickups. That makes swapping out Jazz bass pickups more difficult than it should.
 
#14
It's definately worth a shot because of Carvin's ten day no questions asked return policy. I'll just need to play a years worth of bass in ten days, for this I'll need no sleep, hydration packs, an artificial bladder, and fritos. And if it's not what I'm looking for I'll send it pack (maybe with frito grease on it)
 
#16
newbold said:
How does Carvin compare to the higher end basses for fit, finish, and feel?
Click to expand...

For "fit, finish, and feel" they can't be beat. The worksmanship is exquisite. The most common complaint about Carvins is that the electronics are mediocre. Personally, I thought my circa-2001 LB70 sounded fine until I acquired a few other basses and discovered that they all had tones I liked much better than the Carvin's. I'm now considering swapping out the preamp and pups in an attempt to (finally) get it to sound as good as it looks and plays.

newbold said:
Can you really feel the bass come through the instrument?
Click to expand...

Now this is an interesting question. One thing that has puzzled me about my LB70 is that I don't at all "feel the bass come through the instrument," and it's nearly silent when played unplugged. I've often wondered whether this is typical of neck-through-body basses, or Carvin basses in general, or something about the wood in this particular bass (one-piece maple neck with walnut wings). Anybody know?
 
#17
I have owned 2 LB75's one fretless and one fretted, which I sold because I just wasn't into 5vers. Now I know people that have several carvins each and swear by them. The price is great and you get good quality. If I had to do it over I would go with the LB20. Especially for fretless the carvin fretless bases with no lines IMO are killer. The ones I had were J99's and even they sounded modern but rich. Maybe the stacked humbuckers are the way to go, heard some of another brand in that i loved.
 
#18
Bass Viking said:
My take on that is "Carvin makes a great bass especially for the price"

As far as comparing it to a similar brand... Peavey Cirrus perhaps?
Click to expand...


I think this is pretty damn good for comparison sake though I will note a few differences.

Both the Carvin LB70 and the Peavey Cirrus are extremely good values for the money.

Both have incredibly good prices on a used instrument.

Both are boutiquish, with neck through, nice hardware options, nice top woods and colors, some wood options, natural grain.

Both have there weakest point being the electronics. I have heard this alot about Carvin and some people replace there Cirrus preamp with a Millennium preamp. The electronics in both are adequate but still the weakest part.

Both have impeccable workmanship and as long as they were treated right the neck action can be extremely low and comfortable.

Both are modern sounding basses with electronics. The Carvin can bypass the active preamp though.

Now the differences:

Carvin lets you mix and match A LOT of options (woods, hardware, finish, pickups, electronics etc.) While not nearly as many options as some custom builders, a lot more than most mass producing companies. Peavey's Cirrus is mostly just 6 or so different wood combinations (Flame Maple top, Walnut top, Wenge top, Redwood top, Quilted Maple top, and Koa top) with different colors on the quilt maple tops, and occasionally I have seen a maple fretboard, but mostly pau ferro. I HAVE SEEN a couple of custom Cirruses, but most of them are stock. The customs are pretty expensive new. Oh yeah the Cirrus does have a bolt on model but no options on it. All in all the Carvin has way more combinations of options, but the option packages for the Cirrus are VERY good.

All Cirrus are 35 inch scale but Carvin can be either 34 or 35.

The Cirrus is usally slightly more new (unless of course you really trick out the Carvin.)

THe Cirrus also more on the used market but still a great value... Thick Cirrus $650 vs Carvin $500

I like my cirrus slightly better than the carvin, but I cannot emphatically say that it is ACTUALLY better. That would be up to you. I would call the Cirrus a boutique bass at a USA Fender price, and the Carvin a customizable boutique bass at a USA G&L price, though I wouldn't label the Carvin custom (I reserve that for companies like Alembic and Wishbass... just seeing if you were payinga attention lol)
 

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