Carvin AE185

This was made in 2002. It has 24 frets, beautiful flamed Koa top and headstock, three pickups - two C22 humbuckers and a piezo p/u, three additional switches (two for phasing, the other to turn it off/on), 1 vol., 2 tone controls, and a nice control for mixing the piezo p/u w/ the electric p/u's. Also a 3 way selector. This is an active p/u setting guitar w/ two jacks - one for acoustic, the other for electric and acoustic to play in true stereo.

As for the shape of the guitar, it has a nice f-hole, a tele-acoustic type body (best way I can describe it), w/ a compensated acoustic saddle, Sperzel locking tuners, jumbo frets, ebony fretboard, and I believe Carvin makes this 25 scale but you'd have to check on the website to make sure. For restringing you feed the strings through the back, so the electronic setup of it is quite unique since it definitely is setup up a bit of both - acoustic and electric.

Only other accessory that I got w/ it was a case. As far as features, I believe that absolutely no guitar that I know of will encompass this amount of features for the buck and more! Most guitars that have all these kind of features cost the amount of three monthly mortgage payments man! I mean it's Koa, got stereo jacks, and u have the option of switching between electric and acoustic - what else is there to ask for except a whammy bar (but that would defeat the purpose of this fine instrument:). And just look at it - everyone I know who has seen it, from the first day I got it constantly complimented me on it, including the producers in the studio!

I've been playing guitar for 13 years, mostly heavy metal (all genres - death, hard rock, glam, thrash, neo-classical), but I've been opening to new types of music the past 5 years - Hawaiian, reggae, easy listening (acoustic stuff), blues (well, actually more of it now, than when I was 12 first learning the gtr.), and acoustic ballad type stuff.

I am currently running a Carvin SX200 w/ an additional Ampeg VH140CH head sometimes. I am a minimalist when it comes to effects, and have not used any for the 3 years I've been playing in my current band w/ this new guitar (although I own quite a few that I use at home).

As for the sound - it's a hybrid - what do you expect? It ain't gonna give you a thrash sound, nor a true acoustic sound, but it does a pretty good job of giving you a taste of both worlds. If I had to change the setup, I'd include a Carvin H22 Holdsworth p/u in the neck, and a Seymour Duncan p/u in the bridge. However, I think the C22's are perfect just the way they are for now b/c if u are a seasoned LIVE guitar player, y'know that if you play a predominantly acoustic set, and then jam into an electric (distorted) set, you don't want a heavy distorted sound, but more a warm, natural distorted sound, which is what the C22's do, and is more pleasing to majority of people's ears (I'm talking the whole gamut - young, old, diff. musical tastes, etc.). Trust me I've done this a couple of times - old people and non-rockers hate my Ibanez Sabre S540 when I switch from clean to distortion (designed for thrash metal sound that's why), but are okay w/ my AE185 b/c the distortion is more even and less intimidating. To each his/her own!

As for a "real" acoustic sound, I give it a 6.8. When you switch over to electric (using distortion) you also have to remember to move the hybrid knob or else the acoustic p/u may start feeding back! For the electric sounds, it's a 10 b/c it's unique. As a hybrid, it's a pure 10 no doubt! To beef up the acoustic sound, you can use an eq, and an acoustic simulator, but why? If you want the real thing, get the real thing. I hear a lot of people complain that it's not a true sounding acoustic - to me that's pretty incompetent. Just look at it. Does the body look like it'll project like a high-end Ovation? Doesn't all the presence of electronics, knobs and so forth tell you that the guitar ain't really an acoustic? This is it's own beast, and don't compare it to anything else! If you want something VERY DIFFERENT, GET THIS GUITAR. OTHERWISE BUY THE REAL THING!

Action is great, like I said, it's a hybrid, so it ain't Ibanez metal low, nor is it ridiculously high, but just right. The tension on the strings are great (elixir 10's) w/ the combination of the ebony fretboard makes it easy to bend Hendrix-style, due to the "slipperiness" of the wood. Everything is perfect. No flaws, absolute gift from God. It's Koa, It's ebony, It's electric-acoustic.
No complaints.

As for durability - it's electric/acoustic so don't drop it! Plus it's freaking Koa, why the hell would you be so stupid to be unaware to drop a great looking and sounding instrument! Hardware and such is great, and finish is beautiful. It ain't built like a tank - it's built like a piece of art. You don't bust something like this. You bust pieces of shit like cheapo Fenders/Fender look-a-likes.

