Carvin SB5000 / SB4000 Roll Call...Part 7!

[qervo]

I ordered mine with a plain maple neck and board, what I got was a plain maple neck and birds eye maple board. Luckily for me I considered it a lucky upgrade . No complaints

 

[Jarrett]

Wow, I didn't know they were messing up so much. I think all of mine came as ordered.

 

[Vic]

I've only ordered one, but FWIW, it was dead perfect when I got it other than being slightly heavier than I hoped. But not bad.

 

[Quackhead]

It sounds like their QC needs some work.

 

[JoeVictim]

When I called last night, the guitar workshop was closed so they were going to discuss possible actions and call me back today. He suggested either they could build a new neck and ship it to me, or I could send the whole thing back and they would match it as well as possible. Whatever happens, I will stress to them that I want to keep the body/hardware, because it looks great. I would hate to roll the dice again and be less pleased with a new piece of wood.

And regarding the headstock cap, there already is one there, it's just not finished to match the body finish. Without giving spoilers as to my bass, imagine a blueburst quilted maple body with a natural wood quilted maple headstock cap. It just looks a little off. I asked about just replacing the cap, and last night he wasn't sure if that was a possibility.

I'll keep you guys updated.

Damn, that sucks.

For the record, how was your order placed? Phone or online?

 

[Jarrett]

For the record, how was your order placed? Phone or online?

That's a good question. I always call Keith at Carvin to do orders. I have him email me a sheet showing exactly what I ordered. As soon as I receive it, I check to make sure its right. If not, I call him and have it corrected and have him email the updated sheet. So far, so good with that method.

 

[JoeVictim]

Wow, I didn't know they were messing up so much. I think all of mine came as ordered.

Only issue I had was that they never sent me a confirmation card and they didn't hold my hand as a first time buyer.

If I walk into a restaraunt and tell them it's my first time, a good waiter will let me know exactly what's up with food/wine/whatever. I had to log onto the website to get the codes to tell them what I wanted my bass to be... That was pretty lame.

I can't imagine the finish being off, even if it is just a headstock cap... Damnit Carvin. I wish a Carvin rep would come in here and explain. Anything like this gets posted on Carvin's forum, and they take it down.

I love my Carvin and would but it again. But please, work on your service/quality skills (or lack there of), Carvin. You make a damn fine bass but people aren't going to know about it if they keep hearing about bad experiences like plong123 and some of the others.

 

[plong123]

Damn, that sucks.

For the record, how was your order placed? Phone or online?

I initially built the order online, made a screenshot of my finished product, and then called and talked with Eddie. He was super nice, and even helped me with some things I didn't understand. Everything was listed on my order confirmation exactly how I wanted it. To the best of my knowledge, the code used for my headstock is the correct code (last two letters of code 'PH' for Painted Headstock/match body finish), it just didn't come out that way.

 

[JoeVictim]

I initially built the order online, made a screenshot of my finished product, and then called and talked with Eddie. He was super nice, and even helped me with some things I didn't understand. Everything was listed on my order confirmation exactly how I wanted it. To the best of my knowledge, the code used for my headstock is the correct code (last two letters of code 'PH' for Painted Headstock/match body finish), it just didn't come out that way.

That's rough...

Waiting is the hardest part. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, I feel for you.

Not eating meat, I always have to order food special. (I know, lame analogy) I am almost always sending food back.

I'm glad they are fixing it for you.

 

[plong123]

Waiting is the hardest part.

I know, right?

I just got off the phone with Carvin. They said that the headstock can just be repainted/refinished, but it will take up to two weeks. They are sending me a UPS return sheet, and I'll mail it off later today. So, a week back to California, up to two weeks there, then a week back to Ohio. That's a whole extra month. And I thought the previous month was torture! LOL

 

[Freddels]

For the record, how was your order placed? Phone or online?

I ordered mine online but the next time will be on the phone. I'm still very happy with my SB4000 and it gets played almost every day.

 

[madbassplaya]

I ordered mine and every feature that I asked for was there. There was just some finish flaws and the volume didn't completely cut off.

 

[fivestringgecko]

That's a good question. I always call Keith at Carvin to do orders. I have him email me a sheet showing exactly what I ordered. As soon as I receive it, I check to make sure its right. If not, I call him and have it corrected and have him email the updated sheet. So far, so good with that method.

I took the advice of all the posts I read and called. I had originally been emailing a couple questions to Eddie, but he pointed me to Steve who's also a bass player.

