Carvin C22T

Passive Humbucker

Installed in a home built 12 string.

Bridge position.

Nothing being replaced, brand new build.

Installed another one at the neck and middle position. (3 pickups)

No artists that I know of use this pickup.

Very, VERY high output!

Running it through an old Mesa Boogie, a wah, light distortion and a talk box (sometimes)

The tone is a bit trebly i guess, but thats a good thing for 12 string harmonics, but it holds its own at mid and bass too.

I play anything from classical to classic rock to straight up metal.

This particular works best on bridge postion for me.

I would definitely buy this again. You won't find a better pickup for twelve strings, even if you pay 3 times as much.

Ive been playing for about 23 years, have a lot of home made axes and a few old gibsons and fenders, some MCS's, and of course my pride and joy is my B.C. Rich custom shop 12 string mockingbird. But nothing compares to that because she's got custom electronics done by Neal Moser.

I love how it captures all the harmonics of a 12 string. its damn near perfect.

hmmm, not really much else I could ask for with it, I might put one of them new SD Triple shots around them.

This pickup is the best 12 stringer out there. Gives me the perfect tone that you can usually only get on 12 string acoustics, captures EVERYTHING.

Anything else I'd like to share? hmm...If you have a 12 string electric, GO BUY THIS PUP NOW!!!!!!!!!!

was on a bolt kit my brother built. it was in the bridge. we ordered it to contrast the ap11s pu in the neck and middle. the only contrast was that it didn't hum, other than it is totally gutless and emasculated. this pup is ok for light rock or anything low key but it won't do it with expression or authority. rather sterile....
that said we own a bunch of carvin gear and love it. we replaced it with a duncan invader wich sounds great in split mode.

medium output. tone is low mid with poor harmonics
with so many superb choices for medium output bridge pup why would anyone choose this? life is too short to waste time with junk tone!

it is floating around in my brothers gig bag your welcome to steal it if you like. it might sound better in the neck pos, so we may try it in a different ax.
i've been playing 28 yrs and paid my dues. we got a ton of pro quality gear ie. marshall, fender, rack rigs, mesa, ampeg, bla bla ect and guitars too. it has always been a quest for good tone and there is no such thing as perfect tone, just perfect tone for a certain purpose. so you might find c22t perfect for something, i just can't imagine what

Humbucker that can be split and works well either passively or with active electronics as configured on the Carvin DC200T it came on. Output similar to a PAF.

Factory bridge pickup on a Carvin DC200T, matching C22N neck pickup.
I tried a Kent Armstrong (fairly hot) and a Bill Lawrence (hot) pickup in this spot and went back to the C22T because it works so well with the C22N in both hum and single-coil configuration, and works really well the active electronics built into the DC200T.

Output is like a PAF, but it seems to cut better. I use this with a Fuchs, a Rivera M60, and several solidstate amps usually a Crate PowerBlock (don't laugh, great when it's set up right). The tone is even with a LOT of harmonics. I use this for lead work in blues, classic rock and surf styles as a humbucker and as a tele chameleon when split (not bad, the test is Danny Gatton tunes). It took a fair amount of experimentation to figure out how to get the most from this pickup. Believe me, the tone difference between factory setup and great setup is huge. From the factory, it seemed kind of weak and "flat" - not a lot of harmonic bite. The tricks are 1) get the pickup up close to the strings. 2) SUPER IMPORTANT - stagger the 11 pole pieces, a lot. My basic setup is to alternate high, low so that each string has a high polepiece and a low one. Then you can adjust the polepieces in pairs to get bass-treble balance and string-to-string balance. Wow! The tone difference is just short of unbelievable. After the setup, these pups speak with authority and richness, giving great drive and highgain tones, great pinch harmonics, and if you split it, a great single-coil twang. From the factory these were like 5... which is why I tried other pickups. Set up right, they are absolutely the right pickup for the Carvin guitar, matching superbly with the C22N in all configs HS, HH, SH, SS, passive or active. They'd probably be great in a lot of other guitars as well.

