Carvin Bolt Kit

I ordered this guitar kit a month ago, which makes it a 2k model. I chose a walnut body(beautiful)for this in lieu of the standard alder piece. I selected the M22SD humbucker, white pickguard, standard keys(excellent), fixed bridge, and black hardware.

After assembled I plugged the unfinished Carvin-stratoid into my Mesa/Boogie Mk IV halfstack. I've been playing for 13 years and I play everything from Journey to Dream Theater including Texas/Delta blues and some classical. I was TRULY shocked by the sound and amount of sustain this guitar can summon. I mean I only paid $420 for it, but I wasn't expecting it to sound this cool. I've got a Dimarzio Evolution and a pair of Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues waiting for her, but I may wait a little longer before I put them in. I've been accused of being a pessimistic hard-ass by my friends because I expect perfection(I call it being realistic)so I'll tell you the 2 things that I feel were a bit under par. First of all, I didn't much care for the action of the pots. I found them unresponsive until at either extreme position. They had a smooth action, however. Secondly, I wasn't happy with the 5-way switch, so out it came and in went a fender unit. In the realm of things not a big issue-especially considering the fact that my friend's thousand dollar PRS responded in a similar fashion. Tis guitar has it's OWN sound. You can't say it's just like this or it's just like that; It's just cool. I give this a 7 because of the aforementioned gripes(though the frosted wheat side of me wants to give this thing an 8 or a 9!).

The first thing that I noticed right after I opened the box was the stunning piece of wood laying before me. I've been restoring antique furniture for 9 years, so I feel qualified to make these remarks, and I can say to you that this wood is not cheap garbage. The grain is complex and the color is rich and even-and I haven't even applied the finish yet! All of the routing was flawless, every hole where it should be, and all parts accounted for in their entirety. Look people, something has to be said about the neck. The ebony is beautiful, the maple is slightly better than great(fantastic?), the fretwork is neat and even, if not a bit on the sharp side(not a big deal), and when fitted to the body, it forms a tighter seal than Al Gore's lips on Clinton's ass(Pretty damned tight!)! I highly recommend using Tung oil. Not only does it provide a great moisture barrier, but it deepens the color and richness of the woods natural attributes. Also, it is easy to repair if you are scratch-prone(as I am); All you have to do is apply the Tung oil to the scratch, let it dry, then lightly buff with 0000 steel wool! I recommend using Goddard's Furniture spray to condition the wood every few months to keep that sexy, smooth feel and deep luster!
I bought this guitar as a project and because I don't like lugging my American Strat around without a backup. Now the Strat is the Carvin's backup. If you are even remotely interested in trying this out, do it and do it without hesitation.

Well, I haven't had her long enough to state whether or not she's rugged, but in my opinion this kit is nicer than ANY guitar that I've owned costing up to and over $1000. The best feeling is when you jam with your friends and they have that "I wasted my money on a name brand" look on their faces. You have to admire that!

I only dealt with them(Damon)once upon ordering. Very helpful!

I live in New Orleans and I've been gigging for 4 years and here, people know the blues and metal, so you'd better have your shit straight. I've played LP's, Srats, and Ibanez's in New Orleans blues clubs for years, but since I got this thing, I can't tell you how many times I've been approached after a set and asked where I got this guitar from and how much it costs. I swear sometimes I just wanted to tell them that it was given to me as a gift and I hadn't a clue because this thing is my secret weapon.

