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How come we all don't play Carvin instruments & amps/cabs?
- Thread starter Thir13teen
- Start date
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Simple: Carvin doesn't sell basses with a JetGlo finish. Nor do they make the best bass for metal.
How come we all don't play Carvin instruments & amps/cabs?
Because they don't offer basses with a hand-carved arched body...
Or EMG pickups....
Or pau ferro fret boards....
Or hand made Haz Labs preamps....
Or 2-lb. solid brass bridges with locking saddles....
Or most importantly, the feel & tone I'm looking for.
If only I could own a bass with all of these features..
Oh wait - I do!
Because they don't offer basses with a hand-carved arched body...
Or EMG pickups....
Or pau ferro fret boards....
Or hand made Haz Labs preamps....
Or 2-lb. solid brass bridges with locking saddles....
Or most importantly, the feel & tone I'm looking for.
If only I could own a bass with all of these features..
Oh wait - I do!
It's simple: I dont enjoy their body shapes, limited options, or from what I could tell, general lack of any in depth understanding of the woods and their tonal characteristics that most if not all "boutique" custom luthiers understand very well.
Plus I enjoy extra frets, excessive scale lengths, and mostly picking the top on my bass and many other personal touches that carvin does not offer.They aren't a custom shop. It's been said before, they just make a wide variety of stock instruments.
Plus I enjoy extra frets, excessive scale lengths, and mostly picking the top on my bass and many other personal touches that carvin does not offer.They aren't a custom shop. It's been said before, they just make a wide variety of stock instruments.
Means2nEnd
Supporting Member
Have you seriously spent any time with any of these basses you can arguably promote Carvin as on par or better than? There is nothing absolutely nothing wrong with digging a Carvin and letting everyone know you see a huge value in. I had one for a minute was nice, frets and fretboard were great but overall nowhere near a Sadowsky in just about every department. I can see your point in asking why more of us dont own them or play them but cast out the other builders even the import Zon is off.
I have played and spent a little time with one of those Zons at Bass Specialties in Bensalem PA it was killer and the electronics package was great. If you cant understand why maybe because you dont know as much about these other basses? Maybe its time to test the waters and check them out just to see what the deal is all about. I agree spending more money for the sake of it doesnt mean youre going to have a better value for you that is sure. There are legendary bassists who have made history in music with crazy high end stuff and Fenders that look like they went through a war. It is the wizard not the wand and I know for me Im not a fan of flat plank body basses at all my tummy requires special attention.
I have played and spent a little time with one of those Zons at Bass Specialties in Bensalem PA it was killer and the electronics package was great. If you cant understand why maybe because you dont know as much about these other basses? Maybe its time to test the waters and check them out just to see what the deal is all about. I agree spending more money for the sake of it doesnt mean youre going to have a better value for you that is sure. There are legendary bassists who have made history in music with crazy high end stuff and Fenders that look like they went through a war. It is the wizard not the wand and I know for me Im not a fan of flat plank body basses at all my tummy requires special attention.
I read posts here complaining that Carvin just doesn't offer enough options? Are you kidding me? Besides pickup, wood, colors, neck type, inlays, and hardware choices, you can even choose different sized frets.
Build your own and see for yourself.
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Build your own and see for yourself.
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How come we all don't play Carvin instruments & amps/cabs?
Because they don't offer basses with a hand-carved arched body...
Or EMG pickups....
Or pau ferro fret boards....
Or hand made Haz Labs preamps....
Or 2-lb. solid brass bridges with locking saddles....
Or most importantly, the feel & tone I'm looking for.
If only I could own a bass with all of these features..
Oh wait - I do!
I have a green + gold Euro but that looks American. About 3.5K?
Geez, that describes me to a "T". P/J, fingers, monster cable direct into the amp...yeah, that's me alright. Here's to boring!
IMHO, the reason that they don't sell more comes down to:
1) You can't find them in stores unless they are used and then they tend to be the dogs, not the ones people want to keep.
2) Lots of options for cosmetics, but they insist on Carvin preamps and pickups.
3) Nonstandard features - the J99 pickup is the same size for both bridge and neck so that greatly limits the aftermarket choices.
4) Too many options for cosmetics. I think that's one of the main reasons that resale value is so low. Do I buy your used bass at 70% or build a new one exactly the way I want it. If I'm going to buy your used bass, it had better be at a low enough price where I don't care that it's not exactly what I want. That ends up being around 50% or even less.
5) No P bass pickups.
6) History of being not so great. They've really upped their game lately, but that stigma remains.
All IMHO.
1) You can't find them in stores unless they are used and then they tend to be the dogs, not the ones people want to keep.
2) Lots of options for cosmetics, but they insist on Carvin preamps and pickups.
3) Nonstandard features - the J99 pickup is the same size for both bridge and neck so that greatly limits the aftermarket choices.
4) Too many options for cosmetics. I think that's one of the main reasons that resale value is so low. Do I buy your used bass at 70% or build a new one exactly the way I want it. If I'm going to buy your used bass, it had better be at a low enough price where I don't care that it's not exactly what I want. That ends up being around 50% or even less.
5) No P bass pickups.
6) History of being not so great. They've really upped their game lately, but that stigma remains.
All IMHO.
Just my answer to the topic question of the thread.
I don't play Carvin because the one I had, I believe it was a 1980s LB-60 or something like that, had a very skinny 24-fret neck. Although it was a neck-through design, I needed to tweak the truss rod all the time to be able to play. It was very sensitive to the weather conditions. I let it go and so far have not had the desire to buy another.
I don't play Carvin because the one I had, I believe it was a 1980s LB-60 or something like that, had a very skinny 24-fret neck. Although it was a neck-through design, I needed to tweak the truss rod all the time to be able to play. It was very sensitive to the weather conditions. I let it go and so far have not had the desire to buy another.
I don't play Carvin basses because I don't care for the tone, the feel, or the looks of their basses.
Honestly, man, Carvin makes great gear. But I just don't like their headstocks. Same reason I never bought an Ibanez. Not a huge fan of the standard bass body shapes, but those headstocks are just so ugly to me!
They are very different today. I have two, and never need to tweak the truss rod on either unless I am putting on radically different strings. I had one in the case in storage for several years, and when I took it out all of the strings except one were still in tune - and that one was barely off. Very stable.
Which one? They have 4 different ones right now that I can think of.
I really like the Icon headstock, not crazy about the SB headstock. The other two are just ok.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the number one reason people don't play Carvin basses: Because they are not FENDER basses!
Actually I do play a Carvin bass, an AC50 fretless and it's great. But for their usual fare (not SB) I'm with SactoBass. I've also bought Carvin pickups in the past and was NOT impressed with their tone (sold the bass). AND while I'm at it I've also got a pair of Carvin BX500 light weight amps. They work nice and have EXACTLY the controls I'd like to see on an amp! BUT, I've compared it to what I REALLY wanted which was a pair of Galien Krueger MB800 heads and for some reason the Carvin just doesn't have that tone and clarity! I'm really surprised that an amp would sound that different. However, a sale at Carvin is what made me forgo tone for something left in my wallet.
Our first PA was a Carvin power mixer way back in highschool. Worked great and probably is still around somewhere doing its duty. Now, I have 2 3-way PA boxes and a power amp from them. I'm a satisfied customer. Never cared much for their bass amps, though - or bass guitars. I'm all Ampeg and Fender when it comes to that stuff.
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