New Carvin P bass, about time?

[Herrick]

I called them up and asked about getting a split coil pickup in the B50, mentioning the Facebook photo of the B50 with the SCP.

He said that he'd get back to me about that, but was pretty sure that they couldn't do it, and was adamant that the Facebook photo didn't exist.

EDIT: Eddie at Carvin just confirmed that they won't do a SCP on a B50. Sad, I really prefer the pickguard free look.

Someone here (sorry I forgot who) has a B50 with a split-coil pickup. Maybe Carvin shipped the bass without the routing, and the TBer got it routed for the pickup somewhere else?

 

[Handyman]

Someone here (sorry I forgot who) has a B50 with a split-coil pickup. Maybe Carvin shipped the bass without the routing, and the TBer got it routed for the pickup somewhere else?

Ya, that was a special order B50 shipped without pickup routing.

Strange that they'd do that but refuse to install their own P pickups.

 

[MyMusic]

The members name is Grateful if I'm not mistaken.

 

[WoodyG3]

EDIT: Eddie at Carvin just confirmed that they won't do a SCP on a B50. Sad, I really prefer the pickguard free look.

Well, that is too bad, but it will save me some money.

However I don't think the pickguard would jibe..can they do a clear one or one without a pickguard for the p5's anyone know?

You could get a clear pickguard made, but it would show the routing channels, which I don't think you would want.

 

[boristhespider9]

Just ordered this -- needed (I mean wanted) a fretless. Hard to beat the price. What do you think? I can make edits until tomorrow!


PB4 1 ________ ________ 769.00 769.00
4 STRING P BASS, 20 FRETS
light weight alder

F 1 ________ ________ .00 .00
FRETLESS FINGERBOARD
SFG 1 ________ ________ .00 .00
SURF GREEN
PH 1 ________ ________ 30.00 30.00
HEADSTOCK COLOR MATCH TO BODY
TH 1 ________ ________ 20.00 20.00
TRADITIONAL STYLE HEADSTOCK
EF 1 ________ ________ 15.00 15.00
EBONY FRETBOARD
409 1 ________ ________ 5.00 5.00
CREAM PICKUP COVER
ABL 1 ________ ________ 30.00 30.00
ABALONE CARVIN LOGO
WP 1 ________ ________ 15.00 15.00
PICKGUARD WHITE PERLOID
TCC 1 ________ ________ .00 .00
Truss Rod Cover Cream
SC8 1 ________ ________ 59.00 59.00
ULTIMATE SOFT BASS CASE
OPTDISC-100 1 ________ ________ 100.00- 100.00-
-100.00 PROMO FOR OPTION DISCO

 

[gjbassist]

I called them up and asked about getting a split coil pickup in the B50, mentioning the Facebook photo of the B50 with the SCP.

He said that he'd get back to me about that, but was pretty sure that they couldn't do it, and was adamant that the Facebook photo didn't exist.

EDIT: Eddie at Carvin just confirmed that they won't do a SCP on a B50. Sad, I really prefer the pickguard free look.

Oh it exists all right! Took me a while to find it but I remembered commenting on it. It was posted on January 3rd. I took a screen capture of it so you could see for sure that is is from the Carvin page. Bummer they are not going to offer it because I had my mind made up that was the way I was going to go when I ordered my Carvin. Now I will have to decide if I want a B40 or a PB4.

 

[Herrick]

Ya, that was a special order B50 shipped without pickup routing.

Strange that they'd do that but refuse to install their own P pickups.

They probably don't want Bs with P pickups to compete with their PB sales. I wonder what the reasoning was for not making Bs with P pickups in the first place.

Edit: That picture looks really cool.

 

[Handyman]

Anyway, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a PB5. I have a slight preference to the pickguard free look, but I'm sure this will look great.

PB5 - 5-String Classic Bolt Neck Bass
Right Handed
PHAC - Add HB Bridge Humbucker and Active/Passive Electronics
THY - Honeyburst
CG - Clear Gloss Finish (Standard)
ASH - Maple Neck/Swamp Ash Body
CSN - Clear Satin Finish Back Of Neck (Natural Wood)
PH - Headstock To Match Body Finish
IPH - Icon-style Bass Headstock
RWF - Rosewood Fingerboard (Standard)
DI - Dot Inlays (Standard)
STF - Stainless Med-Jumbo Frets .048" H .103" W
R14 - 14in Fretboard Radius (Standard)
CH - Chrome Hardware (Standard)
BLK - Black Pickups
WLL2 - Large White Logo (no charge)
SL - Dunlop Straplocks
RP - Red Tortoise Pickguard
IVN - Ivory Graph Tech TUSQ Nut

 

[Hamlet7768]

New PB review with clips:

Invalid Link Removed

Here are those humbucker clips people have been asking for!

