Carvin LB76 Fretless Bass

Hello there!
I've owned a Carvin LB-76 Fretless six string since 2000. I ordered it direct from Carvin's custom shop. It has a stunning flamed koa top that covers the whole top, not just the sides. I also had them add a flamed koa laminate on the headstock. The neck is a five piece laminate of koa and maple with an eboney finger board. The body wings are alder. The electronics are active jazz humbuckers with treble, mid and high end pots. It's been finished with a satin oil finish. Probably one of the most beautiful instruments I've ever seen! Oh yeah...and it came with a servicable plastic hardshell case.

I play mainly smooth jazz but I gig with very many different bands to bring home the bacon. The Carvin seems to work best for cocktial gigs,folk, folk/rock, worship types of music. It has a very "femanine" sound. I can get a very nice upright kind of growl if I pluck over top of the finger board. I would never use this instrument on a agressive fusion or rock gig as it doesn't even remotely have the punch I require from my instruments in this kind of a situation. The electronics seem to be the weakest part in my opinion. The "treble" pot doesn't do much to my ear (Bass player mag. seems to agree), the "mid" pot seems more like a low mid pot and the bass pot can make the low end muddy if you are'nt careful with it. If I wanted to sink more money ito it I'd replace all of the electronics with more "high fi" sounding stuff.(Bartolinni, EMG etc.)

Stunning workmanship!!! No Flaws of any kind. Perfect craftsmanship!!

After setting it up to my own style it's been as solid as a rock, requiring only slight seasonal tweaking to keep it perfect.

Never needed it.

As a second bass it is excellent. However, I should have saved more money and got a Sadowsky BN-5 fretless instead. I own the fretted version and absolutely nothing can compare with it at any price from any manufacturer.

has a very smooth sound. has more treble though then any other fretless I have played. surprised me. played through a SWR 400, sounds great.

I bought this bass used, but it was setup just as I liked it when I got it. my one complaint would probably be the weight. whether its the fact that it is 6 string or the wood used, but it probably weighs several pounds more then any other bass I have ever played. I also own a 5 string carvin and it is on the completely other end of the spectrum. as to paint and setup, I couldn't ask for a nicer setup. especially for the price

I have never had anything go wrong with this bass, I have gigged with it several times and never had to worry about a thing.

never had to deal with them

I play everything from metal to praise music to funk and blues, in each of these areas I have found different and unique ways to use a fretless. It is a nice addition for something a little different from the norm. If it were stolen, I would probably buy another only next time I would go with a 5 string.

Mid nineties Fretless with markers on fretboard. Gold hardware, natural finish (high gloss urethane). Quick release string bridge, Sperzel locking tuners.
I bought this bass used at Thoroughbred Music in Tampa FL during a business trip. And over the 6 or so years I've owned it, it has become my heart and soul. I also own a Warwick Altas 5 string (rare bird, only made one year) and a Tacoma acoustic 4 string. There is nothing like my Carvin. Sound versatility, neck, you name it. Pretty darn close to perfect.

I play Jazz, Rock, and Church. This is my main bass for them all. This is the older style bass with the 4 knob control package before the newer 5 control system came out. I find it better than the 5 (owned one for 3 years) in terms of versatility.
Tones range from fat, dark and moody, to high end ripping funk, just spin those dials.

My only criticism of this bass is that the screws on the bridge slip on two strings. I've used fillers to fix the problem.
The neck is straight as an arrow after many years, I play the lowest action I can set and get no buzz. Finish was and is impeccable.

I'm not an every day player, but this guitar has seen some miles and some hours of work. It will be there for me, from what I can see, for years to come.

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I've been playing for more than 30 years, have owned lots of basses and equipment. I use a Carvin R600 head with their dual 10" and single 15" speaker cabinets. Also often play with a wireless.

This bass isn't replaceable, losing it would be a sad day.

This is my favorite instrument to date.

