Carvin LB75P

I just purchased a used LB75P that was manufactured in October 2005. A five string with the piezo bridge pickup, and made of Mahogany from head to toe with black hardware. A guitar of this class should have straplocks, and that will be my first addition. It feels surprisingly light compared to my old Washburn 4 string. I was pleasantly surprised by that. This guitar also has the dual Humbuckers and coil splitter.

The Mahogany has the tung oil finish which feels like silk in the hands. Tuners are Carvin premium (would have liked to have Sperzels like my my DC400, so perhaps a later addition).

The controls are many and each offer quite a bit of dynamics to the tonal qualities the guitar can put out. The three knob EQ was something I thought might be worthless, but I found the variations available with the seperate mid to be well worth it.

I have small hands and had never touched a fiver before so had some concerns, however typical of Carvin, they did a nice job blending width and thickness to make it easy to maneuver around even with smallish hands.

It came with the Carvin hardshell case (SKB???)

The instrument has a broad range of sounds. When I first received it, it had just exited a weekend of 15 degree temps and the neck felt terrible. I let it warm up for a day, then retuned and it was great.

I am still exploring the potential (I sold my bass amp to acquire this, so am using my Mackie/EV PA and Barbetta Keyboard amp) but the range in sounds go from a very smooth jazzie tone, to a crisp slap, to a growling rock. I am no expert in sounds, as I have always been rather conservative, but this bass produces noises that I have only imagined I could reproduce on a bass.

I mostly bought this to lay down bass tracks for recording, but with decent amp, this could be a stage monster.

The action was impacted by shipping in extreme cold, but returned to near factory specs after warming up. Pickups appear to be well adjusted but the B string intonation is off slightly. I will let it adjust to the different climate for a while (shipped from New York to dry Eastern Oregon) then adjust.

Fret height is near factory specs and it plays easy with no buzz beyond my sloppy playing. Fret finish is flasless with no rough spots.

The Mahogony is a sheer delight to look at and feel. Per Carvin specs I gave it a light rub down with Lemon Oil and it has a warm glow to it that is incredible. No finish flaws, or defects noted.

One possible negative is the volume pot seems to have an odd range to it. It adjust smoothly and slowly boosts volume until nearly full. The last little bit then really bumps the volume up.

I have had about 5 Carvins now and this is my first Bass. They are bullet tough and quality of set up is better than a lot of high end stuff I have played with in the Music stores.

The strap buttons will be replaced with straplocks the first chance I get. I would never even consider a backup with this instrument.

I have dealt with Carvin before. Their sales staff is generally great, but service can be best described as lackluster. They could use some help in the attitude department, however, they have never failed to take care of an issue. Always resolved it to my satisfaction.

I have been playing bass for 35 years off and on. I have a Carvin DC400 (and have owned a DC135, a couple of cobalts and an AE185). I also own an Adamas and Ovation for my six string AE's. My studio stuff is Mackie, EV and Tascam.

I have wanted a Carvin Bass for many years, but just wasn't ready to pull the trigger. I have played Washburns, Fenders and a few other basses, but my experience with their electrics really made me want a Carvin Bass. I am not dissappointed and would buy another one if this were lost for any reason.

The only addition (mentioned before) it should have is straplocks and I will put those on soon.

I love the look, the feel and the sound so far. It is far superior to even my Fender P-Bass and Jazz bass I used to own.

This is Carvin's five string with through the body neck & walnut body option. Ebony fret board. Electronics include one J style neck pickup, one humbucker H2 split coil pickup & piezo in the bridge saddles. All are active (takes two 9 volt batteries). EQ nobs are for base, mid & treble. The J pickup, humbucker pickup, & piezo can all be blended. This guitar has all the features you'll need. The neck is 34" scale & 1 3/4" at the nut. Carvin makes a wider neck if you like to slap that might be a good option, but I have not played one.

I use this bass for contempory Christian mainly. The Low B string is very cool for this style of music. I find the B string to be reasonably tight & very useable. This bass sounds great with a large sound system. Personally, I like a lot of Bass & treble with the mids a little lower. The 3 nob EQ gives you lots of room for adjustment in this area. I would highly recommend, if you are thinking of buying Carvin to choose the humbucker option as it gives you a powerful sound --the single coil tap is OK but when you mix the J pickup with the H2 it is a nice blend. I also play a Fender American Jazz Bass which I have been using for a Country Rock Band. The Fender Jazz bass has a classic sound that can't be beat for a club mix that does't get too muddy. You'll hear that sound on lots of records but for a compressed full sound that you need for Rock & CC, the Carvin with H2 pickup is hard to beat. Maybe not quite as monster sound as a Musicman Stingray, but pretty good. I think it has better treble for slap or jazz than the large single humbucker equiped guitars (active). Now for the Piezo-- I have tried to find a place to use this & have fussed with the active settings. It does give you a fuzzy kind of feel that is sort of like a double bass, but it's not close enouph to actually sound like one. I don't think I would order the Piezo if I was buying a new Carvin but as I bought this guitar used it came with.

The Walnut body is absolutely beautiful. I have had to adjust the neck several times to get the nice low action that I like, but now it is very good. The finish on this guitar is polyeurethane and is very durable. Also, fit & finish on the neck is excellent.

Tough bass..Good quality tuners & bridge.

Bought this bass used & have never had to contact them in person but the web site has been helpful.

There are some great basses being made nowadays & even the inexpensive basses made overseas sound good, but if you are going to spend $1000 dollars for a US made bass, Carvin gives you all the goodies-- good quality active electronics, great build quality & lots of options. This is a good way to get into a 5 string to see if its for you. For just features for your dollars, Carvin seems like a 10 but because they don't hold their value very well, I'll give it a 9.