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carvins!
- Thread starter adept_inept
- Start date
Bass Viking said:
He could have done that, yes.
He chose to express his displeasure with a concise, four-word post. That's fine, too.
But chiding him to "get over it"? Now *there's* something that's of no use to the original poster....
FYI, I used to be a big Carvin fan too, just like you. Was quite happy with both of them. Even wrote positive reviews.
Right up until the time they broke.
:scowl:
bigbeefdog said:
I didn't mean to start a fight or anything, that's why I put the smiley in my original post. Sorry if there are any hard feelings.
About your amps: were you able to get them fixed under warranty?
I've had only good experiences from Carvin. I did send a bass back during the 10 day trial because it wasn't my cup of tea tonally, but that went smoothly.
Bass Viking said:
No problem. I'm probably a little punchy tonight myself (just finished an Email battle with an Internet vendor); it's all cool. My apologies back atcha.
Unfortunately no, they were both just outside of the warranty period. Both went into the shop to be fixed, but the problems returned. Ended up giving one to a church, and another to a younger player, and going in a different direction.
My buddy that got me into bass loves Carvin basses. It was really great construction, and a flawless finish. My fingers felt like they would stick to the neck though... i'm used to satin finish necks.
Wonderful tone with his flat wound strings. Its my standard "sound" I judge all basses against, since it was my first "real" bass to hear.
Wonderful tone with his flat wound strings. Its my standard "sound" I judge all basses against, since it was my first "real" bass to hear.
Snarf said:
Really? What was wrong with it? I've been thinking about getting a B5. What's the scoop?
r
I have a BK4 (Bolt 4 in kit form) It's a great bass to play. Wonderful neck, flawless frretwork and very high quality parts. I've used it for 2 years now and the neck is very stable and I've had no problems.
I got it with the J99 single coil pickups. It sounds very much like a good Jazz with single coils. With both pickups at the same volume there is no hum. There is some with either pickup soloed.
Mine has the alder body and it's very light-7lbs or less, and balances nicely.
In Canada you don't save any money buying one once you've paid for shipping, taxes, the difference in the dollar and duty. Carvin factors all this into your Canadian price and ships to your door fast. But I bought it because I wanted something to put a finish on and put together for the fun of it. In the USA they can be a very good deal.
I've played the LB20 which is a neck through bass. It's also very nice and has the same great neck and flawless fretwork.
I'm not an inexperienced player. I've been playing for 45 years and I own some nice basses. The Carvin will stand up with any of them.
I don't know anything about their amps, but the basses are very good.
I got it with the J99 single coil pickups. It sounds very much like a good Jazz with single coils. With both pickups at the same volume there is no hum. There is some with either pickup soloed.
Mine has the alder body and it's very light-7lbs or less, and balances nicely.
In Canada you don't save any money buying one once you've paid for shipping, taxes, the difference in the dollar and duty. Carvin factors all this into your Canadian price and ships to your door fast. But I bought it because I wanted something to put a finish on and put together for the fun of it. In the USA they can be a very good deal.
I've played the LB20 which is a neck through bass. It's also very nice and has the same great neck and flawless fretwork.
I'm not an inexperienced player. I've been playing for 45 years and I own some nice basses. The Carvin will stand up with any of them.
I don't know anything about their amps, but the basses are very good.
They're taking 5 weeks to build and ship my unlined fretless neckthrough NT4 neck with unshaped headstock to me for my custom 4-string, which is a bit disappointing, but I'm almost sure it'll be worth the wait.... 
Steve Digiorgio gets AMAZING tone out of his Carvins.
Steve Digiorgio gets AMAZING tone out of his Carvins.
Snarf said:
if it was "crap"
explain WHY it was crap...non-constructive, empty "troll-like" statements like this are not in the spirit of TalkBass.
my blood's not boiling, it's just at a gentle simmer.
Snarf said:
I did a search for "Snarf's beaten-to-death Carvin issues" and couldn't find ANYTHING!
I think they are great instruments. I prefer my BB70 to my LB75, but they are all well built and very playable.
