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New Carvin P bass, about time?

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#241
IPA said:
Still something off about the overall design. Better looking, but not instead-of-a-Fender better.
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Something is "off" for sure - same goes for their new B40 and B50 - the horns are too big - looks like a cheap Fender copy. I would never buy one based on the strange body shape alone. They had it right with the old B4 and B5 - they had good lines, but they discontinued those. I still can't get used to the body shape on the SB4000 and SB5000 - I know they are really popular and are selling well, but I just can't dig it - just like I'll never like the EB/MM Bongo, although I'm a huge EB/MM fan and own several. Back to Carvin, I do like the new Bromberg model and always liked the looks of the Brunel bass, but the bolt-on line doesn't do it for me - IMO of course.
 
#244
Searay said:
No, I'd skip Carvin and go right to Sadowsky
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You can get the Carvin PJ5 for 1100. The lowest priced import Sadowsky Metro PJ5 (according to Sadowsky's price list) is $2850. Add a maple board for another 200 bucks. Just saying...

Searay said:
I'm not knocking Carvin, they have very low resale, I've been that route. Just saying and perhaps to clarify I would spend $1500 on a mass produced Fender, but not on a custom Carvin.
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These days $1100 Carvin SBs are selling used in the $850 neighborhood. Not exactly very low resale. But hey, somebody has to buy those Fenders, may as well be you :)
 
#245
jim777 said:
You can get the Carvin PJ5 for 1100. The lowest priced import Sadowsky Metro PJ5 (according to Sadowsky's price list) is $2850. Add a maple board for another 200 bucks. Just saying...



These days $1100 Carvin SBs are selling used in the $850 neighborhood. Not exactly very low resale. But hey, somebody has to buy those Fenders, may as well be you :)
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I've never really owned a boutique bass, just could never justify the price. I have, however, owned many top end basses. Music Man, G&L, Yamaha,Spector, Fender etc. All of the Fenders, which I am partial to, still needed a good once over by a luither before I really felt at home...better pickups, bridge, electronic, tuners and so on. At the end the only things really left that was Fender was the neck and body. But, my one and only,so far, Carvin experience was absolutely spectacular. Felt right, sounded right, looked good and best of all, was priced right. Resale values come and go. It's always nice to come
out even if you can, but that rarely happens. I'm going to get another Carvin SB one day soon and it'll look and play like a Carvin instead of a modded Fender. Which there is nothing wrong with modded Fenders or Sadowskys,( I've never played a Sadowsky, so I couldn't tell you if they're worth it or not, although they seem to be really, really expensive)
 
#247
Blairb said:
I've never really owned a boutique bass, just could never justify the price. I have, however, owned many top end basses. Music Man, G&L, Yamaha,Spector, Fender etc. All of the Fenders, which I am partial to, still needed a good once over by a luither before I really felt at home...better pickups, bridge, electronic, tuners and so on. At the end the only things really left that was Fender was the neck and body. But, my one and only,so far, Carvin experience was absolutely spectacular. Felt right, sounded right, looked good and best of all, was priced right. Resale values come and go. It's always nice to come
out even if you can, but that rarely happens. I'm going to get another Carvin SB one day soon and it'll look and play like a Carvin instead of a modded Fender. Which there is nothing wrong with modded Fenders or Sadowskys,( I've never played a Sadowsky, so I couldn't tell you if they're worth it or not, although they seem to be really, really expensive)
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Same experiences here. To add to that, I had a couple of Carvins, then got a Sadowsky Metro. There just wasn't enough difference to justify the expense IMHO. So I sold it and got, yep, 2 more Carvins. Then I got a US Fender P/J5. That made it 5-6 weeks before it went bye-bye with a strong feeling of I=don;t-see-what-all-the-hype-is-about. In a blind play-test, without seeing a certain decal on the headstock, I would guess that it would be a bass in the $400-$500 range, max. Obviously others have different experiences/prejudices/inclinations.

I've branched out more and have other, non-Carvin basses in addition to my B25P and B50 P-bass, but those 2 at least hold their own with basses that cost far more. I've played nothing in the price range is even remotely close.

But if I wasn't already covered w/P's, I'd be looking at these. Or at least tryig to coax Carvin into making me a B-25 PJ...
 
#248
This was my experience as well. Sadowskys, Lulls, Fenders and I prefer the SB5000. The SB makes it not worth spending double for what you get with the high end stuff, imo. If the SB5000 disappeared off the face of the earth, I would likely save up, sell some stuff and get a Lull as its the only thing I've played that feels as good as my SB. Thankfully Carvin is here to stay and I've got a PB&J on order :D
 
#250
PBs.jpg
 
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#251
^^^

I just spoke to Albert at Carvin who mentioned they working on a specially hot-wound J99A single coil to put in the bridge position to compete with the split-coil. I was hoping that they would have beefed-up the H50A humbucker for that job, but I guess they need to start somewhere.

I am very curious to hear what early adopters think about this new bass when they hit finally the streets.

Cheers!
 
#259
CharlieC said:
^^^

I just spoke to Albert at Carvin who mentioned they working on a specially hot-wound J99A single coil to put in the bridge position to compete with the split-coil. I was hoping that they would have beefed-up the H50A humbucker for that job, but I guess they need to start somewhere.

I am very curious to hear what early adopters think about this new bass when they hit finally the streets.

Cheers!
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Why can't they offer a dual p, or a P/MM setup?
 
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