For this guitar, these are the right pickups. Period. I play semi-pro and am pretty much a tone snob. These nail it for me in the DC200. I can understand why people trash them. I just consider them gems in the rough. Once they're set up, look out! The great thing is, you can get them cheap from other players who couldn't get them to work.

Passive bucker, moderate PAF-like output.

This came in a Carvin DC127M (mahog neck through body, maple top) hardtail. In the bridge.

I play into a Boogie Mark III. The output level is moderate for the pup. I think the pickup lacked a decent amound of low end and overtones when playing dirty. Enough to make me swap it out for a Dimarzion D-Sonic, which sounds incredible.

The pickup did sound awesome out of phase with the neck C22N. That's the only sound I really found useful from it, though.

I've been playing 6 years, have 6 guitars, and multiple pickups. They aren't horrible (and way better than the M22), but still not crazy about them.

Pickup features: Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Carvin DC135
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar: AP-11's
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Punk, Metal, Rock, Alternative-style
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Decently hot, but not massive
Tone: Middy, trebly, clear
Sonic evaluation: Ok, these things have a high treble output. They could probably cut through a brick wall, if you tried hard enough. Can get too shrill, but a little eq work will take care of that. Great clean sound. Distorted, some people might want something more extreme, but it serves my purposes admirably (I'm not into the death metal sounds). With its treble output, it's good to switch to for solos. In general, sounds great, may have too much upper mids for some.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Good for Ska rhythm, anything that isn't too heavy.

Comments: If it were stolen, I might try out the M22T. I've been playing for 4 years, and it serves very well.

Pickup features: Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: DC-127C
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar: C22N
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock/hardrock/progressive
Reason for pickup change: Hey this is an up-date to my last review of the C22T & C22N pick-ups. I read my last review and well I should of read it before posting it. Stuff was all run together YIKES was I in a hurry or what? Anyway just wanted to add: Do not get me wron I love Carvin Guitars and Amps They are the best guitars made and there amps are awsome also (I have tried the rest and Carvin is the best) Anyway I just wanted to simply say that I personally do not care for the C22 series pickups. They are really brite bitey pick-ups, and not very hot but they are supossed to be more of an vintage pick-up so they are not meant to be hot. However they really hight mid bitey and I do not like that. I love Carvins M22 series pickups, they are not bitey but nice and fat and thick with a tight bottom. I played guitars with duncans and duncans bottom end always seemed loose and flabby to me kinda farty where the Carvin M22-SD's bottom is really tight and focused, not flabby.

Perceived output level:
Tone:
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments:

Pickup features: Passive Humbucker.
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: DC-127
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock/metal/progressive
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: I do not like this pick-up, I am a Big fan of Carvin and have 5 guitars and a few amps by Carvin. This pick-up sounds really bitie infact I remember reading an article review of one of Carvins guitars Iand they just loved the guitar as far as the workmanship and action but could not believe it sounded that bright expecially since it was mahogony. But hey it was those C22 pick-ups really bright biting things and not very hot. Now I love Carvin M22 series pick-ups and those ROCK. Really fat thick (tight bottom) but detailed tone. I am going to order the M22-SD (bridge) and M22N (neck) and replace the C22 with those.
Tone: Really Bright and Bitey. Not very hot, do not like the C22 series at all.
Sonic evaluation: I ordered these in a custom DC-127C from Carvin. Awsome guitar but the C22 pick-ups I do not like. I am going to order Carvins M22 series to replace the C22's. The M22's are awsome sounding pick-ups.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I recomend getting the M22 series Pick-ups from CArvin. They are well balanced and are rich full of tone. Infact when a Carvin guitar was reviewed with the M22 series pick-ups they raved about the guitar but also the pick-ups. The M22's are great for everything from country to blues to Rock to Metal.

