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"Official" Carvin Club - Part 2

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#501
Randy S said:
Here's my Icon 5, new this year in June. Got the radiused Bromberg single coils. I just love this bass. I turned up the gain by a quarter turn. Great sustain and string to string balance.
Click to expand...

I'd like to hear what an Carvin Icon with the BB RAD-singlessounds like. I own a Carvin Icon 6-string with the SP humbucker soapbars and I'm less than thrilled with the tone -- it's very dull/sterile and not very deep. Can you please record and post some direct-in sound clips?
 
#503
KingRazor said:
If the J99s have more growl, I'll stay away from them. I don't like growl.

I found the tone of this 6-string Icon bass to be very "growly": Invalid Link Removed

It sounds very "rough" and "raw". Do you think that bass sounds very much like the Icon basses you guys have tried?

This sounds a little better, IMO, but still not a very "smooth" tone, still kind of "edgy" and "raw":
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I know you were asking this question from a year ago, but I'll answer anyways. The second video is a poor representation of how the Icon sounds. That's what a badly EQed Icon sounds like. When my Icon starts sounding like that, I know that it's time to change strings. It also doesn't help that the player has absolutely no right-hand technique at all. I don't like to just bash on players, but Carvin really made a mistake having that guy demo one of their basses unless their target demographic were people who hamfist everything they play. :hmm:

With that said, while the term "growl" means different things to different people, I will say that my Icon is very much in the tonal family of a Warwick Thumb if that gives any indication. It's a very aggressive sounding bass. I've used it on many-a-rock gig, but I'm probably not going to use it on my new country gig. Keep in mind, my Icon has a ton of Walnut in it, so that's going to have an effect on tone.

Edit: Checked out some more of Bjorn's playing, and he does have some chops; but man, I just don't dig his tone on anything. Those Carvins sound like $200 budget basses the way he EQs them.
 
#504
Bought this kit back in July and put it together at the end of September. Very first Carvin product I ever touched. I love it!!! Walnut body, birdseye maple fingerboard, J99's. I can get any tone I need. Plus I got a MB15 for my birthday from my wife. I'm rattling windows everywhere!!

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:bassist::bassist::bassist:

:hyper::hyper:
 
#506
Hey , nice bass ! Here is its brother in a five string .

002-19.jpg


I love mine too !
 
#515
bgartist said:
I see the controls are not the standard Icon pot configuration. What pre is that?
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A former owner put a BassMods Preamp in. I'm thinking of putting the original 4 knob Carvin pre in with a dummy knob, or maybe a Bart 5 knobs pre. I'll play around with the current preamp for a while before I decide, though. I'm also considering whether I want to keep the standard soapbar pickups or go with some single coil J99s or the radiused single coil BB pups. Again, though, I'm in no hurry. I might decide I like it the way it is.

So far I am really happy with the general construction and the neck. This bass sets up perfectly, and the fret work is amazing. It's a super comfortable bass!

I've always liked the look of the Icon, and I've always liked spalted maple, so when this came up for sale I grabbed it quickly. :)
 
#516
My main axe is a Bromberg B24S; love it! I plan to order a 2nd 4-string Carvin set up with flat-wound strings. This bass will be my “old school” bass. The logical choice would be either a SB4000 or B40 with flats. However I have to say, I’ve fallen in love with the neck on my B24S and have toyed with the idea of ordering a second B24S with flats and basically living the EQ flat.

Question, any of you have a B24 and either own or have tried out a SB4000? How much more radically chucky is the SB compared to the B24? I know the B40 neck is supposed to be thinner than the SB so I’m keeping that model in mind as well. Then again, maybe a bass with a slightly different feel might be a good thing.

Feedback anyone?
 
#517
A question to the Carvin experts:

I've got an older LB75 (at least I think that's the model) that I bought used about a year ago. Pretty sure it's a late 90's model but the previous owner swapped out the pups to EMG's.

I've thought about maybe picking up another fretless (either an SB5000 or BB model) but have my reservations about whether or not there will be enough of a difference in sound for the additional expense. If it's a different bass model, with different pups (and quite possibly electronics, too) the basses should sound different, right, even though they'd both be Carvins?

Thanks.

'Dwebe
 
#518
dgce said:
My main axe is a Bromberg B24S; love it! I plan to order a 2nd 4-string Carvin set up with flat-wound strings. This bass will be my “old school” bass. The logical choice would be either a SB4000 or B40 with flats. However I have to say, I’ve fallen in love with the neck on my B24S and have toyed with the idea of ordering a second B24S with flats and basically living the EQ flat.

Question, any of you have a B24 and either own or have tried out a SB4000? How much more radically chucky is the SB compared to the B24? I know the B40 neck is supposed to be thinner than the SB so I’m keeping that model in mind as well. Then again, maybe a bass with a slightly different feel might be a good thing.

Feedback anyone?
Click to expand...

The SB4000 neck is thicker front to back, and the difference is certainly noticeable. According to Carvin's published specs, the B40 neck is supposed to be the same as the SB4000 front to back.

I think you'd be really happy with flats on another B24, but what the heck do I know? ;) That preamp can certainly help you get a wide variety of tones, though, and I'm sure you could get a great old school thump out of it with flats.
 
#519
AudioDwebe said:
A question to the Carvin experts:

I've got an older LB75 (at least I think that's the model) that I bought used about a year ago. Pretty sure it's a late 90's model but the previous owner swapped out the pups to EMG's.

I've thought about maybe picking up another fretless (either an SB5000 or BB model) but have my reservations about whether or not there will be enough of a difference in sound for the additional expense. If it's a different bass model, with different pups (and quite possibly electronics, too) the basses should sound different, right, even though they'd both be Carvins?

Thanks.

'Dwebe
Click to expand...

Dig my A/B comparison clip with my fretted and new fretless.

 
#520
WoodyG3 said:
The SB4000 neck is thicker front to back, and the difference is certainly noticeable. According to Carvin's published specs, the B40 neck is supposed to be the same as the SB4000 front to back.

I think you'd be really happy with flats on another B24, but what the heck do I know? ;) That preamp can certainly help you get a wide variety of tones, though, and I'm sure you could get a great old school thump out of it with flats.
Click to expand...

Actually a B25 player on another thread raved about flats on his Bromberg. And another guy did mention that once you get comfy with the Bromberg neck, its hard to go back. I just might go with another B24S but with flats. I do love that neck.
 
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