Carvin Bolt Kit

This review is for my Carvin Bolt Kit guitar (i.e. you must finish the thing and put it together). I bought this guitar as a cheap secondary guitar and as introduction to out-of-the-ordinary guitars (i.e. Ibanez, Fender, Jackson, etc.). Do not let the price fool you - this thing plays like a dream! I chose the alder body, Sperzel locking tuners, humbucking pickup in the bridge position, and Dunlop strap locks. You can choose any options you want - as long as they are available on the factory Bolt Kit. I also bought the Vintage Tweed Case (I'm not too please with the case. It looks sharp, but it appears to be put together cheaply). I decided to give the guitar the factory recommended Tung Oil finish. Simple, fast, effective. The only bad feature would have to be the "fretboard inlays that aren't." The position markers are painted onto the fretboard - bummer.

I play this guitar through my Marshall TSL 602 combo amp using minimal effects (wah, compressor, chorus). Very bluesy tone - you can squeeze some very thick, creamy tones out of these single coils! The clean tones from this guitar are awesome! I rarely use the amps dirty channel with this guitar. I usually opt for a more straight rock sound, but this guitar makes clean and spanky too much fun! I must admit that I'm not a bit fan of Carvin's C22 humbucker pickup (it sounds a bit too brittle).

The finish is up to you - mine turned out fine. Very little sanding is required on the neck or body before you apply the tung oil finish (if you choose that route). However, even if you decide to paint the body I recommend tung oil on the neck. All I can say is "WOW!" The neck feels fantastic - very smooth and sexy. Playability is where this thing shines! I'm not a fan of neck heels, and this guitar has it's share of heel. But the action and shape of the neck makes up for the heel. If you have any experience in setting up guitars, then tweaking this axe to your liking takes very little time.

I've only had it for a few weeks, but it appears to be made of quality components.

They were helpful when I called to change my order - my only experience

Excellent, I've not been able to put the thing down. I've been playing for almost 15 years and this is the best playing guitar that I've ever played. I would like to have real inlays and a better quality case - but for the price I have no regrets. Besides, it was fun.

2001 Lefty Bolt Kit. Solid alder body, maple neck with maple fingerboard (black dots and 15" radius), Carvin twin-blade humbuckers (s/s/s), 5-way switch, one-volume, one-tone, bridge pick-up permanent on-switch, gold hardware, fixed FT6 bridge with strings through the body, white pearloid pickguard, sperzel locking tuners. Tweed case $50 extra.

Great set up and options.

Once assembled, I can't believe how good this guitar sounds. The twin blade humbucker in the bridge actually sounds BETTER than the Carvin C22 humbucker (go to their web page and have a listen in the multimedia room). I've never played a Lefty Fender that resonates like this guitar does. As for the neck twinblade, in retrospect I wish I had gotten their AP11 pickup. The neck twinblade sounds good, but is missing that single coil sweetness. If I had kept the neck and the middle pickups as regular single coils with the twin blade on the bridge it would be a 10. If you are looking to buy this guitar, I would say upgrading to swamp ash isn't necessary, the alder provides a really nice tone.

The routing for the body was perfect and the neck was absolutely perfect out of the box. The neck fit great in the pocket with no problems. The maple fingerboard (Note: I did not get the birdseye, but simply the regular maple fingerboard) was absolutely beautiful.

The alder body was very smooth. So smooth I lightly sanded it with 400 and immediately went to 600 grit sandpaper and 0000 steel wool. The grain of the body was beautiful and took a red stain I bought perfectly. I lacquered it with a brush and screwed up. No problem: stripped it and re-stained it, followed by 5 coats of high gloss tung oil. If you use stain and tung oil, you will be shocked how good this guitar looks. Don't try lacquer unless you've done it before!!

After the stain and oil final coats dried on the neck and body, I built this guitar, adjusted the truss rod, tuned it, intonated it and set it up in less than an hour and a half. I was able to get the action to 1/16" at the 22nd fret with no audible buzzing. And no shims for the neck!!

Guitar is solid. Bridge, pickguard, neck plate, tuning key, and strap holes were well drilled. Since I tung oiled it, I plan to take it apart every year or so and re-apply a coat of tung oil.

Between the time you order the guitar and it gets shipped, they don't have a clue where it is. After the kit was two weeks late, I called Wednesday and they couldn't give me a ship date, I called Friday and it had shipped Thursday. They get an A for effort, as the salesmen tried to be very helpful. However, they couldn't give me an answer. They called me at home even. Be warned: Your kit will most likely be late. However, when you get it, you will forgive them.

