• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Carvin SB5000 / SB4000 Roll Call...Part 4!

Status
Not open for further replies.
#641
3 days, over 5 hours of playing time, and I just now noticed something pretty cool. My SB4000 has a one piece ash body. :D

BTW, as I get to know this bass, I'm liking it more and more. One thing that I have learned is that I can't be bashful about twisting the bass EQ up a bit. The tone can get a little thin for my ear without a little EQ help. Fortunately, the preamp is very helpful and provides a LOT of tonal variety.
 
#643
Jarrett said:
What electronics do you have on your SB and how do you set them/use them when playing?
Click to expand...

I have the blend control and the 3-band eq. I almost always have the blend set 70% toward the neck pickup, mids boosted a bit at the default (or slightly lower) frequency, bass and treble flat. This gives me a fat rock tone that to me is the best of the P and J sounds.

Sometimes I'll blend about 70% toward the bridge pickup and boost the bass a bit. This is more of a modern jazz fusion kind of sound.
 
#644
madbassplaya said:
what would you say that you did not like Jarrett?
Click to expand...
All in my opinion:

  • For fretted basses, I'm definitely a solid Alder body/Maple fretboard fan. Other configs didn't sound as good.
  • Carvin's chambering method detracts from the sound of the bass. Though I would like a lighter bass, they don't sound as good as their solid body counterparts.
  • J99A pickups are the way to go when getting an SB. The stacked humbuckers lose some of the magic that make these basses cool.
  • Sticking with the Vol/Vol setup also seems to yield a punchier tone that the bass is identified with.
  • The Ivory Tusq nut seems to help intonation.
  • Ordering birdseye maple on the fretboard and headstock is a bad move as it won't match.
  • Birdseye on the board and straight maple headstock looks better or painted headstocks.
  • Tung oiled neck feels better than gloss.
  • Their finishes are a shade darker in person than as show on the site (likely the bright lights/flash used)
  • SS frets reduce the need for fret work over time
  • The white mother of pearl inlays don't look that good on maple fretboard
  • The bigger Rayovacs that come installed crush the clips so that smaller Duracells can't make contact. The clips must be bent to accommodate other batteries
  • Almost every bass I've received from Carvin had a QC problem with it. Expect it and make them pay shipping to return it to fix it if you don't want to do it yourself.
That's about all I can think of right now. YMMV.
 
#647
Handyman said:
The stock graphite nuts also wear out very quickly. I've had two Carvins with the graphite nuts, and both needed replacement within a couple years. I went for the Tusq for that reason, and it looks cooler on a maple fretboard. :D
Click to expand...
I've also wondered about that. I wanted to go Tusq on mine, but I just thought white would look really odd with my pretty strong black/brown theme. Oh well. We'll see how it does. I'm gonna get a B25 at some point tho... maybe I'll go Tusq on it.
 
#650
Jarrett said:
All in my opinion:

  • For fretted basses, I'm definitely a solid Alder body/Maple fretboard fan. Other configs didn't sound as good.
  • Carvin's chambering method detracts from the sound of the bass. Though I would like a lighter bass, they don't sound as good as their solid body counterparts.
  • J99A pickups are the way to go when getting an SB. The stacked humbuckers lose some of the magic that make these basses cool.
  • Sticking with the Vol/Vol setup also seems to yield a punchier tone that the bass is identified with.
  • The Ivory Tusq nut seems to help intonation.
  • Ordering birdseye maple on the fretboard and headstock is a bad move as it won't match.
  • Birdseye on the board and straight maple headstock looks better or painted headstocks.
  • Tung oiled neck feels better than gloss.
  • Their finishes are a shade darker in person than as show on the site (likely the bright lights/flash used)
  • SS frets reduce the need for fret work over time
  • The white mother of pearl inlays don't look that good on maple fretboard
  • The bigger Rayovacs that come installed crush the clips so that smaller Duracells can't make contact. The clips must be bent to accommodate other batteries
  • Almost every bass I've received from Carvin had a QC problem with it. Expect it and make them pay shipping to return it to fix it if you don't want to do it yourself.
That's about all I can think of right now. YMMV.
Click to expand...

