Ting Ho Dung Posted July 3, 2021 Posted July 3, 2021 My son played an 8 string in GC a few years ago and really wanted it. I had to talk sense into him because it just wasn't the right time for him to buy a nearly 2k instrument when he had just moved back in with us and if he were going to stay any length of time I wanted him to save and pay down debts for living here for free. I should have a decent year this year, counting eggs before they hatch so to speak. He has since moved out on his own (to MA the little bastard). I'm thinking toward Christmas and getting him a nice 8 string, multi scale, fan fretted, instrument. Whatever the jargon is for these things. I looked at the Kiesel website and in my research have found out it's a Carvin switcharoo or something. The reviews are good. They seem to hold their value unlike Carvin (or am I mistaken there?). I found a really nice one used in new condition but when I went to the Kiesel website and entered the same custom options it's only $150 difference in price vs new so I may as well get new. Plus, the seller is charging $50 shipping and Carvin charges $35. I know you guys are all Hamer but thought I'd take a shot here instead of another site I never visit. Thanks.
tweed Posted July 3, 2021 Posted July 3, 2021 The Carvin company was named after Lowell Keisel's sons, Carson and Gavin. I was eyeballin' that brand during the late 80's thru 90's. I ordered a Carvin Bolt kit back then just to feel them out. Played as good as any Fender to me but had I think a 14 inch neck radius. Later got a Carvin Nomad combo, still have them both. Always wanted to get a custom order made, but now we have more custom builders around. I guess if you want a seven or eight string build, multi scale, fan fretted thing-a-ma-jigum, they'd be the ones to look at. Don't know if other builders have gone that route yet.
VECTOR Posted July 3, 2021 Posted July 3, 2021 2 hours ago, Ting Ho Dung said: My son played an 8 string in GC a few years ago and really wanted it. I had to talk sense into him because it just wasn't the right time for him to buy a nearly 2k instrument when he had just moved back in with us and if he were going to stay any length of time I wanted him to save and pay down debts for living here for free. I should have a decent year this year, counting eggs before they hatch so to speak. He has since moved out on his own (to MA the little bastard). I'm thinking toward Christmas and getting him a nice 8 string, multi scale, fan fretted, instrument. Whatever the jargon is for these things. I looked at the Kiesel website and in my research have found out it's a Carvin switcharoo or something. The reviews are good. They seem to hold their value unlike Carvin (or am I mistaken there?). I found a really nice one used in new condition but when I went to the Kiesel website and entered the same custom options it's only $150 difference in price vs new so I may as well get new. Plus, the seller is charging $50 shipping and Carvin charges $35. I know you guys are all Hamer but thought I'd take a shot here instead of another site I never visit. Thanks. Kiesel is a big name in the djent community. Custom faetures but affordable. I love my 1984 Carvin DC, it is well made, good sounding and perfect playing. I think old Carvin guitars are as Hamers underrated and you can get a very good guitar for cheap. Renamed as Kiesel they are related to newer genres like many boutique guitar manufacturers (Mayones, Skervesen, Strandberg) and we will see in 20 years what they are worth.
DaveH Posted July 3, 2021 Posted July 3, 2021 No experience with the brand since it changed to Keisel, but I have/had a number of Carvins (late 80's thru 2002) They have all played good, stayed in tune, and are solid. After I got my first Hamer however, it was all over. Comparatively the Carvins lack personality. Hi-fi, for lack of a better word. If you are doing the heavily processed/high gain thing where the nuances are covered up anyway, they are fine. Can't speak for the newer set necks or semi hollows.
Montelovesco Posted July 3, 2021 Posted July 3, 2021 No experience with instruments, but I had a Carvin V3M amp I liked pretty much. Quite a versatile beats. The PUs they use seem to have a so/so reputation, though…
Travis Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 I had a Carvin Bolt kit that I put together a few years ago. Carvin body, neck and bridge. The rest I cobbled together on my own. Played well, stayed in tune, acoustic voice projected well. Neck was a little thin for my taste so I sold it and put on an AllParts FAT Strat neck and dropped in one of Josh’s Mongoose humbuckers in the bridge. So now, the only Carvin parts left on it are the body and bridge.
