Members centuryhouse Posted March 31, 2004 Members Share Posted March 31, 2004 Don't laugh - not an expensive or reputable brand. As a matter of fact there are NO CARLOS guitars on ebay OR listed at Harmony Central in the reivew database - not one. Now bear in mind I have owned nearly 150 guitars (maybe more) in the last 15 years, including many Gibsons, Taylor, Ibanez, Washburn, etc. I know my guitars pretty well. That said, I bought a CARLOS II model 240K acoustic 6 string at lunch today from a pawnshop for $50. It's Korean made, probably late 70s I'm guessing. It has what appears to be *original* brass nut, brass bridge/saddle and instead of pearloid dot inlays it has actual brass studs inlayed. Despite needing some serious work on the action and a truss rod adjustment, and the strings being ancient, the guitar actually had a good sound and feel. I'll be working on it tonight when I get off work and then can give a real assesment. But initially, I think it's going to be a great guitar. A web search revealed that several recording studios have CARLOS acoustics on hand for recording, but other than that I found nothing online. Can anyone tell me anything? If you have one how old is it, and does it suck? Is it just oK? Is is good? Thanks, Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 54merk Posted March 31, 2004 Members Share Posted March 31, 2004 Never head of one. The closest sounding thing I've every heard of is Carlo Robelli, a house brand for Sam Ash. Not sure how you can tell when it was made. Is there a sticker inside? It should list the country of origin. If it is in fact late 70's it's probably Japanese. From what you're saying about the high action it may need a neck reset. Put a ruler on across the fretboard pointing down to the bridge. If it points into the top the neck needs to be reset. If it's pointing right to the saddle, then you should be able to fix it with the truss rod and sanding down the saddle. Frank Ford has great pictures. His site is a wealth of information. http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/NeckAngle/neckangle.html I have never seen a guitar with a brass saddle, nut and inlays, Very odd, indeed. Obvioiusly changing the nut and particularly the saddle will improve the sound. I doubt whether it's worth a whole lot more than what you paid for it but with some work it may turn out to be a damn good beater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members centuryhouse Posted March 31, 2004 Author Members Share Posted March 31, 2004 One thing - the neck doesn't appear to be warped or need a reset... The action is just VERY low, like the bridge/saddle piece needs a little something under it to give it about an eighth of an inch more clearance off the neck. Also - I love the brass nut and saddle, it gives it a great sound, much better than the plastic used on most guitars. Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Markdsatx Posted April 1, 2004 Members Share Posted April 1, 2004 An ebay seller with the username, jj-lin, seems to have several Carlos guitars. They don't seem to fetch alot of money though... Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted April 1, 2004 Members Share Posted April 1, 2004 Is that like an "ESTEBAN" guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shecky Posted April 1, 2004 Members Share Posted April 1, 2004 I have one. It's the first guitar I actually owned, bought around '82. The one I have came with a brass nut and saddle, too. It's only OK, good starter, but not a fantastic sounder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members centuryhouse Posted April 1, 2004 Author Members Share Posted April 1, 2004 Got it home last night - loosed the truss rod a turn, put a thin shim under the saddle, cleaned it and restrung it with Elixers. It actually sounds really decent - not amazing or anything, but pretty good. One impressive thing is that the intonation is PERFECT all up the neck! I have played many expensive acoustics that can't boast that, including Taylors and Guilds. It'l be a good 2nd guitar to take out and about when I might want to jam a bit but don't want to risk bringing the expensive acoustic out. Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hyena429 Posted May 5, 2007 Members Share Posted May 5, 2007 carlos guitars are a dirty little secret..most of the korea made ones are hand crafted and are known to have the sound of a 3,000 dollar acoustic.i have a old 240 hand made carlos that i researched a bit..just cause it sounded so good..such a deep rich bass...well i found out some carlos guitars are worthless..has to be the early korea made ones....i have all so seen in guitar mags were few guitar dealers wanting to buy old korean carlos guitars...but they wont tell you what they are worth!! i really had to dig deep for what i found out...i have found a few forums were some one is asking..what is a old carlos worth? and a few people pop in there and say they been offerd 1,200 for the right model of carlos from a guitar dealer...but then again..you cant find carlos in a price guide..and its not cause they are worthless. but just cause of there limited numbers and non popular name they never gained any popularity.. i tell you what thou...if i found a early korea made one for 50 bucks i wouldnt hesitate. they sounds great and some day mite be worth a insaine amount of money just cause they are being kept on the low down from collectors...dont abuse that guitar!! you mite regret it down the road:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AK47 Posted May 6, 2007 Members Share Posted May 6, 2007 Just wanted to add that the Daion guitars made in Japan in the 80s' had many models with brass saddles. They were great sounding guitars wih solid cedar tops. I wouldn't discount the brass but I think I need to A/B them to bone sometime. I found my next experiment thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Harpoinseoul Posted November 24, 2007 Members Share Posted November 24, 2007 I've got a Carlos Acoustic. I'm in the middle of restoring it. It sounds awesome!! The Model number has faded away. It's a really bassy instrument. One of the nicest guitars I've heard in a while! I think it was built in Korea in the early 80s. It's got a lovely Cedar-top. I understand why colledtors are after them. I could be wrong, but I think that the back and sides are Brazilian Rosewood~ could it be true?! Anybody else have info on them? Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted November 24, 2007 Members Share Posted November 24, 2007 Carlos called. He wants to know who took his guitar. There are a lot of gems from the 1970's floating around out there. It sounds like you found one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Russl Posted March 16, 2008 Members Share Posted March 16, 2008 I have a Carlos mod. 226 given to me around 1975 at a time when I thought I would take it up. but it never happened. Today I took it out of the box for the first time since I received it. I'm not trying to sell it or anything like that , I'm just doing a little research and it would be nice to find out that it was a good guitar. The sticker inside has Carlos in large letters, mod. 226, and Quality product of Korea. So what do you think ? Russl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ESL94 Posted March 17, 2008 Members Share Posted March 17, 2008 Carlos called. He wants to know who took his guitar. Nice joke Hudman I was given a Carlos back in the early 80's from a family member. From what I remember it was nice looking guitar, but had high action. It was broken a couple of years later by a friend in college (party foul). It was replaced w/a Washburn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members astrooooo Posted March 30, 2008 Members Share Posted March 30, 2008 I have a Carlos model 238 that was given to me by a friend when he moved out of town. The action is high / hard, but as a previous poster said, the intonation is great through the full reach of the instrument. Mine does NOT have a brass saddle, and certain parts of it do appear to be pretty cheap, but it does play well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verence Posted March 30, 2008 Members Share Posted March 30, 2008 I definitely wouldn't laugh at a cheap guitar. Especially if it actually plays well. My first guitar was a "Crescent" acoustic. Horrible. High action (even when the saddle was sanded down to a nub). No truss rod. Balsawood top, back, and sides (or something very similar). But I learned on it, and it wasn't bad enough to make me quit, so I guess it served its purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rjkrichierich Posted June 11, 2008 Members Share Posted June 11, 2008 hey centuryhouse and all others in the blog.... i actually have a carlos model 240fk acoustic. i really agree with everyone on the sound of it. it has a nice bass sound and i just love it. it also has the brass nubs which look orig. on it. i didnt kno really anything on it so i tried to look up info about it and i found this blog. i dont really know how much it is worth tho. its not mint cond, but not bad. my dad bought it in the 80's i believe, but do u have any idea abouit it? im not an amazing player but i have been playin for awhile and i just wanted some info :] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted June 11, 2008 Members Share Posted June 11, 2008 carlos guitars are a dirty little secret..... Yeah, not a bad little box at all. Kind of like the Yamaha Dynamics in that regard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slodge Posted June 11, 2008 Members Share Posted June 11, 2008 I've got a Carlos 12 string... I'll have to take a look at it and see if I can't come up with any more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Throwing Copper Posted January 1, 2009 Members Share Posted January 1, 2009 My grandfather gave me a "vintage" Carlos guitar that is in excellent shape and the sound is incredible. Apparently they were hand made in Korea and this one likely the 1960's. The model number that is "hand typed" is 438. If anyone knows what it's worth, I would love to find out. It is a family heirloom and will never leave my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guit30 Posted January 1, 2009 Members Share Posted January 1, 2009 I knew a gal who gigged locally with a 66 Goya, that I had never heard of, she was real hi on it, one thing that i know, the gal had a great ear for music, sounded great ampliphied Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted January 1, 2009 Members Share Posted January 1, 2009 never heard of nor seen a Carlos, but if they can be compared to a Yamaha Dynamic then they must be pretty darn good...got lots of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SkippyX Posted January 1, 2009 Members Share Posted January 1, 2009 Say - was that the carlos guitar listed on Houston Craigslist for $20? The ad said it needed work. I was half-way interested, but Christmas decimated me so I figured "pass". I'm really more interested in a fingerstyle friendly git right now anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kimona Posted January 1, 2009 Members Share Posted January 1, 2009 I looked at a made in Korea Carlos locally about a week ago. Original owner, guitar looked just like new and asking price was only $70! Too bad the neck looked like a boomerang! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Penzatti12 Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Interesting story really. About 20 years ago my father found a guitar in a dumpster in Camden NJ. Besides having a few scratches, and missing strings, the guitar was in good shape. So he brought it home, polished it up and put new strings on and was shocked at how good this guitar sounded. It's a Carlos. If you peak inside it says "Carlos" in big letters on the top label, "Model No." which is blank, and "Quality Product of Korea" lastly. I still play it today - it's really remarkable how beautiful this thing sounds for being a no-name brand. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C70man Posted January 21, 2009 Members Share Posted January 21, 2009 Interesting story really. About 20 years ago my father found a guitar in a dumpster in Camden NJ. Besides having a few scratches, and missing strings, the guitar was in good shape. So he brought it home, polished it up and put new strings on and was shocked at how good this guitar sounded. It's a Carlos. If you peak inside it says "Carlos" in big letters on the top label, "Model No." which is blank, and "Quality Product of Korea" lastly. I still play it today - it's really remarkable how beautiful this thing sounds for being a no-name brand. Cheers Looks like a clone of a Guild D25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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