Comments: I am 34 now and have been playing since I was 12. I would not get the C22 pick-ups again, I will continue to have my Carvin guitars built useing the M22 series pick-ups.

Pickup features: Humbucking Passive Pickup
Impedence or other specs: Um.......

Model of guitar or bass: Carvin Bolt
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Came Stock
Other pickups on guitar: 2 Carvin AP-11 single coils
Artists using this pickup: Don't know
You musical style(s): Traditional rock, jazz, blues
Reason for pickup change: I'm not changing this pickup. I like it.

Perceived output level: Medium Output. Equal to or slightly less than my SD '59 Bridge.
Tone: Warm and balanced... I think the mids stand out a bit with this one.
Sonic evaluation: Generally I play this pickup thru a crybaby, Jekyll & Hyde (great pedal!), Dan-0 Cool Cat, Danecho, Fender DeVille 212. Sometimes I play into a cheap Crate G-15 and then I can hear this pickups weaknesses. I can see how the "traditional" gear I have gives the C22 a chance to shine. I would think this pickup would sound weak through lower quality equipment (not that my stuff is to die for...). I bought this guitar planning to change the pickups, but I just can't do it! I like the sound I'm getting!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I find that this pickup does a nice job for music that requires a traditional sound. If you play metal get a different pickup.

Comments: I've been playing about 14 years. In addition to the equipment mentioned above I own 2 Takamine accoustics and and Epi Dot with SD pickups.
I know others have slammed this pickup for it's lack of output. If you aren't after tons of output, this pickup IMHO has great tone and balance. But again, this is through a decent tube amp, not a SS imitation. This pickup is wired to split - I'm not crazy about the way it sounds split on it's own but it's got a great sound when split and mixed with the middle single coil (country pickin'). I actually think the 12 pole piece idea helps a bit, too!

Pickup features: humbucking passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: warmoth sg style
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: carvin C22N
Artists using this pickup: me
You musical style(s): i like to play a combo of folk, blues, rock, jazz, world, hell, everything.
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: well, compared to my past sg junior's pu's, this is hot. perfect output.
Tone: this pu is kinda middy, but has a good trele that shines through, great for cream-style lead. the treble nicely balances the warmth of my guitar.
Sonic evaluation: i'm using a fender stage 112se, and clean, the pu soundas almost like an acoustic, partially because of my guitar's warmth mentioned above. i've had carvin pu's before, (m22's), and i have to say i like these much better. i totally disagree with the other comments on this pickup. they are wonderful and should improve with time.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: i play a lot of experimental music, and it's really versatile when paired with the C22N. i would say the only style this pu is not suited for is really high gain metal.

Comments: i would definitely buy this again. i've been playing 4 1/2 yrs now, and i also have a tele, a martin, and a '58 harmony. i love the tightness of this pu. i also like the 11 pole peices as opposed to 6 so there's no dropout....that really bites the big one when you're in the heat of the moment bending up to the sky and you lose volume. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Pickup features: Passive Bridge Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Kramer Pacer
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: EMG Select passive single coil
Other pickups on guitar: EMG Select passive single coil
Artists using this pickup: None, 'cause it sucks...
You musical style(s): Space rock, fusion
Reason for pickup change: I got this pickup because I didn't know anything and I wanted a humbucker.

Perceived output level: Very weak output, very unresponsive
Tone: ALL mid. No low and no high.
Sonic evaluation: I'm running my Kramer through a Tech 21 PSA-1. I just got a DiMarzio Super Distortion... I didn't know what I was missing until I played one of those... The DiMarzio is so warm and loud and meaty compared to the C22's weak twangy output.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is just simply a weak pickup. Don't get it for any style.

Comments: Overall I would recommend for you not to ever buy one. Go for a company that doesn't have their fingers in a million pies (Carvin), go for a company that concentrates on pickups only. Carvin pickups are second rate.