Comments on: Carvin Co. electric guitars of 1978

By: Robert Morgan

Robert Morgan — Tue, 30 May 2023 04:45:57 +0000

I have a Carvin CB100 for sale, I’m in New Zealand though but the bass is in great playing condition

By: condor

condor — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 23:13:19 +0000

Flatwounds are easy on frets and fingers, but there’s no getting a rock and roll sound out of them. That’s why I play P-Basses: it’s cheaper now to just buy a new Warmoth neck than find someone to do a decent fret job any more. No one wants to pay their dues and learn this kind of work.

By: Mike Levy

Mike Levy — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 03:55:25 +0000

I ordered my Carvin CB-100 bass in 1978 when I was with the Coast Guard stationed at Air Station Kodiak. What I didn’t know then was the relationship that would be built over the years with that bass. Today, I have a Rick 4001, a Gibson Thunderbird, an American Guild acoustic and none play like butter or sound like a thunderstorm like my CB-100.

By: Sundowner

Sundowner — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 01:59:48 +0000

You gotta be joking. The Carvins had the best build quality in the industry in the late 70s and early 80s, except for Rickenbacker, and a Rick is a specialized type of guitar. I still have the DC150 my dad bought me as a high school graduation present in 1985.

I have two newer ones ( a DC125 and a nylon string thinline) and I think Carvin is the best deal in a quality built guitar there is. I play in an oldies band where the leader insists on vintage looking gear and when I do, I have Strats and a Gibson 330. I miss my Carvins whenever I have to play those old beaters.

By: Bafflegab

Bafflegab — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 05:03:20 +0000

The pickups were about all that was any good on the old Carvins. Zappa had them in various Les Pauls and other guitars he had, and I’ve see the seven string ones put in on a slant on six strings, which works well sometimes. Particularly Teles if you don’t mind routing.

By: Brad Rinkert

Brad Rinkert — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 05:45:59 +0000

I drooled over those Carvin catalogs as a kid.

Years later, working in guitar shops, I found out that a good proportion of them have economically unrepairable neck issues. They did not cut the wood straight on the grain or they selected the wrong wood and consequently the necks warp.

Old Schecter Fender clone necks are notorious for this as well.

By: touch

touch — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:43:08 +0000

I like flat-wounds strings, especially on bass guitars, and they do work well for mellow jazz tones on guitar. It’s nice to pick up an old instrument with flat-wound strings and see very little fret-wear, because they don’t eat the frets like round-wound strings do.