The company itself, on the other hand. I have recently developed some issues with it, as well as with their Red Line amps, I used to swear by them, but that is a topic for another time, I suppose.
The company itself, on the other hand. I have recently developed some issues with it, as well as with their Red Line amps, I used to swear by them, but that is a topic for another time, I suppose.
I've found their gear in the past to be excellent.
I purchased an AC40 bass in 1997 and a RL615 amp...I sold the amp only because I didn't want to pay to have it freighted to Australia (bad move on my part, actually). The bass is still playing as sweet as ever.
I've had some issues with customer support however.
I've been thinking about converting my AC40 from EADG to BEAD and had a couple of basic questions...I've tried to contact carvin on a couple of occasions via email (best way to do it given the time difference)...and they just flat out don't answer my emails.
I purchased an AC40 bass in 1997 and a RL615 amp...I sold the amp only because I didn't want to pay to have it freighted to Australia (bad move on my part, actually). The bass is still playing as sweet as ever.
I've had some issues with customer support however.
I've been thinking about converting my AC40 from EADG to BEAD and had a couple of basic questions...I've tried to contact carvin on a couple of occasions via email (best way to do it given the time difference)...and they just flat out don't answer my emails.
I have had no problems with customer support. In fact, my experiences with their CS department have been really good.
62bass said:
I'm not sure what you mean by this. Save money compared to ...? Also, you do pay more in shipping but you don't pay any Canadian taxes.
You did save some money putting it together yourself instead of buying a B4 though.
PilbaraBass said:I did a search for "Snarf's beaten-to-death Carvin issues" and couldn't find ANYTHING!
I guess I could do the typing and clicking for you . . .
"The first neck on my B4 had its truss rod come loose. The second neck moved too much for it to be playable. The pickups sounded hollow and boomy, but not in a good way. I'd stay stick with your Fender, better tone and good construction.
I'm the resident Carvin-hater, so take it with a grain of salt." - 2 days ago. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225017&highlight=carvin
"Ain't no urban myth, this happened to me. It was a one-piece maple neck with twisted grain. Why anyone would use wood grained like that is beyond me. The truss rod was probably not glued properly into the neck. The wood was not the cause, but still the wood was terrible and warped beyond playability.
And when I sent it back, it took them a month to figure out "it's broke" and send me a new neck. Of course they sent me the new neck without hardware . . . . duuuuuuhhhh. To their credit they overnighted the hardware at no charge. The new neck was similarly crappy, with wood that had such twisting grains that it was only a matter of a year or two before it would warp beyond recognition of playability. And that bass would BUZZ. I had to get the action unplayably high to alleviate the buzzing. And the odd thing is that a great tech told me the nut on that thing was stupid-huge, way too high. Oh, and I couldn't fit the G string into the slot in the nut, it was cut so poorly. I had to take an old guitar string and file the slot down so I could actually put strings on.
Overall, Carvin was a nightmare for me, I'm never going back and I'm going to continue to warn people away from them." - http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220906&page=2&highlight=carvin
"My experience is you get LESS than you pay for with Carvin. My B4's neck was impossibly unstable (both of them, the truss rod in the first snapped), the pickups sounded thuddy (in a hollow way, not in a nice p-bass thumpy way), and the customer service was crap. I've heard several Carvin LB series basses in action. I've also played one. All have that signature Carvin crappy sound. The sixers are also extremely difficult on the hands, since the string spacing is impossibly narrow.
Conklin on the other hand, is a boutique shop, where people actually give a damn about which pieces of wood won't warp and crack, and will actually give you an option in electronics (one of Carvin's worst attitudes is that if you want something other than the Carvin pickup, something is wrong with YOU). A Conklin bass will be better constructed, and will sound better with better woods and electronics. I have one of their Korean-made Groove Tools basses, and even though it is made overseas, it beats the crap out of my old Carvin (now sold).
If you're even considering Conklin, Carvin just won't measure up at all. There is no contest." http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220619&highlight=carvin
I remember you wanted to shim the neck and then did want to measure for relief...potatoes tomatoes...