Bought it in 1999. The Carvin catalog and their website pretty much describe the basic features of the kit. It's basically a strat-oid guitar in peices, i.e. neck, body, tuners, pickgaurd, etc. All wood components are machine sanded but not finished. The body is Alder and the neck was maple with an ebony fingerboard. The pickguard comes pre-wired with your requested configuration of pickups. I wanted a super-strat style guitar, so I ordered a bridge humbucker and two single coils in a white tort. shell pickguard. In this configuration there is one volumne and one tome control, standard strat-style 5 position pickup selector switch and a mini-switch that is a coil tap for the humbucker. I also ordered an additional mini-switch and wired it to switch the bridge pickup in when the standard five-way switch is in any of the front three positions. This is the standard wiring for the three single coil pickguard. I also ordered a hard-tail rather than the wiggle-tail and upgraded to Sperzel locking tuners. I stained the body with an oil stain and finished the body and neck with tung oil. The results were great and required no special wood finishing skill or tools. The assembly was easy since Carvin's directions were so clear.

Ths guitar is a real tone-monster! I play mostly blues and blues-rock with some country and pop thrown in and it really covers all of the bases. I've heard complaints about Carvin pickups, but these are excellent. They seem to have more punch than the EMG's on my Ame-Std Strat and may be somewhat brighter. All of the different tone combinations are really cool. I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and/or Blues Junior with a Tube Screamer. Clean is punchy and harmonically complex. I especially like the neck pickup (personal taste). When slightly overdriven all of the clean tone remains and harmonic complexity is enhanced. With the drive on the tub-screamer pegged, well does "Carlos Santana" ring a bell. The body and neck are really live and respond well to string vibrations, further enhancing the sound. The pickups can be a bit noisy, picking up electrical interference set up by flouresent lights and such. But I think that a lot of that will be eliminated when I install some additional shielding. Since the pickguard dimesions are standardardized and the body is routed to fit humbuckers in all three positions, other pickups could be used as well. I don't think that I'll change just now though. This guitar is strat-like in sound, but does not sound just like a strat (whatever that is supposed to mean). If you want that strat sound, save a LOT more money and buy the real thing. If you want a great sounding electric guitar for a lot less, then this is your axe.

Well since its a kit most of the action, fit, and finish should be my responsibility right? Well certainly the finish since I did that myself. But the action, fit, and finish of a kit is only as good as the component parts and these components are excellent. Everything fit together very easily and with no fudging whatsoever required on my part. The neck/body joint was satsifyingly tight. All of the screw holes lined up. The neck and fret-work are as good as I've seen on guitars costing three times as much. The setup was really easy to get right since the directions were so good. The resulting action is low with no buzzouts on bends and such.

I have not had the guitar even a year yet, so I'm extrapolating when I say that it is a rugged beast that will work great in live situations. The tung oil finish in particular is very nice to have, since it is very forgiving and can easily and beautifully be "brought back" simply by applying a fresh coat.

Calling to buy the kit was a pleasure because the guy I talked to (Carl I think his name was) seemed really excited about the product and like a good salesperson made me feel even more excited about buying it. :) Regretably, this does not always happen. I did have to call to ask a setup question and was put in contact with a real person pretty quickly. However in this case I got the feeling that this person felt I was bothering them with my question. :(

I have been playing on and off for 25 years. I have had Gibsons, Fenders, Ibenezes, Epiphones, etc. I still have an Ame Std Strat with EMGs that is a great guitar. I play the Carvin because it is so rock solid and great sounding, but also because I built it myself. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another Carvin kit. If I ever got another kit from Carvin, I would hope to have other wood choices for the Body. I suspect that they keep the best stuff for the pre-assembled and custom shop guitars.

I HOPE U PRINT THIS AS I HAVE A GRIPE WITH CARVIN!!!! EVERYONE CAN READ ABOUT THE SPECS IN OTHER REVS BECAUSE THEY ARE WELL COVERED.

THE GUITAR IS GREAT ,,BUT MY BITCH WITH CARVIN CONCERNS A PREVIOUSLY ORDERED NECK.

NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE BOLT[HARDTAIL]

COOL AS CAN BE BUT I NEVER GIG W/O BK/UP

!@$#@%&^*%^^$$$$%&&*$%$^&*@!!##SENT THEM THE NECK,,CONTACTED THEM E-M AND PHONE.NECK WAS INSTALLED BY LUTHIER, HE HAD TO MAXX THE TRUSS ROD AND THERE JUST TOO MUCH RELIEF.SENT BACK WITH CARVIN PROMISE OF NEW NECK,THEY JUST SHIPPED IT BACK SAYING "THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE NECK!RITE!AND MAHDONNA IS A VIRGIN!

AFTER 30+ YRS I CAN SPOT A BAD NECK.I SUPPOSE MY GUITAR TECH AND THE LUTHIER THAT INSTALLED IT ARE !@#@$ING STUPID & BLIND JUST LIKE ME! WHAT REALLLLLY PISSES ME IS NOT THE FACT OF A BAD NECK, BUT SENDING THE SAME ONE BACK, STATING THERE IS NOTHING WRONG!!!! SO PISS DOWN MY BACK & TELL ME IT'S RAINING!!!! I DON'T THINK SO!

The Carvin Bolt kit is a strat clone which is idential to their bolt, save the buyer assembles and finishs the guitar. Mine is a 1999 model. I have owned it about 6 months now, as I wanted to spend some time with it before I wrote up a review. It can be ordered with some variations of body woods, pickups, fretboard woods and fret sizes. I chose a mahog body, ebony fretbaord (maple neck), hardtail and 3 single coils (A11's) and chrome hardwear. I ordered the torty pickguard as well. The Carvin set up for the 3 singles has a master volume and tone, a standard 5-way and a switch so the bridge pu can be turned on at any time (allowing neck-bridge and all 3 pu's on combos). Mine came with a one piece mahog body. Carvin uses a 3 humbucker route (Fender a "swimming pool" route) so there is more wood inthe body than in many Fenders. The tuners are Carvin standard, but Shallers are also avaible. The neck profile is flat (14" radis) and thin, with tall medium fretwire. I bought the kit as I was going to build a hybred and this was the best deal I could find on quality parts.

I play largely blues (Delta clean), with infrequent treks into rock and high gain. This guitar fits that style well. The fret is great for virbrato and bending. The neck is fast and great. I would like a little thicker profile but this is not bad. The guitar has some of the standard single coil hum, but as it sheilded it is not bad. The Carvin singles are a little more mellow, but a little brighter than the traditional strat to my ears. This is likely to be due in part to the mahog body I chose and the 500K pots Carvin uses. The tone control takes care of this treble well however and I have not found it a problem. The neck or neck-bridge gives a nice jazzy feel. The middle is the standard middle and the bridge (remember it is a hardtail) has a real country (twangy) tone. The in between have the strat quack tone. The Carvin A11's should fit anywhere a 3 single tone is desired. As I am primarily a humbucker player, I set up a pickguard with a Gibson Classic 57 in the neck and 57 plus in the bridge. I used the 500K stacked pots, and 3-way (LP style) switch and a standard 11 hole Strat pickguard from Warmoth as well. Wiring is Stew-Mac (.05 Cap) and Radio Shack). The body had to have a couple of spots touched up with a dremel to drop in Fender's traditional 2 bucker strat configuration. Also one hole in the 11 hole pickguard is 2 inches difference in position between the 11 hole Strat and 11 hole Carvin pickguard. But, as it is under the pickguard (either one when you switch as they are identical in shape) it cannot be seen. The dual bucker tone in sweet. Thinks a smokey blues (BB King like) tone. Plus, with a swich of the pickguards I now can move between 3 singles a dual bucker whenever I desire. People have been very surprised by the tone of this thing.

Well, as the factory sends this to you in pieces in a box it is not set up from the facotry. The pieces are all exceptionally easy to fit together and it is a matter of using a screwdriver, allen wrench and truss rod wrench to have it set up. The pievces fit excetionally well, except for the body neck joint on mine. Others have nto had any complains so it may just have been my version. There was/is about a 1/32 gap from the lower edge of the neck inthe neck-bdoy pocket. Otherwise every other joint was perfect. Finish is supplied by the buyer. I finished mine using a tung oil and tinted wax mixture, and very fine sanding. It has as semi-gloss finish and is very attractive. It was easy to do and only takes patience to let things cure.