I lost the screws to the pickguard when building it. I called and they sent out screws free of charge, although it was my fault. They, however, sent out only one screw!! I called back and they sent out the rest, priority mail!!

Bottum line, they stand behind their product and are good to deal with. However, they need to improve their order tracking process and communication between the departments. 10 for friendliness and responsiveness, 2 for ability to track orders. So overall:

I've been playing 16 years. I own a Charvel/Jackson Model 3 guitar, Carvin DC400 (this guitar made me a Carvin junkie), Carvin TL60, MTS3212 Amp etc., Crate 70 watt tube driver, Ibanez acoustic.

I would buy this guitar again. In fact, I may buy another!! If you are a lefty and want a strat this is the way to go. You won't find a lefty Fender at any price that will play like this!! I never did find a lefty Fender at any music store that was significantly better than my Hondo. No joke.

2000 model GK1 hardtail with alder body, maple/ebony neck, S/S/S pickup arrangement, and all black hardware. This is your basic Strat copy, albeit with a nicely slimmed body and rounded heel. There is only one tone knob, but there is a phase toggle for the bridge pickup.

Once properly adjusted, the guitar is quite resonant. The AP11 pickups offer a wide variety of tones and provide ample bass, mids, and treble - definitely on the "fatter" side of the Strat spectrum. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say that you'll sound like SRV or Jimi as soon as you strap this guitar on. You'll have to tweak it and adjust your playing style to get the best blues tones or rock tones, depending on your preference. The pickups are very sensitive to height adjustment, just like most single coils.

Some players have found the AP11s to be exceptionally bright. I don't find this to be true, but then I have a darker-sounding amp. If it's too bright for you, then change the pots to 250k units. WRT noise, there isn't much hum going on. Use the copper shielding and you'll be fine. If you're ultra sensitive, then buy some noise-free pickups. :-)

In my opinion, this guitar could cover blues to hard rock, and probably some jazz with a single-coil vibe.

This is a kit, so action is largely the buyer's responsibility. This is only my second guitar, the first being a Peavey Strat copy. I didn't have any trouble achieving better action with this guitar than the Peavey had. I think I could probably do better still. Fortunately, it's easy to adjust if you take the time.

I found the bridge saddles to be *way* too low as adjusted at the factory. Anyone else with this experience?

The neck is quite "fast." This is good thing. However, I would personally prefer a compound radius to the flat 16", but that is a minor quibble.

The body/neck joint for my kit wasn't as tight as some have reported. I could have returned the pieces for exchange, but I chose to fix it myself by brushing on a little epoxy and then filing it back. The neck now goes in with a satisfying "pop" but doesn't place undue stress on the treble side of the cavity. Finish thickness does make a difference.

I chose to french polish my instrument as practice for future projects. After some light sanding, I began finishing with Behlen Qualasole and no grain filler. I should have filled the grain, even though alder is a close-pore wood. The end grain especially will stain if the finish has any color at all. I ended up stripping the Qualasole off with acetone and starting over with pure shellac. The end grain still looks a bit splotchy, but I can live with it. If you want a defect-free hard finish, I suggest having Carvin or Guitar ReRanch lacquer your instrument for you. Qualasole works just fine for the maple neck, however.

The scratchplate assembly just barely fits around the bridge plate but can always be cut down if need be.

I suppose this guitar will stand up as well as any other strat. The neck is thin but is reinforced with graphite/epoxy rods. This is a musical instrument for heaven's sake. Don't go bashing it on stage to find out if it will break. It will. Buy some straplocks if you don't ever want it to come off the strap.

The parts are all high-quality stuff. The black finish on mine will chip/wear off if abused but not from normal use.

The guy I ordered from (Damon?) was a little curt. He also sent the wrong pickguard (black rather than red tortoise). I chose to live with it, but again I'm sure they would have exchanged it without a problem.

I don't expect much in the way of warranty support. They would probably replace the neck if it cracked.

There is a lot of user choice here. I think the instrument is a great value for someone who wants a hand in how their instrument turns out but doesn't want to build from "scratch." On a cost basis, Carvin's products beat Warmoth's hands down. If cost is not an issue, then I'd recommend buying the Warmoth stuff instead. You have more options that way (i.e. fingerboard radius, fretwire, etc.) Resale value is nill in either case.

