Why do Carvins have poor resale value?

[Zach Soczka]

They're highly customized and they're cheap. Why get somebody else's dreams when you can buy your own? On top of that, the brand has little to no name recognition. Very few "name" players use Carvin. To go even further, as somebody who owns two Carvins I do not think they are god's gift to basses like some people do. Carvin makes a solid bass but some mediocre electronics which is a huge turn off for a lot of people. I am not that shocked that Carvin's re-sale value is so low. I am surprised by Ernie Ball Music Man and Warwick's low re-sale values though.

Yeah the electronics are garbage but the wood and the craftsmenship of the basses is amazing.. I have thought about getting a nice Carvin 5 string and putting EMG pickups and preamps in it.. as with any bass good electronics will bring out all the tone in even lower quality basses.

 

[ThePresident777]

Not sure I like any of their body shapes.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I think as others have said. Carvin makes very customizable basses for a reasonable price. I'd rather pay say $1200 for exactly what I want instead of paying half that for something that is exactly what someone else wanted.

 

[nonfatmatt]

They just scream generic. I'd use a Carvin if I was doing a cruise ship or a church gig and needed something that could cover a lot of different tones but not really stand out too much. Also I've never seen anyone under 30 play one, I primarily associate them with the weekend warrior types.

 

[AudioDwebe]

The Carvins I've had (Icons and Bunnys) have all been excellent, not just good for the money, basses.

I think they fall prey to the "you get what you pay for" mentality and since they're reasonably priced folks don't lust after them like other higher priced basses.

 

[Showdown]

I don't look at it as them having low resale value, I look at it as them being a good value used.

In 2010 I bought a used (but like new) Icon 6 with a beautiful flame top, abalone block inlays, all the top of the line options for $700. This year I sold it for $800. Seems like a good deal to me.

 

[hrodbert696]

The less you bling the instrument, the less you'll lose in resale value. And the $1200 base model will sound exactly the same as the $2800 fancy woods, Kiesel paint job bass.

I think that's a valid point. My SB4000 came in around that $1200 range. To me the whole point is getting a good American instrument that beats an MIA Fender on price. I never seriously contemplated ordering one for $2000+ with all the fancy woods and stuff.

They just scream generic. I'd use a Carvin if I was doing a cruise ship or a church gig and needed something that could cover a lot of different tones but not really stand out too much. Also I've never seen anyone under 30 play one, I primarily associate them with the weekend warrior types.

Well, I'm a weekend warrior, so guilty as charged. People under 30 are insecure and most are reluctant to explore different things. I mean come on, they all live on pizza and burgers. But... generic?

Swamp ash body, ebony board, single-coil pickups, strung with rounds - this is my #1 and it has a very aggressive, trebly tone. Nothing generic about it. Even my old guitarist who has the closet packed with $10,000 Gibson collectors' pieces paused when I pulled it out and said, "Wow. That's a gorgeous bass."

 

[RickyWoo]

Selling custom is always tough. You aren't selling normal. Not to take away from customs; they have their place. Only in a select handful of buyers. It's a niche market.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

Is it safe to assume that Custom Fenders also suffer from low resale value in spite of having name recognition? Especially, since new Custom Shop Fenders are expensive.

 

[orange joe]

I don't know but as long as the LB70s keep coming my way on the cheap you won't hear me complain.

 

[RickyWoo]

Is it safe to assume that Custom Fenders also suffer from low resale value in spite of having name recognition? Especially, since new Custom Shop Fenders are expensive.

Let's be honest here. It's kind of "apples and oranges". Custom Shop Fenders aren't really all that "custom". A Palladino or a Dusty Hill isn't to your spec, when you buy it from the Custom Shop.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

Let's be honest here. It's kind of "apples and oranges". Custom Shop Fenders aren't really all that "custom". A Palladino or a Dusty Hill isn't to your spec, when you buy it from the Custom Shop.

Maybe I should have been more specific but I was referring to the Fender Custom Shop section where you design your own guitar and have it built from start to finish to your own spec. Not the Signature models.

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[RickyWoo]

Maybe I should have been more specific but I was referring to the Fender Custom Shop section where you design your own guitar and have it built from start to finish to your own spec. Not the Signature models.