Ting Ho Dung Posted July 4, 2021 Author Posted July 4, 2021 1 hour ago, Travis said: I had a Carvin Bolt kit that I put together a few years ago. Carvin body, neck and bridge. The rest I cobbled together on my own. Played well, stayed in tune, acoustic voice projected well. Neck was a little thin for my taste so I sold it and put on an AllParts FAT Strat neck and dropped in one of Josh’s Mongoose humbuckers in the bridge. So now, the only Carvin parts left on it are the body and bridge. Off topic, but did you have to do any fretwork or anything to the AllParts neck to make it playable? Or did you buy it used?
Travis Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 6 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said: Off topic, but did you have to do any fretwork or anything to the AllParts neck to make it playable? Or did you buy it used? Bought it brand new. It was playable but the frets were pretty sharp. I smoothed them out a bit on the ends, sanded down the sides and rolled the fretboard edges a bit. I’m no pro by any means but it plays really well to me.
Ting Ho Dung Posted July 4, 2021 Author Posted July 4, 2021 5 minutes ago, Travis said: Bought it brand new. It was playable but the frets were pretty sharp. I smoothed them out a bit on the ends, sanded down the sides and rolled the fretboard edges a bit. I’m no pro by any means but it plays really well to me. What nut did you use and how did you finish it?
Travis Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 7 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said: What nut did you use and how did you finish it? I used a graphtech graphite nut and I finished it in a few light coats of TruOil. Loves me the feel of an oiled maple neck.
Ting Ho Dung Posted July 4, 2021 Author Posted July 4, 2021 2 minutes ago, Travis said: I used a graphtech graphite nut and I finished it in a few light coats of TruOil. Loves me the feel of an oiled maple neck. Possibly the last question on the neck, rosewood or maple FB?
Travis Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 1 minute ago, Ting Ho Dung said: Possibly the last question on the neck, rosewood or maple FB? Maple/maple
Ting Ho Dung Posted July 4, 2021 Author Posted July 4, 2021 1 minute ago, Travis said: Maple/maple Tru Oil on the FB too?
cmatthes Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 I played in a band with a guy who had Carvin everything - guitars and amps, except for two Heritages. Worst pieces of shit I’ve ever played. Dull, still and lifeless, awful pickups and heavy as hell too. When he heard what a decent guitar and amp could actually sound like, he realized how awful he made the band sound and moved to other gear. I get that the Djent/7 string/8string kids are into the Kiesel stuff, but hopefully that’s better made than the shitty Carvin stuff from 20 years ago.
Travis Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 15 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said: Tru Oil on the FB too? Not on that one, kept it raw maple on the fretboard. But I did put a couple of very light coats of TruOil on the AllParts FAT maple/maple neck & fretboard I used for my Esquire build.
tbonesullivan Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 Well made guitars definitely, but their pickups are very neutral / sterile. After the name change to kiesel they changed a lot of the looks, but the basic construction techniques remained unchanged. They redesigned their pickups to have a "normal" number of pole pieces, but I don't think they appreciably increased the sound quality. Their new pickups named after random cool sounding minerals tend to be aggressively voiced but somewhat flat sounding. I have owned a bunch of Carvin guitars over the years, and the issue was never playability or build quality. It was how they sounded, particularly their humbuckers. They always made good single coils IMHO. Back way back when Semi Moseley was just starting out in CA, he used Carvin pickups on his guitars. Their Jason Becker guitars are pretty good though, probably because they use Seymour Duncan pickups. Their basses are and have always been awesome, so I don't know why their guitars aren't better.
pirateflynn Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 I don’t have any direct experience with Kiesel or Carvin but over the last few years I’ve read a few threads about build problems, inconsistencies, and bad customer service. I just did quick Google search ‘Kiesel Guitar Issues’ and came across a number of complaints. I’d read these and do your own research before making a decision.