I've bought several things from Carvin over the years, and generally they've been pretty good. I have encountered some difficuly once buying a PA system, but that was my bad since I left my PO box instead of my actual home address, so really no big problems.

Like I said, been playing for 13 years. I've owned a Fender Strat, three Ibanez's (EX, RG, Ibanez Sabre Custom 540 (Alex Skolnick), Les Paul, and a Jackson Kelly. THIS IS THE BEST GUITAR I'VE EVER OWNED. Although my mainstay is old school metal/rock, I think I found THE guitar for me. I'll keep the Sabre and RG for my thrash/death metal spells, and this one to play really soulful and melodic stuff. I think if you play something that needs a lot of tonal variety, this is the guitar. If I was still jamming my neoclassical arpeggio licks, I believe this would be the panacea for all the different melodic sounds.(electric/acoustic/distorted/clean/split/phase/etc.)

Made in the USA mahogany body with quilted natural maple top!! Breathtaking!! two humbuckers and a piezo. Three way seletor with a blend pot to blend the magnetic and acustic pickups. I changed the carvin pickups to a seymour duncan's '59 neck and bridge. Locking tuners and nice tweed hardshell case.

Awesome sound!! Love the piezo and sounds the closest thing to a $2000 marting or taylor. Love the '59 seymour duncans. Wouldn't know it from a les paul. Great tone!! It is a little limited in the sounds. Can't get much of a tele sound out of it.

The clearcoat appears to be a little thin. But I do baby my guitars and have not had any problems. Made in the USA, can't beat the quality. Not a blemish in the finish.

I have played this thing live and it appears very solid. Like I say I do baby this thing and being it doesn't have a pickguard, I wouldn't recommend aggressive "metal" playing. This finish is probably the weakest part. Everyting else is solid. I would not gig without a backup as it has an electronic board inside and a battery. Too many what if's.

Carvin does have a great web site that I could download the manuals and scematics. Other than that I have not dealt with them.

Been playing 11 yrs and owned two zion's and a korean strat. Much better than the strat, but carvin can't beat a zion. I play through an ampeg superocket and it sounds great!! I love the bend pot for the acoustic and magnetic pickups. Not so crazy about the pots mounted in the circuit board. This thing is a maintenance headache, if something breaks. The carvin pickups didn't cut the musturd. When I replaced them, it wasn't easy.

Custom-made for me in 2001 (in USA), this guitar is the tele-shaped semi-hollow model with a single f-hole. Like most Carvins, this is a 24 fret ebony fretboard. While many wild custom finishes are available, I went for a more simple look and ordered mine with a clear finish over a solid cedar top; I rather enjoy the sound of cedar and appreciate that it tends to age faster than most other tonewoods. The rest of the guitar is done in mahogany and it is BEAUTIFUL. While the cedar and ebony are nice, the mahogany is like no wood finish I've ever seen. You could almost say that it has "flop"--the color changes depending on which angle it is viewed from (think about those mid-90s Ford products that went from purple to red to blue to green).
The electronics are rather complex. It has two humbuckers and the expected three-way toggle switch, plus two coil tap switches and a phase reverse. On top of all that, the bridge is not unlike that of an acoustic guitar, replete with a piezo pickup under the saddle. This is blended with the electric mix using a knob with a center (50/50) detent. That in turn is routed to either a single TRS stereo jack or two jacks, depending on which jacks you're plugged into and whether you want both sources going to a single amp or to two different destinations (respectively).
The whole system is active (9V) with a master volume, an active treble control for both electric and acoustic and the aforementioned blend knob.
The Sperzel locking tuners are a joy to use and make string changes--especially fast, on-stage changes--very easy.
The neck is pretty thin but not too thin (I have big hands and frequently fret notes with my thumb) and the truss rod/graphite rods combo keep it in tune most of the time.
This is a VERY comfortable guitar to play. I picked up my previous workhorse the other day, a Fender Strat with the best neck I've ever found on a Fender, and thought, "How the hell did I ever play this thing?" The difference is that big.

