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Hatsubai « HSH neck-thru »
Published on 06/22/11 at 11:23The Carvin DC135 is the HSH version of the neck-thru DC series. These are very affordable, made in the USA guitars that are semi-customizable to your tastes. The one I played had the following specs:
Neck-thru
25'' scale length
Alder body
Maple neck with ebony fretboard
12'' radius
Tung-oil finish
HSH configuration
Floyd Rose
Sperzel locking tuners
One volume, one tone, 5 way switch
UTILIZATION
Carvin always does a wonderful job when it comes to building guitars, especially for the price. The fretwork on these models are great. The back of the neck feels awesome thanks to the tung oil finish. It's never sticky like so many other finishes out there. The 12'' radius makes is great for both chording and soloing, and the neck thickness seems to be just about perfect. The upper fret access is a breeze thanks to it being a neck-thru model. On top of that, it's extremely versatile thanks to its pickup configuration.
SOUNDS
The HSH configuration leads this guitar to be geared more towards fusion and shred. The humbucker in the neck can deliver some nice, fat tones. The clean tones are pretty cool, and the gain tones aren't too bad. The split positions in 2 and 4 are probably some of my favorite as you get that real cool single coil kinda spank going on that some people refer to as quack. The bridge humbucker is a bit lackluster, but a simple pickup swap should cure that.
OVERALL OPINION
Carvin guitars are great value for the money. You can have your own semi-customizable guitar at a reasonable cost, and they even offer a money back guarantee. If you ever get the chance to play one in a store, check one out. Check your local Guitar Center's used section, and don't be afraid to stalk eBay for a bit to find one.
Neck-thru
25'' scale length
Alder body
Maple neck with ebony fretboard
12'' radius
Tung-oil finish
HSH configuration
Floyd Rose
Sperzel locking tuners
One volume, one tone, 5 way switch
UTILIZATION
Carvin always does a wonderful job when it comes to building guitars, especially for the price. The fretwork on these models are great. The back of the neck feels awesome thanks to the tung oil finish. It's never sticky like so many other finishes out there. The 12'' radius makes is great for both chording and soloing, and the neck thickness seems to be just about perfect. The upper fret access is a breeze thanks to it being a neck-thru model. On top of that, it's extremely versatile thanks to its pickup configuration.
SOUNDS
The HSH configuration leads this guitar to be geared more towards fusion and shred. The humbucker in the neck can deliver some nice, fat tones. The clean tones are pretty cool, and the gain tones aren't too bad. The split positions in 2 and 4 are probably some of my favorite as you get that real cool single coil kinda spank going on that some people refer to as quack. The bridge humbucker is a bit lackluster, but a simple pickup swap should cure that.
OVERALL OPINION
Carvin guitars are great value for the money. You can have your own semi-customizable guitar at a reasonable cost, and they even offer a money back guarantee. If you ever get the chance to play one in a store, check one out. Check your local Guitar Center's used section, and don't be afraid to stalk eBay for a bit to find one.