I've got the standard pickups with the SB5000 package. the J99A's I believe? They do hum when soloed, but it is the most low end that I have had in a bass.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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!
- Thread starter phillm47
- Start date
- Status
I've got the standard pickups with the SB5000 package. the J99A's I believe? They do hum when soloed, but it is the most low end that I have had in a bass.
Here is a pic of Darryl Williams'. Pretty cool bass.
I saw Darryl play live for the first time last weekend. He plays a happy hour jam session on Fridays in the San Diego area. He played that bass with a BX500 head and a 210. I was seriously blown away by the tone quality and strength.
That's what happened to me when I played the bass for the first time. It was a shocker. Must... have... that... tone...
Well I played three gigs in the last two days with my SB4000 and I just love it. I have already decided that this bass will not be going back to Carvin under the 10 day trial period.
I've never been great at describing tone and most of you have seen plenty of videos by now to get an idea of what these basses sound like, so I don't feel the need to get too deep into that. However, I will say that I agree with those who mentioned how good the passive tone is on these basses. Honestly, if I was able to do it again I might reconsider even ordering the active option at all. My opinion is the passive tone is that good. That said, what I like about the active mode is how sensitive the cut/boost controls are. They make it very easy to adjust your tone and get it where it needs to be in a hurry. There was one point where I needed some more low end during a song and just a slight turn of the bass boost got me right there. I was very happy about that.
One thing that really threw me off about this bass is the volume output in passive mode vs the volume output in active mode. This issue was brought up earlier in this thread and I commented on it as well. Some people are adjusting the trim pots to make the output volume equal in both modes. If I didn't know better, I would swear that I received my SB4000 with this adjustment already done. Go figure. This was really messing with my head during my first gig with it because my first inclination is to play in active mode with the DB pad set for an active bass on my Carvin B2000 amp. Except, when I did this the output seemed uncharacteristically low as compared to my other active basses. Passive mode seemed to get much better, or "normal" results. Sure enough, when I started to play with this more I realized that the output volume actually sounds the same to me in both modes. I'm wondering if the Carvin techs have adopted the practice of setting the trim pot based on user feedback.
I don't have any issues with the weight of this bass. I may not really be the guy to ask though because up to this point I've never really been one to overly concern myself with the weight of a bass. Doesn't seem any heavier to me than a standard jazz or precision.
As far as soloing the pickups, I did not try it at a gig but was experimenting with it at home afterward and did not hear any extra noise. I will try to make a point of soloing the pickups at the next few gigs with it and report back if I experience any problems.
Last, I did not experience any body design issues standing up or sitting down with the bass. I'm about 5'9" tall and weigh maybe about 185 and when I sit with the bass the upper horn is flat in front of my chest. The lower horn doesn't go anywhere it shouldn't so no digging in at all for me. It kind of baffles me that somebody would report having an issue with that because it almost doesn't seem possible. Maybe the taller or generally larger players are having that problem...I don't know.
Well that is about all I can think of right now so hopefully I have answered some of the questions people were wondering about. If not, feel free to let me know.
I've never been great at describing tone and most of you have seen plenty of videos by now to get an idea of what these basses sound like, so I don't feel the need to get too deep into that. However, I will say that I agree with those who mentioned how good the passive tone is on these basses. Honestly, if I was able to do it again I might reconsider even ordering the active option at all. My opinion is the passive tone is that good. That said, what I like about the active mode is how sensitive the cut/boost controls are. They make it very easy to adjust your tone and get it where it needs to be in a hurry. There was one point where I needed some more low end during a song and just a slight turn of the bass boost got me right there. I was very happy about that.
One thing that really threw me off about this bass is the volume output in passive mode vs the volume output in active mode. This issue was brought up earlier in this thread and I commented on it as well. Some people are adjusting the trim pots to make the output volume equal in both modes. If I didn't know better, I would swear that I received my SB4000 with this adjustment already done. Go figure. This was really messing with my head during my first gig with it because my first inclination is to play in active mode with the DB pad set for an active bass on my Carvin B2000 amp. Except, when I did this the output seemed uncharacteristically low as compared to my other active basses. Passive mode seemed to get much better, or "normal" results. Sure enough, when I started to play with this more I realized that the output volume actually sounds the same to me in both modes. I'm wondering if the Carvin techs have adopted the practice of setting the trim pot based on user feedback.
I don't have any issues with the weight of this bass. I may not really be the guy to ask though because up to this point I've never really been one to overly concern myself with the weight of a bass. Doesn't seem any heavier to me than a standard jazz or precision.
As far as soloing the pickups, I did not try it at a gig but was experimenting with it at home afterward and did not hear any extra noise. I will try to make a point of soloing the pickups at the next few gigs with it and report back if I experience any problems.
Last, I did not experience any body design issues standing up or sitting down with the bass. I'm about 5'9" tall and weigh maybe about 185 and when I sit with the bass the upper horn is flat in front of my chest. The lower horn doesn't go anywhere it shouldn't so no digging in at all for me. It kind of baffles me that somebody would report having an issue with that because it almost doesn't seem possible. Maybe the taller or generally larger players are having that problem...I don't know.
Well that is about all I can think of right now so hopefully I have answered some of the questions people were wondering about. If not, feel free to let me know.
I have a SB4000 on order and should receive it soon.
Swamp ash body
active
All black.
I will post pic when I get it
This is my foray "back" to 4 string after playing 6 and 5 strings for many years. Back to my roots from the '60's on.
Swamp ash body
active
All black.
I will post pic when I get it
This is my foray "back" to 4 string after playing 6 and 5 strings for many years. Back to my roots from the '60's on.
@DD - I have the same exact thing on order, but in a 5'er. I hope she looks half as good as yours, brother. enjoy!
Nice!! I'm sure it will look just as good, if not better. This is the seventh bass I have ordered from Carvin since 2004 and they have ALL been beautiful works of art as far as I am concerned. It was very difficult to let some of them go. Be sure to post pics of yours when it arrives...I am looking forward to seeing it.
I've got a mono case that I absolutely love. The bass fits, but the horn does rub the side. I was hesitant at first, but I haven't had any problems yet.
There's a fretless SB5000 a few pages back. If I like the SB4000 when I get it, I will probably order a fretless version.
I'd love to hear some sound clips of a fretless one.
Here is a link to the Carvin forum and a thread where a fretless just popped up a few posts down..
Invalid Link Removed
After thinking about all day, I got the drill out and put in a parallel/series and single coil switch on my SB5000 HB pickup. I don't know why they didn't do but it's give the bass a all together different sound when switch to parallel. All the wires at right at the pots so it took about 20min. to compete.
Well my long wait is finally over today - My SB5000 is out for delivery!! I ordered the bass April 23 and it was shipped June 9.
I'll post pictures as soon as i can!
I'll post pictures as soon as i can!
- Status
