Carvin DC135

Was looking for a good solid body to replace my parker night fly. The parker was phenomenal and left big shoes to fill. The DC135 sounded better and played better than the parker (not quite as good as the standard flys but better than the bolt on niteflys) and the carvin was very well priced.

I ordered a custom shop 135 and it is absolutely incredible. I've played a few Charvel neck through USA san dimas guitars and aside from different pickups, this carvin is equal or better to the $1500 charvels and much better than any Ibanez (with the exception of the JEM but I still think it plays better than the overpriced JEM).

The neck is by far the best neck I've ever played with the exception of the parker fly. I played so many $1500+ guitars and wasn't satisifed or either they were too expensive. The carvin's neck is so fast and the action is rediculously low. The neck through construction is incredible and the sustain goes for DAYS. The wood quality is excellent and the craftmanship is flawless. I thoroughly insepcted the instrument for flaws and couldn't find any.

The guitar also sounds awesome. The carvin pickups are equal in sound quality to anything seymour duncan produces. I'm convinced that you simply can't find a better playing/crafted/sounding/looking instrument for under $1000. Believe me..I've looked high and low and lost count of how many expensive factory produced guitars I've tried in my search.

The volume knob had sort of a scratchy sound. I called carvin that afternoon and they sent a replacement knob for free priority shipping and also credited my bank account $25 to have my shop switch out the pot. That's what I call customer service! turns out the pot just had some dust in it. They sprayed some compressed air in it and it was quiet as a mouse and I had a free volume pot left over for any future need!

Aside from that, I have no complaints about the instrument, the wiring is top notch, fretwork is perfect, wood grain is magnificent and it plays like a dream.

Top notch. As I mentioned earlier, I inspected this thing high and low and everything was perfect. The paint/clearcoat was perfect, wiring was perfect and very clean and tidy and the intonation and tuning was spot on right out of the case off the UPS truck.

Bottom line is that these instruments sound, look, and play like custom hand built instruments and are priced at a fraction of the cost of your typical Gibson, fender, PRS, ETC.

I played several thousand dollar PRS's, gibsons, top of the line fenders, Ibanez, jackson, you name it and wasn't satisifed with any of them. Most of them were grossly overpriced for what you get and others just plain didn't sound good or play well for what the price tag said. It felt like I would have been paying for the name on the headstock rather than the instrument that was attached to the headstock.

I left the stores empty handed and turned to carvin after reading all the stellar reviews. They have a 10 day love it or leave it policy since you can't usually find them in stores unless they're used. I knew the minute I opened the case that it was a keeper. That was before I even held or played it!

Do yourself a favor and try one. If you don't absolutely fall in love with it, just send it back for a full refund.

Check out my 135 here.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v212/fastredponycar/Guitar/Carvin/



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this beaut at a pawn shop for $200!

I couldn't resist the sweet price on this fabulous piece!

I love the construction of the thing.
It's heavy, but that's all right with me.
The pickups smoke!


The finish was redone.

Quality is simply outstanding!

This guitar is perfect for hard rock.
My only complaint is that it doesn't work as well for jazz or country.

For that I play my trusty Strat or Les Paul.

Anyway, I highly recommend Carvin guitars!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I found this unit at local used music
store. I paid $400.

Everything! First of all, it's hand crafted.
The neck position pickup is awesome.
It reminds of a top of the line Jackson.
It has a little bit of a Gibson vibe as well. Kinda like a Les Paul double cutaway.

Like I said, I like everything about it.

It's rare to find a hand crafted guitar for under $1000.
I have plenty of hand assembled guitars that play well.
However, there is something to a hand made instrument.
It has an uncannily solid feel.


This is the finest solid body electric guitar that I own.
I am lucky to have found it.
To anyone considering buying a Carvin,
don't hesitate. Buy one now!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this guitar from a friend and former bandmate of mine at church. I bought it because it was the most beautiful electric guitar I had ever seen and because it had such a good sound. I bought it for $700. It was originally purchased brand new from the Carvin factory for $1300.

I like evrything single thing about this guitar. The neck action is so low and so fast. I can get nearly any sound out of this guitar that I want to. It has a bridge humbucker and 2 single coils. The humbucker gives a very fat, full, rich tone(distortion or no distortion), and the single coils are so clean and clear sounding. No noise from any of the pickups(no matter how much overdrive you put on it). The humbucker also has a switch that turns it into a single coil. Very useful for getting Stratocaster or Telecaster sounds. The neck through body design gives incredible sustain and makes it so much more easy to play. The tremolo is the best I've seen. Stays in tune better than any Floyd Rose(you can even get a Floyd Rose or a fixed bridge if you want to). The tilt back headstock design eliminates the need for a tuning tree like on Strats and Telecasters, which results in excellent tuning. Not only does it have 24 frets but the action at the 24th fret is just as low and easy to play as it is at the 3rd or 5th fret. That gives you more things to play so you dont just stay in the first 8 or 9 frets and get boring with your playing(I find myself doing that when I play other guitars). Intonation is perfect. Play a note anywhere on the fretboard and it will be perfectly in tune. There will never be any need to adjust your neck or anything else on the guitar (like you have to do with Strats and Les Pauls many times)because the technicians at the Carvin factory guarantee that they have set everything to where it is the easiest possible to play. Intonation, action, truss rod, string saddles, pick up height and everything are already set up to the best possible specifications. Another one of the best things is that you custom order a Carvin direct from the factory. There are hundreds of options that you can add(pickups, tremolos, colors, finishes,electronic options like switches and tuners). They are a true "custom guitar". They make the guitar for you exactly how you want it.

There is absolutely nothing I do not like.

The quality is top notch. There is no higher quality.

It will always amaze me why people love Strats, Telecasters and Les Pauls so much(most of them have never played a Carvin). It will always amaze me why people spend so much money for them. If you're paying $1500-$4,000 for a Les Paul or $300-$2,000 for a Stratocaster or Telecaster then you're getting ripped off. Carvin takes all the most popular designs of guitars and improves them dramatically. They make PRS style guitars, Les Paul style guitars, Strat and Telecaster syle guitars all with major improvements on things where those other guitars are lacking. Many of the things they've improved you don't even realize until you own a Carvin. Carvins are the best. They are all I'll ever play. Go to carvin.com and custom order you a guitar or bass and try it out for 10 days(they give you 10 days to try it out from the time you get it till the time you send it back and if you don't like it after 10 days they'll give your money back) and see if you ever go back to playing other guitars. I don't think you will. I sure didn't.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com