scottcald Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 I have a Carvin Bolt HSS I bought a number of years ago. I still like the guitar, it plays well, it was built well. I think they were a better value then as their prices seem to have gone up a fair amount. Also, the Kiesel guy who runs it now seems to be a tool. The whole calling out a customer for complaining about his order on a FB live thing really was about the dumbest thing.
tbonesullivan Posted July 4, 2021 Posted July 4, 2021 2 hours ago, scottcald said: I have a Carvin Bolt HSS I bought a number of years ago. I still like the guitar, it plays well, it was built well. I think they were a better value then as their prices seem to have gone up a fair amount. Also, the Kiesel guy who runs it now seems to be a tool. The whole calling out a customer for complaining about his order on a FB live thing really was about the dumbest thing. My Carvin SSS Bolt is the only Carvin guitar I still own. It sounds AWESOME. The AP11 pickups are a bit hotter than standard strat pickups, with bit more bite, but also a glassiness in the neck position that sounds really crisp. I also previously had a guitar with the S60 singles, which also sounded great. The bridge humbucker didn't sound as good. I replaced it with one of their more recent offerings, but it still wasn't "rude" enough for me.
mudshark Posted July 7, 2021 Posted July 7, 2021 I bought a Bolt when they first came out that I liked a lot. I gave it to my nephew's son, a real up and comer who still puts it to good use. I really liked the master tone control and the mini toggle in the normal Strat bridge tone control's place that enabled you to engage the neck and bridge pickups and also all three pickups.
Biz Prof Posted July 7, 2021 Posted July 7, 2021 On 7/4/2021 at 4:01 PM, tbonesullivan said: The AP11 pickups are a bit hotter than standard strat pickups, with bit more bite, but also a glassiness in the neck position that sounds really crisp. This^^^^ Best thing about Carvin guitars, IMHO.
Brooks Posted July 7, 2021 Posted July 7, 2021 I ordered a HH2 (Allan Holdsworth headless model) a few years ago. I was having a LOT of back problems, so I researched the best made ultra lightweight guitars; It was the best built & best playing guitar I had owned up to that point. The neck pickup was perfect for my jazz-noodling-looper solo gigs I was doing pre covid, up there w/ my old Gibson Midtown P90 for jazz tones. BUT I couldn't seem to get a decent hard rock tone out of the bridge pup, tried a Duncan Dimebucker then a DiMarzio Super Distortion, both of which were somewhat better. Only sold it because a Strandberg showed up locally on CL, I played both side by side for a few weeks and the Strandy was sligtly lighter/better playing (hard to imagine!!) and had a better rock tone. I couldn't fathom owning 2 headless guitars (I'm not a gear guy), so I sold the Kiesel for a $450 loss (retail was $1930). I would consider another if I could find one I dug used, but to be honest I am deep into mid-life-strat-obsession, ha.
HamerCustomEr Posted July 12, 2021 Posted July 12, 2021 Personally, I am not an Ibanez fan, although I used to have a MIJ Ibanez GB10 George Benson that I loved. It seems to me that it would be hard to beat this Ibanez eight-string multiscale for the price of $599: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RGMS8BK--ibanez-rgms8-black
sixesandsevens Posted July 12, 2021 Posted July 12, 2021 I went the Strandberg route for an 8-string and have no regrets. It looks like they have at least one model now that's in the same range as some of these others ($1795 at Sweetwater). https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BDSD8BKFM--strandberg-boden-standard-8-black-flamed-maple For me it's been a great guitar, and just judging from a quick search on reverb they hold their value reasonably well. I'm not up on the latest model differences, but the "Standard 8" has had a few sell for under $1500 and the "Original 8" for under $1800.
Brooks Posted July 14, 2021 Posted July 14, 2021 On 7/7/2021 at 3:17 PM, Brooks said: ...but to be honest I am deep into mid-life-PARTSCASTER-obsession, ha.
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