Re: Carvin
Not all Carvins require the pickup cavity to be rerouted.
Depends on the after market pickup.
I know EMGS will require it. But, that can be said for a lot of guitars out there.
I haven't heard of too many problems with Duncans or Dimarzios on the 6's.
On the 7's I know some have had to file down the pickup base plate edge to fit the pickup in the smaller route. EMGs again needed routing.
As for Carvin pickups. I really like the Holdsworth H22n and the C22b.
I think their just as nice of a pickup as the Duncan Jazz and JB in my Fenandes Ravelle.
Definitely better than the Dimarzios in my Parker, Duncan Designs in my Schecter, and the Gotohs that were in my Diodati.
As for the M22 series I can't comment on the recent ones.
My Carvins have the older M22n and M22SD from the '80s and early '90s.
I've never felt a need to swap them out. They've always worked fine. I was able to get tones I wanted, and never had any microphonic issues.
Those were designed for when Carvin was pretty much doing all maple guitars.
I know many have said the latest versions are different from the originals.
Especially the M22sd.
The C26 7 string pickups were redesigned this year.
Now feature Alnico 5 magnets and more output than the original ceramic ones.
I did notice a volume difference between my '02 and '05. I did have to drop the pickups down a little more away from the strings in my '05 .
