Suhr vs Anderson vs Carvin.. thoughts?

[Red_Label]

I would take a Carvin, and just about anything else, over a Suhr or Anderson any day.

Alrighty then...

....oh, yeah! Just because you'd definitely be better off choosing "just about anything else" compared to one of those shoddy Suhr or Anderson guitars....no doubt!

Exactly! I should just throw this nasty thing in the garbage...

 

[scgtr]

Yeah, it's got locking tuners. Plus...esn't pull up. Staying in tune is not an issu

This is what first attracted me to ordering a Carvin. I use a bar in the Gilmour style, so a locking nut isn't necessary. On my other Floyd equipped guitars I have found myself leaving the locking tuners off, so I figured why not order one without a locking nut.

I like the fine tuners and heft of a Floyd, so I went with Carvin.

When I ordered the locking nut installation was $20, so the upcharge is nominal.

 

[veji]

The Carvin DC600C I just received is ok I guess. Too bad it's not much to look at:






Yep, damn shame.

WOW, that's sweet! Looks like a tropical lagoon on maple!
Why no locking nut with a Floyd?

Nice..what specs?

 

[shredi knight]

Nice..what specs?

Here they are. Anything listed as an "Option 50" means it's an off the books option that voids their usual 10 day return policy. That didn't really apply to me though, as I had a lot of trouble getting this guitar delivered to me the way I ordered it and was offered some of the Opt. 50s for free as compensation for all the hassle.

It took Carvin 8 months to finally get this guitar right and this is actually the 3rd one they have sent me (some may remember this thread of mine about the first one they screwed up on: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=155370).



Without going through the whole story, here a very condensed break down of what happened:


- First guitar ordered has wrong style headstock, get's shipped back for rebuild.

- Second guitar has volume & tone controls in wrong location (I was able to redesign the control layout as part of my compensation), plus they fail to install the push/pull tone knob that comes standard on this model that splits the coils. It get's shipped back for a rebuild.

- Third guitar arrives (the one pictured in this thread) with a half-inch finish crack by the bridge pickup, plus they still failed to install the push/pull tone knob/coil splitter. It gets shipped back for a repair and to have the push/pull installed.



That's without mentioning the many emails sent (several that seemed to go ignored) /phone calls made and all the putting up with Carvin's, at times, unbelievable incompetence between each build. As an example, after admitting that they screwed up on the first guitar and agreed to do a rebuild, it took them over 2 weeks to simply email me the correct type of UPS labels I needed to ship it back to them (I needed labels that let me drop off the guitar at UPS, not to have UPS pick it up at my house). When they finally managed to send me the correct labels and I shipped the guitar back to them, upon receiving it, Carvin sends me an Email back that says, "This guitar is an Option 50 and can't be returned. What would you like us to do?" WHAT?!?! How about get you heads out of your asses for starters? This of course got worked out, but is just a sampling of the BS I had to endure to get this guitar built.

So while their guitars are amazing, there quality control and ability to communicate with their customers and even it seems, with each other, is sadly lacking (YMMV). I highly doubt I will ever order another guitar from them again.


DC600C
- Right Handed
- Floyd Rose Tremolo
- Maple Neck/Alder Body (Standard)
- Bookmatched 4A Quilted Maple Top
- Picture Match Quilted Maple Top (Option 50)
- Clear Gloss Finish (Standard)
- Deep Aquaburst Quilt
- Rear of Body Natural Clear
- Tung Oil Finish Back Of Neck (Natural Wood)
- 6-String Pointed Headstock Reverse 3+3
- Quilted Maple Headstock Matches Body Finish
- Ebony Fingerboard (Standard)
- Dot Inlays (Standard)
- Stainless Jumbo Frets .055" H .110" W
- 14in Fretboard Radius (Standard)
- Use Customer's Pickups - DiMarzio D-Sonic (Bridge), DiMarzio Air Norton (Neck) (Option 50)
- 3-way Toggle Pickup Selector Switch In Place Of Standard Blade-Style Switch (Option 50)
- Tone control doubles as a push-pull coil splitter (Standard)
- Black Hardware
- Drop Shadow Logo White on Black
- Dunlop Straplocks
- Black Tolex Hardshell Guitar Case

 

[yngzaklynch]

For the op that was interested in a walnut Suhr check out this weeks Just Shipped guitars on the suhr website

 

[gibson5413]

Nice..what specs?