I bought this particular guitar, sight unseen, to handle the many different styles I play. With my main band, we'll bounce from funk to punk to bluegrass to reggae to jazz to hiphop, blues, ska and numetal. I also play solo in a singer/songwriter sort of vein, mostly to add leads over looped acoustic playing (my junker Seagull) and ocasionally on its acoustic setting when I don't want to tune my acoustic (I use a lot of weird tunings).
I also play a bit of latin jazz on the side.
It handles all of these styles as well as anyone could expect a single guitar to. While it doesn't have either a true Les Paul sound or a real Strat sound, it has its own sound (which is important to me). On the Strat subject, it should be noted that when using the coil taps to go to single-coil, the volume drop is substancial and so I rarely use the taps.
I have been running the guitar through a Carvin MTS3212 (2x12 100w tube amp) since I got it and getting great sound, but have recently added an Ampeg Rocketbass bass combo (run in tandem). The sound is incredible. Huge bass from the Ampeg and great mids, sparkle and definition from the Carvin.
Also in my rig are an Ibanez Tubescreamer, vintage Maestro phaser, Ernie Ball volume pedal and a Boomerang +.
This is the quietest guitar I've ever used. I've actually stood, volume up, distortion on directly in front of the amp and thought that the volume was off.
As far as the acoustic side goes, it sounds a little wimpy to me, but then again I have nothing in the way of a preamp. I have heard this guitar used acousticaly by others to good effect, but I use it so rarely in this regard that I have yet to spend the time and money necessary to make it sound right.
The lack of "classic" LP and Strat tones may be a turn-off to some, but I love the idea of sounding like myself AND having the control to tweak it to suit whatever musical style I'm playing at the moment.

Very well set up, impecable action, woodworking good to great. Slightly awkward transition from body binding to neck area; a tiny bit of glue around the bridge; pickup hardware rusted pretty quickly from my corrosive sweat and complete neglect.

I have gigged the snot out of this guitar for almost three years straight, practice on it daily and rehearse 5-15 hours a week on it, dragging it in and out of the cold, the heat, the AC, taking it from humid to dry and back again. I've left it in my car on days when it was too cold and when it was too hot. The finish only suffers where I've scratched it or otherwise abused it and the Dunlop straplocks work as well as the day I got it.
I depend on this guitar for every show and I think I brought a backup twice.
The only problem I've had is that the active pickup system does a slow drain on the battery, even when no cords are plugged in (which it is NOT supposed to do). As a result, I've taken to removing the battery from the swinging compartment when I'm not playing amplified. This was just a minor nuisance until one day the necessarily thin electrodes broke the solder connection. Luckily for me, my uber-geek father was in the audience and had the needed solder, soldering iron, wire AND connector (!) to patch me up. Since then, we installed a back-up connection and have been looking for some very flexible wiring.
It should be noted that 1) I'm not the only person I've heard of having this slow-drain problem and 2) while I don't know if Carvin has fixed this, I know they switched to a different style of battery compartment that would preclude the broken solder connection I suffered.

The Carvin people were very helpful and friendly when I was ordering the guitar and sent me postcard updates keeping me informed of the build progress.
While I haven't dealt with the service dept. over this guitar, they went beyond my expectations in helping me when I had a problem with my amp.
The tech rep talked me through some trouble shooting for quite some time on the phone and, even though my warranty had recently expired, sent me a new one and had the UPS guy take the broken one back--free of charge. It went from Cali to Chicago in three days.

I've been playing guitar for almost eleven years and also play drums, bass, piano, mandolin and sing. I also own a Strat, a cheap (but sweet) Seagull and a vintage Guild acoustic.
I also looked pretty seriously at the Godin guitars that do more or less the same thing, but looks, the custom aspect and the $400 price difference prompted me to buy the Carvin. Also, although I had no way of knowing it at the time, I greatly prefer the playability of the Carvin.
I seriously doubt I'll ever buy another electric, but if I do, it will surely be a Carvin. This time, however, I might pick a different model with some different options.
For the price, I'm hard-pressed to think of anything that comes anywhere near this guitar. If it were stolen, I'd eat ramen noodles for a year so I could afford another one.
I rated this a 9, but it's more like a 9.5

Usual features include coil taps on C22's, phase switch, piezo/magnetic balance, tone knobs for each circuit, dual output jacks, etc.
This one has unbound koa top and is beautiful.
24 German nickel/silver frets on shallow "C" shape neck.
Gold Sperzals & knobs.

Bought used with Carvin (SKB type) form-fit type case.

Airy sound overall. Can be as bright as you like with coil taps, active circuits, plus piezo.
I use it with a Tech 21 Bronzewood 60, and a Peavey XXL head through a open back 1 X 12" EV-L, or a Polytone MiniBrute-IV.
All styles from fingerpickin' Folk, to Satriani!

Very versatile. Easy to get good sounds.
Intonation is close enough for the kinda girls I go out with, given the Flat-top style (backloaded) bridge. It has some compensation beveled into the saddle that seems fine with 0.010" - 0.046" strings.

