I think I stop believing in expensive basses!

[grendle]

Maybe thats where my disconnect comes in. But I have played a few of the Squire basses that to be honest, could have been 3 or 4 times the price by the way they played and sounded.

There is a pro level player here on TB that uses Carvin and not Fodera.
And by all rights he could use what ever he wants. But he doesn't.
And how many will say a Carvin doesn't stack up to a Fodera?
I'm sure he feels as strongly about his Carvin as he does about any of his basses.

And I can't tell you how many times I've read interviews where it's run of the mill Fenders or the like, that are used on tour and in the studio.
Not uber expensive boutique basses.

I'm all for getting what you want and loving it beyond all doubts cast upon it by others.

Carvin are sleepers. They are extremely precise and well built instruments, their build process insures tight tolerances. Their a high quality instrument for a great price. Played a ton of them and and they were impressive. I wouldn't count them out.

 

[MVPBASS]

Unfortunately, my only 2 experiences with Carvin were bad.
1) 1985, saved up for my first pro rig, got a Carvin head and a couple 115 cabs. Took them out, plugged them in and... distortion. Sent it back for a refund and bought a GK.
2) 1994, a friend of mine brought his Carvin 6 string bass over for me to set up. It sounded good but he wanted his action as low as my Pedulla because he couldn't get his action low enough. The neck was adjusted and the bridge was dropped all the way down, still to high. It was a neck through so I couldn't shim the neck, which it needed.
I'm not saying all Carvins are like this but these were my first impression and all that I have to go on.

 

[grendle]

Unfortunately, my only 2 experiences with Carvin were bad.
1) 1985, saved up for my first pro rig, got a Carvin head and a couple 115 cabs. Took them out, plugged them in and... distortion. Sent it back for a refund and bought a GK.
2) 1994, a friend of mine brought his Carvin 6 string bass over for me to set up. It sounded good but he wanted his action as low as my Pedulla because he couldn't get his action low enough. The neck was adjusted and the bridge was dropped all the way down, still to high. It was a neck through so I couldn't shim the neck, which it needed.
I'm not saying all Carvins are like this but these were my first impression and all that I have to go on.

Damn,didn't know they made 6's back in 94. Everything I played was 99+ they have come a long way since then.

 

[Roy Vogt]

.
2) 1994, a friend of mine brought his Carvin 6 string bass over for me to set up. It sounded good but he wanted his action as low as my Pedulla because he couldn't get his action low enough. The neck was adjusted and the bridge was dropped all the way down, still to high. It was a neck through so I couldn't shim the neck, which it needed.
I'm not saying all Carvins are like this but these were my first impression and all that I have to go on.

The early 90s LB76s had one truss rod and either no or metal stabilizing rods in the neck. They changed the design to graphite stabilizing rods and it vastly improved neck stability. I've found that you can't use too heavy of a set of strings on the earlier basses. D'Addario 6 string sets are just too heavy for them, but the Carvin strings (made by Labella) work just fine. I have one 1992 LB76 that had the truss rod adjusted all the way in and we couldn't get it lower that I replaced. The other 1992 fretless I purchased is still going strong today. I recently worked on a student's Icon 6 and the new ones have the SB5000 truss rod system and adjusted to a virtually flat relief. They tend to learn from their designs and improve them, which is pretty cool.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

Carvin are sleepers. They are extremely precise and well built instruments, their build process insures tight tolerances. Their a high quality instrument for a great price. Played a ton of them and and they were impressive. I wouldn't count them out.

Carvins are precise for the same reason Musicman basses are precise. They both use CNC wood milling equipment. That insures that the dimensions stay the same regardless of whether it was made on wednesday or monday. Now the fit and finish part, that is where the magic comes in. Both of those companies do a great job in that dept.
I mulled the idea of buying a Carvin once, but their "custom" didn't extend as far as my imagination did. What can I say, I like switches instead of knobs for pickup selection! But of all the used Carvins I have played, I have never encountered a dud.

 

[nickbass79]

Damn,didn't know they made 6's back in 94. Everything I played was 99+ they have come a long way since then.

Got my first 6 fretless in 94 and it was a Carvin. Great bass, a little weak B string though.

 

[Will Kelly]

This thread makes as much sense as trying to justify to a stranger why you are doinking someone.

 

[dustinfennessey]

This thread makes as much sense as trying to justify to a stranger why you are doinking someone.

shouldn't be that hard...shes my wife

 

[nostatic]

your wife is a stranger? No wonder you're sleeping with someone else...

 

[dustinfennessey]

your wife is a stranger? No wonder you're sleeping with someone else...

Its a tough life

 

[WoodyG3]

Why do people with $5,000 dollar basses feel like they have to justify their decision to people that don't get it?


That's the crazy part.

I don't have a $5000 bass, but I do feel the need to defend the reputation of a company from time to time. The B.S. about QC, customer service, product quality, etc. can really get out of hand at times. I don't want the casual reader, for instance, to think that a Fodera "sucks" or something similar.

 

[MVPBASS]

I don't have a $5000 bass, but I do feel the need to defend the reputation of a company from time to time. The B.S. about QC, customer service, product quality, etc. can really get out of hand at times. I don't want the casual reader, for instance, to think that a Fodera "sucks" or something similar.

