Carvin LB75W 5-String

Carvin LB75 with solid Claro Walnut top, 5 string, active soap bar pickups, piezo bridge option, assymmetrical wide neck,satin matte finish, stainless steel medium jumbo frets on ebony fretboard

Good versatile sound. I bought mostly for funk and slap, but it is nice to know that I can get every type of sound that I might want; blues, R&B, jazz, etc. Nice full rich sound. Good pickup performance.

Finish problems. There were several small 'bubbles' in the finish. Please see the 'Customer Service' section to see how Carvin did not deal with this situation well. Fit and set up were great, no fret buzz with nice low action. Neck is very comfortable and playable. Pickups were set well.

Carvin's are well build and will last. Everything on the bass fits very well with very low tolerances.

Terrible. Carvin knows little about proper customer service. They really need to hire an expert to run their Customer Service department. My bass arrived with flaws in the finish that should have never made it through QC. When I called Carvin I spoke to a technician, not a customer service person, and this man knew nothing about Customer Service. When I told him about the problem instead a immediately offering to ship it back and make it right, he kept saying that what I was explaining could not possible be true. He asked me to send him photos. I also emailed support about the problem on the same day to have a written record. Two days later I received an email back from someone else who said that they could not see what I was talking about in my photos, even though the bubbles were clearly visible. After getting no email or phone response, I call back a day later to find out what they were going to do about it. I talked to the same technician guy and asked him what was happening with my replacement for the bass. He shortly answered that it was taken care of. I asked him what he meant and he told me that UPS would be out to pick up the bass in the next two days. Well were you guys going to clue me in on the plan? When I asked him how UPS was going to pick it up when no one was home during the day, he gave me no answer and hung up. I still do not know what the plan to do with the bass, replace it, refinish it. And they still have not answered my email in which I requested a partial refund for my inconvenience. Poor communication equals no customer service. Ridiculous.

I have been playing bass for about 4 years now, 4 string. I want to move into 5 string and more funk. I have a Tobias Killer B and a Fender P bass along with Markbass amps. Carvin's product is well made, solid, and a great deal. But because of their lack of customer service I would not recommend buying from them. It is too bad, but a great product with no support is worthless.

The Walnut series of this bass is spectacular looking with the gloss finish. 35 1/2" scale length, 1/2" string spacing, neck-thru body. Tung oil on the neck, ebony fretboard, chrome hardware, standard strap buttons. 9V active passive electronics, 2 humbucking hb2 pickups with piezo. Controls: Master volume, tone selector for HB2 pickups and piezo ; Bass + Mids + Treble

the sound is fully adjustable and very versatile. It is excellent for all forms of music that my bands play. I play through a SWR LA 15 200 watt amp and i have played through a mesa boogie 8x10 and it performed flawlessly through both. There is virtually no extra noise no matter what setting i use. There is almost no limit to the sounds i can get out of this bass. I love the tone i get when i slap it is really punchy but not annoying.

The action was a little high for my taste, but no factory setup is perfect, i had it worked on and now it plays like a dream. the pickups were well adjusted and sounded great straight out of the box. I didn't notice any flaws in the bass, it was well put together and very sturdy

This Bass is excellent for playing on stage. I have used it on numerous occasions with no backup and it has always surpassed any other bass i've tried to play. The hardware is very sturdy and will last forever with proper care, and the finish feels like it could take a bullet. I havenever had a problem with the truss rod, and i play very hard and slap alot.

i haven't ever had to deal with the company

i've been playing for over five years, and i've had my carvin for 3. Besides my carvin i have a fender jazz bass (first bass i owned) and a fretless michael kelly acoustic bass, and i must say that the LB75W is the best one i have. I would definately buy it again if i had the money, but if i had to replace it i'd probably get the 6 string version. My favorite thing about it is the versatility of the tone, it can do almost anything if you make it. The only thing one may dislike is the price, but it is a fair one considering the quality of this instrument.

The Walnut series of this bass is spectacular looking with the gloss finish. 35 1/2" scale length, 1/2" string spacing, neck-thru body. Tung oil on the neck, ebony fretboard, black hardware, strap-locks. 18V, J pickup in the neck + Humbucker in the bridge + piezo saddle pickups (optional feature). Controls: Master volume (w/ active/passive tap) + J/Humbucker blend + piezo blend; Bass + Mids + Treble + Humbucker coil switch. Tweed case.

With the piezo feature, this bass's tone is limitless. That sounds corny but it really is true. J alone is great for slap, Humbucker alone is great for finger style/Jaco tone, piezo alone is decent but piezo blended with any configuration adds real tonal depth. I do have one complaint: mids are too wishy-washy and hard to get the bottom out of. Other than that this bass simply oozes tone.

I'm not the original owner but it's always been in good hands. Has needed regular adjustments but nothing major. The EQ pots have become a little hard to turn but overall the construction is rock solid.

I feel that I can depend on this bass for sure. 18V means an extra battery but big deal. I really enjoy keeping this bass super clean and spit-shine shiny so I handle it quite delicately, but I've played quite a few shows with it and don't have any apprehensions playing many more gigs with it in the future.

