Carvin - Great for the money?

[darkshadow54321]

Although I've never played a Carvin in person, from the various photos I have seen and from the reviews I've read/heard, they seem to be excellent quality guitars.

Yet, for some strange reason, they have bad resale value and sell really cheaply on ebay. (e.g: 400-500 bucks)

What I want to know is exactly what level of quality the brand usually produces. Lots of people say 'it's great value for the money' but never actually specify the quality in comparison with more expensive guitars.

So, if you had to compare a Carvin to other brands, what would it be? Schecter-style? Gibson quality? PRS quality? Pro luthier quality?

If they're actually really good, I figure I could get one as a 'beater guitar', except that it'd be a very good quality beater!

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I've got one of their basses, and it's a great instrument, well made, plays great. I've also played a bunch of their guitars (I live a couple of miles from their showroom), and while the acoustics didn't blow me away, the electrics all seem to be of uniform high quality. I remember in particular playing a Strat style bolt-on once that just felt amazing.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I'd have to say they are far above Gibson and Fender quality. To me there's no comparison, but that's just my opinion. I've never seen a "lemon" come out of the carvin factory. They are just spot-on high quality. Whereas lately with fender and gibson you have to wade through the lemons just to find an "okay" one.

I own a carvin legacy amp also and I have to say it's one of the best sounding amps I've ever used, lots of cool features too. I'm real happy with carvin stuff.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Carvin Guitars are VERY Good guitars! Period! Its a disservice to say they are "good for the money". They happen to be reasonably priced for all the features and options you can get too. The resale value is low because they dont get alot of press and respect because they do things differently. Because of this, people arent paying big $$ for the name. You can sell a Les Paul on Ebay for a good bit of money, even if its beat to heck, just because it has the Gibson name on it. That and new ones cost so much, people will by used at a greater price. Alot of it is recognition, alot is the old perception that if it doesnt cost alot, it must not be good..
Carvins come (most) with Sperzel keys, Wilkinson or Orig Floyds if you go trem option. Ive never seen another guitar that comes factory with foil lined cavities, and brass inserts where the screws go to keep from stripping. Plus, you can choose your woods, and the tops are thick, not veneer.
I scored a great deal on a Used SC90 and it has the best neck (IMO) I have ever played. I recently put a Duncan PG in the neck and a Blues trembucker in the bridge and Im sooo happy with this guitar..

 

[Neeradj]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I hear their electronics aren't great though, I almost bought an AE185 on eBay.com but I came across the same problem as you did: "Great guitars for the money!" but I didn't know anything about the quality of the woods and their craftsmenship. They seem even harder to sell here in Europe, although very few people even have them

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I've actually used "good ____ for the money before also" to describe carvins. What that means is you can compare them directly to high end products and in most cases they are equal or better quality yet hundreds of dollars less. Some of those carvins you can get for under or equal to a grand have more features than most brand name guitars that sell over 3K.

 

[ankalar]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Carvins are awesome! I have been to the Carvin shop a few times and everything I played was excellent (I also own an 80s DC200).

On a side note, the reason they sell so low on eBay is because everything sells low on eBay. Nobody knows how to take pictures. For example, you have this, which has no bids, not even 100 dollars, and a Buy It Now price of 600. Then you have this, which I just sold for a Buy It Now price of 1,200

 

[kherman]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Love my Carvin Guitars.
Have been playing them since '89.
They are all still playing great.
I've used them for practice, gigs, and in the studio.
They've never let me down.

'89 Dc127

'89 Dc200

'94 Dc400

'02 Dc727

Kent

 

[kherman]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Oh, and what would I compare Carvin to?

Ibanez Prestige
Jackson USA Select
ESP Standard

Thier new CT compares very well to a PRS Custom 22 or Dean Hardtail. Or any other high quality set neck carved top.

Kent

 

[Ocifer]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Yeah, I agree that Carvin is one of the best companies out there. The only real "problem" is they're not the "in" company. Their guitars are great, I'm either getting a Bolt or a CT (California Carved Top) sometime soon.

 

[UCSDBoy]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I've played almost every model guitar they make in their showroom and I have to say the quality is really good - for the price tag it's a great deal. The necks are really something to play, even on their bolt-ons. Their strat isn't really quite a strat replacement, and some people may or may not like neck-thrus, but I can definitely say they are very, very solidly constructed. Personally, if I had a choice between a PRS or their new carved top, I'd definitely go with the Carvin. It's better than the PRSes I've played, and it's cheaper too.

 

[y2stevo]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Tony MacAlpine uses' carvin guiars too, Aswell as Vai with his 'Legacy'..