The real question for many will be whether this guitar is a better value than a Mexi-strat. I think so, unless you are going for a strictly "vintage" feel. This instrument will cover a lot of sonic territory.

I hate single coil hum. The AP11s, properly shielded, really aren't that bad. I will definitely keep them around. However, I plan to try some of Bill Lawrence's L280s in the near future.

This is a great "experimental" guitar!

2001 USA made. 22 fret - Strat shape, solid Mahogany body, maple neck with birdseye maple fingerboard. I ordered mine with the S/S/H Carvin p'up config. I finished the guitar myself (it IS a kit) with Tung Oil on the body and neck - looks gorgeous. Check out my little page to see before and after shots of the kit http://beckdi.tripod.com

I ordered the FT6 fixed bridge, locking tuners and coil splitter for the humbucker. The neck is awesome, almost plays itself...I'd heard great things about Carvin necks for years - now I know that it's true. It is so easy to play. 25 1/2" scale. I also picked up the HC12 tweed case.

I play mostly blues, classic rock, pop and jazz. I'm not into metal anymore so I wasn't considering that sound when I bought, although I'm sure you could get plenty of metal tone from the C22 humbucker. I run it through a Carvin BelAir 50-watt tube-combo. The amp itself is designed to provide a vintage blues sound (which I think it does really well, it's an incredible amp - the clean channel is superior to any amp in its pricerange) and it just sings with the Bolt. The singlecoils will, of course, give you a little hum when you aren't playing, but they all will. I'm very pleased with the wide range of tones I can achieve with this guitar. Jazzy, bluesy, rock, heavy distortion - they all sound awesome!

This is really not something that you can rate Carvin on as much as the others since I put it together myself, but they did manufacture the parts and I have to say that everything fit together perfectly and I can't find much wrong with the way it came in. The only little nitpicky thing I can think of is that the pickup poles were in slightly wacky heights and the pickups themselves were not set to height levels that I was satisfied with. No big deal, took all of 2 minutes to adjust.

The hardware all seems very good quality, the finish (which is mine, not theirs) should hold up, but I'm sure I'll have to reapply some Tung Oil occasionally - that's natural for that type of finish. I could always apply a lacquer to seal it. Everything feels very solid.

They are pretty good with Customer Support, I originally got the HC11 SKB plastic case and returned it for the wooden tweed-covered case. It's a much higher quality case and only cost $15 more - I was just being cheap to have not ordered it in the first place. They sent me a new case before I shipped the old one back so I could have a case for it at all times. No problem.

I've been playing for about 9 years, spent most of my time with a cheapo Ibanez. I also have a Takamine acoustic and a Carvin BelAir 212 tube amp. If it were stolen or lost, I would get another one in a heart beat, same options. It is supremely playable, has a wide variety of tones available, it is inexpensive yet feels and sounds better than Fenders costing twice as much. If you are looking for a Strat type guitar with better feel and playability and similar tone, get it. You can even buy one that they put together for you for cheaper than a Fender. If you don't like it, send it back for a full refund.

april 2001, 22 frets, solid alder body w/ hard maple neck, volume tone and toggle for bridge, sperzel tuners, ebony fretboard, 3 single coils, strings through body bridge(very solid)
10 for features since I picked them

I'm don't have Eric Johnson's ears, but I think this guitar sounds like a very high quality strat. It's only noisy if you don't shield it properly. The thing I like most about this guitar is that she plays like a Jackson or Ibanez, but sounds almost identical to a stratocaster...Fantastic!!!

As mentioned before, in my opinion it plays like a shredder. Wich is great for me. You can sound like Stevie Vaughan, but shred like Steve Vai. I can't possibly fathom a more playable guitar.

I just received this kit less than a month ago, but she'll probably hold up considering I don't gig out. In fact, even if I did, I can't see anything breaking. I am however prone to dropping my toys.(Thank You straplocks) Don't see her breaking within the next 50 years unless a stray bus smacks her.....knock on wood.

N/A

This is my fourth guitar; the first being a peavy stratoid, the second an Ibanez rg 470, the third an Ibanez S470Qs, and finally, the blackocaster. I would definately purchase a kit once again if for some reason a knucklehead stole mine, but not before I removed his fingers. Although the whole idea sounds somewhat difficult, finishing and assembling this kit is cake. The body felt almost like glass when I received it and by the way, tung oil works wonders. If you llke the sound of a strat, but don't want to shell out 800 or so, buy this axe. I have yet to play a fender that's as half as great as this carvin bolt.

