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"Official" Carvin Club - Part 2

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#843
I've been trying to decide on a higher end Jazz bass for the last few months, and I keep coming back to the SB4000.

Are these basses really able to cop the J sound, especially that "Jaco" bridge tone? I'm loving the options available but if I can't get the tones I'm after, I'll stick with Fender for this one.

How about the B40? The idea of building a kit is always fun.

Which is the better Jazz bass, the SB or B40?
 
#844
Rip Topaz said:
I've been trying to decide on a higher end Jazz bass for the last few months, and I keep coming back to the SB4000.

Are these basses really able to cop the J sound, especially that "Jaco" bridge tone? I'm loving the options available but if I can't get the tones I'm after, I'll stick with Fender for this one.

How about the B40? The idea of building a kit is always fun.

Which is the better Jazz bass, the SB or B40?
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I can't tell you what's better. But I can tell you that the SB4000 neck is based on Seku's 70s era Jazz, 20 frets and kind of chunky. I suspect pickup placement is similar to a 70s Jazz as well but I'm not 100% certain. The B40 has a more modern flat/thin-ish 22-fret neck. Both share the same electronics and hardware, of course. It's not exactly Jaco's 60s era J-bass but I think you could get in the zone within reason. Plus you have the flexibility of an active preamp if you choose that option along with countless other options to customize your axe. So unless resale value is a big deal to you, then I'd say go for the Carvins and from there you may want to base your decision on the neck; thin and sleek vs. old school chunky. Either way, you can't miss, IMHO.

Good Luck.
 
#845
Resale never matters to me. I don't buy basses with the intent to sell them. I buy them to play.

I've spent countless hours spec-ing SB4000's on the Carvin site, and B40 kits (and B40 factory builds). I've used Carvin necks on builds before, so I'm very familiar with Carvin's neck profile.

I'm down to figuring out the specs. I'm thinking Radiation Green Metallic on an SB with a black pickguard would look pretty sick.
 
#847
Rip Topaz said:
I'm down to figuring out the specs. I'm thinking Radiation Green Metallic on an SB with a black pickguard would look pretty sick.
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Sounds cool. Thinking ebony fret board too? Perhaps a matching headstock or maybe black to match the ebony board and black pickguard? Perhaps black hardware as well? Active electronics too? Hell, kinda makes me want to pull the trigger myself.
 
#848
dgce said:
Sounds cool. Thinking ebony fret board too? Perhaps a matching headstock or maybe black to match the ebony board and black pickguard? Perhaps black hardware as well? Active electronics too? Hell, kinda makes me want to pull the trigger myself.
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Definitely active/passive. Black hardware, but I'm thinking Birdseye maple fretboard with black MOP blocks. Matching headstock, of course.
 
#849
Rip Topaz said:
Definitely active/passive. Black hardware, but I'm thinking Birdseye maple fretboard with black MOP blocks. Matching headstock, of course.
Click to expand...

Nice! There's a guy with a LB75 blonde beauty with a birdseye board and black MOP blocks that looks great (I've sure you've seen it on this thread one page over). In fact, I'll likely be pulling the trigger on a B25S this summer and I may go with black MOP blocks on birdseye myself.

So an SB4000 in radiation green with black MOP blocks on birdseye maple. Can't wait to see the pics.
 
#850
dgce said:
Nice! There's a guy with a LB75 blonde beauty with a birdseye board and black MOP blocks that looks great (I've sure you've seen it on this thread one page over). In fact, I'll likely be pulling the trigger on a B25S this summer and I may go with black MOP blocks on birdseye myself.

So an SB4000 in radiation green with black MOP blocks on birdseye maple. Can't wait to see the pics.
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Haha Yeah thats my baby on the previous page. I agree though the radiation green is a hot color and the black pickguard with the BEM with BMOP blocks will look fantastic. Keep us updated, I'd love to see it.
 
#851
joshbassistct said:
Haha Yeah thats my baby on the previous page. I agree though the radiation green is a hot color and the black pickguard with the BEM with BMOP blocks will look fantastic. Keep us updated, I'd love to see it.
Click to expand...

I love your bass. And you might have started something with that black MOP/birdseye maple combo. I'll likely get a B25S but have toyed with the idea of a B50 or SB5000. But whatever I end up doing, I'm 95% sure it will include black MOP/birdseye maple board.

Thanks!
 
#853
Had a thread on this but thought I'd share it here too...

Got some cash at Christmas and decided to try to build a bass. I had wanted another Carvin for a while to go with my B5. Ordered a Carvin B50 kit. I had built a couple of guitars in the past with parts from ebay and had swapped some bass parts out between basses, but this was the first from the ground up build. I wasnt up for trying to do the finish, so I did have that done by a local luthier, but I DID try to solder for the first time. Probably why it doesnt work in active mode... I'll sort that out later, but passive mode sounds really nice. My eleven year old son Ryan helped me with the build.

Here are a couple of pics...standard alder body with birdseye maple neck with MOP diamond inlays and chrome hardware.

newb501_zpsf9d4dadf.jpg


b502_zps75e1bed6.jpg


Only issues I had with the build was gettng the string ferrules to go in. I had to re-drill the holes to get them to fit. I dont know if they got a little bit of finish in them or were to small to begin with but I had to enlarge them and then still had to use a small hammer to get them all the way in. And then the solder issues... The neck pocket was also so tight after it was clear coated so it needed some sanding to get the neck in the pocket. It tuned up and the action as is is pretty close to what I normally like. I'll still have to adjust it some I'm sure. Intonation sounds pretty close too.

BnB
 
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