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Take advantage of the fact that they have poor resale, and buy a USED Carvin.
Carvin makes very good guitars, but what they do is cut corners in the places that aren't obvious to the buyer...ie, pickups, pots, electronics, and body wood that's not as good as higher end guitars...except for their tops and fretboards.

I've owned several Carvin guitars over the years, mostly years ago. They play great, and look great, but in order to sound great, you've got to gut the electronics, redrill holes for new pickup rings, and install quality pickups. Otherwise, the natural Carvin tone will sound mediocre and devoid of any mojo. I know from experience.
Since they use good hardware and the guitars themselves are very well made, if you simply rewire the guitar with Duncans, you're there! And for the low prices you can get them for, used, you'll end up with a great quality guitar that sounds great.
Carvin makes a lot of good stuff, but they make a lot of junk too. The things to avoid are their speakers, pickups, and electronics. Their mixers, power amps, guitars, basses, and acoustic/electric, and acoustics are perfectly good.

 

[ankalar]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

if you simply rewire the guitar with Duncans, you're there!

And that's exactly what I did with mine :32:

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

On a side note, the reason they sell so low on eBay is because everything sells low on eBay.

There's depreciation and then there's what Carvins and Hamers do in the Used marketplace.....they hold their value like a Lemonade Stand in the dead of an Alaskan Winter.

They have probably the worst resale value of mass-made instruments on the market. eBay is a constant source of folks trying to get half of what they paid for them and routinely getting a quarter of it back. Add to this the buying market is smaller because they are a "custom" instrument and there's even less buyers out there. I'm constantly seeing folks on CraigsList with Carvins who drop the price lower and lower until they just come to grips with one basic fact...

....if you buy custom then you're married to thing. It's a "for better or for worse" relationship with them unless you're weilling to take that financial hit.

Carvin does cut some corners; the wood isn't always as good as you'd think it would be and the electronics are pretty spotty. I've seen a few that looked like it was "ameteur night" with the soldering iron after a few shots of Jagermeister.

I also take issue with the fact that you have to pay more for less holes drilled into the body. It seemed kind of non-intuitive until I realized that they were reallydoing great parts of the process as an assembly line sort of thing, which isn't very "custom shop" at all.

If you can find one used that suits you then grab it. I'd never buy new simply due to depreciation. I flirted with the idea of a Custom 7 string for quite awhile. Now I see folks who can't get rid of theirs and I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on it.

 

[NT02]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I've had a 88 V220 since 1995 or so. That's Carvin's split V if you don't know. It is an excellent instrument. All maple, neck through, dual humbuckers that can be split to single coil. NO flaws, the neck is dead on perfect, after all of this time, no need to set up. It's been in the case for quite a while and I promise you I can pull it out and it will be in tune. In fact, I just did and the B string was barely flat. Old strings.
Anyway, Carvin's are quality instruments at a great price that don't sound like the LP or Strat. They sound like Carvins. The quality of Carvin's easily equals PRS, who I hold in high regards as far as quality, higher than Gibson or Fender. You'll be most pleased as a Carvin for a beater.

 

[ankalar]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I flirted with the idea of a Custom 7 string for quite awhile. Now I see folks who can't get rid of theirs and I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on it.

Carvin 7-stringers actually go for pretty high on eBay with good presentation. I saw one go for 1000 just recently.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

I've had a 88 V220 since 1995 or so. That's Carvin's split V if you don't know. It is an excellent instrument. All maple, neck through, dual humbuckers that can be split to single coil. NO flaws, the neck is dead on perfect, after all of this time, no need to set up. QUOTE]

What color is that V220? Those were one of Carvins coolest guitars, in a weird way. That image of Craig Chaquico will forever be burned in my mind. :laugh2: I love some of the wild 80's shapes, just for nostalgia....like the Charvel Star, and the BC Rich Mockingbird.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

The few Carvin guitars I have played seemed OK. But I really like their Amps. I bought a use Carvin X60 Combo a bunch of years ago at Sam Ash for $100. It is all tube, and was made to compete with a Boogie 50 caliber. I use it for practice, and jams. Its small and easy to move around. The clean tones are very good, similar to Fender. The drive sound is not very impressive, but I don't use that channel much. I just replace the preAmp tubes and it sounds real nice. go figure

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Carvin - Great for the money?

Carvins are fine guitars...as are the basses. I like the basses better.

They don't have a high resale value because guys don't fantasize about owning a Carvin the way they do a Gibson, Fender or PRS. Not much mojo or lust factor.

The name on the headstock is really important to most players and most players will pay hundreds of dollars extra to see Gibson, Fender, PRS, etc. on the peghead.

Just the way we're wired I guess. I've done it myself!

Lew