2001 Bolt Kit. An unfinished solid alder strat-style body with H-H-H routing. Pre-assembled pickguard with 3 Carvin AP11 single-coil pickups. An unfinished Carvin maple neck (25 1/2") with ebony fretboard. Neck is fairly wide with a very flat radius (15" I believe) and medium frets. Excellent fretwork on it. Carvin FT6 fixed bridge, Sperzel locking tuners. Excellent parts value for the money.

Very easy to put together. Requires sanding (not much), and finishing of your choice. I did the suggested tung oil thing and it came out pretty good. I did not sand enough between coats, so the finish ended up looking a little "rough" under very close inspection. I'm going to sand it down and put a couple more coats of tung oil on at some point, but for now it looks just fine.

After finishing, it's just a matter of screwing the bridge, pickguard, jack, and neck on, and affixing the tuners to the headstock. This is all extremely easy; no special mechanical aptitude required at all. My bolt actually had pretty playable action and intonation right after screwing it together and stringing it up. I made a few small adjustments to the truss rod and saddles, and it was ready to go.

Sounds great. Stratty tone, with legit strat quack in the "in-between" positions (2 and 4 on the 5 way switch). Has a small switch which turns the bridge PU on in the 1 and 2 positions, giving you a couple extra sounds. Very resonant, sustain-laden guitar unplugged, makes for an equally good plugged in tone. Uses 500k pots, so somewhat more trebly than an equivalent 250k Strat-style guitar. Some people don't like Carvin's pickups, but they sound (to me) as good as any stock single-coil I've heard. Seems like most people end up switching out the PUs in their guitars, but I feel need to do that with these at all.

Fit and finish depends on me, as does action to the extent to which it depends on setup. Overall, this is a very high quality guitar, for cheap ($350 shipped, I believe). The quality of the wood used is excellent, as is the shaping and routing of it. Fretwork is flawless, as noted. The fixed bridge is a nice, solid, well-finished hunk of metal. The locking sperzels have been great to me; first guitar I have owned with them -- talk about a quick string change. This guitar will stay in tune as well as anything out there (fixed bridge, extremely solid carbon-reinforced neck, graphite nut, locking tuners).

Should hold up great. Strats are pretty tough, and this is as tough as any Fender I've seen.

No idea. I'm not even sure if the Bolt Kit has a warranty, since it's a kit. I have heard varying things about Carvin's customer service, from bad to passable to great. Not much to go wrong with this thing, though. I've heard about noisy and malfunctioning switches on these guitars, but haven't experienced that myself. It's possible that Carvin heard these complaints and improved the switch; in any case it seems solid enough.

Really an all-around great guitar, at an equally great price. Don't be put off by the need to assemble this thing yourself. That's an easy, enjoyable job. The worst part is waiting for the tung oil to dry when you'd like to be playing it already. I haven't got mine set up *exactly* how I'd like it in terms of action, but that's because I am basically learning guitar set-up as I go. Otherwise, it really plays great, and sounds just as good.

I ordered the kit in the middle of November, 2000. I recieved in in the middle of December, 2000. I ordered the fixed bridge kit with a mahogany body, maple fretboard, Sperzel locking tuners, and tortoise shell pickguard. I chose the SSH pickup config with a C22T in the bridge and the standard AP11's for the middle and neck pickups. It has one volume control, one tone control, a 5-way pickup switch, a switch to split the bridge humbucker to single coil, and another switch to turn the bridge pickup on in any position. I got Dunlop Straplocks also. The guitar is a strat-type guitar when assembled. The neck is a flat, wide neck which is absolutely great for soloing. I give it a 10 because I chose all the features that I wanted on it. They are running a special for half-off all options, so I loaded up on quite a few of them for only a little more than the standard kit price.

