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New Carvin Vanquish Basses

#63
Just out of curiosity, I kind of wonder if Carvin would be willing to make the changes some of you are suggesting with their kind of unkown "Option 50". You can ask them to try anything (carve out the edge of the body on that Icon, or reverse the headstock, etc.) They may even actually DO it for you. The downside? You won't be able to have a 10 day trial period and return it like you would with a "standard" (which is still fairly custom) order. If you have the time, go over to the Carvin boards (http://www.carvinbbs.com) and do a search for "Option 50" and take a look at the crazy things they've done for other people. Moral of the story? It never hurts to ask! ;)
 
#66
Toptube said:
I think the issue is that Carvin offers a lot. Much more than most custom/boutique builders. The idea that they don't offer a single likeable thing to someone, is a bit inane.

The biggest issue, however, is that Carvin's critics often do not elaborate enough for others to take their criticisms seriously.

You find most of their bodies "unbalanced"?-----ok, give us a breakdown of what you mean and why that's not good. and further, why it's not good with nearly every model...? Because off the top of my head, some very iconic basses are pretty "unbalanced" in shape. ; )


*my one critique of the Vanquish is that the Icon headstock is curiously "up-side down" by default. This is a small quibble for me, with any bass the icon headstock has been on. I think it would be a small improvement to reverse the Icon headstock, in general. I will probably be getting a Vanquish in the future. a 24 fret bolt-on is exactly the thing I have been waiting for, from Carvin. While I do like the Bromberg body shape the best and have thought and thought and thought about getting one----I'm not a big fan of neck through. Anyway, when I do get around to ordering a Vanquish, I will try to get a reverse headstock.
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I didn't want to simply, and outright slam the company. I did that for Rickenbacker on another thread (I play Ricks), and the moderator just shut down the thread with no stated reason. I don't want a repeat of that. I don't own this board, and after that experience, I feel opinions must be supervised. I must tread lightly.

With that said, there's much I'd like to tell Carvin to change, but the fact that they've managed to successfully remain a Direct-buy company with a product line that's fairly vast, they've likely had to keep their costs low in design and manufacturing. I'll leave that to interpretation. As for the Vanquish, I can't get past the upper horn. I personally don't like that bulky look, which contrasts with the contour of the rest of the body.
 
#74
These are growing on me. I would love to hear one though. I usually prefer the neck pickup to be a little more towards the middle (in the P position would be ideal).

The first ones I had seen reminded me of a little Flintstone(ish).
 
#79
Jarrett said:
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I love this one. Would totally dig a 4 version of that.
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Yeah that's a hot look. Definitely one of my top 5 looks so far, for the Vanquish.

SteveC said:
I do like the headstock much better than previous versions. Something I never quite liked about Carvin.
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That's the "Icon" headstock. Which is standard on the "Icon" bass. You can also get it on the PB, SB, and B.

brconflict said:
I didn't want to simply, and outright slam the company. I did that for Rickenbacker on another thread (I play Ricks), and the moderator just shut down the thread with no stated reason. I don't want a repeat of that. I don't own this board, and after that experience, I feel opinions must be supervised. I must tread lightly.

With that said, there's much I'd like to tell Carvin to change, but the fact that they've managed to successfully remain a Direct-buy company with a product line that's fairly vast, they've likely had to keep their costs low in design and manufacturing. I'll leave that to interpretation. As for the Vanquish, I can't get past the upper horn. I personally don't like that bulky look, which contrasts with the contour of the rest of the body.
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Rickenbacker is one of the "Iconic" basses I had in mind, which features an "unbalanced" body design ; )

I think the Vanquish looks cool and the fatness to the upper horn with a somewhat off-set look from the lower horn is common design queue for Carvin (look at their other bolt-ons, they all have a similar based to the upper horn). Others have done something like that, however. Ibanez RD and Yamaha's BB come to mind. Anyway, they have several other body styles which are pretty balanced in appearance. The Bromberg signature model is probably one of the most "balanced" and cohesive designs on the market, period. The LB is a classic, balanced look. The PB takes a couple of subtle style liberties, but is otherwise a pretty "balanced" design.
 

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