CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

SirJackdeFuzz

SirJackdeFuzz

New member
Been reading some very interesting comments (on this great forum) about US companies taking their products to the far east, to be manufactured there, to create a bigger profit.

Many folk say that the US made item is still of better quality, and made with far better materials, components.

Carvin being one of the very few US brands that still manufacture their guitars in the USA, with premium quality woods is still not as popular as i thought they should be, or deserve to be.

Can anyone shed some light on this topic ?


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They do custom builds, they have nice ''different-from-mainstream'' shapes.
Other big name brand using Carvins quality woods and detail to construction would probably as 3 time the price of a Carvin - if not more.
On B&W they should be a massive success story.

Brilliant Custom Shop quality, made i the US, and affordable for what it is.

What gives ?
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

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I could get into this. $829 on their website.

As you said great materials, very well built. I had a friend who had one and loved it. I can't afford 'em or I probably would own one.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

I can state the obvious reason few fellows talk or know about Carvin... We cannot find any to buy. In Richmond , VA (a state capitol), we have a SamAsh and a 2 GuitarCenter stores and used to have a large and very well stocked local music store with Tom Andersons, G&L, Eastman, etc. But I cannot recall having seen a single Carvin in 15 years. So, the answer that I have is that Carvins are not available to buy.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

Under-endowed advertising budget compared to Fender, Ibanez et al.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

Great guitars, I own a DC727. Problem is as others have said, hard to try before buying. I took the plunge without trying(GAS build up) and was happy with my purchase
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

I've played several of their amps, and own a Carvin bass rig, but I've never had the chance to play one of their guitars. That's the down side of selling factory direct, while it allows them to keep their cost down, you don't have the ability to try before you buy. And while their instruments are a great price for what your getting it's still a lot of coin to drop on something without knowing for sure how it will play, feel, and sound for you.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

I had a sweet dc 127c but i just didn't bond with it. Looks wise it was incredible.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

User34603 said:
I can state the obvious reason few fellows talk or know about Carvin... We cannot find any to buy. In Richmond , VA (a state capitol), we have a SamAsh and a 2 GuitarCenter stores and used to have a large and very well stocked local music store with Tom Andersons, G&L, Eastman, etc. But I cannot recall having seen a single Carvin in 15 years. So, the answer that I have is that Carvins are not available to buy.
Click to expand...

They sell direct to the public; no middlemen or retail stores to take their cut and double the prices.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

Carvin has been around a long time, and chose a business model that used to be much more popular before guitar stores were common place. Just like many mail order only companies, Carvin decided to have complete control over manufacturing, marketing, and selling retail.

Their reasoning is that they can continue to build at the quality level they want, and there's no middleman forcing them to sell at much higher prices to the public. Carvin keeps all the retail profit.

What they're masters of is making gear that appears to be high quality, but cuts just enough corners to keep the profit margin high. So essentially, they sell American made equipment that's import quality, at a price that's in between import and premium.

Living in southern Ca, I've seen, played, and owned a fair amount of Carvin products. Just like every other company, some of it is great, and some is just ho-hum.

The biggest issue guitar players have with Carvin guitars is their use of proprietary Carvin pickups and cheap electronics. Everything else on the guitar is good quality, but the switches, pots, jacks, and wiring are cheap import level. This turns off a lot of players, especially since their pickup rings don't match up with Gibson/Duncan pickup rings. The screw holes are off.

Add to this the massive catalog campaign, where pictures are all we have to go by. This works well for players in remote areas who simply roll the dice that they'll like their Carvin gear. Honestly, most players do like the gear they order from Carvin. But in major cities, where most of the good gear and pro players are, Carvin is basically shunned. They know that many of Carvin's endorsees just get their picture taken with it, while actually using their hip brands.
In Los Angeles, there's a few Carvin outlets sitting next to hip music stores. That fact alone makes Carvin look cheaper, because the entire store is just Carvin's catalog gear.

Carvin has always been in sort of a debacle. It's too expensive for them to put an outlet store in every major city, but it would help them get their gear to the masses. It's too late for them to change their business model to a normal one, because if they used dealers, it'd double the price of Carvin gear......nobody would pay that. If they moved everything to Asia, all the Carvin die hards would be disappointed and stop buying.