Really precision neck and great fit and finish.
Feels great, looks great. No flaws that I can tell.

Professional grade.
Fine instrument.
Seems solid enough.

no experience

I love the neck on this thing.
25" scale length seems perfect. Great access to all frets, even the highest.
Ebony feels great and the frets are mirror shined. Low action, no buzzes.
It flows like a shredder, yet has a meatiness too.

The Carvin plastic case is lousy. It offers good protection, but the latches have a lot of sideways slop: The pin slides laterally enough that the bail gets hung up while trying to close it. You have to center the bail (metal loops). They also jam into the receiver and get wedged if you're not careful. Otherwise, it's OK, but the latches are a big pain in the ass. Get the tweed, they're really nice!

My main reason for writing this review is to comment on the size and feel of the neck. I play rhythm in an
oldies/classic-rock band and when the other guitarist got a SCHECTER C-1 E/A ( http://www.musicgearreview.com/article-display/364.html )
we both flipped over the great sound we could get by simutaneously running into a Fender Deville (or Deluxe) and a Marshall AS50R Acoustic Guitar Amp.
If you are not hip to playing through this kind of combination, you just gotta get with the program!

Anyway, as much as I loved the sound of the
Schecter (a truly quality guitar) I just wasn't crazy about its looks. I looked at the market for these kind of piezo-hybrid electrics and the only other
quality alternative was this Carvin. The one I got was the basic Vintage Yellow on Maple (see the fantastic color selector on Carvin's web site: http://www.carvin.com/cgi-bin/Isearch.exe?CFG=2&P2=AE185&P1=GTR ) . I was a little dissapointed in that it is a bit too yellow and doesn't show
the wood grain very well.... check out those Koa models for that. (by the way, Schecter has backordered that sunburst color for months and are
still pushing the date back. We have the "black" one which is really like a very dark gray.... nice looking and classier than the sunburst if you ask me.

The main thing I've noticed is this: The Carvin is an acoustic with electric qualities while the Schecter is an electric with acoustic qualities.
The neck of the Carvin is wide and beefy. I learned on a classical guitar so I can deal with it pretty well, but anyone who is solely into the
feel of slick electric guitars definitely might not like the feel of the Carvin AE-185.

Very good.... about the same as the Schecter. Can be a grungy electric or acoustic sounding... truly versitile. Folk sining purists might turn up their noses, but for the slower Dylan-style numbers we do I think the piezo-acoustic sound is just great. Be SURE to get one of those Marshall AS50R Acoustic Guitar amps. THAT is one nice amp.

I'll not rate it higher mainly because (given the acoustic style bridge) you are not able to adjust the intonation. The intonation
on mine is not perfect but not so far off as to be a real problem. Finish is nice, this is a quality built guitar. Schaller locking tuners are a nice touch. Action is low....... however given the wider neck, dont expect the feel of a nice electric.

Hey, its a semi-hollowbody... try not to run over it with your pickup truck. The basic plastic case is very nice.

N/A

playing..... 40 years. Or do I date myself? If this guitar were run over by a pickup truck I'd probably not get another one because of the feel of the beefy neck. But hey, if you like that feel, then you will LOVE this quality guitar.

This guitar has a lot of features. with the coil taps and the phase switch you can get quite a few different guitar sounds. Mine has the holdsworth pickup in the neck position and the c22 in the bridge. Flamed koa top, birdseye maple fretboard, mahogany body and neck, black hardware, and sperzel locking tuners all with a high gloss finish. Looks great.

The sound of the guitar is super through the holdsworth pickup in the neck. The cleans are crisp, clear and classy. The distorted sounds through the holdsworth are also very good, I just always seem to use my bridge humbuckers for distortion on all my guitars because of the extra bass at the neck position--the holdsworth is a very good pickup. The c22 in the bridge postion is o.k.. I like it but not as much as the S.D. 59, or the fralin I have in other guitars. I might swap the c22(I won't swap the holdsworth!!!).

THe acoustic bridge is a nice feature, don't buy this guitar and expect a jumbo acoustic sound like a martin or taylor, but if you want a good amplified acoustic sound this guitar can do that with no problem. I play it through a roland ac60 and it sounds really nice.

Wow! I like the feel of this guitar. I is light, the finish is first rate, the action is top notch, I can't find anything wrong with it.

I have had it for 4 months now and haven't had a problem. Seems as though it will last a lifetime. I is a semi-hollow so the top is mor fragile than on a solid body, but that is what you have to expect with any semi-hollow that uses a solid wood top(it is not a laminated top)

great, I have always had the best of luck with Carvin service.

