Carvin B4F

USA-made, ordered direct from the Carvin factory in California in January 1999. 4-string, 2 J-style single-coil pick-ups, lined fretless w/ebony fretboard, bolt-on neck. Passive electronics, 2 volume/1 tone controls, I believe they are the HB4 model p/u which replaced the H50N pickups used in previous Carvin passive basses. As Carvin custom designs their insruments to the buyers specs, the features available are endless but I ordered a tung-oil satin finish over the alder body, rounded body sides, strung-thru bridge, and 2 pegs to a side headstock. Hardshell case was included

Ok, here is my main gripe about this instrument, and it is something I was aware of before I even bought the bass. The "output" of these pickups is GOD AWFUL!!! My main bass for years was a Music Man Sterling, which is very active and probably the "hottest" sounding bass I ever owned. That being said, I was ready for a bit of a volume decrease when I plugged in the Carvin, but I was HORRIFIED to barely even hear the bass compared to the MM!!! I play through an excellent rig...SWR (pre-fender) SM-400s head, Goliath II 4x10, Big Ben 1x18, and had to crank up the gain and master on the amp to even hear the bass at all. Which brings me to my first point of being aware of this problem. I had read several critical reviews of the passive Carvin pick-ups, most of which called into question the low output of the H50Ns. When I was ordering my B4F, I asked the rep about this and he said "...yes, the H50ns did have low output but that has been fixed with the new HB4 p-ups your bass will receive. I figured, ok, give it a shot.....I could not have been more wrong! On a good note, the bass does have a nice, warm growl when played acoustically, and it recorded to tape quite well in the studio, but I rarely play it live due to the extremely poor output of the electronics. I have used a chrous pedal live it this does seem to help achieve that "mwah" tone you'd expect from a fretless.

I can't say enough positive things about the set-up and overall craftsmanship of this instrument. That is one truly great thing about Carvin...expect quality. While unless you visit the store in CA amd test out the instrument there, most will order direct from the factory and not know what they're getting until they open it. Although I was displeased with the pickups I chose, those can be replaced. The wood grain under the satin finish is gorgeous, the neck is smooth and straight, no weird buzzing, and it does have that fretless growl to it. I do plan on putting in some Bartolinis or Maybe an Aguilar pre-amp, we'll see.

Again, flawless here. The bass is solid, heavy but not too heavy, sturdy and has withstood many a crazy gig with drunk patrons passing by or over the top of it! The satin oil finish needs attention, which amounts to applying a coat of oil polish (I prefer Old English) once or twice a year, so no big deal here. The neck has been adjusted very minimally, the intonation has been tweaked here and there but only because I'm a freak about the fretless sounding in tune. Because I only use the fretless on a few select tunes, I always have at least one other bass around...The Music Man, Fender '62 P-bass re-issuse, or Fender Sting P-bass.

The rep was very knowledgeable, gets a 8 because he did insist the "new" p-ups I was getting were better than the old ones. overll very good service and support.

I've been playing about 18 years, other gear was notd above although I'm in the process of fasing out the SWR gear for a Demeter preamp and Stewart 2.1 power amp, with Aguilar cabinets (GS410, GS115). If the B4F were stolen, I may replace it but not until they provide better passive electronis

This bass was made in the USA. It was one of the "guitars in stock" specials on the website. It is fretless with white lines for markers, a bridge position humbucker with a coil splitting switch, and a neck position "J" style pickup. The body is swamp ash and it has a greenburst finish. The controls are: two volume and one tone. I cannot remember why now, but a hard shell case was thrown in (maybe because it was a "in stock" bass). I chose a passive bass, so one cannot ask for more feature here.

I am crazy about the sound of this bass. With the humbucker turned up all of the way and the bridge pick-up turn up a little less that halfway, I am able to pull extremely clear and expressive notes from this bass. The sound is thick, but never muddy. It is the prettiest sounding fretless I have ever heard.

Another Carvin reviewer noted this-- the neck buzzed slightly when it was received. Like the other reviewer, though, I replaced the strings and the buzz vanished within about a week. Maybe the neck felt a little stress during shipping. Whatever the case, it have played perfectly ever since.