I do not gig at this time but I will use it if I do. I play 3-4 hours a day on average and it has help up well. The 5 way is a bit scratchy though and has had to be adjusted or cleaned a couple of times. The chrome hardwear seems to be holding up fine so far. The finish is great for me as I like natural styled finishes and it shows few finger prints or dings. The strap buttons were smaller than I like so I put Shaller locking buttons on it. I use it as my number one as yet. I have owned Fenders, Gibsons and many other makes but this thing plays great, holds up as well and sounds exceptionally good. I don't go anywhere without a backup. But, this guitar gives me not reason to assume it would be less relaible than any other guitar I have owned.

When I have talked to the company they have generally been very good. However, on at least one occation I have was told differing stories about options. I never contacted Carvin about the neck pocket gap as it was my only guitar at the time I was finishing it (too much wheeling and dealing going on at my house!) and I did not want to be guitar free for a week or 2.

I have been playing over 25 years now. Most of that time acoustic. I moved to electrics about 2-3 years ago or so. I have experimented with Gibson, Fender, Samick and other electirics over the years and specially during the last few years. This thing is as sound as any of the other manufactures and as reliable. Not only would I replace it if it were lost, I am considering getting a second kit to keep one set up with 3 singles and the other with the dual buckers. I found nothing like it for the price and I looked hard. Worth it if you can handel the taller fretwire (I love it) flatter radis neck (great for bends, OK for rhythms) and thin necks (this is OK for me).

Strat copy, 22 frets, 25 1/2 inch scale, maple neck, alder body, hardtail bridge, string-through-body, 2 AP11 single coils/1 C22T humbucker, 1 volume/1 tone, white 3-layer pickguard, ebony fretboard, 5-way switch (replaced with 3 on/off switches), coil tap switch (removed), neck finished with 3 coats of tung oil, body finished with 2 coats minwax "honey maple" stain and 2 coats of clear shellac

neck and middle pickups warm and round, bridge pickup sounds weak, especially high-E string, wish i had 3 single coils, might replace humbucker with seymour duncan JB...

guitar ordered as a kit, all holes pre-drilled, pickguard and electronics pre-assembled. just had to connect output wires to string ground and output jack with wire nuts (i ended up soldering them). 5-way switch was noisy and sound would cut out in middle position. Replaced with 3 on/off switches. high-E slot in nut was cut too low, but doesn't buzz. Am getting used to low action and high frets, can't press too hard on lower frets. Neck is a little thin for me, but i'm used to playing an acoustic. Not bad above 9th fret, but lower than than and my hand starts to cramp after a while.

have not played live yet. seems to be holding up alright. Good first instrument.

Customer service was good, shipping took longer than expected, but hey, i ordered it the week before Christmas and didn't receive it til middle of january.

Not bad for my first kit guitar. Skip the C22 option and save $20. Aside from the malfunctioning switch and the thin neck, I'd have no problem buying another one.

This guitar came in a box. Features 22 fret 25 1/2 inch scale ebony board with medium jumbo frets(tall and thin) s/s/h pickups. Alder body(2-piece laminated quarter sown wood) and a hard tail bridge. The pickups are carvin ap-11 single coiles and a carvin c-22 humbucker. The neck and body were not finished.

