If you have an opinion please give the courtesy of making your point in a more plain manner. Thanks.
Paul
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Carvin: The Neverending Suckfest
- Thread starter theAntihero
- Start date
If you have an opinion please give the courtesy of making your point in a more plain manner. Thanks.
Paul
Mmmmm! And your reason for dropping this pearl of wisdom is what???
You don't HAVE to buy from Carvin. There's no statute that tells you you must. If you don't like Carvin gear that's your right. Same goes for any other manufacturer out there.
Paul
damn, fanboy much? all you've done is bash people in this thread who don't like carvin. Chill out, dude. It's not that important in the universe.
as far as the guitarist talking for his bassist, i do the same thing for my drummer, so it's not uncommon.
I've never played a carvin, never known much about them, didn't know they were factory-only, whatever. I doubt that they're always like that, your bassist just got the short end of the stick. Get your bassist's money back, help him get something else, and be happy.
Don't most drummers need someone to speak for them ?
and someone to sit them down straight so the spit flows out of both sides evenly
Without going into a huge amount of detail and my own experience... There's a reason why they're considered a bargain brand, and why all the higher quality amps with similar features are more expensive.
In my experience, the amps feel cheap, and the customer service is not good. I'm glad some people have had good experience with them... but *some* people have not.
I'm sure that people are aware that they "don't have to" buy from carvin. But if someone has a bad experience with the company, they're gonna tell people about it. Especially if it was really bad!
+1 if you want reliability and good service
I have owned 3 Carvin basses, a R1000 head and 810 cab back in the day. Basses are all well crafted, superb playing basses, with sub-par tone (fixed with aftermarket guts).
Amp head..... one side of the power amp crapped out on me after 2 years of LIGHT gigging (in a rack case...) It sounded fairly good (I was 17 when I bought it - what the hell did I know about good tone) Carvin wasn't very helpful about it, they told me to mail it back to them and it would cost a couple hundred bucks to fix. Since I realized at that point that was all it would be WORTH even if it worked flawlessly, it has languished in the garage for the last 6 years..... It's really pathetic. I should sell the damn thing cheap to someone who can fix it, but I'm not messing with it. My MarkBass LMII has been very good to me.
With all that said, I will continue to buy, play, and modify Carvin's basses. They've never failed me. But I probably won't give them my money; I'll be buying them used...
Amp head..... one side of the power amp crapped out on me after 2 years of LIGHT gigging (in a rack case...) It sounded fairly good (I was 17 when I bought it - what the hell did I know about good tone) Carvin wasn't very helpful about it, they told me to mail it back to them and it would cost a couple hundred bucks to fix. Since I realized at that point that was all it would be WORTH even if it worked flawlessly, it has languished in the garage for the last 6 years..... It's really pathetic. I should sell the damn thing cheap to someone who can fix it, but I'm not messing with it. My MarkBass LMII has been very good to me.
With all that said, I will continue to buy, play, and modify Carvin's basses. They've never failed me. But I probably won't give them my money; I'll be buying them used...
Kinda the point though, the only carvin bass I ever owned I loved the looks of, and immeadiately started researching the electronic mods threads for? Can you spell bland? MM pups that pale in comparison to MM pups. I never feel compelled to mod MM basses or G&L basses or Lakland basses. Next I bought their 1st light weight head after waiting several weeks for them to iron out the oft reported problems of speaker breathing and loud pops from nowhere. TB members were returning them by the droves. Get mine and plug it in and my drivers start pumpin like a porno movie, with no bass even plugged in! And with as well. Tried to tolerate it then the loud pops from nowhere start in.
This was on the heels of the 1503 ls crossover problems that everyone was posting about in the boutique on a budget thread. Customer service supposedly at one point told a member not to use them for bass! ....A 3 way PA cab with 15's...not for bass? So I don't shop Carvin anymore. My Choice and OP's choice. Don't know why anyone is mad at him. Let the tree fall in the forest with no one to hear it? If you like Carvin cool. Not.. cool too.
Again with the attitude that im attacking the company out of spite or something misguided. They sent my bassist 2 faulty heads, one of which has damaged his 4x10 and a 1x18 without all the bolts in the speaker. This counts as a bad experience.
And honestly what would i have to gain by going on a forum i dont normally go on, for an instrument i dont even play just to bash a company i dont even use?
Frankly i assumed that people would want to know about an experience as bad as this, doesnt info like this help you steer clear of trouble?
Exactly!
I doubt they are always like this as well, or at least i hope so! Hopefully there wont be any trouble with a refund.