I play in my church band every Sunday. We play all different kinds of music from regular church worship music to comtemporary christian to bluesy-rock type, and including some heavier stuff. I've gotten them to do remakes of a couple of blues songs that I like. When I'm at home I like to play lots of blues and blues-rock.
I have two other Carvin's, a DC135T, and a DC135. My reviews of them are here in Harmony Central also. This kit guitar sounds just as good as them if not better. It has a mellower sound probably due to the bolt on neck, mahogany body, and maple fretboard (My other Carvins have ebony fetboards and neck-through body design). I was wanting something mellower than my others and achieved it with this one. The shielding keeps the single coils pretty quiet, and of course the humbucker is silent unless I use the coil splitter, and even then it's not noisy...just a slight hum to it.
At church I run my guitar through a Digitech RP7 into their power amps. I haven't found a patch yet that I use that doesn't sound great with this guitar. I usually just use the neck pickup for my playing becuase the bridge pickups on my other two are a little too bright for me. I really noticed the difference of the mahogany body with the humbucker. It is still bright as expected, but now there is a real mellow sweetness to the pickup that I don't hear in the other two guitars. It really sounds good. A couple of other musicians at church also commented on how much warmer this guitar sounds than my other ones.
At home I run my guitars straight into my Carvin Bel-Air 212 amp. Sometimes I use the RP7 in the effects loop to add some chorus or another effect. This guitar really shines when connected to this amp. I has a really big sound with lots of bass response and nice highs.
Whether I'm playing at home or at church I can get multiple varieties of sounds since I have a total of 11 different combinations with the 5-way selector, coil splitter, and bridge pickup on switch. No matter which selection I am on, I can tell that it is a mellower sound than my other Carvins. It really responds to my pick attack well. If I pick it soft it can sound just as smooth and creamy as any guitar I've played. If I pick it hard, the spanky sound of the maple fretboard really shines through nicely. I didn't realize that this was going to be such a versatile guitar.
I don't really want to say that it sounds like this or that guitar, because I really haven't heard a guitar with the complex sounds this one has, so it's hard to catagorize it as Strat-like, or Les Paul-like. I just know that it really sounds great to me and anyone else who has heard it. Clean sounds are crystal clear, and put in some overdrive and it can sing or scream with the best of them. I haven't noticed any of the pickups getting muddy, but I don't use it to play any death metal or the like. For the music styles I like it is great. I had also bought an extra white pearl pickgaurd planning to get some different pickups to put in it...maybe some Texas Specials, Fralins, Kinmans, or something...and I still may at some point, but not for a while. And if I do I'll certainly keep this pickuard assembly intact with everything on it to put it back in if I want. These Carvin pickups are really nice sounding, but I'll give it a 9 for sound because they haven't completely taken the idea of putting something else in this guitar, but they do sound great.

Well, most of this catagory has to do with my own ability to finish and assemble the guitar. I followed the instructions and put a tung oil finish on the body and neck. It was really easy to do, but it just takes some patience for the oil to dry. I think that the hardest part of doing the finish was trying to mask off the fretboard to keep the oil from getting on it or the frets. Unfortunately some got on it anyways. No big deal, I just used my #0000 steel wool and took it off of the frets and fretboard. All it took was a little elbow grease. The body came out great. It's a one piece body which looks just beautiful. I didn't know that mahogany had that much grain texture until I got this. It really came out looking nice. The neck came out silky smooth when I was done. I put four coats of tung oil on each as per the instructions. Doing it was really easy and ended up with a nice smooth satin finish.
When I was assembling the guitar, it was really simple. I think that it took me about 1-1/2 hours to do the whole assembly after I got the finish on the body and neck done. I could have rushed it, but didn't want to take a chance of screwing something up. Every hole lined up perfectly and the pieces went together really nice. The fit of the neck to the body was satisfyingly tight. It wasn't overly tight, but I can't fit a business card inbetween the seam, so it's really close. Much better than any Fender I've seen.
It took me about 25 minutes to string it and adjust the action and intonation. I was prepared to take longer, but the intonation was suprisingly close from the factory. I only had to adjust the intonation on two of the saddles, and even then they were just slightly sharp on my tuner. The only real trick was getting the height adjusted on the saddles. After I got that done, I set the intonation, and tightened the truss rod about 1/4 turn total. Now the action is great. I swear that it plays better than my other two Carvins also. I thought that wasn't possible because they play great. I actually have had to get used to this action because it is so low. Because of the fised bridge and the Sperzels, it stays in tune just great. I can bend notes all day long and not worry about it getting out of tune. My other Carvins have Sperzels also, and I am hooked on them. I don't think that I would buy another guitar without at least putting them on it.
I use Carvin 10-46 strings on all my electrics. They work great. I haven't broken a string since I started using theirs. Not really any fret rattle anywhere on the fretboard, and certainly none heard from my amp. I could raise the action a bit, but it's set where I like it. The frets were nice and level, and smooth. No edges sticking out. I have compared this to the necks of my other guitars, and it's just as good. I haven't played a better neck on any other brand of guitar.
I give the guitar a 10 in this catagory because everything went together much easier than I had anticipated. The finish turned out great, and putting it together and setting it up was simple. It only took me 3 days to put it together from start to finish. Most of that time was drying time for the tung oil.

