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has anyone played the Cobalt series acoustics from Carvin - I was curious about these - they look good and the price is certainly nice, but do they stink up the place when it comes to sound or not? Thanks in advance!
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Re: another acoustic question
I played one a while back when I was looking for a moderately priced acoustic to take to bar gigs. I remember thinking it was OK, but not particularly loud. It was decent, but lacked that magic sound that great acoustic guitars have. Is there a particular model you're considering? -
Re: another acoustic question
I like the C980 on paper - any experience with this one?Comment
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Re: another acoustic question
Well, I live a couple of miles form a Carvin store. I can try to stop in there sometime this week and check it out for you.Comment
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Re: another acoustic question
Thanks Mike you're help is apprecaited - I won't be buying until December or January - I am just investigating right now - I've purchased acoustics before on a whim and always end up sorry so this time I am taking my time. I don't expect that the Carvin would be my end all acoustic, I think that is reserved for a Taylor, but if I could be happy with it for a few years until it becomes my second acoustic that would be good.Comment
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Re: another acoustic question
Well, I finally made it to the Carvin store. They didn't have a 6-string C980 in stock, but I played the C850 (the next step down) and the 12-string C980. I played them both acoustically, I didn't plug either into an amp. And now, my subjective opinion:
Pros:
-Both were well made, the fit was tight, the finish was nice, the inlay around the body and rosette of the 980 12 was flawless.
-Both played well, nice tight low action (but not too low).
-Quality Grover tuners.
-Both had a very nice, rich, complex tone, however...
Cons:
-...the tone was very focused. It seems to enanate right from the soundhole and stay there. Don't get me wrong, they both have a great acoustic tone, and I'm not saying that they're quiet, the volume level seemed appropriate for this size of guitar. My personal preference is for an acoustic guitar whose sound sort of blooms and surrounds you. With the Carvins, if you move your head to the side you sense how the sound hovers right in front. I hope this makes sense!
-I have a personal bias against built in pickups with EQ and volume controls. As I said, I didn't get a chance to plug either in, so I can't comment on the pickup tone. I would just rather spend the money on a quality acoustic guitar and add an aftermarket pickup. That way, if they come out with something that sounds better in a few months, I can swap out what I installed. With the built in stuff, you're kind of stuck. I also have a bias against cutaway acoustic guitars - to me, that's an area of potential tone production which is lost. I can reach up as high as I need to! But there are just my personal biases, if you don't mind that stuff don't let my notions stop you.
Bottom line is, the high-end Carvins look and play great, appear to be very well-built, and have an excellent tone that seems to exist in the immediate vicinity of the soundhole. It won't envelope you with it's tone the way some quality acoustics do, but it seems to be a great value for the money. Good luck, I hope this helps!Comment
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Re: another acoustic question
A friend of mine has one and I'll agree with Mike, the tone had that focused quality and didn't disperse all that well and the volume/projection seemed a bit weak. It didn't quite have enough lows for me either.
The electronics were decent but I've heard better from similarly priced guitars.
Also, even though the strings on there were 11's the guitar had this stiff, hard, uncomfortable feel. I didn't like it, it didn't really facilitate playing because that stiff feel made you fight it.Comment
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