Carvin CT4T on order

[GCDEF]

 

I asked a simple question about how many of your 17,028 posts you've spent pissing and moaning about Carvin products or service.. You can call me an asshole all you want, but you won't have much of an argument when I start returning the favor.. FYI, I did a search for "Carvin" and "GCDEF", and found 283 hits, in a LOT of different threads.. You need a new hobby homie..

 

 

You're searching my threads and telling me I need a new hobby. That's funny. And out of those 283, you'll find me recommending Carvin in the Live Sound forum. You'll probably find that half of them are defending myself against you babies. Just stop making it personal. Why is that so hard?

 

Just for grins, try the search with your name over the same period of time. You'll find 211. You're not that far behind me and I've been here a lot longer. As a percentage of total posts, you're way ahead of me. 1.66% for me, 3.86% for you, with about the same post per day rate.

 

Congratulations on taking another thread down the toilet.

[mikeSF]

Carvin is a company that {censored}s up a lot. Deal with it.

i wont draw that conclusion just from reading a few experiences in the newsgroups. remember, this is a company that is capable of selling direct to end-user; perhaps their error rate is identical to [insert name] or maybe even far less, but when there is no dealer layer to buffer the screwups, a few problems here and there may appear amplified in the "tabloids".

I've now read most of the Carvin guitar threads in the Carvin forum, museum, gear page, HC, and other places, and the positive experiences outweigh the occasional problems by a very long margin. My personal conclusion is this is a very competent company that makes great products.

And so, I've ordered a CS6.
I'll report in when i get it, naturally, as mine is an Option 50.

[KLeeneX]

That sounds about right...:poke:

To be honest though, I was waiting for a Koa body. They made up for the wait by giving me a super 1 piece body for my Bolt Plus.

[RaVenCAD]

You're searching my threads and telling me I need a new hobby. That's funny. And out of those 283, you'll find me recommending Carvin in the Live Sound forum. You'll probably find that half of them are defending myself against you babies. Just stop making it personal. Why is that so hard? Just for grins, try the search with your name over the same period of time. You'll find 211. You're not that far behind me and I've been here a lot longer. As a percentage of total posts, you're way ahead of me. 1.66% for me, 3.86% for you, with about the same post per day rate. Congratulations on taking another thread down the toilet.

Ya know, I reserve this image very a few select assholes..

[GCDEF]

 

Ya know, I reserve this image very a few select assholes..

 

 

You brought up the post counts dude, not me. I'm sure the OP appreciates your tanking his thread.

[DFB]

[Lefty's Ghost]

You need a new hobby homie..

Wow

[rock-lobster]

or maybe even far less, but when there is no dealer layer to buffer the screwups, a few problems here and there may appear amplified in the "tabloids". I've now read most of the Carvin guitar threads in the Carvin forum, museum, gear page, HC, and other places, and the positive experiences outweigh the occasional problems by a very long margin. My personal conclusion is this is a very competent company that makes great products. And so, I've ordered a CS6. I'll report in when i get it, naturally, as mine is an Option 50.

give us the details on your CS6, i always thought you were more of a "7-string jazz box" kinda guy

[steve_man]

or maybe even far less, but when there is no dealer layer to buffer the screwups, a few problems here and there may appear amplified in the "tabloids". I've now read most of the Carvin guitar threads in the Carvin forum, museum, gear page, HC, and other places, and the positive experiences outweigh the occasional problems by a very long margin. My personal conclusion is this is a very competent company that makes great products. And so, I've ordered a CS6. I'll report in when i get it, naturally, as mine is an Option 50.

Honestly, reading the Carvin forum does not give you a very good feel for customer response. Anything that resembles a complaint or a problem with Carvin products or service that gets posted, is immediately deleted, and often the poster is banned.

I really hope your experience with Carvin is good. I used to be quite a fan of Carvin. However, since the great customer service went down the toilet, I've sold the last of my Carvin gear and moved on to companies that actually care about their customers.