I believe we have similar tastes except that I prefer rosewood boards. :)
 
#651
That said, I'm getting a rosewood 4 string in today :D It was priced right and I thought I'd give it a whirl. With my track record, it's likely going back though.

Mesquite, TX, United States 05/31/2011 7:13 A.M. Out For Delivery
 
#653
I wanted to give a 4 string a try. One came up that was light and inexpensive, so I got it on the 10-day trial. I go back and forth on wanting a 4-string around. I thought a simple, passive rosewood 4-string might be a nice alternative to my active maple 5-string. I might be wrong though in that thought and it might be going back.
 
#654
Jarrett said:
I wanted to give a 4 string a try. One came up that was light and inexpensive, so I got it on the 10-day trial. I go back and forth on wanting a 4-string around. I thought a simple, passive rosewood 4-string might be a nice alternative to my active maple 5-string. I might be wrong though in that thought and it might be going back.
Click to expand...

gotcha!

i've always thought that i need to choose either having all 4's or all 5's, but i'm leaning towards using a 5 for my church stuff and using 4's for my alt rock gigs.
 
#655
Hehe, I didn't realize until just right now that the SB4000 only has 20 frets :D I was playing my new one and went to slide up to hit the high E on the G string and was like... uh where is it? :)

I hadn't paid that much attention before, all the bolt on have 22 frets (B4, B40, B5, B50, SB5000, SB50001) except for the SB400x series. I had no idea :)

And in normal Carvin fashion they didn't install my Dunlop straplocks or send me my gig bag, both of which I paid for. :rollno:
 
#657
Nah my first SB5000 was fine and my BX500 is fine. There is nothing technically wrong with this SB4000, its actually a really nice bass. Sounds great, plays well. They just didn't do what they said they would being installing straplocks and sending me a gig bag.

On a side note, I just received my replacement volume pots for the ones that are jacked up on my new SB5000 I got recently. I decided to do the work myself again. I like the bass and hate being without it for 3 weeks while they fix it. it made me wonder, do they know about the QC problems and just send them out knowing most people either don't know better or will just accept it instead of returning it?
 
#658
Jarrett said:
Nah my first SB5000 was fine and my BX500 is fine. There is nothing technically wrong with this SB4000, its actually a really nice bass. Sounds great, plays well. They just didn't do what they said they would being installing straplocks and sending me a gig bag.

On a side note, I just received my replacement volume pots for the ones that are jacked up on my new SB5000 I got recently. I decided to do the work myself again. I like the bass and hate being without it for 3 weeks while they fix it. it made me wonder, do they know about the QC problems and just send them out knowing most people either don't know better or will just accept it instead of returning it?
Click to expand...


Sorry to hear that you were Carvin'd! :)

What are the details of the new bass? Any pics?
 
#659
Jarrett said:
Nah my first SB5000 was fine and my BX500 is fine. There is nothing technically wrong with this SB4000, its actually a really nice bass. Sounds great, plays well. They just didn't do what they said they would being installing straplocks and sending me a gig bag.
Click to expand...

Your order not being right sucks altogether, but at least it wasn't anything electrical this time.

Jarrett said:
On a side note, I just received my replacement volume pots for the ones that are jacked up on my new SB5000 I got recently. I decided to do the work myself again. I like the bass and hate being without it for 3 weeks while they fix it. it made me wonder, do they know about the QC problems and just send them out knowing most people either don't know better or will just accept it instead of returning it?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go that far. Several other people have gotten basses without these problems. Not sure why this has happened to you specifically, but I would think Carvin would be giving some kind of refund.

I'm anxiously awaiting my SB5000.
 
#660
It's Alder/Rosewood SB4000 with SS frets. Abalone dots, cream pickups, red tort pickguard, passive. Pretty plain jane. Sounds good, plays good. I took it to my bass lesson tonight and my instructor who is really picky gave it the once over. He said it was a nice jazz bass, good straight neck, setup was good. He tweaked it a little did a tempered tuning on it and seemed satisfied with the results. Said he thought it was worth the $800 I paid for it. Said it would take a while going through Fenders to find one as good he said. He plays old Jazz basses and Foderas though, so it didn't ruffle his feathers too much :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back