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year ID on this carvin bass?

groooooove

groooooove

Supporting Member
Dec 17, 2008
9,048
6,895
Long Island, NY
#1
this one here:

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i bought it, but don't have it yet. my primary concern is i need a bass with a really stable neck, and all this jazz about the carbon fiber rods has me sold about getting another carvin.

then i found out that the carbon fiber rods are only in basses made in the last 2 years or so, which i doubt this one was.

any ideas?

thanks guys.
 
#3
Looks like a Hipshot A bridge, so could very well be that recent...but could also be 10 or so years old, I forget when exactly they changed bridges.

One other observation...it looks like the body edges are not rounded so it may be older but no older than 2005 as jazz41 said.
 
#4
If it helps, I have Carvins that are lot older than that with perfectly stable necks. The neck on my 20+ year old LB40 is both very slender and stable. I don't recall reading of a lot of neck complaints with Carvins.
 
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#5
bholder said:
If it helps, I have Carvins that are lot older than that with perfectly stable necks. The neck on my 20+ year old LB40 is both very slender and stable. I don't recall reading of a lot of neck complaints with Carvins.
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thats completely true. i had 2 different carvin 6 strings for significant amounts of time as a main axe, and never had issues.

but, that added stability sounds dope.

i agree the non-rounded sides make it appear older to me. no idea when the rounded sides became standard, though... does anyone?

after posting this i realized that i have access to dental X-ray machines, and i can see whats in the neck. luckily GC has that return policy, so i may just return it and order one "just for me."
 
#6
The first year of the humbucking pickup and Hipshot bridge was 1999. I believe at the time, Carvin used steel reinforcement rods in the neck.

This website will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Carvins.

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#9
so here's a weird twist to this..

i got the bass. it looked very new- condition was bad, but it had the 18V preamp. it was in sad shape, 2 of the 6 strings were flats, some pretty major dents. then the clincher- the truss rod is completely stripped and cannot be adjusted. action is unplayable even if you like it high.

so i brought it back to guitar center, they were super cool about it- took it back, even refunded the shipping so it cost me nothing. but here's the problem-

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the bass is listed for sale again. i brought it to their attention that the truss rod is stripped. why is it still for sale with the condition listed as fair?

is it just me or is that not cool?
 
#10
groooooove said:
here's the problem-

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the bass is listed for sale again. i brought it to their attention that the truss rod is stripped. why is it still for sale with the condition listed as fair?

is it just me or is that not cool?
Click to expand...
Very Not Cool!
Unfortunately there's been quite a number of bad instruments returned to GC and then stuck right back out on sale. So many TB'ers have returned stinkers and seen them reappear for sale that somewhere there is/was a thread filled with GC items to avoid.
 
#12
groooooove said:
so here's a weird twist to this..

i got the bass. it looked very new- condition was bad, but it had the 18V preamp. it was in sad shape, 2 of the 6 strings were flats, some pretty major dents. then the clincher- the truss rod is completely stripped and cannot be adjusted. action is unplayable even if you like it high.

so i brought it back to guitar center, they were super cool about it- took it back, even refunded the shipping so it cost me nothing. but here's the problem-

Invalid Link Removed

the bass is listed for sale again. i brought it to their attention that the truss rod is stripped. why is it still for sale with the condition listed as fair?

is it just me or is that not cool?
Click to expand...
Very uncool, but I'm unaware of any laws requiring businesses to be cool. :(
 

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