I had much the same experience... a good conversation with Steve and then he emailed me the specs of my order for me to look over. Worked pretty well.

I'm not 100% sure Keith is there any more... I had been emailing with Keith a while back and when I tried again (before getting referred to Eddie by Funkinthetrunk), I didn't get any reply from Keith to a couple emails, and he was always very prompt about replying. Also, Eddie mentioned Steve and another sales rep, just not Keith's name.

Regardless, Steve was awesome. I'm VERY much looking forward to getting my SB5k, but now I'm a little worried about QC...

5sg.

 

[Jarrett]

Bummer if so. I'm not planning on any orders anyway. Hard for me to justify anymore new SB purchases at this point.

Used though... used is completely diff

 

[fivestringgecko]

I admit I bit on getting the Carvin card, because I knew I'll most likely be ordering at least one more SB... lol

5sg.

 

[rmars]

Here she is.... been playing and tweaking it a bit. Nice looking bass.

Neck had quite a bit of relief but the truss rod was totally loose. Tightened it up some an it's in the ballpark now.

Very light, my bathroom scale is pretty inconsistent from moment to moment so I weighed it holding it and subtracted my weight. Consistently got a weight of 8.6lbs but I got weights in the range of 8.4 to 9 lbs, whatever I'm sure it's under 9.

Really like the bridge pickup tones with a little bass boost. It's darker sounding than I was expecting, I don't think I would be so scared away of stainless frets after playing this. I'm out the DR's Nickel Lo-Riders I usually play but I'm curious to see what difference they'll make.

My main bass is a hot rodded SX Jazz with Lollar pickups.... I know what your thinking but honestly it is a fantastic sounding bass, people complement me on it all the time. A good friend of does bass review for Premier Guitar magazine and he loves it, says it plays and sounds as good as a lot of $4-5K basses.... anyway it sounds good. My wife, who never comments on my bass stuff or cares about it much said the SB sounded richer to her ears as soon as she heard it.

Everything was right except they forgot strap locks which I knew. When I ordered it over the phone the guy told me he would email me a copy of the invoice within a few minutes and to check it and call back ASAP with any corrections. Well it took 3 days of calling till I could get someone to email me an invoice and then when I told him about the strap locks he halfheartedly told me he would see if he could add them.... I could tell he wouldn't.

Been trying to get info out of them about problems with my bands new powered mixer and it's like pulling teeth. Still never gotten a response on that after about 12+ phone calls and 6+ attempts to email. :scowl: Carvin kinda been on my crap list over this mixer so after seen some of the other problems others have been having I totally expected issues with this bass!

 

[dgce]

I ordered mine online but the next time will be on the phone. I'm still very happy with my SB4000 and it gets played almost every day.

I had no idea these orders so frequently get screwed up. I guess I've been lucky. On the other hand I've always built my bass online, printed it out, then ordered over the phone with both the rep and I reading it back. And to think, I did this only because I was worried I'd forget something and screw it up.

 

[Freddels]

I had no idea these orders so frequently get screwed up. I guess I've been lucky. On the other hand I've always built my bass online, printed it out, then ordered over the phone with both the rep and I reading it back. And to think, I did this only because I was worried I'd forget something and screw it up.

I was one of the first few to order one of these basses when they came out. I think the issues with the online bass builder may have been fixed by now. I will say that Carvin was more than willing to take the bass back with no questions and make me another. But, I just loved the tone and playability of the bass right out of the box that there was no way I was sending it back.

 

[rmars]

So what's the story on the truss rod on these? I know it's a 2 way truss which I've had and am comfortable adjusting but mine was totally loose and went from totally loose and turned smoothly but came to a stop in 1/4-2/3 of a turn (turned in increments). Was just getting close the the .015" relief that the manual states and it was just starting to play nice but it went from smooth to a stop and I'm not going to crank it (as stated in the manual). Hope this isn't all the adjustment this truss has.

 

[Bassnkeys]

Reading all of these - I can't understand why Carvin wouldn't have a representative monitor these forums and address some of these issues head-on. Warwick does this within TB, and it's super impressive. They seem to read all the posts, and answer questions that we're all asking of each other. I started a whole post about pickup/pre-amp configuration and all of us fellow Carvin owners were "guessing" the right answers. Warwick would have answered them factually from the horse's mouth. Rather than let these issues fester, Carvin would be smart to start doing some proactive PR. Obvious - duh.