I have been playing for 22 years. I own nine other guitars, to name a few; Gibson ES335, Gibson SG, Fender Telecaster(Custom Top), Martin acoustic, yamaha classical, alverez 12string, Gibson Les Paul standard.

I would get another if it were stolen but I would get the holdsworth pickups in both positions. I would like to see the toggle switch for the pickup selection in a different spot.

I feel this is a very good guitar

Factory ordered, which is consequently the only way to get one new. Mine was made for the NAMM and so I was able to pick it up after the show was over for a song. It has a spruce top, which is what I wanted because if you think about it what do they use for good acoustics. THe inlays are the block pearl, they by the way do not enhance the sound they just look good. It has the coil splitters that work on the standard C22 pickups that come stock. The features are really what sold me on the guitar. For the price it is hard to find an American made guitar with the appointments that Carvin builds in. The finish is Blue Burst. Enough about the features, I think if your reading the reviews on this page you probably already know the options.

I play everything from Rock-Jazz, Country-Classical and this guitar handles the changes just fine. Now the reality is there is no way that I can give it a perfect because there really is not such a thing. SOme of the guys reviewing this guitar have referred to the acoustic sound as a bit hollow, to them I say if you wanted the truest of acoustic sounds why did you buy an Electric Acoustic Hybrid? I would think a Taylor or Martin would have better fit your needs. I play my 185 through a PA system and pass the signal through an outboard Fishman Pre-amp and some Chorus. I think with the slight modifications it has a very full and rich sound. As to variety of sound and versatility I say Acoustic, Humbucker, Single Coil - need I say more?

The craftsmanship was great, I do however think that the finish could have been a bit deeper, and I would prefer the satin or tung oiled neck. THe eurothayne finish can grab your hand when you sweat.

I use it live all the time, it's my main guitar I have been using it about everyday for9 months. You do need to be careful it is a semi-hollowbody.

THey have been real helpful in answering questions, I have not needed any tech support though and if I do I probably will take it to the tech that does all my other guitars.

Been playing just under 25 years and it is unquestionably the best guitar for the money that I have owned. If I had to I would replace this instrument. I probably would have one built to my exact specs instead of buying one already made. THe price was right though and they gave me the case.

Factory ordered from Carvin, 2002
Flamed maple top and peghead, classic sunburst finish, gold hardware, body binding, abalone fingerboard inlays, M22 pickups, coil tap switches.
Came with tweed Fender-style case.

Obviously, as I ordered it from the factory, I got all the goodies I wanted on it. If I had it to do over, I would have gone with the tung-oiled neck, as the polyurethane finish on the neck can "grab" your hand if it is damp.

I listened to the sound sample of the AE 185 on Carvin's web site and loved the flexibility of the guitar; it went from a pretty decent acoustic sound, to some nice clean electric tones to some heavy crunch tones. When the guitar arrived, it was strung with Elixir electric strings (.10's, I believe). When I plugged it into my Fender amp for the first time, the sound from the guitar was very harsh and trebley. I turned the tone controls down into the bassier range on both the guitar and amp, but I lost too much high end "shimmer". The Elixirs were not really well-matched to the pickups (in all fairness to Carvin, I've tried Elixirs on other solid and hollow bodied guitars I have and they sounded the same - nasty). I experimented with several other brands of strings, finally settling on DR High-beams. They have a great overall tone (to my ear, anyway) with nice full bass and good high end sparkle. However, on the AE 185, the treble strings still sound a little harsh when played hard. Also, with the guitar plugged into an electic amp (Fender Cyber-Twin), I can't get a true acoustic sound with any of the patches I've tried. I could plug the acoustic pickup into my Acoustasonic to get a better acoustic sound, but if I'm going to go as far as having to lug around two amps, bringing along my Martin acoustic is not much more of a hassle plus I get a killer acoustic sound.

Out of the box, the fit and finish of the guitar were marvelous. It looked super with the flamed maple peeking out from the yellow center of the sunburst finish, and even the flaming on the headstock was nice. Action was low as Carvin advertises, but after changing strings so many times in such a short period and several months where I barely played it, the truss rod needed to be adjusted as the strain relief was too little and the action was too high. I just finished putting on the DR strings yesterday and I note again that the neck shows too much convex curvature. I will adjust the truss rod again and hope that the neck doesn't keep bending.