Never contacted them. Never would probably, I'd just take it to someone in town rather than ship it to Cali.

I've played for twelve years and am a gear junkie. I've owned multiple basses, including a Carvin bolt-on fretless four string (which I eventually sold off in favor of a Fender fretless). But compared even to some really high end basses like Warwick, Pedulla, G&L, and Tobias, this 5 string Carvin truly holds its own. Extremely versatile and sexy. It was given to me by a good bass player and a great friend and I'd never get rid of it. At the very least check out Carvin.com and have fun with their custom shop's bass creator.

1999 LB75 five string, fretted bass with tung-oil finish, rounded walnut body sides, 5-piece maple-walnut neck, ebony fingerboard. 24 frets. Active, three-band EQ. HB2 (Music Man style) humbucking bridge pick up with accompanying series/parallel switch. String-thought body bridge. Black chrome hardware. Carvin tuners. Case included.

Sounds great. Punchy. Good Jaco-sound with bridge pickups. Growls. Very tight and focused bottom-end sound on E and B strings. Good slap sound. Very quiet pick ups.

Play rock, funk, jazz, blues, fusion, etc. Use it with an Ampeg 1X15 or a Carvin 4X10" with a Hartke head.

Only complaint is that the D and G strings can lack midrange and bottom to the point of not cutting through well in a live rock badn setting. Because of this, I tend to play the same lines higher up the neck on the E and A strings -- to keep the bottom there. This is not a major concern and only manifests itself in a louder rock context.

Have owned numerous Carvin basses...and all, including this one, play very well. Neck is perfect -- good action on the truss rod. 1/16" action at the 12 fret.

The pick ups were a bit too hot and actually caused my amp to distort at first (even though I was playing through a padded active bass input on my Hartke). Turned out to be that the preamp allows you to adjust the volume of each pole on the HB2 pickup -- just had to open up the back and cut the levels. Problem solved.

Like all of the other Carvins I've owned, very durable and reliable. Have sometimes had minor problems with input jacks -- but those were more often than not the result of my own tinkering with the electronics.

The neck is solid as a rock -- only needs to be adjusted with major climate/humidity changes.

Warranty is five years. Never had any problems on this one requiring repair. In the past, have sent two Carvins back for minor adjusments and have been satisified with the results. Takes a little time to get the gear fixed but they took care of everything and put on new strings and gave it a set up free of charge both times.

For a company with such a customer-friendly reputation, the staff at Carvin is hit or miss in the "friendly/helpful" department. I have had very helpful sales associates and some who couldn't be bothered -- nor could they answer my specific questions about certain wood combinations offered on their basses.

Been playing for 15 years. Own a Fender Marcus Miller model, have owned Spectors, Ken Smith's, Music Men, other Carvins, etc. Carvin builds basses that would go for at least twice as much in music stores. Basically, they are better than the entry-level models of the best basses out there (i.e. bolt-on Smiths, Pedullas, Modulus, Tobias, Spectors). And are constructed as well as the top of the top of the line. Still, don't expect a $3500 quality bass for $950 -- expect a $2500 quality bass for $950. Still a hell of a deal.

Would buy another Carvin if this were stolen. Love the sound, playability, and looks. And again, no one compares in this price range.

2003 Carvin LB75W Five-String Bass. Walnut body sides, five piece maple neck through with Koa accents. Gloss finish. Abalone Dot Inlays. Active/Passive eletronics (9V) with J99 neck PU and HB2 humbucking bridge PU. Bridge design allows strings to be fed through the back of the bridge or through ferrules on the rear of the body. Standard Carvin tuners and chrome hardware. Quantity and quality of features are very good for instruments in this price range.

Allow me to preface my comments by saying that this is my first Five-String bass. I play rock, contemporary jazz and some "modern country". Being a long time Four-String player, some of my gripes may simply be that I haven't adjusted my playing style to a Five-String yet. The bass produces a very nice, full low end and nice punch. Big difference between centering your hand over the neck PU vs the bridge PU: more pronounced on this instrument that my old Fenders. The definition in the upper register is OK, but it gets swamped a bit by the lower strings at times. The active electronics produce a noticeable hum when the master volume pot isn't at full volume. WTF? I control volume from my playing style, my amp and my mixer, so this isn't a big deal for me, but it shouldn't happen in my opinion. I haven't really played the bass in Passive mode yet.

The bass arrived pretty well setup. The bass seems to stay in tune well, although I did notice some variation as the new strings stretched out and as the neck adjusted to our climate (much different than southern CA)! Fit and Finish are very good, and comparable to basses costing much more. Carvin seems to be really good at this, partially due to the high level of computer automation in their production line. The Walnut body sides are attractive, although I wish I opted for the more figured Claro Walnut. This bass definately calls for a lighter touch than the Four-String basses I own. It can get loosey-goosey if you pound on it. There also may be an intonation problem with the fifth fret, although it's only apparent to me on the "E" string, which wouldn't make sense. I need to check that out with a good chromatic tuner. Maybe my ears are just playing tricks on me. One other thing: the low strings on this bass are SLINKY! The vibrate easily when playing on the higher strings, which comes right through on my amp. I'm learning that I need to keep the "B" and/or "E" strings muted when playing on the higher strings. This is a significant technique change for me, since I never really had to worry about that before with my Four-String basses. A friend who owns Modulus basses says that his Five-String models are very "tight", string-tension wise, and doesn't have this problem. I wonder if this is specific to my bass or a larger characteristic of all Carvin LB75's. Anyone else seeing this?