Made in USA, maybe 1998 (I can't check it right now). It has two koa
wings and a neck-thru construction with an ash or maple neck (one piece) andebony fingerboard. Natural wood exposure, oil finished. All the stuff on this bass is Carvin-made: electronic (volume, trebles, bass, mid, pan-pot), Premium Carvin machine-head (similar to Gotoh tuners) and gold bridge. Two single-coil pick-ups (as I said..Carvin of course). The bridge and the tuners too are well constructed but you can easily find some string sets hard to fit on, since they made the "holes" on the bridge too tight. I took my time to fit on the last set I bought (GHS), but the same apply for LaBella strings.

I use this bass mainly for jazz. My amp is an Ampeg SVT3-Pro with a
Classic 4x10T Ampeg cabinet. I don't use any effects, just sometimes a chorus. The electronic is silent in all positions. It has a rich andwarm sound, not so bright as I would hear, but anyway it's great sound!The sound I dislike a little is the one you obtain using the neck-pick only, since it seems smooth like butter (maybe it has less harmonics than my desires). The best sound in my opinion is with
the pan-pot in the middle.

The action is amazing and ridiculous low,no buzz everywhere and the playability is amazing too. The neck is thin and stable and fingerboard is fast. I've never had the need to touch the truss-rod.
Even using a new set of string the intonation is nearly perfect
immediately. No need for stretching (well I know it also depend on the strings). It never loose its intonation.

See above my comments on neck/truss rod etc.

10 years experience. My other stuff: -Status Energy 6-Strings and Yamaha TRB5 PII. If my Carvin were stolen I wouldn't buy another one but just because I'd like to try other basses with one budget only!
However in my opinion this is a very good bass with a great sound with
some dislikes, but you know the perfect bass doesn't exist! And to be honest beyond a given threshold sometimes the differences are just a matter of personal preferences. At least having tried Fender, Pedulla, Yamaha, Status,...I would say that THIS Carvin model could be a good friend of those brands.

Model year c.1995. Purchased new. Tung oiled mahogany with maple neck-through, Sperzel tuners, active, fretless with lines, JJ stacked humbuckers, black hardware. HSC included. Great choice of woods and finishes now, but not too many options for pickups, bridges or tuners.

The electronics are dead quiet. Bass/treble boost/cut OK for modest tweaking but doesn't allow marked tonal changes. Has that great J bass sound, but can't recreate a true humbucker fullness without some added amplifier adjustments. The single 9 volt battery lasts many months. Changing it takes just a few seconds because it has a flip-top compartment on the back. When the battery goes dead, it just fades out quietly, unlike my Zon which creates this awful hiss and buzz.
The fretless sound is tight, but not overly buzzy. I think of it as a fretted bass sound without the fret noise. A fingerboard coating like the Pedulla isn't available from Carvin as far as I know. The B string is nice- you can hear the note clearly and it doesn't overpower the rest of the strings like some other basses.

This is where Carvin has it together. I have never needed to adjust the action,pickups or bridge at all. The finish work is flawless, really. I have a Zon Legacy which wasn't this nicely set up. After five years the fingerboard still has only minor superficial scratches, using roundwounds. For my hands the string spacing and neck radius are a perfect fit. I'll probably buy another Carvin even if another bass sounds a little better just because of this fit, and the wonderful craftsmanship. Especially for the price.

I only play out once a week, but the only reason to take along another bass is if you just want another bass's qualities. This bass is dependable. The hardware is still tight and the finish hasn't worn at all for me. I like the oiled body and neck for that reason. A quarterly touch of lemon oil keeps it beautiful. Tiny knicks don't show, either.
The case is a nice tough ABS deal. Their house brand gig bag is thin and flimsy-get a good one somewhere else. The straps they sell are far too long to use unless you play around your knees.

Hard to comment because I never called them back for anything except when ordering. There's just not been anything to complain about. The sales guy was fairly helpful, and did know the product features very well. The order was handled smoothly, and the wait was maybe a week less than they told me. They have some basses already built, though, so if you can match your wants with their stock it'll ship right away.