The one thing I noticed more than anything about this guitar is the very small size of the body. It has the general shape of a Tele, but is smaller. The body also seems thinner than most of my other solid bodies, so I guess I'd say I tend to treat it a little more gingerly than most of the others. I would say the finish and the hardware would stand up to average playing, but if I were going to do some heavy gigging, I might consider bringing a more substantial electric solid body and a nice dreadnought acoustic instead.

Have not had to deal with Carvin about service, so that's an unknown, but after I ordered the guitar online, I received a postcard with an approximate date the guitar would be finished, which I thought was a nice touch. (They only missed the promised date by a few days).

I originally ordered this guitar to be sort of an "all-in-one" kind of thing that I could take on car trips with a small practice amp and be able to play electric or acoustic at my whim. As it turned out, even after finding a brand of strings that sounded decent on the guitar, I can still get a much better electric tone from just about all of my other solid bodies (Fender Tele, Custom Shop Tele and Strat, Gretsch DuoJet, Epiphone Les Paul Custom) and a better acoustic tone from any of the four acoustics (Gretsch G3100 Hawaiian, G3700 Sierra and Martin Custom SP000C16RE and SPD-16K). I guess this shows that one axe cannot be all things at one time. I have placed this guitar on my "B" list and will likely sell it as I can't seem to get the tones out of it that I want and $900-plus is too much to pay for a rarely used instrument, no matter how nice it looks.

My AE185 was purchased on Ebay, but it's probably exactly what I would have ordered had I gotten it directly from Carvin. Mahogany body and neck, with a quilted top. Mine was just the natural color, with a beautiful clear gloss finish. It was also pretty well decked out with all of the options - abalone block inlays, body binding, matching headstock, gold hardware, coil splitter/phase option, tung oiled neck, tweed case. You get the idea.

I'm pretty sure mine had the standard C22 pickups, plus the piezo ribbon in the bridge. Of course all of the pickups were controlled by the active electronics, with two output options.

The guitar has a 25" scale neck, which is actually a nice compromise between the standard Strat and Les Paul scales (25.5" and 24.75" respectively). With a set of 9's on it, it plays like a well tuned electric. With some 10's it begins to feel (and sound) more like an acoustic. The neck is a very nice shape, about ideal in my book. Some may find it a bit thin if moving from a guitar with a beefy neck (PRS, some Gibsons), and others may find it a little thick if moving from a "metal" guitar like an Ibanez or Jackson.

Aside from the absolute sheer beauty of this instrument, the sound quality is what I really liked. Granted, it's not a shred machine (although with the M22 pickups, it probably could be), it's got a pretty huge tonal palette. Being a semi-hollow guitar, you do get a bit more of a resonant tone from it. The active electronics let you adjust the tone qualities of both the magnetic and piezo pickups to a large degree. The neck pickup has a great mellow sound, that actually works extremely well clean. The bridge pickup has the traditional bridge humbucker "honk", and really cuts through. Even loaded up on the distortion, it manages to retain note and chord clarity. I was initially a little skeptical about Carvin using their own pickups, but I have to admit they are just right for this guitar.

The acoustic pickup was what really blew me away, though. There are quite a few companies starting to come out with these hybrid instruments now, but most are using the Fishman or Baggs systems that are mounted in metal bridges. I've heard several of those systems, and I don't think they sound nearly as convincing as a piezo ribbon. In fact, coupled with the active electronics, and the ability to blend the magnetic and acoustic pickups, you can honestly get a better sound than many electrified acoustics.

I used the AE185 primarily at church, where I was finding myself switching between my acoustic and electric. I sold them both off and got the Carvin, and was thrilled. No more switching instrument, and I can change between the two sounds almost instantly. I didn't know if I'd ever actually do that, but when you have the option, you find yourself using it more and more. The Carvin was run through an older Digitech RP-12 direct into the PA. With a good sound engineer, I could get a sweet sound. Nothing better for an acoustic electric than a full range system.

One thing you should know is that you aren't going to get a Strat sound out of this thing. Splitting the coils really only gives you the effect of a weaker humbucker, and not a true single coil sound. I liked having the option, but then again, I don't know that I'd ever really need a true single coil sound.

