Carvin guitar quality?

[kherman]

Carvin/Kiesel makes a great guitar. Own 6 of them. 1989 thru 2011.

I've seen this company really grow and improve over the decades.

All of mine are very well built guitars.

 

I disagree that they are on the same level as a PRS SE.

Carvin CT: 20mm carved flame maple top.

PRS SE: flamed paper thin veneer over multi-piece maple cap.

CT: South American mahogany (1 to 2 piece back). (one piece neck or optional 5 piece)

SE: mutli-piece Asian mahogany body. 3 piece Asian mahogany neck.

CT: Ebony fretboard standard.(many other board optional).

SE: indian rosewood.

CT: real MOP inlays.

SE: synthetic plastic mop.

CT: German made OFR or a Wilkinson bridge. (Hipshot on flat-top guitars)

SE: PRS import bridge.

SE: PRS import standard tuners.

CT: Sperzel locking tuners (older), Carvin labeled locking tuners (newer) (Schaller?)

SE: graphite nut

CT: Graphtec nuts or OFR locking nuts.

SE: import asian electronics.

CT: Noble linear taper mini pots. Green Chicklet caps, copper shielded cavity. Jack and switch ?

SE: Asian fret material.

CT: Choice of Dunlop, EVO gold, or SS frets.

 

 

They're at least on the same level as a PRS S2. But, with the ability to add options. Personally, I feel they can hold their own with a production model Core.

Maybe, not a 10 top or Private reserve. Which, I don't expect it to for the price gap. 1.5K vs 10K. or build time. 10 weeks vs months.

 

Every company has their guitar that slips through the cracks. Even PRS. But, there's store's like Wildwood, Dave's guitars, CGME, Wicutt to go through them first before we ever touch them. That's why we buy from them instead of MF. We've all heard the Gibby stories of guitars being sent back or fixed by these dealer themselves. But, yet we'll have someone argue a Carvin CS is lower than a Studio HP.

Even though we save big with Carvin direct, unfortunately, we are our own middle man. No Dave's to go through it first. If there is an issue, be professional about it. Like you are the middle man. Don't bitch at them then bitch on the various forums. Granted Jeff may not of handled a few returns in the best fashion lately. Still, I think most of the time they'll be no issue. I've always had good service with the service department. They've even called me to make sure something I've ordered was correct before sending it out.

 

First time ordering don't do any option 50's. Keep it practical. Order common features you would see on other production guitars. That's what keeps the resale from tanking. There's a lot of gawdy ones out there. Or ones ordered with features that make no sense. Example: I always say if you order a Floyd get the lock nut. You'll sell it easier and for a better price than one with out. A CT with a sunset burst will sell better than a CT with a lizard burst.

 

As for the logo. You can get a Kiesel logo on a Carvin branded guitar. But, you can't get a Carvin logo on a Kiesel branded guitar.

 

They are slowly getting rid of the Carvin guitars in favor of the Kiesel models. Just recently the ST300 and C66. Sucks, I love the ST300. Shame to see it go. I'm not a real fan of the newer designs. CT and CS are probably the only remaining models I like. But, I'm part of the Mark Kiesel era/generation. Not, the Jeff Kiesel era/generation. My guitars are geared towards 80's era hard rock and metal. The new models are geared towards a whole different generation and style of music. I get it. They have to sell guitars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1001gear]

 

Nice amp.

[kherman]

and she has excellent tones. Just about that time of year to break her out.

[kherman]

The one model that is worth looking for is the SH-225. These were actually built by Heritage.

 

To my knowledge, it's the only ES-335 style guitar that could be ordered with a Khaler or Floyd Rose. They also made them with a TOM.

 

It was in the 80s and it was Hofner guitars.

You can find the story on carvinmuseum.com in the guitar guide section.

[BG76]

 

​I'd need to see evidence of Heritage building the SH-225. Carvin builds everything in-house. They used to outsource their acoustics, but customer feedback ended that mistake. I just don't see them outsourcing a model like the SH.

 

 

I misspoke. The SH-225 was actually made by Hofner. They were built in Germany, not California. I believe this is the only guitar Carvin ever outsourced.

[kherman]

http://www.carvinmuseum.com/whatmodelguitar.html

 

Yep, here's the link.

Very interesting.

[steve_man]

I liken Carvin to Warrior Golf Clubs. They look/sound great on a website/paper, but in reality they're just a flashy paint job on an average (at best) product. I had a Bolt+ for a while, and it was just to sterile sounding. Their pickups are just not great. Pots and other electronic bits are absolutely terrible. You'd think that on an instrument in that price range, it would all be top-notch... but it's just not.

 

Second, not being able to play a guitar before buying it is a deal breaker for me nowadays. And don't believe that they are all returnable if you don't like them. Certain color schemes and options are "non-return" items.

 

Third, if you have issues with any of their gear, you get the "luxury" of shipping it back to California to be worked on. Guess who gets to pay for that? Yup, the customer. Then, on sound gear/amps, you get to pay a flat fee just to open it up and look at it, with no guarantee that they will fix it for that price.

 

I've owned their sound gear, and their guitars, and you could not pay me enough to take another one.

 

The only Carvin I ever owned that was a solid instrument was one of their Cobalt line acoustics. However, they decided to quit making those. Just get something that's a known variable, and that you can try out before buying it. You'll probably be much happier.

[Grant Harding]

They've always been an enigma to me. They never shipped internationally so you never see them. No hugely influential players have used them. Their design, colour and wood choices have always been a head-scratcher. I've often wondered why people buy them and what the resale value is.

[1001gear]

They've always been an enigma to me. They never shipped internationally so you never see them. No hugely influential players have used them. Their design' date=' colour and wood choices have always been a head-scratcher. I've often wondered why people buy them and what the resale value is.[/quote']

 

I wanted to have the basic types of guitars at my disposal and their price was plenty attractive. I found myself at the Sunset store - right next door to Boogie and real Andersons, and everything I tried at Carvin sucked. The DC and TLC stuff was plinky and just horrible sounding. Their super amps at the time had zero dynamics and no usable timbres. The Andersons next door were completely out of scale. Highend just wasn't and still isn't on the radar.

The following year or thereabouts Carvin introduced the Bolt kits. BINGO. Got a hardtail with HB and had a nice craftsman experience assembling it and still use that very guitar. Got a second kit with 3 singles this time, enjoyed the assembly and between those two have made the bulk of my guitar progress. Very much the super value to me.

 

[steve_man]

I think a lot of their tone issues comes down to their necks... and their choices for pickups/tone controls. While adding the reinforcement rods sounds like a good idea, it just feels weird. The only pickup they make that sounded remotely decent was the C22. Being a "custom shop" you would think that they would put any kind of pickups in it that you want... but they will not. Their pots/wiring all seemed really cheap. Just was not impressed.

[Busk]

I have 2: a SC90 and a Bolt T kit and both are excellent. The SC90 went over 10 years without needing a set up or neck adjustment. The pickups are articulate and clear, C22 and AP11 single coils. AP11 are very highly rated to me, but my favorite strat pups are late 60s and 70s grey bottoms. One area for improvement would be using full size better pots and capacitors. Not sure if they do now.

 

Resale has been creeping up as well as they raise prices.

[seven58]

I bought a Carvin to match my dog.

 

Just kidding. That was just a coincidence. I found this Carvin CT6 at a music shop and traded some guitars for it. I own several guitars and have played custom guitars in many price ranges, and this one is on par with quality of any I've played or own.