The only flaw, then, is in the single tone control. When activated, there is a terrible buzzing that comes through the amplifier. It sounds like a grounding problem. I have not fixed this, though for two reasons. 1) I never use the tone control. I leave it turned off and use the amps EQing options, and 2) The bass plays so well that I am not sure I even want anyone to touch it. Since I turn the knob off, there is not any problem for me.

Action is wonderful. The neck is fast and a pleasure to play.

I have not played out with this bass yet and I treat it very gently. I am sure, though, that I will be playing out with it soon. I forsee no problems here The bass seems very solid. I will not vote on this category, though, since it has not been out yet. I would guess a 9 or a 10, though.

Carvin customer support has been great. I have contacted them a few times and always been treated well. Telephone converstaions are pleasant and email replies are quick.

For me, this bass is perfect. It is leagues above other basses that I have owned and I have not played any bass yet that compares to it. I prefer it to basses that I have played that triple this ones price tag.

I think the bass was manufactured in 2001. I purchased it in March, 2001 from Carvin's website. It was an in stock item so I did not have to wait for Carvin to build it.

The body is made of Ash with an emerald green, translucent finish (TG). The headstock is the same color as the body. The neck is maple with a 22 fret position lined fretless. The fingerboard is ebony even though it looks more like rosewood. The electronics are active / passive. The active electronics include separate bass, treble and mid controls. The electronics also include a pickup blend. The neck pickups is a Jazz pickup (J99) and the bridge pickup is a double coil, alnico, humbucker bridge pickup (HB4). The bridge pickup has a single / double coil switch. There is a similar, phase type, switch for the bridge pickup.

The bridge is stock with string through body design. The tuners are stock and include a Hipshot D tuner. The Dunlop strap locks and the case were also included in the price.

The feature list from Carvin is extensive. The only place they really lack is in the pickup configuration. You have to use their pickups. This is fine because they sound great. Sometimes it is nice to have more options.

The majority of my playing is done in church. I plug directly into a di box. We do various styles from rock to country to jazz. I also play with the youth choir. It still fits in well with very chunky, distorted guitars.

I am still not used to hearing a fretless instrument since I have played a fretted for over 10 years. I have a Trace Elliot 10 inch combo with a 3 way Carvin pa speaker. The mid range is sometimes difficult to get "perfect" on my Trace cabinet. The overall tone is very full with excellent bass and low mids. My sound man loves it.

My church has recently begun to record our services. This bass has a very full sound on the cd.

This bass does not have a very good slap bass sound. The thumb technique sounds more like a thud. There isn't enough high end to get a normal pop sound. I don't know if it is because the action is low or if it is common among fretless instruments.

Another problem is that the active volume is considerably louder than the passive volume. I have read somewhere that this can be adjusted within the electronics cavity. I have not investigated this.

The neck needed a minor truss rod adjustment upon arrival. Carvin states that this is normal settling during shipping. I live in KY and the bass was shipped UPS ground. The weather was very snowy and rainy at the time of shipping so I tend to agree with Carvin. Outside of this the action is great. It is extremely low and fast.

The Hipshot D tuner has taken a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how to tune. Carvin did not supply any documenation on the D tuner.

The invoice and Carvin's advertisements say that the fretboard is made of ebony. It looks more like rosewood. It doesn't have the shiny look of ebony.

I don't know how long Carvin had the instrument in stock. There were string grooves already worn in the fretboard.

The finish was excellent.

I have had the instrument for 3 months. I have not changed the strings yet. I have not needed to do any aditional truss rod adjustments.

The instrument was shipped with normal strap buttons. Carvin replaced them with the Dunlop strap locks.

I have used this instrument several times without a backup. I normally keep my fretted 6 string instrument with me. I only need the 6 string for slap bass or extended playing. This bass works well in any other style.

The neck seems very thin. I have been playing a 6 string exclusively for over 5 years so this is probably just my imagination.

The instrument comes with a 5 year warranty.