I'm using this instrument strictly for recording in my studio, so I'm not too concerned with its' durability. I'm not one of those "put it back in the case when done playing and wipe it down every day" kind of players. I take care of my instruments, but I don't have the time or patience to "baby" them. When I'm tracking other instruments in the studio, all of my guitars and basses sit in a row of padded five-guitar stands. If that's too much for it, then I'll need to find another bass. I'm watching the neck on this one to see how often it will need adjustments. Several of the Carvin guitars that I've owned have required bi-annual adjustments (usually Summer and Winter), but these instruments were made out of Koa which I believe is pretty environmentally sensitive. With Walnut and Maple on this one, I should be OK.

I agree with other posts that Carvin's pre-sales customer service is MUCH better than their post-sale support. That's purely due to dollars and cents. They don't make any money on tech support and repairs. I'd definately seek the services of a local guitar shop if this bass needed repairs that I couldn't handle. I'd only send it back to Carvin if some catastrophic happened (i.e. neck failure under warranty, in which case they'd have to build me a new one). Also remember that the resale values on Carvin stringed instruments SUCK: typically 50% of what you paid on Ebay if you're lucky. Most of the Carvins I own I've bought second-hand on Ebay for great discounts. I'd strongly advise you to buy one used if you're not planning to keep it for a long, long time. Believe me, you'll be very disappointed if you try to sell one that's less than five years old.

I've owned this bass for about three weeks now. Having played it for about 8 cumulative hours, I'm pleased with it thus far. I haven't really experimented with its' tonal capabilities yet, instead focusing on learning to adapt my playing style to fit the Five-String (and dealing with the low string dampening issue). I'm sure I'll become more and more confident with it as "we get to know each other".

all black hardware, locking tuners, 9v active pickups.
My particular model is Koa with a matte finish of some sort with an ebony fingerboard. I bought it used so it needed some initial setup, and from time to time I have to re-adjust due to different string tensions, but everall, very low maintenance. and very nice bass

It took a while for me to get the action low enough for my taste and still avoid string buzz, but I finally got it dialed into what I want. i really like having the active pickups as I can form my sound more the way I want it. I play through a GK rb 400 and GK 4x10 and it sounds great.

Like I mentioned before, when I got it I had to put quite a bit of work into setup but now that I have it, it stays there. Evenif it did need adjustments, it is really easy and I don't need to take it in I can do it myself. The only gripe about appearance is how easily the finish wears off. I have owned the bass now for about a year and a half, and the place I rest my thumb has completely worn off the finish. This is the only reason I give it a low score at all.

This bass is awesome for dependability. Only one time has it failed me and that was due to a bad connection from the battery terminal. this took about 10 minutes and a soldering iron to fix but now its good as new. Otherwise, I have had no problems with the bass.

N/A never dealt with them.

I have been playing for 3 years. This is my second bass and I am trying to find a fretless to match. so far I have been really impressed with the quality and workmanship of Carvins products. If it were stolen, I would seriously look into replacing it with another of the same.

I just read your review of the Carvin 5-string Bass you bought. I agree with everything you wrote including the service review. My LB75W Clario Walnut Bass was delivered in
stellar condition; it looked, played, and sounded superb. About 1 month after delivery
the switch that controls the hiss while in the active mode had no effect. Switching it up or
down made NO difference. First the Carvin tech dude told me to change the battery. If
the battery was bad, it wouldn't play in the active mode, I did anyway. No dice, still nothing. I then spoke with the guy who sold me the Bass, and he sounded like a different person. Rude, curt, matter of fact, in a hurry, didn't give a crap. This was after I wrote a 2 page letter to the owner about how great Carl Owens was. He said I had to take it to UPS and wait 6 weeks to get it back. When I asked him what do I do about the gig I had that weekend, he said use you back-up Fender. Instead of going through all that I took the back plate off and found a loose wire to the switch and re-soldered it back on
myself, screw that 6 weeks stuff. Anyway, I agree with you, after they have your money
you are on your own baby. So next time I might even pay more just for the peace of mind of bringing back face to face to the guy who sold it to me. I love the instrument otherwise, it's superb. But their service SUCKS. Thanks.

I love this instrument, it does everything you ask. It looks, plays,
and sounds superb, BUT the service SUCKS. It may be worth the extra money just to be able to bring the instrument back in to the guy who sold it to you face to face. If the Bass brakes you better have a good back-up because it will take 6-7 weeks to get it shipped back to California, repaired, and shipped back. They have a totally different tone when before they have your money than they do after they have it.
SERVICE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!