Despite having been used by someone else for a few years before I got it, it is absolutely apparent that Carvin knows what they are doing building a guitar. The top on this guitar was a full 1/8" of quilted maple. So many manufacturers are putting flamed and quilted maple "tops" on their guitars now, but when it's just a veneer, it has not life or depth to it. A real chunk of solid wood is a glory to behold! Everything about the guitar is quality - the knobs spin effortlessly, although there is just a little bit of resistance there. The Sperzel tuners are great, and do a pretty reasonable job of holding a tune. The block inlay is about the best I've ever seen. Unlike most of the inlays you see anymore, there's absolutely no filler around the edges - not necessary when you have a perfect fit. The neck has a great feel to it. I really love the tung oiled feel. The action can be set pretty well, although the strings you use, and your playing style will probably dictate how you have it set up. I'll also say that an ebony fretboard is the only way to go.

While I didn't light it on fire, or throw it from a 3 story building to the parking lot below, I'd say this thing is almost as durable as any other guitar out there. Granted, it is partially hollow, so you probably have to be a little more careful than with a solid body. It's got a neck that runs through the body, so you don't have neck joints or stripped screws to ever have to worry about.

The pots seem considerably more durable than most. They better be, as they are mounted directly to the active electronics module, and are probably not very easily replaced.

As with any guitar, if you slam it in a door, you'll ding the finish. It's not magic - it will still get belt buckle rash.

I've become a pretty strong believer in keeping a backup on hand. You never know when a battery will go dead or when you'll break a string. That will happen with any guitar. The one thing that's a little disappointing (and the only reason it gets a 9 in this category) is that there is no passive mode, in case the battery craps out on you. Carvin's other active guitars and basses have this option, and it would be nice for the acoustic equipped axes as well.

I've emailed Carvin a number of times for some information from them. They have always responded promptly (usually the same day) and given me clear directions. I think customer support is a big deal with them, so I wouldn't forsee having any problems with dealing with the company.

I've been playing guitar for a good 10+ years now. I'm not a virtuouso and probably never will be. I made a pretty big step up from my last guitars to the Carvin, and I think it really helped motivate me to become better and especially to be more creative with my playing. There's just something about owning "the best" that makes you want to work harder to prove that you are worthy of such a fine instrument.

After all of the praise, there are a couple of things that might detract potential buyers. First, if you really want a single coil or tele sound, I don't think you'll get it from this guitar. It's got a more mellow, Les Paul-ish sound to it. I think the mahogany body still gives it a good bite and growl, but it's not a thrash metal instrument, either. Maybe with an M22SD pickup at the bridge you'd get that seering distortion, but not with the stock C22s. I think you also need a Floyd Rose to really get that edgy sound. So bottom line is that if you're not a thrash metal guitarist, and really want a quality, versitile instrument, this is the one.

Now for the really bad news - people see these and KNOW they are top notch. Proof: mine was stolen (from the church, no less).

The good news is that I can actually say "If mine was ever stolen, I'd get another one."

This is a semi-hollow body, telecaster-style, neck-through guitar with single F-hole and an acoustic bridge ? very unusual and very cool. Full specs are at carvin.com. I also own a 1989 Fender Stratocaster Plus Deluxe (with lace sensors in the neck and middle positions and a Seymour Duncan Hotrails in the bridge position) and a Simon & Patrick dreadnought acoustic guitar, which I will use as points of reference.

I ordered my AE-185 direct from Carvin in March 2003. I got it with the flamed maple top, body binding, inline headstock with flamed maple overlay, clear gloss finish, standard silver hardware, abalone dot inlays, coil taps/phase switch, and M22T/N humbuckers + L.R. Baggs transducer. I also got the form-fitting ABS case, which is no frills but very functional. I rate the features a 10 because all of the options were specified, and it is exactly what I wanted.

The neck is different from my Strat?s. The scale is .5? shorter, the width at the nut is slightly larger, the radius of the fingerboard is flatter (15? vs. 9?), and it is neck-through in construction. The thickness of the neck is very comparable to the Strat (the Plus Deluxe neck is relatively thin as Strats go); both are modern/C-shaped. The woodwork and fretwork on the neck are outstanding. From a feel perspective, all of this translates into a clean, fast neck and a fingerboard that feels slightly wider/flatter than the Strat. The difference is noticeable, but not negatively so. I will say that if you are into Hendricks/SRV thumb-over-the-neck fretting, you would probably find the Strat a little more conducive. The body feels compact, light, and comfortable to play.

