Thoughts on Carvin Strats

[ripper117]

What are your thoughts on the Carvin strats?

I am currently in the market for a new guitar.

I have a Suhr S-4 and absolutely love the stainless steel frets. Unfortunately with some of the other purchases I have made recently, I can't drop 2k+ on another guitar.

I am essentially looking for a strat with the all single coils.

Being that I am really interested in the stainless steel frets, Carvin comes to mind. I have not played a lot of Carvin's in my time, but the few I have I always loved. But it has not been a very large number. Probably 5 total in 25 years of playing guitar, and then only breifly.

Looking at the site it appears you can get them for appx 1k with stainless steel frets, sperzel locking tuners and Wilkinson tremolo.

What do you guys think about the Carvin Strats? Anyone have any experience with them?

 

[glpg80]

most people i have seen are 100% set on keeping them before they buy them, regardless of their tone or purpose. id rank their quality higher than warmoth, but their resale value just plain sucks ass if you decide its not for you or is a dead piece of wood.

IMHO i would think carefully if you go that route, great guitars but nothing i would do. i always try to play the actual guitar i plan to invest in before i buy them.

 

[ripper117]

Had not thought about resale value but a good point. With the way I move gear bad resale value could be a killer.

 

[chunktone]

most people i have seen are 100% set on keeping them before they buy them, regardless of their tone or purpose. id rank their quality higher than warmoth, but their resale value just plain sucks ass if you decide its not for you or is a dead piece of wood.

IMHO i would think carefully if you go that route, great guitars but nothing i would do. i always try to play the actual guitar i plan to invest in before i buy them.

They do have a return policy, so you're not stuck with it if you don't like it. I have one of their TL60's, and it is a GREAT guitar! I would not think twice about getting another.

 

[Coopster]

I had one of their bolt kits and really liked it. It was well built, had a good feel and sounded good. The only reason I don't have it anymore is because I tried to retrofit a Floyd into it and one thing led to another. I do intend to one day get another but I've been a relative Ibanez fanboy for the last few years.

 

[bigdaddyd]

I love my warmoths. They are as good or better than anything I have played...Tom Anderson, Suhr, whatever. I don't even have them assemble them. I get what I want, sometimes I buy the parts used off of ebay if they suit me and assemble them myself. If they need even more work that I can't do I pay a professional. That rarely occurs. I have a few that rival some custom shop strats right now. I sold two andersons I used to have and have one full Warmoth built by Warmoth, that I bought off ebay, and a few parts ones the moment that are just crazy. One is a warmoth/Jamerson mix that is pretty mindblowing. It comes down to finish work. That is what everyone loves about Anderson and Suhr. Find someone that you trust, if you can't do it yourself. I live Carvins, but they don't excite me like they used to.

 

[robertkoa]

They have extremely good fretwork and Jescar Frets ( the best Stainless and best Nickel are Jescar ).

Extremely tight neck pockets- no room or need for shims or aligning neck and re-tightening bolts etc.

Angled Headstock- no string trees, better down pressure at nut. Precision woodwork, inlays like Boutique builders

10" 12" 14" ( my favorite) radius available.

Mahogany or Koa bodies available for fatter tones.( cheap to upgrade the order )

Generally have more resonance and sustain than most Strats ( you can hear it unplugged easily).

For EXACT Fender Tones ( especially positions 2 and 4 and the real thin tones like Knopfler etc.)- you might need to switch pickups but for fatter single coil tones ( Gilmour, Timmons, etc.) the Carvin AP11 singles are very good.

You can get an H-S-S set with a coil cut switch and a " bridge add" switch for a very versatile Guitar.( $20 to $30)

For a very beefy tone IF you don't mind the extra weight the Koa body works well ( maybe because of the weight ) IMO.

 

[muudrock]

+1 to everything RobertKoa stated.
I have a Carvin Bolt-T and I absolutely love it. I changed the pickups out to my taste but it's a great playing/sounding guitar either way. Has a beautiful flamed top on it too. Carvin's necks and fretwork are up there with the best in the biz.

 

[Audiowonderland]

I love my warmoths. They are as good or better than anything I have played...Tom Anderson, Suhr, whatever. I don't even have them assemble them. I get what I want, sometimes I buy the parts used off of ebay if they suit me and assemble them myself. If they need even more work that I can't do I pay a professional. That rarely occurs. I have a few that rival some custom shop strats right now. I sold two andersons I used to have and have one full Warmoth built by Warmoth, that I bought off ebay, and a few parts ones the moment that are just crazy. One is a warmoth/Jamerson mix that is pretty mindblowing. It comes down to finish work. That is what everyone loves about Anderson and Suhr. Find someone that you trust, if you can't do it yourself. I live Carvins, but they don't excite me like they used to.

When did Warmoth start doing assembly?

 

[grooveHT]

Had not thought about resale value but a good point. With the way I move gear bad resale value could be a killer.

Can you buy used? Then you wouldn't be taking it in the shorts if you decided to sell it, and it would also be easier on the wallet up front. Something to think about though, Fender is putting out some really good MIM stuff. You don't have to drop a lot of cash to get a killer guitar these days.

 

[yngzaklynch]

this Carvin looks killer!!!

http://www.carvinguitars.com/guitars-in ... ial=112120

 

[O'Rourke]

Love mine, but I would highly recommend buying used. You can find some steals on eBay and forums vs. what they go for new. I think they're definitely worth the cost new compared to the competition but the resale is terrible so might as well take advantage and buy used.

 

[mjtripper]

They are great guitars but like others have said the resale will kill you. If you do flip gear a lot then you might want to do what others have said and buy used. The thing I like about carvin strats is I can get it in a hardtail where you can't with a lot of others. The necks are very nice and the shaped heels on the newer bolt on models makes a world of difference for high fret access. If there is an option you don't see or for another model if you call them sometimes they can make it work - like 1 piece swamp ash body.

 

[Badronald]

You can buy a used American Standard all day on CL for $600. Put locking tuners on it for $60 and your done. Swap the bridge pickup if you like and you're in it for $750. Polish the frets and get a good setup on it. You're in to it for $800 and you've got a smokin' guitar.

Find one like I did that the guy already did all this used for $600 and I just saved you $400.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

Every Carvin guitar I have ever played was great!