[mikeSF]

give us the details on your CS6, i always thought you were more of a "7-string jazz box" kinda guy

yeah, mostly, but i was a metalhead in the 80's and still keep some solid bodies around as well as my very 80's rack rig (with a Carvin Quad-X pre), just in case. truth be told, i stored all that stuff away for 10-15 yrs and recently got the bug to bring it out again and start playing it. i have a few students to whom i teach rock/metal/blues so it is my occasional opportunity to crank out some priest and sabbath every once in awhile.

I ordered a goldtop CS6 with gold hardware, no inlays, stainless frets, M-style bridge. It is an option 50 because i wanted the faux binding to be very flamey, so I ordered it as a flame top to be painted gold - i havent seen one like that before but it should be pretty cool. I HOPE they get it right.

I also went with the standard gloss neck because i figured if need be i could de-gloss it myself exactly how i want it. But, after going to the Carvin store and comparing tung oiled neck with satin and gloss, i found no real difference in playability between the 3 - maybe because i dont press my thumb very hard against the neck - or maybe because every archtop i've ever owned is nitro gloss and i am used to it. I do have a couple of solid bodies with tung oiled necks, including a Carvin replacement neck on a Strat, and it is a great neck, no doubt.

[mikeSF]

Honestly, reading the Carvin forum does not give you a very good feel for customer response. Anything that resembles a complaint or a problem with Carvin products or service that gets posted, is immediately deleted, and often the poster is banned. I really hope your experience with Carvin is good. I used to be quite a fan of Carvin. However, since the great customer service went down the toilet, I've sold the last of my Carvin gear and moved on to companies that actually care about their customers.

 

 

i am sorry you have drawn that conclusion but i have followed the Carvin forum and museum site in "real time" for several years and rarely see anything really Draconian or at least moreso than some other forums. true, once in awhile a thread gets locked or deleted and it is unfortunate but i still often see what was posted before getting nuked and havent really found the deletions to be unwarranted.

[steve_man]

Well, about 2-3 years ago, Carvin put the serious shut-down on a lot of the discussions, and even close parts of the forum. I used to really enjoy that forum, but it became a place to only ask questions about options, specs, etc., and to post pics of Carvins.

 

Like I said, hope yours turns out nicely. Sounds like it will look pretty sweet!

[mikeSF]

Like I said, hope yours turns out nicely. Sounds like it will look pretty sweet!

cool man. well one thing for certain is that i am a complainer who expects perfection, so if anything goes wrong, everyone will know it. i have no problem demanding a problem be made right and have issued many an angry phone call or letter to businesses, hotels, airlines, restaurants, etc...

I did see these CS models at NAMM and again at the Carvin store and was pleased that the quality is at least on par with other major production makers. I do not expect it to rival that of the boutique builders because at $1,500, this is still very much still a production guitar. That said, I have not seen Gibson or Fender match the fit and finish or Carvin in many years. Not trying to flame, but very unimpressed with the market leaders these days.

My customer service experience thus far has been limited only to a few phone calls and emails to my CS rep who has been quick on the reply and very helpful.

crossing fingers & thanks, steve_man.

[RaVenCAD]

Honestly, reading the Carvin forum does not give you a very good feel for customer response. Anything that resembles a complaint or a problem with Carvin products or service that gets posted, is immediately deleted, and often the poster is banned. I really hope your experience with Carvin is good. I used to be quite a fan of Carvin. However, since the great customer service went down the toilet, I've sold the last of my Carvin gear and moved on to companies that actually care about their customers.

 

 

They have a rule there (yes, an actual rule, #5 I think) that any and all customer service issues are to be called in, and all thread asking about them is deleted. It's rather annoying. But, that's just the message board. Once you call in, and can talk to someone that can actually do something, it's a breeze. I'm not aware of anyone being banned there that didn't deserve it. If you were, then you did. Hell, I've had posts deleted repeatedly over telling people who makes the "Carvin" acoustics andwhere they make em (Cort, in China).. Yet, I'm still there.