I've played about 10 years, mostly jazz and church music. I owned cheaper basses before this so it was a big step up. Then I bought a Zon Legacy elite 5. This purchase made me realize that the Carvin is a better deal. The fit, finish, and overall sound are better. I love the fit of the neck, the even tone and volume from string to string, the solid components and that battery compartment. What they lack in name recognition and fancy carbon fiber fingerboards they make up for in overall quality and value. It's a high end bass. Personally, I hate music retail stores and I love the fact that I can buy a great custom bass without some store idiot making a buck off me. But if they sold through retail you'd see a lot more attention paid to Carvin.
I'd like to see even more options offered, though, as far as pickups and other hardware. And a fingerboard coating for that Pedulla Buzz sound on the fretless. A maybe a second body style. But what really counts is playability and sound, which is where this bass is #1 with me.

My Carvin Lb 76 F is a black beauty with chrome hardware, there are no fretmarkers on the fingerboard just small dotts on the top-side.
It was build in 1994 in the USA. I bought it at the Carvinstore in The Hague The Netherlands. It features a great Wilkinson bridge and the standard Carvin active pickups. It also has locking tuners, which makes it easy to tune. It's just one big BASS with 6 strings and it's neckthrough model.

I play in a coverband and it just sounds really good with the rock music we play. It sounds like a Jaco BASS with jazz and blues, but because of the 6 strings it's hard to slap. So that leaves just the fingerstyle funk a la Rocco Prestia, and it just does the job very good. No other bass for me.

I'm not sure what the action and set-up was like 6 years ago. I do these things myself. The action and set-up are at the moment perfect.
The only really small problem is that it's hard to find the proper strings, I really would like a set of flatwounds but in Holland it's hard to come by. It's made of one piece of wood (I'm not sure how it's called in English with an Ebony fingerboard. The onboard electronics are justflawless.

This BASS is just made for live-playing. If you clean it after a gig,
so the sweat won't ruin your fingerboard or paintjob, there is further almost no maintenance nescesserry. When I take this bass to a gig I always put in a new battery just to be sure, I certainly won't be needing a back-up BASS. In the 6 years of practicing and gigging with it, it never has needed a neck adjustment.

Once I had some questions about cleaning the fingerboard and they
immediately had an answer. Otherwise I have no complaints about the bass, so I can't really say I had some problems with customer support of Carvin.

I'm playing now for about 22 years. I also own an Ibanez 800A and an Aria Semi Acoustic. I play over a Crate top and a 4x10" Crate and an Ampeg 1x15" and a self-build 2x12". All my BASS stuff can't be replaced, but if it where stolen I would certainly try to by the same things back.

Mine has nifty gold hardware. It was made in the USA by carvin. It has 146 frets. I gotta put a battery in it, so I guess it's active. I had sperzel locking tuners...but I opted to put tuners off of a Hofner bass I had on it. I will explain why later. I wish it came with a Floyd Rose so I could do cool whammy tricks on bass. My bass idol is Jaco and thats why I wanted a fretless bass.

Well, soundwise it's ok. I like bands like Green Day, Oasis and most of all...the Violent Femmes. I cant really slap it that much being it's fretless...so I resort to cheesy disco music (i know, i know..)Anyway...it's a really nice bass soundwise...the only think that might be a set back is the activeness....i like passive basses.

the guitar when I got it was set-up well. the pickups were great. back to the tuners though...I dont like locking tuners so I took the tuners off of a 78 J-Bass...and a old Hofner bass. I just am very picky. I wouldnt advise doing this for anyone else. Also, I decided to route for a humbucker...which was a mistake. Now I only have 1 pickup. But, it still sounds ok.

This guitar is built like a tank. The neck thru is sturdy. It's all really solid. Good Job carvin.

worst ever. I hate even calling them. I scratched the name off of my headstock. I hate you carvin. hissss hissss....booooo.

Overall, I think it's a decent bass. Ill be playing Green Day with happiness. It's real cool lookin. Like I stated...I wish it had a Bass Floyd Rose. If I had to compare it to another bass...Id say...a nicer Golla Fretless. Ill keep it 4 life.