I am very pleased with what I got for $350.00. Once put together this guitar sounded VERY GOOD! with one exception. The c-22 humbucker had a nice warm sweet tone, BUT NO BALLS! It has been replaced with a Duncan JB modle and now I have an AX thats hard to put down! The ap-11 single coils are perfect for me. They sound very good on this alder body. Good bass and not too bright. Not vintage,but not Texas specials either. Kind of in between. There a little weak(for me) with the gain turned up but thats what the JB is for! Just right clean. I Jam with a friend of mine who uses a Les Paul and a George Benson Ibanez and this guitar(with the JB) can HOLD ITS OWN very well. I play it through a 1x12 60watt tube amp only using chorus,delay,(analog!) compressor and cry baby! can you say GOOD TONE!

I did the finish four coats tung oil neck and body. It turned out o.k! The body was sanded until it felt like glass. The neck is one of the best I've ever played. Flat and FAST. This is made for lead guitar! BUT!!! maybe not as good for jazz chords. The action can be set low due to the great fret work done on this neck.

ALL the hardware on this guitar is GOOD QUALITY! The wood is NOT CHEAP WOOD(I showed it to a carpenter friend of mine with over 20 years of wood working experience and he was impressed) LETS JAM!!!

I've talked to four different people at Carvin only one was a total A**HOLE!

I've played rock,blues,classical and jazz for 20 years on 32 different guitars! This guitar has a unique feel about it. Does not feel like a Fender or Gibson. For the price I give it a 10!!and I would replace it if lost or stolen with the same thing(except I would get 3 ap-11's and not the c-22 option) This kit came with 009-042 guage strings. I used 10-46. Nine guage strings can make almost any guitar sound thin and tinny especially guitars with single coils! The best 350.00 I've ever spent on an AX!!!! That is what the final rating is based upon. GOOD TONE! GREAT PLAYABILITY!(for me more important than tone or looks) DECENT LOOKS! FOR 350.00!

This is standard bolt kit model with the hard-tail bridge. Basic made in the USA Carvin. It's got the three single coils, master volume, master tone, and mini-switch for 7 pickup variations. 22 fret neck, medium jumbo frets, 15 inch radius and I had them cut the nut for heavier strings than the supplied 9-42 slackers. I generally use .010-.050 strings. The body is the standard alder strat shape, although shaped slightly different. I followed the directions on finishing with tung oil and it looks very nice. The finish has a soft, smooth feel, especially when comparing to my Am. Std Strat with a gloss finish. The guitar is also lighter than my Strat. I decided to wait until I had 20-25 gigs with this guitar before I made this submission, which was good because I've learned a few things after playing it in the real world. In the next few sections comes the nit-picks. It gets a 8 rating because I knew exactly the features I was getting.

I play in a Country band in Texas, doing about 100 dates a year. Doing this in Texas you better be able to play a little of everything-honky tonk, blues, rock, old & new country. A strat style guitar fits perfectly. I played an Am. Std. Strat for 6 years doing this. I wanted a hard-tail guitar and the price was certainly right on this Carvin. I currently use a Boss compressor, Ibanez analog delay going into a Blues Jr. A/B'ing the Carvin with my Fender Strat showed the pickups on the Carvin to be hotter and voiced a little darker, not quite as bright. I can actually use the bridge pickup without sounding too harsh. I can get all the twang I need from this guitar. Still get the 60 cycle hum in pos. 1-3-5. About the same as my Fender. The mini-switch will give you 2 additional combinations: the 2 outside pickups; and all 3 together. I hardly ever use these, they sound a little thin, maybe I'm just not used to this sound. The pots are smooth, however they react differently. Not much of a change until you turn them way down. Overall a good sound. Another reason for this guitar was to dedicate my Fender Strat for slide. Heavy strings, open tuning, high action. So the Carvin is my #1 stage guitar with the Fender for slide work.

First the good stuff. Since this is a kit I did all the setup myself. This guitar went together perfectly. Every screw hole lined up. The neck pocket couldn't be tighter. The pickups barely needed height adjustments. Even the bridge saddles were close. Now the not so good stuff. The five way switch is history. In positions 1 and 5 it would occasionaly short out and go dead. Not good on stage. The saddle adjustment screws have really sharp edges. The fret ends are not as smooth as they should be. On the 10th fret, on the treble side, the fret is slightly tall. Gets a buzz right there, the only place on the entire neck. Other than that, the guitar plays great. The jump to the flatter neck was no trouble at all. (I've always played Fenders) The rest of the hardware is perfect.