 

Mike, you won't be disappointed.. When is your card date?

[mikeSF]

Mike, you won't be disappointed.. When is your card date?

 

 

July 22:snax:

[RaVenCAD]

Based on what I've been reading, bank on about August 1st.. But really, if you compare that to a Jackson, for example, it's not that bad.. Last I read, Jackson is running 2+ YEARS for a normal customer custom order.. Keeping in mind of course, that's can be totally a one-off custom, with any sort of oddball idea you can think of. Carvin is more cookie cutter, but they make some mighty yummy cookies! btw, if yer a case candy kinda guy, save your postcard to go with the guitar.. I feel like it kind of completes the set.. Yeah, I'm wierd, sue me lol

[mikeSF]

good to know, thanks RaVenCAD.
i have patience - i've got a fully custom archtop being built presently and i delivered my deposit to the maker on new years eve 2006 and still no guitar. As much as i hate reminding myself about the wait, i know we are at least 6 more months from any possible completion, realistically. what i am trying to say is, yeah, i can wait another month or two for the Carvin.

i kept the card and have it in a folder and will leave with the other case materials - yeah, i keep all that stuff too.

and regarding other Carvin products, have I mentioned how awesome the Quad-X pre is? No seriously, it is a great pre-amp in every way. Carvin hit a homerun with that thing back in the early 90's, IIRC. I've owned both the early version and the later version, each a little different but both rock hard. I had it paired with a Tube100 back in the day; now a lighter, more chimey Mesa 20/20. Regarding customer service, I even recall calling Carvin with questions about it LONG after it had been discontinued/unsupported and they put me in touch with the designer or something who was most helpful. I thought that was great.

[steve_man]

They have a rule there (yes, an actual rule, #5 I think) that any and all customer service issues are to be called in, and all thread asking about them is deleted. It's rather annoying. But, that's just the message board. Once you call in, and can talk to someone that can actually do something, it's a breeze. I'm not aware of anyone being banned there that didn't deserve it. If you were, then you did. Hell, I've had posts deleted repeatedly over telling people who makes the "Carvin" acoustics andwhere they make em (Cort, in China).. Yet, I'm still there.

Nope, never banned, but I saw a lot of guys get banned that did nothing but ask why the rules did not allow any customer service issues. I was on that board for a long, long time, and it went from a thriving, discussion driven board to a strict, options only discussion forum.

And like I've told you a million times in the past, I've had a TON of experience with Carvin's sales and customer service departments. I didn't just decided to start bagging on them because I felt like it. Overall, they have pathetic customer service, and their phone sales staff is awful. Add that to their horrendous online ordering system, and you have real reason to be worried as a consumer.

It's great that you like your Carvin, but you have admitted that they screwed up on your order. Any company can make one mistake, but Carvin repeatedly does stuff like this. Why just let it pass? You can if you want, but don't get mad when those of us who have been repeatedly burned by them speak up in this forum.

You want happy talk about Carvin...I hear it's pretty positive over at the Carvin BBS...

[Jbird]

No guitar yet, scolfax? Pics when you get it, plz :poke:


I'll let you drool over my CT6M in the meantime



I ordered that like August 1st of last year, and got it about the first week of October, so about 2 months. Options were quilt top, abalone block inlays, stainless steel frets (regular, not jumbo) and tung oiled neck.

I actually tried to get it in their 'Honeyburst' color, it was a non-standard color at the time, the salesman said they could do it, but the guitar that arrived had the standard 'Sunsetburst' instead. I was a bit disappointed about it (and even more, when I get the new catalogue, and Honeyburst is a regular finish now ) but the rest of the guitar was very well made, plays real nice and looks beautiful, so I didnt want to send it back just for the color.