+1

 

[spade2you]

That pretty much sums it up. An admitted closed mind, combined with the fact that one feels the need to criticize another's choice in bass (solely based on price or brand) speaks volumes.

Having been around the block once or twice, my gut is telling me that his closed minded opinions and very loud mouth is 100% backed without ANY experience with these basses. That's pure ignorance, yet somehow encouraged. If I bashed a Squier, I'd be an evil boutique snob, yet he is justified and we are evil 1%ers.

I'll admit to being very picky and have high expectations, but I have experience with enough stuff to have developed an informed opinion.

I also will ALWAYS take shots at people who bash another bassist's gear. I don't care what anyone plays. I will defend their decision to play their gear to the hilt.

 

[benlauziere]

IMHO, I didn't own a lot of basses and never owned a boutique or expensive bass; the most expensive bass I owned is my Fender American Standard Precision bass... but I think that all of this depends on the budget of each of us. I agree that expensive boutique bass worth the cost but as the OP said it, for the electronics and hardware, it's similar for all the boutique basses.
I think that for the price same price for quarter the price of a boutique bass, I can buy a reasonable quality bass and I could mod it with bartolini pickups, aguilar preamp, hipshot bridge and tuners, etc. The modded bass will have the same sound of the boutique bass.
So, I don't think that, for myself, it's worth the price of a boutique bass. Maybe for the wood and handcraft, but it's more than expensive.
I prefer buying less quality bass, modding them to have a killer sound and focus on my technique, cauz the bass doesn't make the bassist.

 

[dustinfennessey]

IMHO, I didn't own a lot of basses and never owned a boutique or expensive bass; the most expensive bass I owned is my Fender American Standard Precision bass... but I think that all of this depends on the budget of each of us. I agree that expensive boutique bass worth the cost but as the OP said it, for the electronics and hardware, it's similar for all the boutique basses.
I think that for the price same price for quarter the price of a boutique bass, I can buy a reasonable quality bass and I could mod it with bartolini pickups, aguilar preamp, hipshot bridge and tuners, etc. The modded bass will have the same sound of the boutique bass.
So, I don't think that, for myself, it's worth the price of a boutique bass. Maybe for the wood and handcraft, but it's more than expensive.
I prefer buying less quality bass, modding them to have a killer sound and focus on my technique, cauz the bass doesn't make the bassist.

Graphite!

 

[seang15]

shouldn't be that hard...shes my wife

+1! Awesome

 

[capnsandwich]

IMHO, I didn't own a lot of basses and never owned a boutique or expensive bass; the most expensive bass I owned is my Fender American Standard Precision bass... but I think that all of this depends on the budget of each of us. I agree that expensive boutique bass worth the cost but as the OP said it, for the electronics and hardware, it's similar for all the boutique basses.
I think that for the price same price for quarter the price of a boutique bass, I can buy a reasonable quality bass and I could mod it with bartolini pickups, aguilar preamp, hipshot bridge and tuners, etc. The modded bass will have the same sound of the boutique bass.
So, I don't think that, for myself, it's worth the price of a boutique bass. Maybe for the wood and handcraft, but it's more than expensive.
I prefer buying less quality bass, modding them to have a killer sound and focus on my technique, cauz the bass doesn't make the bassist.

That's cool that you can do that and still get a good and acceptable quality bass for yourself. However, some guys, including myself, rely on guys who know wood, electronics, and assembly more than I do to build me something. All I do is tell them what I'm looking for and they tell me what they have. If we can see eye to eye and I can afford it, then I have that luthier build me a bass. The problem is that some people still tell me that what I'm looking for can be found in a production line budget bass, and when I disagree, people, then call me a liar.

No one but me and God know what I want in a bass until I talk to an experienced luthier, and I know I don't want a $200 jazz or P bass knock off, (not that you're doing that, I'm just using your post as an illustration.)

 

[M.R. Ogle]

That said, I'm more fascinated watching really good players go through the inexpensive inventory at GC or Sam Ash looking for "the one". They find them too. One of my friends, who I respect as one of the best guitarists I've ever seen, pro or otherwise has tons of vintage guitars, mainly because he refuses to sell EVER! One day I asked him what he would pay to have new frets installed. His answer "nothing, I can buy a guitar for that price". The real answer is that because he knows what he likes, and can set it up for himself, he can get away with always using less expensive guitars.

Amen to this! This is exactly how I shop these days, I've spend thousands in the past for basses, but now, I get more enjoyment just finding and working on much more modest (but with character) instruments.

 

[thunderkyss]

A hyundai is a car. A Corvette is a car. You can do all kinds of crap to that Hyundai to make its performance similar to that of the Corvette.

& for some guys that performance is all that matters. For other guys, they prefer to buy the Corvette & not have to bother with all that modifying, or they prefer to start at Corvette & mod to Lamborgini type performance.

It's all good. Just do what you do & have fun.

 

[diglo]

A hyundai is a car. A Corvette is a car. You can do all kinds of crappy to that Hyundai to make its performance similar to that of the Corvette.

& for some guys that performance is all that matters. For other guys, they peter to by the Corvette & not have to bother with all that modifying, or they prefer to start at Corvette & mod to Lamborgini type performance.

It's all good. Just do what you do & have fun.

+1