Carvin Vader headless basses

Yep, '80s shredder guitar!

I'd like to try one out. I haven't been down to Carvin in decades...

 

Looks great. Especially the Burl 5er.

Unfortunately, the BASE price is $1249, the BASS price as shown is about $2500. Pretty pricy with a few options.

 

Combine that with the UPS import charges and you run up a fairly heft bill in CDN dollars.

I think it is a great addition to the Carvin lineup. I honestly wondered why these weren't an option years ago. They were making headless guitars so I expected a headless bass.

I look forward to buying a cheap headless Carvin one day on the used market, ha ha.

 

Yeah. I have walked away from more than a few TB and other deals due to seller's reluctance to ship thru anyone other than UPS. Never again for me. Brokerage and handling fees are a complete joke across the border.

 

Strap at the 14th or 15th isn't uncommon for headless with that type of body.
There's a big weight transfer from the end of the neck to the body by moving the tuners to the bridge.

Interesting that they're doing 30" as a no-charge option.

 

Hmmm......not bad!

 

You should probably get one before they get a cease and desist from George Lucas. Then you'll have a pre lawsuit one

 

The strap pin makes a difference to the "muscle memory" of sorts I have with basses, the strap pin right around 12th fret is "standard"
Large deviations from that feel odd but I guess you can get used to them
I got my headless bass made in a way that it feels "normal" but most other headless basses I played felt really odd because the strap pin was at strange places even while sitting some how..

I think th 30" model should be OK, 1250 $ seems fine with the reinforced neck etc but I'd buy it under 1k so maybe wait for a used one..

 

Wow, I like it. Would love to get one in yellow, orange, green, or just for something different, a seafoam or surf green.

 

Endorser Anna Sentina

the 6 string is 16.25.

there was a question about whether or not the 5 would offere 17mm and the 6 would offer 19mm------but it turns out they made some typos in the online builders, which have been removed. So that means no 17mm option, for the 5er.

 

Looks interesting. Carvin & Jeff Kiesel have been putting out some great looking stuff lately! Unfortinately, their customer service department has put me off buying from them. I emailed, then called upon their reply, cash in hand, ready for an Icon with a few "99" (or whatever they call them) options. Nothing major, just non-standard neck and body woods and a P neck pickup. "Absolutely not," they said. "We've NEVER used those woods and never will, nor will we ever consider pickups that aren't already on offer for that model." I showed this c.s. rep similar builds they had done and featured on their own Community page. "No and don't ask again."
3 months later, there are Kiesel Icons with optional P neck pickups and the purpleheart tops they told me they would never even consider. :| Oh well, I'll take my money somewhere else.

I still think their instruments look nice, though.

 

These coincide with the launch of new radiused bass pickups in soapbar/P2 shape. They do not yet have a naming scheme. These pickups are standard spec (confirmed), for the Vader bass and are available as an option for any bass model which offers the P2/soapbar routes.

I asked for a brief description of the tone goals, as compared to the recent stuff, such as the RAD-JVA (single coil) and RAD-HVA (dual coil humbucker).

A rep said that they are meant to be fuller, but still with good clarity and better dynamics. There had been some complaints about the older pickups being brittle sounding or maybe issues with output (I have seen some people say that while the RAD-HVA is a good tone match for the SCP split coil pickup, the output isn't a great match. So you have to raise the height pretty far, for the RAD-HVA). Some of the endorsers have been saying that they don't need active tone shaping, to get "their" sound.

Personally, I think the RAD-JVA is a great sounding pickup. Very full and with good character. Responds very well to varied finger techniques. So it will be interesting to hear the new single coil.

For the RAD-HVA, I think the bridge pickup sounds awesome. The output is only medium, but the tone has good punch, is very even, and mixes well for tone, as a bridge pickup.

I did think that the neck RAD-HVA was a little anemic. But I used it in an Icon, which had a neck route which is a little further back, toward the bridge (the Icon 2.0 has different pickup locations). I've thought about ordering another bridge pickup and putting it in the neck position. I'm pretty optimistic, to hear the new humbucking neck pickup.

 

Neat design. It looks like they borrowed some shape from the Holdsworth guitar they have had for years (which I believe comes as a headless option as well).

 

That's not burl, it's swamp ash! With a finish known as "Antique Ash Treatment"!

I got that finish on my Icon and I LOVE it.

 

Jeff Kiesel talking about the Vader bass

 

Option 50.

Carvin is more flexible during slow times. If you really want an odd option it may happen in the future, just not when the wait time is at 12 weeks.

I will completely agree their CS leaves a lot to be desired... did you get ole Steve Schisler? He's a real charmer...