Product: Carvin IC5
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
12/01/2006
at
04:48pm
by
Harry
Email: harryhache at cox<dot>net
Features
:
10
34" Scale five string neck-through active bass. Details?
http://www.carvin.com/products/guitar.php?ItemNumber=IC5
The basses I played were both ash bodies; One was a walnut top, the other a maple top. VERY pretty, well balanced. Active electronics with "Carvin" soapbar pickups (I do not know if they are made in house or not). Hardware was normal, strings through body. Controls include vol, pan, bass, treb and stacked mid boost/cut & sweep. Vol pull for passive. Feature wise, this bass has everything you should need.
Sound
:
5
Very bland - that is not to say that the bass sounded bad, but it didn't stand out in any way. I was REALLY hoping Carvin (The headquarters of which is just down the road from me) would finally be making a bass I would want, so I really gave it a chance. This bass sounded best with the bass turned up and the mid sweep set to cut high mids very hard - so I guess you could call it a very 'honky' bass in any pickup position... After putzing with the controls, I found an acceptable tone but I tend to judge a bass by what it sounds like passive - and this didn't sound very good either fully flat and passive. That said, since I COULD find a decent tone for it, I'll not rate as bad.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
Fit & finish were first rate - of course, I was in the company store so I'd expect those axes to be great... But I didn't see anything wrong with it. HOWEVER, the action wasn't very good. I played three IC5's, and they all varied quite a bit. The sales guy told me that they were indeed handmade, so there should be some variance (as opposed the standard Carvin necks, which are CNC made). Of the three, I found one that had a neck I liked at all - but none were as nice as my Zon, and no where near as nice as the Pedulla I'm considering... So I'll give this axe a 10 for F&F but a 5 for action = 7.
Reliability/Durability
:
No Opinion
I can't rate this - I don't own one. I have a Carvin Bolt-T guitar, and it has been great... but that isn't what this review is for, right?
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
again, no opinion...
Overall Rating
:
6
I have been playing 30 years and have had many very nice instruments. As a san diego native, I have always really WANTED to like Carvin and have hoped they would finally make a bass that I'd like. I have to say that I was disappointed by the IC5, though it is an improvement (in my opinion) over their previous efforts. If someone from Carvin is reading this, PLEASE consider doing the following to get to the truly world-class level:
Radius you necks flatter;
Make premium pickups (Barts / SD / Aero) an option
You guys do THAT and and I will SO buy one, right now. RIGHT NOW.