How so? Do you have an recommendations on what he would like?
Unfortunatly i dont really know of high wattage older head he would like. He's played a Sunn Coliseum before and liked it well enough, but liked the added headroom of the carvin when it actually worked. He's not a tube fan so that takes out the SVT, various sunns etc.
Do you have a recommendation for the deep, high headroom tone he's going for?
If they did, id probably buy them,I love my G-flex 2x12.
I'd simply return everything for your money back and call it a learned experience. Every company can produce lemons, and that goes well beyond the bass gear industry. At this point I'd press Carvin to provide totally free shipping labels so you're not out return shipping even. And consider purchasing some gear that you can get serviced locally so you're negating the possibility of having to ship stuff back-and-forth if you encounter problems again in the future.
Yep....that was me! LOL!! And that was the only dealings I've had with Carvin. The CS ran hot and cold. When I started having problems, they were quick to send out replacement components, but then I was fed some mumbo jumbo by one of the CS managers, which left a bad taste in my mouth. Also, in the space of a few weeks, I discovered that they used components by different manufacturers in different runs of the LS1503. In fact, Greenboy's cab used a plywood inner mid-range box whereas mine (a few weeks newer) was a round plastic cup, and our compression drivers were from different companies as well, which led me to believe they used whatever was "on sale" at the time. I finally got the cab satisfactory after several mods though.
Bottom line is, as working musicians, we need our equipment to work properly every time we flip the switch. It's a shame lightning struck twice with the OP's bassist, but it would scare me away too.
That's why I still use Gallien-Kreuger after 22 years.
Yes I like Carvin equipment - I own a lot of it. All of it sturdy, reliable and well designed.
Bash people? I merely respond to criticism I consider to be unwarranted.
As for your drummer, that goes without saying, we all know drummers!
Had you actually tried some Carvin stuff you'd have a different opinion. There is a tendency to knock Carvin That I have seen on this forum. Some of it based on abused used equipment that failed. Had it been SWR or another main line brand folk would have said "Oh well, it was used." Fir carvin it's the manufacturers fault.
Paul
Exactly, i dont care if its the epitome of tone and perfection if it isnt reliable, and while my bassist likes the tone 2 amps have produced a grand total of about 3 hours of playtime before dying.
Hmm, well he's supposed to talk to bart here this morning, hopefully they'll get him his refund.
Unwarranted how? 2 faulty heads, one which damaged his 4x10 and a 1x18 that didnt have all the bolts holding the speaker isnt exactly a sterling performance and deserves to be criticised.
However the rack case works fantastically and so far hasnt burst into flames, a rousing success for Carvin.
Yes I like Carvin equipment - I own a lot of it. All of it sturdy, reliable and well designed.
Bash people? I merely respond to criticism I consider to be unwarranted.
As for your drummer, that goes without saying, we all know drummers!
Had you actually tried some Carvin stuff you'd have a different opinion. There is a tendency to knock Carvin That I have seen on this forum. Some of it based on abused used equipment that failed. Had it been SWR or another main line brand folk would have said "Oh well, it was used." Fir carvin it's the manufacturers fault.
Paul
IMO (and yes count me in as a satisfied Carvin user, now and in the past) the bashing isn't just limited to Carvin. Every time someone has an issue with an amp or cab and then also has issues with customer service, the complaints come raining down.
It's understandable to be upset and want that company to make it right, but as I mentioned in a previous thread we live in a terribly selfish "I want it now" society. I don't see a lot of understanding from people. EVERY company produces lemons occasionally and EVERY company can have a CS Rep having a bad day (that normally may be very conscientious) that isn't treating you as if you are the only person on the planet.
Sh*t happens. Manufacturers and Customer Service is made up of people just like the rest of us. These are real people who are more than likely not doing a job they've always dreamed of doing.
Typically you get out of things what you put into them. I've never, ever had an issue with any company (including Carvin) that wasn't solved to my satisfaction. Then again I don't expect people to treat me any different than I treat them and usually issues get solved by working together.
THAT"S your reasoned and thought out response??? I would have though that at 22 you could have done much better!!
I've posted on my Carvin PB500 that I bought with a 1x15 at Guitarworks....It had trouble burning fuses. After I cleaned it with an amp tech at the store, there has not been a problem. I've owned that set up for about 4ish years and it has been good for most gigs and rehearsing. I think going Hartke would be a good bet for your situation, but then again I could be wrong. Once I get the cash I plan on getting an LH1000 and an Emperor 2x12.