I like it

[RaVenCAD]

It's great that you like your Carvin, but you have admitted that they screwed up on your order. Any company can make one mistake, but Carvin repeatedly does stuff like this. Why just let it pass? You can if you want, but don't get mad when those of us who have been repeatedly burned by them speak up in this forum.

 

 

Did they really screw up? Or did I just not like how they do certain things or how certain options look when you combine them?

 

Look, only 1 of mine have gone back and that's because it was too dark. In hindsight, I know it was because of options I combined. Triple step staining makes the wood dark, it just does. Put blue over that and it gets even darker because Carvin uses a very dark blue stain. Now throw a blackburst edge on that and yer coming up on solid black really, really fast. That was my mistake because I didn't look at enough guitars with those options. Yeah, I think they went too heavy on the blackburst edge, but even the center of the guitar which was just blue+DTS was very, very dark. If I had it to do over, and I will someday soon, I'd skip the DTS. So while I did send the guitar, it was an aesthetic disagreement, not a catastrophic structural problem.

 

After that, I requested a specific looking burst edge on my CT, which again was the typical dark blue + black, so it's hard to say if I got it or not. In some pictures, I did. In person, I didn't. So I called and they refunded what I paid to match the photo. The top was also slightly mismatched once you get into where it was carved. But, as I learned, virtually all carved top guitars get mismatched as the grain goes down. I thought I was getting a 1 piece top, but I didn't specifiy one.. So, who's fault? Mine for being so picky? Their's for using such an annoyingly dark blue and not asking if I wanted them to bookmatch the top? Once again, it was an aesthetic disagreement, not a catastrophic structal problem

 

My white DC though, was perfect..

 

So don't make my complaints about my stuff out to be major problems with them. As I've said, nothing is perfect, nor is going to be it exactly as you envision it. In all 3 cases, the guitars themselves have been fantastic players, and the DC I sent back was easily a keeper if I hadn't had such a specific expectation in mind for the blue..

 

But, the really important thing here, is that in both cases where I had complaints, Carvin's CS was ready and willing to give me a full refund or a rebuild for not being 100% happy with it. I won't say they're perfect, my hatred of a salesguy named Sean is well documented around here if you care to go do a search. But, I've found a greats salesman in Kevin Wall and a great CS guy in Bart Stull to deal with and I'll continue to go to them.

[GCDEF]

 

Did they really screw up? Or did I just not like how they do certain things or how certain options look when you combine them? Look, only 1 of mine have gone back and that's because it was too dark. In hindsight, I know it was because of options I combined. Triple step staining makes the wood dark, it just does. Put blue over that and it gets even darker because Carvin uses a very dark blue stain. Now throw a blackburst edge on that and yer coming up on solid black really, really fast. That was my mistake because I didn't look at enough guitars with those options. Yeah, I think they went too heavy on the blackburst edge, but even the center of the guitar which was just blue+DTS was very, very dark. If I had it to do over, and I will someday soon, I'd skip the DTS. So while I did send the guitar, it was an aesthetic disagreement, not a catastrophic structural problem. After that, I requested a specific looking burst edge on my CT, which again was the typical dark blue + black, so it's hard to say if I got it or not. In some pictures, I did. In person, I didn't. So I called and they refunded what I paid to match the photo. The top was also slightly mismatched once you get into where it was carved. But, as I learned, virtually all carved top guitars get mismatched as the grain goes down. I thought I was getting a 1 piece top, but I didn't specifiy one.. So, who's fault? Mine for being so picky? Their's for using such an annoyingly dark blue and not asking if I wanted them to bookmatch the top? Once again, it was an aesthetic disagreement, not a catastrophic structal problem My white DC though, was perfect.. So don't make my complaints about my stuff out to be major problems with them. As I've said, nothing is perfect, nor is going to be it exactly as you envision it. In all 3 cases, the guitars themselves have been fantastic players, and the DC I sent back was easily a keeper if I hadn't had such a specific expectation in mind for the blue.. But, the really important thing here, is that in both cases where I had complaints, Carvin's CS was ready and willing to give me a full refund or a rebuild for not being 100% happy with it. I won't say they're perfect, my hatred of a salesguy named Sean is well documented around here if you care to go do a search. But, I've found a greats salesman in Kevin Wall and a great CS guy in Bart Stull to deal with and I'll continue to go to them.