Quicktime keeps crashing for me.

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Just ordered this -- needed (I mean wanted) a fretless. Hard to beat the price. What do you think? I can make edits until tomorrow!


PB4 1 ________ ________ 769.00 769.00
4 STRING P BASS, 20 FRETS
light weight alder

F 1 ________ ________ .00 .00
FRETLESS FINGERBOARD
SFG 1 ________ ________ .00 .00
SURF GREEN
PH 1 ________ ________ 30.00 30.00
HEADSTOCK COLOR MATCH TO BODY
TH 1 ________ ________ 20.00 20.00
TRADITIONAL STYLE HEADSTOCK
EF 1 ________ ________ 15.00 15.00
EBONY FRETBOARD
409 1 ________ ________ 5.00 5.00
CREAM PICKUP COVER
ABL 1 ________ ________ 30.00 30.00
ABALONE CARVIN LOGO
WP 1 ________ ________ 15.00 15.00
PICKGUARD WHITE PERLOID
TCC 1 ________ ________ .00 .00
Truss Rod Cover Cream
SC8 1 ________ ________ 59.00 59.00
ULTIMATE SOFT BASS CASE
OPTDISC-100 1 ________ ________ 100.00- 100.00-
-100.00 PROMO FOR OPTION DISCO

Consider the epoxy finish on the board....

 

[gumbynotpokey]

Anyway, I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a PB5. I have a slight preference to the pickguard free look, but I'm sure this will look great.

PB5 - 5-String Classic Bolt Neck Bass
Right Handed
PHAC - Add HB Bridge Humbucker and Active/Passive Electronics
THY - Honeyburst
CG - Clear Gloss Finish (Standard)
ASH - Maple Neck/Swamp Ash Body
CSN - Clear Satin Finish Back Of Neck (Natural Wood)
PH - Headstock To Match Body Finish
IPH - Icon-style Bass Headstock
RWF - Rosewood Fingerboard (Standard)
DI - Dot Inlays (Standard)
STF - Stainless Med-Jumbo Frets .048" H .103" W
R14 - 14in Fretboard Radius (Standard)
CH - Chrome Hardware (Standard)
BLK - Black Pickups
WLL2 - Large White Logo (no charge)
SL - Dunlop Straplocks
RP - Red Tortoise Pickguard
IVN - Ivory Graph Tech TUSQ Nut

Single piece swamp ash body?

 

[Handyman]

Single piece swamp ash body?

Just a plain old multi piece body. Carvin does such a great job matching their bodies that I didn't bother with the one piece option.

 

[boristhespider9]

Consider the epoxy finish on the board....

I did consider that. I was trying to keep the price down to well under $1000 (I already have plenty of basses 2-3x that). I'll likely put half rounds on it to minimize the ebony fretboard from getting chewed up. I do like the look of the epoxy, however.

 

[Freddels]

I've had several fretless basses with ebony boards and no finish on them. I always used round wounds and they didn't wear very much at all. You'll get some markings on the board but it should affect the playability. The epoxy finish on the fb does change the tone of the bass.

 

[Jarrett]

Has anyone ordered a bass from Carvin with the low, wide fret option?

I was a jumbo stainless fret fan on my other basses, but tried to the low wides on my PBJ and I like them over my tall frets on my SB5000 I think. Faster, smoother feel. Wish they did a SS low wide.

 

[Calebmundy]

New PB review with clips:

Invalid Link Removed

Here are those humbucker clips people have been asking for!

Man, these all sound REALLY terrible to me, except for the passive P pickup, which sounds decent. (Running it through headphones and/or the line into my TC combo). Just once I'd love to hear some demos with tone settings anywhere close to where I play. Way too much high end and string/fret noise for me.

I'm no dubby flats-and-tone-rolled-off guy, but this seems very thin.

 

[Lia_G]

In real life, at least with the passive P, it's anything but thin. It's a very warm and punchy sound. I do roll off the tone control about 25% with roundwounds.

Liam

 

[Handyman]

I really do wonder what's going on with those active mode sound clips. The preamp, the same one that's in the SB series, doesn't alter the tone in that way unless you jack up the treble knob all the way.

 

[gjbassist]

I really do wonder what's going on with those active mode sound clips. The preamp, the same one that's in the SB series, doesn't alter the tone in that way unless you jack up the treble knob all the way.

They really don't sa in the article how the preamp was set, so it may have very well been that they had the treble cranked up. That certainly is how it sounds.

 

[tombowlus]

In real life, at least with the passive P, it's anything but thin. It's a very warm and punchy sound. I do roll off the tone control about 25% with roundwounds.

Liam

I ordered our test bass as a passive, single P-pickup only, and it's big, full and meaty. Lovin' it so far!