Carvin playability question

Playability was the best part of my carvins (both sold)

Super fast necks with the possibility for incredibly low action.

The gold on both of mine didn't have any problems for the 2 years I had them both.

 

Playability is really the prime selling point of Carvin instruments in my opinion.

They play and feel great to the touch, only in terms of sound is it when it becomes incredibly subjective.

Many people tend to bad mouth the Carvin electronics... and hey, I happen to believe they're not too great myself (mids control acts as almost another volume, the treble being a little too thin and so on) but Carvin gear in terms of build quality alone is worth the asking price of admission. Who knows, you might just dig the Carvin tone. If not, there're always replacement pickups, outboard pre's, and so on.

Who knows, if I had my Hartke Attack Pedal when I had my BB70P, it might've been kept.

Also, to answer your other question, the action can go really quite low, but I found that after every string change, the neck and bridge needed some form of adjustment.

 

Rapid play is just the narrow slimness of the neck no?

The hardware like most of carvin's build quality is fine, it isn't going to tarnish but that really depends on how well you take care of it.

Never seen a seven string, and don't think they'll start unless you can give it a lot of publicity..*shrug*

For the bridge question i'd try contacting carvin, i'm not going to adjust it now to find out but they'd know best and it's like a 2 minute wait.

 

I'm going to say that you are going to have trouble getting your action that low on the fretted Carvins. I would love to get my action down that low as well but the fret buzz is distracting. Maybe 2.5/32" if your touch is really light. Your B string will have to be @ 3/32" on the LB 34". My Bstring is a .135 Prosteel which is pretty stiff. You might have a better chance w/the XB 35.25" model.
My fretless has a straighter neck & the action feels good.

 

I'm going to disagree with Blues Cat. I've played 2 recently built *past 2 years* Carvins and they had extremely low actions. The necks were extremely fast and well built. My only qualm, and waht really prevented me from picking up a Claro Walnut 4 were the electronics. They just didn't do it for me.

 

Even if the bridge saddles bottom out before the strings are low enough for you, you should be able to file the groove in the saddle a little deeper to get to where you want. Unless the bridge height and or neck angle is WAY off, that is.

 

After posting the other day I tried to see how low I could get the action. Right now G string is @ 1/32nd - 2.5/32nds on the B. Not bad. I straightened the neck out even more around .012 relief (unfortunately @ the end of the TR again). Sounds Cool & makes you want to play over the bridge pickup.
I'm going to try to drop the action even lower. I'll take it to rehearsal
( I've been playing fretless for the last 6 mos) & see how it does in the heat of live pocket. There's another bass player who plays on Sunday that has a Fender jazz5 w/action @ about 7/32nds & see how he likes it as well. I can also step back & see how the low action sounds thru the PA.
NoisemakerD-Lux, I think you're right about the bass needing a pro fret leveling. I hate to let anybody else work on my bass though.

To answer your question specifically in re to saddles bottoming out before string does: My G string is @ 1/32nd & the gap between the bottom of the saddle & bridge is 1.5/32nds. So you can get the string on the other side of the fret ; )

All measurements taken w/a Stew Mac String Action Gauge.

 

I think w/the piezos filing is out of the question.

 

I had a Claro Walnut fretless 6. It was really nice. I didn't like the electronics. It was much better when I put in the Bartolini stuff. I think they play great and are a great value, especially used.

 

I'm holding my finished B4 fretless in my hands as we speak. Playability is great, EXCEPT: the nut isn't filed enough, so the strings are too high off the fingerboard at the end of the neck. Once I groove the nut a bit and take a little more relief outta the neck to make it almost flat, it should play like a dream....

Sounds like one already, passive with DiMarzio Model J's, Elixir strings and ash body.

PS, dunno about getting the action that low - 1mm???? yikes

Tung oil maintenence is basically rubbing lemon oil on it twice a year, and taking a bit more care about the elements/heat/cold/water etc. Other than that it's great.