Carvin's customer support has been friendly. I called several times to find out when the instrument was going to be shipped. It took them several days to prepare it for shipping.

It took two tries to get the Dunlop strap locks out of Carvin. It was initially shipped with stock strap buttons. Customer support accidently shipped the normal strap buttons the first time. The second time they got it right.

The neck pickup switch is not documented by Carvin. Their tech support did not even know what the switch does. Their best guess is that it is a phase switch. I have never seen a phase switch on a bass and I don't play guitar so I do not know what they sound like. It only works on the neck pickup because it doesn't do anything when the pickups are toggled to the bridge pickup.

Carvin does not provide any documentation on tuning the Hipshot D tuner. I called their technicians and they didn't provide much help. They told me that I might have to ship the instrument back for repair. I decided to email Hipshot. They faxed me a 2 page document on how to tune the D tuner. Hipshot even told me that I could call and talk to the owner of the company if I couldn't figure out the fax. The fax gave enough information to tune it. Perhaps Carvin needs to include this fax in their documentation.

I have been playing bass for around 10 years. I also own a Carvin 6 string fretted bass. The action / playability on this instrument is very similar to the 6 string. The sound is actually clearer because the low mids are more predominate. My sound man prefers me to use this bass over the 6 string. It cuts through the mix better and makes the overall mix sound more full.

I have played various types of basses in stores over the years. Most were fretted, a few were fretless. The action/playability and sound of this bass is just as good or better than much more expensive instruments. I would defintely consider purchasing another Carvin bass.

My 6 string begain buzzing (some sort of electronic buzz) in my church's pa system. I began shopping around when this happened. I looked at Dean, Fender, Ibanez, Washburn and other basses that were priced similar to this bass. None of them had the options and playability of this instrument.

The only problem I have with the instrument is the lack of frets. I have been spoiled by frets. The best thing this instrument has probably done for me is made me work on my left hand fingering.

This is Carvin's bolt on 4-string fretless model. I ordered mine in August of 1998, and recieved the bass in early November. It has the two H50N stacked humbuckers with passive electronics, alder body, maple neck with ebony fingerboard, and a blueburst finish that added $40 to the base price (no pun intended). The options available on a Carvin are very extensive; check out their website (www.carvin.com) for more info.

Overall, the smooth "mwah" fretless sound that I was after is definetly there. The bass puts out a deep, full low end, and tons of treble. In fact, certain strings that put out a lot of high end (DR) are all but unusable. I currently have mine strung with Thomastik Jazz Rounds, which are fantastic strings.
With the ebony fingerboard and the Hipshot bridge, the bass sustains forever. Harmonics are effortless and brilliant.
If I have a complaint, it's that the sound gets too artificial at times. I wish it had more warmth, and I suspect the electronics are the culprit. I'm still very pleased with the sound of this instrument.

The action on this bass is second to none. The neck is fairly flat and wide, with a think, extremely well-dressed ebony fingerboard. The strings are as low as I want them. The tung oil on the back of the neck is a nice touch.
The blueburst finish was significantly darker than I expected. Oh well. Nice wood all around.
The nut was cut perfectly, the pickup height was fantastic, and I had to _raise_ the action when the bass arrived. Factory setup was nothing short of amazing. Super neat, well shielded cavity. Way to go, Carvin.

Nothing has broken since 10-98. Alder sure picks up dents easily, though. The finish is a thin laquer; not all that durable, but I'd rather the bass be easily dented than have a choked sound.
The truss rod needs adjustment all the time. Not a problem, just annoying sometimes.
Carvin has given me no reason to distrust this bass.

During the order and the phone call I made to find the allen wrench size I needed for the bridge saddles, the service people were extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. Nothing but praise from my limited experiences.

For the money, Carvin makes a great instrument. It is certainly better than a Mexican (or American, IMO) Fender, and easily compares with anything in its price range. The wood is great, and the playability is something I would expect in high end basses. My only minor gripe is what I presume to be the electronics. However, this hasn't been pressing enough to demand immediate replacement. Overall, I'm an extremely happy customer.