carvin?

[redbeardred]

i'm wondering if anyone has used carvin basses or amps?

there made in the USA and the price is right but i've never had a chance to play one.

[FretLessSince68]

Ed Friedland uses/endorses Carvin basses and has great things to say about them. Ed's a fantastic player so I'm certain his opinion is accurate, although his Carvin instruments are most likely optimized for him.

I toured the Carvin factory and showroom near San Diego, CA, tried a bunch of gear. In general, I liked their basses, but some felt a bit rough to me in terms of finish and detail. Others felt like good quality instruments. Nothing that I saw on the floor that day impressed me enough to purchase one.

I was less impressed with their bass amps. Their top of the line 600w bass amp had audible distortion in the preamp section. The rep just said that he couldn't hear it.

The bottom line is that I went there to buy a new rig and I went home with a full wallet. Of course this is just one persons opinion, I'm sure that many people love their Carvin instruments.

[redbeardred]

how long ago did you take the tour.

i guess what interest me is a 6 string frettless with a piezo for under 2 grand and buying American.

what i have heard is that their cabinets are on par with david eden but i've never even seen someone using a carvin head in person.

if money wasn't an issue i'd get a modulas graphite quantum.

i have decided to get a 6 string frettless and obviously need to start saving now.

[FretLessSince68]

Visited Carvin about ten years ago.

If you get a chance, try a 90's Yamaha TRB-6II, or with piezo it would be TRB-6IIP. I love mine and the price was right.

Bolt on neck, 35" scale, 19mm spacing at the saddles. Almost everything is right. Sounds good too.

I had a Modulus Quantum 6 and liked it for a while, but the brittle sounding graphite/phenolic needs to be toned down for fretless. I still have a Modulus Quantum 5 with John East U-RETRO pre, the sound of this axe is fabulous. The Yamaha TRB-6II is a close second but is not a fair comparison as the strings are different on each. DeAddario coated rounds on the Modulus, RotoSound RS77 on the Yamaha.

If you want to use round wound strings, a fingerboard from man made materials will serve you well, almost immune to rutting.

[redbeardred]

as always, food for thought Since68.

i'd hope carvin has cracked any distortion problems in these last ten years but like so many of our worlds injustice it's proably in the resposible parties best interest not to hear.

i'll keep my eyes open for a yamaha trb 6II(P). what mods have you made to your's? i assume by your word play you have the 6II.

one thing i looked into is graphit replacement necks and Moses offers a 6 string for like $700. having a luither make up the rest would certainly keep me under Quantum bankruptcy, i could hire an American and have something costum made...hmm?

what kind of strings would i put on a theoretical 6 string fretless. my first instinct would be flat wounds with a foam mute. that reminds me...our drummer didn't show up for church this morningso so after 3 or 4 measurs i ajusted by taking out the mute and boosting low mids--a few measures later, i (who's jolly carriage is not suited to pass in between) was climbing between cyblal stand and hand drum to turn off the snare; while holding the changes and not letting the bass neck sound the cymbal. what a morning!

[FretLessSince68]

My Yamaha TRB-6II has a John East U-RETRO preamp and coated fingerboard, otherwise is stock. The instrument sounds great but slightly less mwah than the Modulus as I have RotoSound RS77 flats on it. I would rather avoid cutting ruts through the fingerboard coating.

The TRB is still very bright so I keep the passive tone control almost at 10% above minimum. It has active tone controls too but I like the sound of the passive cut for dumping treble to ground.

If you end up with a fingerboard made from man made materials you can go with just about any string you desire. No worries about cutting ruts or grooves.

I use DeAddario EXP (coated) round wounds on the Modulus Quantum 5 graphite neck. I have another fretless bass (Franken Fender 4 str) with a Modulus graphite neck that has GHS Brite Flats mounted. I use the strings that perform best for a particular instrument, so it varies.

[redbeardred]

i went to the city today (chicago), rented an upright and visited a friend. my friend has a carvin frettless 5 string acostic. the ebony fingerboard was awsome. almost a half inch thick. great feeling neck. i was not impressed with the active bass and treble but it sounded and played awsome.

[RichmanRush]

I've always heard good things about Carvin instruments. One thing that seems to come out often is that Carvin (instruments and amps) is their transparency. Good? Bad? That is up to everyone's preference probably.

But I've hit their store in Santa Ana a few times the past couple of years to try out guitars and basses and they looked great, played great, and felt great. I can't comment on the sound as I'm so used to my equipment and my room (guitar) and the fretless bass I tried I believe had flats on it and I prefer roundwounds. Again, everything I picked up was damn good, but I can't comment on tone/sound exactly.

That being said, I just ordered, literally today, a few hours ago, my first Carvin instrument. A 6-string fretless. This will be my first 6-string, though a local luthier did let me borrow his for one night at band practice. Should be a fun experiment.

I will be able to tell you more once I get the instrument in my hands, but that will be 6-8 weeks from now. I will say, I sorta went all out for my personal build. Again, this should be a fun experiment and a fun time for me on bass once I get it.

[Mr. Mike]

I currently own a 5 string fretless Carvin and I am very happy with it. I have another bass and it is a 4 string fretted Carvin. I am very happy with the quality of Carvins and with the customer service I have received in dealing with the company. If anyone would like more details about the fretless I currently own I would be happy to provide them.

[RichmanRush]

I've been away a while... but my Carvin arrived back in April.

I was lucky to find a band around June/July and I broke her in over a few months before I had to leave the band due to <cliche>. LOL

Anyways, that Carvin completely FLOORED me live. Sounded great at home, but in a band setting (only played her at gigs)... holy crow! Played fantastic, and the tone was killer. I have YET to play the bass with the active electronics engaged. In passive mode the thing is a tone beast. Love it.

Now I wish I had the money to order more Carvins. I think I'm content on basses (wouldn't mind a 6-string fretted as a backup), but I could go for a couple Carvin guitars...

[Fretless19]

My defretted Lb 40 is, likewise, a tone beast. the original flip switch has been removed, uses a passive emg. I personally enjoy eq-ing in my amp section, so the transparency is appreciated.

[tubedude]

Love the Carvin bass, hate the pickups and electronics. Took a LB76F 6 string fretless, routed it out for Bartolini's, used with a Carvin BX 500, class D amp, the tone is sublime!

[Rando]

i have owned an Icon 5 for almost three years.

I would not hesitate to buy another

Made in USA, a family owned company. Worth the wait.