IMO, the only thing Carvin should do is form alliances with aftermarket companies like Duncan, EMG.....continue with Floyd and Wilkinson, and stop trying to make every part themselves.
Instead of 10 crappy amps, make 3 really good ones by using big name amp builders as consultants, just like PRS did with Doug Sewell, and Line 6 did with Bogner. They also need some real endorsees that put Carvin guitars on worldwide stages. They can't keep endorsing has-beens. Browse through any Carvin catalog and you'll see what I mean.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

In the early 90s, I thought they were super cool. Apparently, they did too, because they're still designing most of their instruments to a very 1993 standard of what a cool guitar might look like: somewhere on a spectrum that runs from PRS McCarty to Ibanez Jem.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

To everyone who says they can not test one before playing . . . i get that.

But i have bought two guitars over the internet ($1000.00 & $1200.00) without playing.
One brand new, from the local importer, and one through our version of ebay.

My cousin (part time music teacher) has probably bought well over 10 guitars on the net without testing them.
So there are guys out there that buy without testing.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

Funkfingers said:
Under-endowed advertising budget compared to Fender, Ibanez et al.
Click to expand...

Advertizing ? . . . in the age of modern internet . . . just look on their site on a regular basis to see what the Co. is up too, and what is on offer.

Join their FB page / email news letters, and, and, and.

I am sure all USA muso's must know of Carvin by now.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

I'd wanted a Carvin for years, I've been getting their catalogs since 81-82, I found a catalog at a music store in Milwaukee while on there for vacation, and just kept getting them sent to me for years. I never could afford to actually BUY anything from them, though. The ONE Carvin I've ever actually handled looked ,sounded and felt like a high-quality instrument. THe neck, however, was really flat and skinny which I hate. I could have actually ordered one at the time, but the neck really put me off (they never mentioned anything about neck profile options that I could find) and now I can't afford one anymore. Which is probably the same thing that 99% of the people who COULD get one, but never do, go thru as well. I still like looking at them though...
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

When i was flipping guitars I wound up with a few of them in trades, a couple of the superstrat types and a x220. I really wanted to like the x220 but i just couldnt. There is a tinniness and a feel that they all share that i just didnt dig with. An ex band mate of mine has 4 or 5 of them and every time i have played them its the same feeling. In my opinion they have all these great woods and features yet somehow still manage to come off cheap feeling... not sure what its. They just arent for me.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

Most people who buy Carvins have the chance to try different styles of them before they buy. That being said, everyone who owns one says they play like a dream. I would like to try them before I spend the money on one because I prefer thicker necks (thinner necks feel uncomfortable in my big hands) and from what I can see, they're most shred guitars (Jason Becker played one).
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

I'm not a Carvin guy myself but I do like a similar company a lot in Warmoth. However, as several people have pointed out, it's hard to fall in love with or have blind faith when buying a guitar you can't play first. I was hesitant before ordering my first Warmoth almost 8 years ago now so I decided to start by ordering a new Warmoth neck for a MIM Strat I had at the time. I was so impressed with the neck that I now own 3 complete Warmoth guitars (with a 4th on the way) and a Warmoth J bass (with another one that I loved but sold to a friend a few years back who absolutely loves it).

It's that first step that is so difficult though, especially when you can just go into a store like GC and take a guitar home today.
 
Re: CARVIN guitars, why are they not more popular ?

While I did take the plunge to buy a guitar without trying it for the first time this year, and I love the guitar, I gotta admit that not being able to try them makes me skeptical. At least for the Ibanez AS83 I bought I was able to try some similar guitars to make me feel a little more secure first... and like many of you, I've never seen a Carvin in a store.

I do have a buddy who bought one of their basses this year and a Carvin amp to go with it (900 watts into 2 cabs... a 1x15 and a 2x10). I liked how it played and sounded, and he's absolutely in love with his new setup. Also, I think they make some of the prettiest guitars I've ever seen, but they're also a bit out of my price range.

Like the OP was saying... it's regrettable that they aren't more popular. I agree that they just need more "real" exposure. We've all seen gorgeous guitars that we just couldn't bond with, so it's hard to take the risk without the test-drive!
 
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