Carvin DC145

Picked this guitar up from Ground Zero Music in Indianola, IA. (Great place to do business. I traded in a Carvin Bolt-t for the DC145, plus $100.00 cash. I own other Carvin guitars and have no complaints about any of them.

The guitar is Blue Burst. It has a Swamp Ash body with a maple neck and ebony fret board. A Alan Holdsworth bridge pickup, twin blade in the middle, and a Seymore Duncan in the front. This thing plays like a dream. The Holdworth PU has a really nice bite to it. With the phase switch, and coil splitters there are many different combinations of sounds. I think Carvin builds a fantastic guitar.

My other Carvin's have tung oil finished necks which are very smooth. The DC145 has a painted neck which makes it feel not quite as fast. Still only a trivial complaint!! I wish the guy who had it before me would not replaced the front pickup with the Seymore Duncan. I'll most likely replace it with a C22 Carvin pickup.

All Carvin guitars are built to a high standard in quality. They build them one at a time.

Alot of guitar players put Carvin down because their guitars are not available in stores. They feel they should be able to try them before they buy them. I've been playing guitar for 37 years. I've owned MANY guitars, name brand and non-name brand. I still feel that Carvin guitars are simply one of the best available. The DC145 isn't Carvin's top of the line. But once you play one you just might feel the same way I do.

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

The 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.

Manufactured exclusively in the United States. Mine, I bought the store Carvin in Los Angeles.
It is equipped with a Floyd Rose, that can be abused at will, without your beautiful melodies in tranforment paté dog;
Buttons? One, but a big, black well, which perhaps will remind you, for some, your adolescence. The AAU is dedicated Carvin volume only. It's not bad.
A selector like "Strat", you can papilloner on three microphones beautiful. M22SD (humbucker), in the center a H11 (single) and M22 (doubles).
My head model is inverted stunning!

UTILIZATION

Handle - driver, of course - has an ebony fingerboard and frets "jumbo". Access to acute déconsertante ease, makes you think it never stops. Liar. I stopped when I realized that I scratched my nezde the bassist behind me ...
Sound palette for everyone, but especially for the big bad riffs that come out of the DC145C, takes a previously ignored dimension .. Large puiisance agreements, and sounds "clean" type strat single coil, true happiness are.

SOUNDS

Really suits any type of music! Only guitarists exclusively "musette" will see complaints ... and again! Some Kind of went to Steve Vai. But I have not checked.
I play my avecsur Maes Boogie F50. Well, my neighbors have moved. Me in oven, not like 'em. and then, moin often on my Twin Reverb for the lens. Sound, not sight. Subliiiiime!

OVERALL OPINION

Yes, she 32y.o. and all frets. Most loyal, ell es'est happily adapted to any style required. But fans of Vai, Satriani or The Cult, make do, mine is not for sale, but finding this gem! Por favor!