Since I am the one that put this guitar together, I have a pretty good idea how well it was made. Quality materials were used in this guitar and I use it at least twice a week live playing. I haven't had any problem with my other Carvins after having one of them for a year and a half, and the other for going on a year. I don't expect any problems out of this guitar either. It actually feels more solid than my other two.
The Dunlop straplocks are very sturdy and haven't even thought of coming loose on my other Carvins, so I don't expect it here either. The rest of the hardware seems solid enough. I don't jump around and jerk and try to snap something on my guitars like an idiot, so I don't see why this stuff won't last a long time. The finish I'm not so sure about since I'm not real familiar with tung oil finishes. I've heard that every couple of years I may have to put another coat on, and I plan on wiping it down with lemon oil every 2 or 3 months, so I don't see a real problem. Even if I do have to put another coat on in a couple of years, it's easy to do.
I can and do depend on this guitar, just like my others. I only take one guitar when I play at church, and haven't had any problems in over a year of doing so. I don't forsee any problems with this guitar, but you never know. If I ever start a band and start giggin I would take another guitar just in case a broke a string or something. Overall a rock solid guitar that I have total faith in to not break down on me.

Sean McAnally is the person that I buy all my stuff from at Carvin. When I was getting ready to order this kit I told him the type of sound that I wanted, and he steered me to the mahogany body. I'm sure glad he did, because not only did it make for a beautiful guitar, but a great sounding one also. He answered all my silly questions, and still does whenever I have one. He is always very helpful, and nice when answering questions. I even changed a couple of things on my order a couple of days after it was ordered and he was extremely nice about changing the order.
I don't even know if there is a warranty since it is a kit, but if I have any problems, I'm sure that Sean and the guys at Carvin will take care of it and help me out. Their customer service is great.

I have been playing for over 3 years now. I also own two Carvin DC135's (one tremolo, one hard-tail), my Digitech RP7, a Carvin Bel-Air 212 (great amp!!), and a cheap acoustic.
For the last year and a half I had been wondering if anything out there could play as good as my DC135's without breaking my wallet. I have done plenty of searching over that time and played a lot of instruments. Many of them way out of my price range. I didn't find anything until I bought this kit and put it together. It plays great, sounds great, and look great. I paid about $750 each for my DC135's and a little over $400 for this kit. If I could change one thing about the kit it would be to get a koa body. I would like to get another kit with a koa body because I've heard so many good things about the tone of koa bodied guitars.
I honestly don't believe that I could get a better guitar for under $1000. I am not even concerned about resale value...I built this guitar and am proud of it. I would never let it go. If it was stolen I would definitely order another one just like it to replace it. If you have been thinking about getting one of these Carvin kits....do it. I was a bit apprehensive at first, thinking that I would mess something up, but it's really easy to build, and plays and sounds great. E-mail me if you have any questions.

2000 Bolt Kit. USA made, alder body, maple neck and fretboard, 21 frets, S/S/S AP11 pickup config with a 5-way selector and and an on/off switch for the bridge pickup. Finished in tung oil with a string-thru-body hardtail. Quality hardware and a nice wide/thin neck. Strangely, the maple fretboard is an upcharge of $20 over the standard ebony board (a more expensive wood that's harder to work with. Go figure). What you see is what you get.

I use my Bolt when I feel like switching from my usual technical progressive style to play straight-up rock, blues, or jazz dabblings. I prefer to use it through a Bel Air 212 combo because they are such a good match. I was surprised by just how quiet this guitar is, even in single-coil modes. Almost no 60-cycle hum.
When I finished assembling the guitar, I was blown away by how loud the guitar was unplugged and how much it resonated in my hands. I knew it would be a killer. The pickups are great - they have all the chimey bell and quack tones while not sounding exactly like a strat. The sustain was also surprising. I can sustain notes infinetely at low volumes with just a little bit of gain (anyone who says that bolt on necks don't sustain as well as neck-thrus need to play this). Using the neck pickup and flipping the toggle switch to engage the bridge humbucker is pure heaven--SRV and Hendrix would be proud. This guitar sounds fantastic, there is nothing I can find not to like about it. I can even do double-stop bends all day long and not even knock it out of tune with the standard tuners.