 

+1 to what quallabone said.

They play damn fine, fit and finish are top notch.

 

I'm a stickler for low action, and the playability is great on my homebuilt-from-a-kit Carvin. The neck has been really stable too. I built this thing back in May and it hasn't needed a truss rod adjustment yet. Also, I like the Hipshot bridge. I like it much better than the old Wilkinsons they used to use back in the 90's; the saddles on those things all had wandering minds of their own it seemed.

I also used to have an LB76 bass. That one played great as well, but the neck wasn't quite as stable (and it had that confounded Wilkinson bridge.)

 

Hope some of these responses eased your questions, hell i'd let u plan mine if u lived near me. But Carvin has notoriously good Customer Support, call them and find out for yourself.

 

I guess everybody is entitled to their opinion, so here is mine:

I have ordered 3 basses from Carvin in the past: a 6-string, a 4-string LB70 and an AC50, and I could not get anywhere near low action in any of them.

I setup my basses at 2/32" at the B or E string and at 1/32" at the G. I have gotten lower action and better fretwork in cheap korean basses over and over.

In Carvins, the saddles do go down enough to achieve low action, but the fretwork is imperfect; buzzing was always a problem. And I play with a very light touch, so I'm within reasonable specs. They may be made in super precise CNC machines, but some human, who is not a player (or a good, trained worker), is installing those frets without enough care.

Finally, the neck on the 6-string Carvin is reserved for those with long fingers. Ergonomics is not really a recipe in the Carvin's neck profile. One of the worst, if I may say.

This is MY experience and MY opinion. And don't get me started about the sound. . . pure crap.

Their marketing plot is all about "buy a custom-made, neck-through bass with nice maple tops at a reasonable price." OK, good point and fair enough, but, can they make them play OK and sound OK?

Go play a good StingRay, a G&L, a Peavey, an Ibanez, or even a good Fender, and tell me that Carvins are still good!

 

"Go play a good StingRay, a G&L, a Peavey, an Ibanez, or even a good Fender, and tell me that Carvins are still good!"

I've owned Music Mans, Fenders Spectors, Ricks, you name it. Carvins are damn fine instuments for the money. My LB 75 is my main player for the past two years, and I'm very happy with it. Sound is a subjective thing. I personally like it. The necks and fretboards play like buttah.
You'll never know what is right for you by soliciting advice in a message board. Every one has opinions, good and bad. The only opinions that count for anything are the opinions you form from your own personal experience. Go try a Carvin. Like most (not all) basses, you can pick them up at a pretty good discount off list used (although the price trend for used Carvins seems to be headed up). If you don't like it, you can sell it for what you paid. If you buy it new, you can still return it in 10 days for the full refund, no questions asked. You have nothing to lose.

Use your own ears and hands, and make up your own mind.

 

It could be a fret thang, but in my opinion I think it's a neck issue.
Before I straightened out the neck, the relief measured from the 21st fret was .015, not bad. The relief @ the 24th fret however was .020. So the ramping in the fret board on the 3 middle strings on the last 3 frets is the problem IMO that keeps the action from being really low. It appears to be the fretboard itself & not high frets. It makes me wonder if all the fretted models are like this.
My fretless is not like this.
Those who like med low to med high action need not worry about playability.
CS: when they call you by your first name everything's going good, when they start calling you Mr. (your last name) your CS experience will be coming to a halt.

 

Both necks on my Carvin B4 were unstable, and I could not get the bass to play without buzz unless I made the action unplayably high (for my tastes). The tuners are crap, the bass went badly out of tune every 10 minutes. The electronics lacked edge. Just lots of trebly sound (the bass was passive only).

I dis-recommend Carvin. Their customer support is iffy too. Also, they have a really crappy attitude, their executives basically think that if you don't like their electronics, there's something wrong with you. They refuse to offer Bartolini or Duncan options because the company has a really bad pride issue.

You'd be better off with a Brice, honestly.