Let me start by quoting the most insightful comment I have seen on this site from Rob in his 3/14/2001 review: ?Most reviews on this site are from people raving about their guitars (unless they got a true lemon). Let's face it: Guitars are fun. If they intonate well and have a nice neck and decent pickups, well, most guitars will be a blast to play, no matter if they cost $300 or $3000.? Well said indeed. It seems that you either like an instrument or you don?t, and your opinion doesn?t necessarily offer much guidance to the next person. So, with that in mind, I will go ahead and get this part of the review out of the way:

Yes, I think this guitar is just fabulous! The combination of a semi-hollow body, flexibility between the electric tones and acoustic tones, excellent workmanship, unique styling, and drop-dead great looks really makes it a blast to own and play. This is a very cool axe that really stands out. I give it a very biased 10; it is everything I hoped it would be and more! OK, so now I will try to be descriptive instead of euphoric?

The AE-185 is physically lighter and has a louder, more acoustic, open sound than my Strat when played unplugged. However, as you would expect, its unplugged sound is nothing near a dreadnought acoustic; this is an electric guitar all the way, but it has a very resonant, acoustic tone. Its unplugged tone is more in the direction of a 335-type guitar, but with a smaller body and a tighter sound.

I previously ordered and returned a Carvin DC-150 with the C22 humbuckers and found it to be too bright. The M22T/N combination in the AE-185 is more to my liking. The M22s are definitely not muddy/classic-humbucker sounding. They deliver a comparatively clearer tone that sounds well balanced to my ear. They also deliver good crunch without being over the top. The guys at Carvin explained it this way: the H22s are designed for a jazz application, the C22s for ?classic rock,? the M22T/Ns for slightly heavier/fatter tones, and the M22SD/V offer variations on the M series (SD=super distortion, V=vintage). This isn?t presented very clearly on the website and was one of the most difficult things to figure out in the ordering process. (I have suggested to Carvin that they put comparative tone clips on the website and provide better written descriptions.)

Sonically, my (very general) reference points go from a Strat with standard configuration to a Gibson SG to a Les Paul. My AE-185 seems somewhere in between the Strat and a Gibson SG (closer to the SG) due to its combination of the pickups, fingerboard scale, and construction. With no effects, its native tone is less twangy than a strat but not quite as heavy as an SG. I would generally characterize it as having a bright tone, although you can definitely get some round, warm tones from the neck pickup. The semi-hollow body and humbuckers translate into a ?looser,? less dense amplified sound when compared to my Strat. It has a very resonant, alive feel to it. Between the coil taps, the 3-way switch, the L.R. Baggs, and the acoustic/electric blending pot, you can cover a lot of sonic territory.

The coil taps are useful in producing different tones, and I am glad I ordered them. The phase switch produces a really odd sound, but it came with the package and might be interesting to use from time to time. The L.R. Baggs is a lot of fun. Blending it with different amounts of the humbuckers/coil taps produces a wide range of very good, useful tones. As noted by others, the tone won?t be confused with that of a well-amplified acoustic guitar, but it sounds great. Combine this with the comfort of the Tele-body, the fast 24-fret neck, and some compression/chorus/reverb, and you are onto something.

This guitar has excellent craftsmanship. It is clean, solid, and well detailed. The action is 1/16? and the neck is very comfortable and easy to play. Aesthetically, this guitar is really stunning. The clear gloss finish, the natural woods, and the tortoise body binding all work very well together ? striking but still understated. The way the neck and body seamlessly integrate works well functionally for the player and is very well executed. Overall, the quality and value delivered by Carvin are outstanding.

No rating on this yet, but I don?t expect to have any problems. I was initially concerned about having an acoustic bridge on an electric guitar in terms of its durability, but after playing it for a while I don?t think it is going to be an issue.

As I mentioned earlier, I returned another guitar before accepting this one. The service was great, and I feel that Carvin worked very hard to get me exactly what I wanted. Going ?mail order? for a guitar was a difficult thing for me to do, but in return for the uncertainty and the wait, Carvin delivered a good customer experience and an impeccable, custom product and a relatively low price. I feel very confident that if anything goes wrong in the future, they will stand behind their product.

I have been playing for 15 years and have owned my Strat for 13 of them. In the past I have played with a 80s- & 90s-rock band and been in many jam sessions, but I spend most of my time playing at home for personal enjoyment or accompanying my wife on vocal pieces. I listen to a wide variety of guitar-driven music, from Parkening to Lifeson to Hammett, and like to play both light and heavy stuff ranging from The Beatles to Rush. I am by no means an advanced player, but I can carry a tune.

I am not viewing the AE-185 as the ?one guitar that will do it all? but as a new axe to add to the collection. It offers good differentiation from my Strat, both sonically and aesthetically, so I am very happy with it. I plan to hang on to the 185 and would absolutely try to replace it if it were stolen.