All the parts arrived perfectly cut and routed, except they forgot to drill pilot holes for the tuner screws on the back of the neck. Simple enough, I drilled them myself. The quality of the woods were flawless. The neck pocket was so tight, after I finished the neck I had to sand the finish where it contacted the body just to get it to fit! The best fitting neck pocket I've ever seen. The overall craftmanship was amazing. Sorry Fender, but even your American-made models don't even come close.

This guitar is as durable as you can expect any quality guitar to be. The oil finish I completed myself, so any durablity flaws there can be traced to myself. All of the hardware is solid and dependable. I would use it without a backup.

Excellent. Talking to these guys on a regular basis and have not been disappointed yet.

Unbelievable value. I have been playing for almost 8 years and own a bunch of other equipment from various manufacturers. There is nothing to hate about this axe, and it stomps the American made Fenders in quality (and tone, for that matter). Buy one!!

This is really just the a review of a Carvin neck I mounted on a Mexican Fender Strat. The neck is maple with ebony board and has 1&11/16 nut spacing and the usual Carvin profile ( similar to an Ibanez RG 550 with a little more meat)and a 15" radius. I also had it finished with a tung oil finish. It is to me, the most comfortable neck I have ever played.

The sound of my Mexi-Strat has been greatly improved by this neck. I really don't know why as I usually like the sound of rosewood boards more than ebony but it has added definition without adding undue treble.

I had my repair man install the neck and in doing so he of course dressed the frets so I cannot comment on how it showed up but right now the action is at 1/64" on the high E and 1/32" on the Low E and there is no buzzing and seeminly endless sustain.

I have other Carvin guitars and their frets seem to last a long time and the are quite tall so they can handle multiple dressings.

Carvin has many good people in sales as well as some uninformed fools who would tell you mahogany is brighter than ash. If you get a moron hang up and call back later.

I have a Gibson L-5, 347, Ibanez Pat Metheny, Heritage 575, Golden Eagle, Anderson Hollow Classic, Godin LGX-SA, and a Carvin TL60. Obviously these are all good guitars but the Mexican Fender loaded with EMG SA-SA-85, graphite saddles, and this neck is actually better in playability to all of them and sounds as good as any of them as well.

This is a follow-up response to a previous posting that I made. The guitar is a Carvin Bolt w/ walnut body, hss, and fixed bridge. After setting the guitar up as well as would be allowed, I found that the G string rattled and buzzed incessantly regardless of the neck relief and the height of the saddle. When I say regardless of saddle height, I mean that I had it cranked up till the screws were about to fall out. After many nights of annoying action height and string chatter, I sent the neck back to carvin. After a week and a half slipped by, I called to check on trhe status of the neck and the returns/repairs guy told me that the frets were slightly unlevel so he had the frets leveled and polished. I got it back a few days ago and reassembled it, restrung it, and set her up. I can't believe how much tone and sustain I was losing before I had this neck repaired. I put in 2 Rio Grande Tallboys along with Torres Engineering's Volume Kit and a Dimarzio Evolution. This guitar is awesome now. I'm playing through a Mesaboogie DC3 now and I am truly happy-again. You WILL have to take time to get used to this neck. Trust me. Once you do, you won't want to play another guitar because it allows for such accurate fretting, bending, and frethand vibrattos. I also LOVE it for chording. If not for this neck inclusion, I'd have assigned them a 9.

90% of their CS people left me with the impression that they couln't have cared less and I was bothering them! I was the one shit out of a guitar for over 2 weeks. They acted like I was interrupting their lunch. I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle the lot of them. I appreciated the way they let me pay for the shipping. See, guys, chivalry isn't dead. They treat youu like the only guitarrist on the planet before you buy, but once you commit, they treat you like the turd that always resurfaces.
If anyone wants to know anything about these wonderful guitars, just email me and we'll "chew the electronic fat".

Overall, this is the greatest guitar that I have ever played. There isn't another like it anywhere around here which adds to the lore of it all. I love it when people ask me "what the hell is that thing??". It's just a goddamned shame the way lousy customer service can filter one's view of a company.