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It's not far off from reselling a Carvin, in that regard. Honestly, I think a Fender would sell quicker but I don't think it will sell quick. If that makes sense? It's still a niche market. For instance, say you wanted an AS Jazz but you want it in Baby Poop Brown, because you've always dreamed of owning and AS in Baby Poop Brown... Well, that comes at a premium. All you have, in the end, is still an AS Jazz. Trying to get your premium back because of a custom colour is a "tough sell".

 

[hrodbert696]

Maybe I should have been more specific but I was referring to the Fender Custom Shop section where you design your own guitar and have it built from start to finish to your own spec. Not the Signature models.

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The Fender Custom Shop is a whole other ballpark - base models start at $3250, and add another $2400 on top of that for a masterbuilt one, and options on top of that, with choices like handwound pickups and such if you want to spend another $600 per pickup. Carvin/Kiesels start from around $800 or $900 depending on model. I'm not sure what happens to resale with Fender customs - if you spend $4500 at the Custom Shop, can you get $3000 or more selling it used (the usual used-instrument 2/3 benchmark), or would you have to take $2200 for it? Those are nosebleed prices for a guy like me, if it's over $2000 it may as well be half a million. Maybe, among people with that kind of money to spare, the same dynamic does kick in - why spend $3000 on your custom dream when I could order my own for just another grand? With Carvins, the resale question is why your $1200 Carvin might only get $600 (1/2 the new price) when a $1350 MIA Fender will sell for $900 (2/3).

 

[andruca]

I just wish there was wider Carvin distribution here in Europe. Their amps and combos are great bang for the buck.

 

[nutdog]

With Carvins, the resale question is why your $1200 Carvin might only get $600 (1/2 the new price) when a $1350 MIA Fender will sell for $900 (2/3).

I suspect your SB would sell in the 2/3 range or better. And plenty of MIM fenders and Ibbys sell under 1/2. Depends on the bass. Some carvins look sharp (yours does). Some look strange, dated and/or bland. And many are 10+ pounds.

 

[hrodbert696]

I suspect your SB would sell in the 2/3 range or better. And plenty of MIM fenders and Ibbys sell under 1/2. Depends on the bass. Some carvins look sharp (yours does). Some look strange, dated and/or bland. And many are 10+ pounds.

True. Plus a lot depends on the situation of the seller. I once got an MIM P bass off a guy for something like 40% of new price. That was all I could afford and he was moving, had to sell in a hurry.

I have a strong suspicion that a lot of the "guitars in stock" on the Carvin/Kiesel page are custom orders that came out... weird. The kind of thing that looked good on paper but really isn't good in the flesh. I see some of them and ask myself, "who thought THAT was a good idea?"

 

[NeonVomit]

They're not a sexy brand name, is mostly why. No really famous players use them. Plus they have that whole 'mail order' vibe they're still trying to shake off. Having said that, the Kiesel/Carvin stuff looks incredible.

They're very difficult to find in Europe, so not many people would spend that much on a bass they've never tried, which reduces demand for them.

Compare to Warwick, which can hold great resale value depending on when the bass was made and the other details people in the know can pick up. I've heard of people grabbing a cheap Warwick off eBay only to then realise they bought a Chinese-made Rockbass (through no fault of the seller who made it clear it was a RB - caveat emptor and all that jazz) and even the German-made ones went through a bit of a lull between 2000-2005 or so. All this can make buyers uncertain and can have a negative effect on the price, but the brand is a strong one, with a whole host of big-name endorsers.

 

[pappabass]

It's all about demand. It's a good made guitar. I sold two fender basses that sold within 5 days after posting. Plus I got more than what I paid for them. Yamaha bases are like the carvin. I have a friend who has a Yamaha he paid close to $2,000 for it was later discontinued and he saw it marked down for $799. You will never see that happen to a Fender Jazz or precision.

 

[mmbongo]

Maybe I should have been more specific but I was referring to the Fender Custom Shop section where you design your own guitar and have it built from start to finish to your own spec. Not the Signature models.

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Still not quite the same though. Unless I missed it, there's no way to order a Fender with whatever body wood you want, no options for top wood, no options for laminate neck and no options for hardware color. So while it's technically a 'Custom Shop' it still looks like a standard Fender.