Here they are. Anything listed as an "Option 50" means it's an off the books option that voids their usual 10 day return policy. That didn't really apply to me though, as I had a lot of trouble getting this guitar delivered to me the way I ordered it and was offered some of the Opt. 50s for free as compensation for all the hassle.

It took Carvin 8 months to finally get this guitar right and this is actually the 3rd one they have sent me (some may remember this thread of mine about the first one they screwed up on: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=155370).



Without going through the whole story, here a very condensed break down of what happened:


- First guitar ordered has wrong style headstock, get's shipped back for rebuild.

- Second guitar has volume & tone controls in wrong location (I was able to redesign the control layout as part of my compensation), plus they fail to install the push/pull tone knob that comes standard on this model that splits the coils. It get's shipped back for a rebuild.

- Third guitar arrives (the one pictured in this thread) with a half-inch finish crack by the bridge pickup, plus they still failed to install the push/pull tone knob/coil splitter. It gets shipped back for a repair and to have the push/pull installed.



That's without mentioning the many emails sent (several that seemed to go ignored) /phone calls made and all the putting up with Carvin's, at times, unbelievable incompetence between each build. As an example, after admitting that they screwed up on the first guitar and agreed to do a rebuild, it took them over 2 weeks to simply email me the correct type of UPS labels I needed to ship it back to them (I needed labels that let me drop off the guitar at UPS, not to have UPS pick it up at my house). When they finally managed to send me the correct labels and I shipped the guitar back to them, upon receiving it, Carvin sends me an Email back that says, "This guitar is an Option 50 and can't be returned. What would you like us to do?" WHAT?!?! How about get you heads out of your asses for starters? This of course got worked out, but is just a sampling of the BS I had to endure to get this guitar built.

So while their guitars are amazing, there quality control and ability to communicate with their customers and even it seems, with each other, is sadly lacking (YMMV). I highly doubt I will ever order another guitar from them again.


DC600C
- Right Handed
- Floyd Rose Tremolo
- Maple Neck/Alder Body (Standard)
- Bookmatched 4A Quilted Maple Top
- Picture Match Quilted Maple Top (Option 50)
- Clear Gloss Finish (Standard)
- Deep Aquaburst Quilt
- Rear of Body Natural Clear
- Tung Oil Finish Back Of Neck (Natural Wood)
- 6-String Pointed Headstock Reverse 3+3
- Quilted Maple Headstock Matches Body Finish
- Ebony Fingerboard (Standard)
- Dot Inlays (Standard)
- Stainless Jumbo Frets .055" H .110" W
- 14in Fretboard Radius (Standard)
- Use Customer's Pickups - DiMarzio D-Sonic (Bridge), DiMarzio Air Norton (Neck) (Option 50)
- 3-way Toggle Pickup Selector Switch In Place Of Standard Blade-Style Switch (Option 50)
- Black Hardware
- Drop Shadow Logo White on Black
- Dunlop Straplocks
- Black Tolex Hardshell Guitar Case

Killer guitar Scott! I'm sure you rock that thing!

 

[Evster]

But I want to try some unique wood combos of which may turn out to be a dud..which is where Carvin comes in. They will mix and match any wood/neck/board and if you don't like it they will make it again from scratch.