As stated I play live with this guitar 2-3 times a week. It seems like it will hold up fine. As bulletproof as my Fender? Only a few years in smoke filled clubs will tell that. It will be interesting to see the tung oil finish after many nights of gigging. I play this guitar without a real backup. My Fender is always there, but it's tuned to open-G and has extremely heavy strings for slide work.

I never really dealt with anyone at Carvin. Just ordered the thing right from the catalog. They were prompt however and didn't seem to mind cutting the nut for heavier strings. So I guess that's thumbs up.

I've been playing for 30 years. Also play the Am. Std. Strat mentioned above. Have an 70's model Telecaster, cheap one. Various acoustic guitars. When I decided to get another guitar I looked at Fenders, of course. At that time the only hard tail they offered was the Robert Cray model. They have since come out a couple more hard tail models. If stolen I would probably get another, especially for the price. Even with the nit picks I had with mine, it's still the best deal around for the money. Hey, it looks cool, sounds good (get a tube amp, you'll sound better)& plays good. That's not a bad thing.

I bought the kit with sperzels and a humbucker. I own a Strat with 3 single coils that I am probably going to lose to one of my kids - so I made the Carvin for me. I was really impressed with the fit and finish. I stained it translucent blue about five times - sanding in between - and then sanded a good bit of it off. It looks like a very old, comfortable pair of jeans. That was my goal and it turned out okay. I tung oiled the body four coats - but it didn't have enough gloss or durability - so out came the polyurethane. I put 6 coats of poly on it and it has the finish I wanted over about 80% of the body. I wanted to have the last coat put on by a pro - but I couldn't find a pro who would touch it (we're goint to jabe to fill up the hole - sir it's a solid block of wood we don't need to mask..., well, we are going to have to do something about the hole...). Bought their case and that was a mistake. More on that later,.

I don't play it much outside my house. I live in a wheelchair and pretty much stay to one floor. Using their controls - I can dupe my strat, but the humbucker really fills the sound up. I have a G & L Tele that has all the twang I need and this guitar can't match that. A lot of you readers have forgotten more about how sound sounds than I will ever know. Its okay without an amp, which I consider a good sign, its harmonics are outstanding, and the sustain is exceptional. Of course - I am a bolt on neck guy.

I was amazed - and very happy that there is no buzz, intonation was good enough I didn't have to adjust it, and the action is very nice. I need to get used to the wide frets. It occurs to me that its easy to adapt while soloing - but a real stretch on chords. I guess its just different than my fender (and fender style) necks.

I think it will be very diurable. My finish is sokid. I am not afraid to dig in but I know my limitations (my wife constantly reminds me). The construction and design of the guitar I think are really nice. When you build it check every screw; I found a couple in the pickguard/electronics were visibly loose.

I was disappointed with their response when I bought their case. It doesn't fit properly. When I talked to Sean he basically said that that's the way they are and you can jam your guitar in there and make it fit and that he had returned one that he had. Hey! I've been through this drill before - broken hinges in the back guaranteed. Why the hell did he sekk it too me if he knew that "thats the way they are"? He told me to go to a local shop and buy one. I wish he told me that when I ordered it. Its a pain in the ass for me to ship it out.

I've been playing for 35 years. I have four children who all play. I have a US made strat, a G & L asap classic (tele), a madeira 6-string (what can O say - I love it and have had it for 26 years. I have an Alvarez 12 string and an Ovation (I was curious - will never make that mistake again - their technology sounded so cool). In my basement I have a piano and a 5-piece set of drums. I bought this one for me and hope to buy one again - but want to explore what else is out there.