Montelovesco Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I know that Carvins have been discussed here according PU, sound etc. There is a Carvin Stratocaster, offered as project on ebay, w/o PUs. I am thinking about buying it, to put some good PUs in it... Any opinion on woods and built quality of Carvin? Thanks daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biz Prof Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Their bolt kits are fine. I've played a couple of builds, and found the wood component quality to be high. It's all CNC-machined stuff, so I'm not sure how it would ever be inferior to a run-of-the-mill Fender. Just be aware that the resale value is typically very low. Carvin is certainly a niche brand, mostly by design. Although the one you're looking at is sans pickups, the AP11 single coils are actually quite good for a powerful, glassy Strat tone. The humbuckers are spotty; I've played some that sounded OK; others that sounded like shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diablo175 Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 And... cue the Carvin detractors in t-minus 5, 4, 3, 2... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCChris Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 26 minutes ago, diablo175 said: And... cue the Carvin detractors in t-minus 5, 4, 3, 2... Specifically, the Matthi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveL Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I had a factory built Bolt T... prior owner picked out good stuff, Ferrari red with a black tortoise guard, sperzels, and a wilky, I think. pretty nicely made, the problem was I just don't think it was warm... kind of mechanical sounding. can't quite put my finger on it... there was kind of a cool one a month or so ago at my local store... (some kind of duo tone hybrid a/e thing) but had a lot of fretwear... so I didn't look at it that much further... seems like the guitars with flametops are pretty nice. would have liked to see some of those tops on Hamers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonesullivan Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Carvin guitars are manufactured quite well, as are the Kiesel guitars now that they have changed their name. Their strat / bolt bodies are great bodies, as are the necks. The electronics can be great, or not so much, depending on what type of sound you like. If you love your Seymour Duncan or Gibson pickups, you will most likely NOT like Carvin/Kiesel pickups. If you really like the air style Dimarzio pickups, you may like carvin pickups. That said, I have a stock Carvin Bolt with the AP11 pickups, which are similar in sound to the G&L MFD single coils. The construction is similar, with a ceramic bar under a bobbin and pole pieces. There are 11 pole pieces so they are somewhat like a rail pickup in sound. The Woods that carvin uses are great. I've got some really nice alder and swamp ash bodies from Carvin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montelovesco Posted July 11, 2017 Author Share Posted July 11, 2017 Thanks a lot, this is helpful indeed. Will keep you updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie G. Moseley Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Toured the factory in th late '90s. Impressive. Clean work environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottcald Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I have a Carvin Bolt I bought new about 12 years ago. Has an ebony fretboard, satin maple neck and alder body, HSS setup with coil split for the bridge pup. Wilkinson trem, locking tuners. I don't have any complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARM OF HAMER Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I guy I know has one of these...............early one he paid quite a bit for it also. I played it and it was made very well and played excellent.................I would not own one but he had 4 other Carvin's and really likes them............obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundernotes Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I've been using a Bolt for years. It's a good solid guitar I'd rank ahead of any MIM Strat and they can be found at decent prices. I agree with the above statements about the single coil pickups. The new Kiesel line is just miles ahead of anything they've done in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princeofdarkness56 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I always heard good things about their basses. A buddy had a nice Carvin bass amp. Still uses it 20 years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomicwash Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Side note: I've used their PA heads and speakers for over 15 years. No issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zorrow Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Two friends of mine play Carvin. One of them is a bassist. His basses rock big time. The other is a guitar player. I see no quality issues with his guitars. The Mathes hate Carvin though. There should be something there to be taken into account. No idea though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonesullivan Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I've got 4 Carvin basses, two carvin bass stacks, one practice amp, two of their effects processors, two power conditioners, and a bunch of their guitar amps. Never had any complaints. Kinda wish the amps weren't all SMT now, but that's how the industry is going. To fit all that functionality into a tiny box, standard PCB through construction isn't compact enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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