 

 

Good for you. Not all of us are that happy. When I received defective products, they couldn't care less. They sent me a completely unusable mixer. Didn't care. When I ordered they swore it was in stock. Turned out it wasn't. They kept swearing it would be in within a day or two. Six weeks later it showed up unusable. They didn't care about upcoming shows I was planning on using it for. Didn't feel bad they'd strung me a long. Didn't care that I needed it that weekend. Didn't care that they'd sent me a non-working product. They just didn't care. They're showing the same attitude with the OP. They have his money. The guitar is late. They can't be bothered checking on its progress. They have his money. They don't care.

 

It's great that you're happy, but they really do mistreat people. Nobody's making it up and I've given them lots of chances to make me happy. They fail pretty much every time. I don't know why that upsets you so much. I'm not really happy about it either. Nobody attacks you because you repeatedly post good things.

 

Maybe if enough of us start telling our stories, they'll realize there's a problem and try to fix it.

[RaVenCAD]

They're showing the same attitude with the OP. They have his money. The guitar is late. They can't be bothered checking on its progress. They have his money. They don't care.

Bull{censored}.. I called and Bart tracked it down. It took a couple emails, because he thought I'd given him a serial number instead of an order number, but he found what I wanted within a few hours.. It's 1 week from completion. How is that not caring? any one here can call 1-800-854-2235, hit option 3 and ask for Bart. He doesn't give me special treatment, even though we've spoken quite often. He's just a good employee that cares about the customer. I guess if someone decides to be a dick to him, he could be one back, but I've never had to find that out.. Something tells me that you probably have.. You keep throwing the term "unusable" around, but I find that to be very, very hard to swallow.. 1, very possible.. 2? not likely.. 3? 4? I call bull{censored}..

[GCDEF]

Bull{censored}.. I called and Bart tracked it down. It took a couple emails, because he thought I'd given him a serial number instead of an order number, but he found what I wanted within a few hours.. It's 1 week from completion. How is that not caring? any one here can call 1-800-854-2235, hit option 3 and ask for Bart. He doesn't give me special treatment, even though we've spoken quite often. He's just a good employee that cares about the customer. I guess if someone decides to be a dick to him, he could be one back, but I've never had to find that out.. Something tells me that you probably have.. You keep throwing the term "unusable" around, but I find that to be very, very hard to swallow.. 1, very possible.. 2? not likely.. 3? 4? I call bull{censored}..

Why did you have to get involved? Why couldn't they have just provided the information when he called?

Calling me a liar now? I guess that's more palatable to you than admitting Carvin messed up. I'm referring to a C1644P where the mixer was placed so deep in its case, there was no way to plug the speakers in. The lip of the case covered the speaker jacks. Maybe it's just me, but if you can't get to the speaker jacks on a powered mixer, it's unusable. There have been other posting about people having the same problem. Carvin didn't care enough to make sure none of those made it out the door. I'm not really sure how they even tested it.

Somebody else mentioning it here.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?t=1373207

[RaVenCAD]

I'm happy with mine too. Enough power for smaller clubs. 4 monitor mixes. Since we use two active and two passive monitors and powered subs, for small clubs that one box is all we need. Very convenient. For bigger clubs, just add a bigger amp and you're good to go.

 

 

Oh snap! Did that guy really say that?

[RaVenCAD]

Here is the offending mixer...



Based on this picture, I don't see a problem. Is this the new one or the one you've deemed "unusable"?

Look, I don't dispute you had problems. But some people make mountains out of mole hills, kinda like I did over my blueburst.. One man's {censored} up is another man's happiness..