Not exactly. If you special order a "mix & match"(special order options are coded Option 50 in Carvin-speak), of woods with Kiesel/Carvin, you automatically void the 10-day no-questions return policy. The warranty on the guitar covers manufacturers defects only. You cannot get a refund or credit when returning an "Option 50" guitar. Only standard option builds are so covered (unless an "arrangement" of some sort is involved), Kiesel/Carvin will build you another, but you now own both. I would find a guitar with roughly similar specs, particularly neck carve, as optional thickness is an Option 50, in the Guitars in Stock on their website. Try it out. If it speaks to you, return it and then order your personal dream cocktail. As I see it, Kiesel is pretty savvy. He knows that putting guitars in stock up with a no-questions return policy can entice people to try them out since finding one in a store is a lark at best, and one representative of what you envision is nearly impossible to stumble across.

I've owned six Carvins over 27 years. Five of them Option 50'd out. All excellent. I still have my 1988 DC400/ST prototype in maple thru maple with a flame maple cap, as well as my 2014 DC145 in black limba. I'll never part with them.

That said, I'm currently waffling between a Knaggs Severn and a Suhr Custom Modern. Mostly cause I for just once can afford a glimpse of how the other half lives.

 

[thiswaythatway]

The problem with ordering a custom order like that with Suhr is that it will take 6+ months to build. I wanted a custom build Koa Suhr & the wait time they gave me was just too long, so I built the exact same thing using Warmoth parts.

You can't compare a guitar you bolted together yourself to a Suhr.

Oh jeez I didn't read that post. Because of that statement I will disregard anything that Doughboy posts.

Do as you please young sir, but I have this amazing Warmoth guitar with parts & quality & craftsmanship that's as good as you can get.

My guess is you think with the logo & it's snob appeal 1st & the actual guitar 2nd. In that regards, you're missing the point of the actual "instrument".


upload pics

I'm not going to compare your guitar to Suhr or Anderson. I'm just going to say that guitar looks killer. Great job on it.

 

[mudf00t]

Someone likes digging up old threads lol. Fuck it, 2 cents incoming. I have owned quite a few Carvins over the years. I have also had a TA (one). The TA was an amazing guitar... but I certainly would not say that it was better than some of the higher end Carvins I owned. I think it's comparing apples to oranges. I have never owned a Suhr and honestly have no desire to do so. I have played a bunch of them at shops and friends guitars... just never met one that I wanted to spend $2500+ on. I ended up selling the TA when I started my business to raise capital. I don't really miss it. There were 3 other guitars in that lot that I sold that I missed... an EBMM Majesty that I bought back, a sweet Carvin DC600 with red flame maple finish and gold hardware (I paid $700 for it) and a PRS Artist Singlecut with gold quilt. I can't find the latter 2. It's crazy that I find myself thinking about them like missing an old girlfriend or something.

You used to be able to get Carvin guitars for insanely low prices compared to their value in terms of what you got for your money. I have had $600 Carvin guitars that were just as good - if not better - than guitars I had paid $2000+ for. The price of good quality guitars has gone up a lot over the last 5-10 years.

 

[NinjaRaf]

I had 2 Carvins built last year. An SCB6 and a DC600. Both were awesome guitars, but ultimately not for me. I found the neck through tone to be a little dead sounding and less resonant than my set neck guitars. The finish and quality are awesome, and the Kiesel Lithium pickups are great. Just ended up being not for me. Traded one for a Gibson Gothic V and the other for an AR15 lol.

 

[hopkinWFG]

Am planning to getta Holdsworth model that headless fat body setneck with the special chambered body and you get that special sound of being more responsive in your picking expression ?

 

[Evster]

Someone likes digging up old threads lol.

Double edged sword my friend. Had I simply posted my question as a thread, I'd be skewered for not using the Search function: "This again?!?"

 

[shredhead7]

If you're never going to sell it, Carvin makes a great guitar. While the resale has gone up with their price increases over the last two years, they still trail far behind most mfgs.

 

[Ethn Hayabusa]

I prefer Anderson. Suhr is great, mine was built in less than 4 months. No thanks on Carvin.