Carvin Bolt Plus Kit

Bolt Plus
Wilkinson Trem
22 Frets
Carvin Humbucker Pickups
5 way switch
One Volume, 1 Tone Knob
Painted with their textured finish

I play a bit of everything, It has a bit more of a classic rock sound than my dc127 but I like it. I feel that it's versatile and with a good amp could be used to play everything from heavy metal, to Steve Vai/Satch type stuff, to SRV/Led Zep type stuff.

It came painted with their textured finish, which is supposed to be extra durable. Through fault of my own it did get a little chip, so it's not invincible. I think they meant more scratch resistant than chip resistant when they said "durable". It looks cool though, and your arm doesn't stick to it like gloss finishes do. Plays great, the action is a bit high, but still lower than most strats, etc you'd find in guitar center.

Carvin Rocks. They build good guitars that last.

Carvin rocks, great customer support.

If you want a good guitar for not a lot of money and have minimal DIY know-how, I'd recommend this guitar.

I ordered my bolt+ kit with:
* mahogany body (one piece)
* mohagny neck (two pieces)
* ebony board
* dot inlays
* black hardware
* M22 pickups (H/H)
* flatmount bridge (string through)
* Sperzel locking tuners.
* 22 jumbo frets
* 5-way switch
* 1 vol and 1 tone control.

This kit is a strat-style rear-routed guitar.

I could not find the pickups that gave me the sound I was looking for.

I tried the stock pickups, Dimarzio TZ/AN, Dimarzio D-Activator, Duncan JB/Jazz. I think if I could have fit some EMG pickups I would have found the sound.

All of the parts came packaged well and I pre fit the neck and body and all was well.

I sanded the body and neck to 600 (I know a bit overboard).

I finished the body and neck with 12 coats of Minwax Tung oil over the course of a week making sure I did not get any in the neck pocket or on the neck heel..

I assembled the guitar per the instructions and was impressed how well everything came together. There were nice brass inserts for the control cavity cover screws and pre-cut sheilding for the controls.

Unfortunately I could not get the damn thing adjusted. Whatever I tried there was some sort of fret buzz. I had to raise the bridge saddles up so high I almost ran out of thread.

I tried to angle the bridge but that didn't help either. IMO it is unplayable. I did get som practice using a slide with open E tuning.

I think the quality of parts make this guitar a tank.

The only weakness is the poor quality of the pickups. The coils are RTV-ed to the mounting base. There were no mechanical connections at all. So one of them fell apart in my hand.

I emailed Carvin customer support and off it wet to be looked at.

A guitar tech called me about a week later and told me it just needed set up and sent it back - practically unchanged. I did notice the bridge saddles were raise a little more.

My other Carvin guitars play so well so I just chalked it up to my lack of guitar bulding skills and gave it to an artist friend to paint on for one of his shows.

I've bee playing a long time and re-finishing for just about as long.

I hate stripping the paint off so much I thought I'd give this build a try.

It sort of puts a dent in my desire to start any more guitar projects.

2004, USA made DIY kit - 22 frets, Strat style alder solidbody, and thin, graphite reinforced, bolt-on maple neck, with jumbo frets, flying V type headstock, ebony fretboard, and abalone block fret markers. Came with 2 Carvin C22 humbuckers, 1 5-way, Strat style switch, 1 passive 500k volume, 1 passive tone. String-thru body hardtail bridge, locking Sperzel tuners, and polished dome knobs, all hardware in gold. 15" radius fretboard, 25 1/2 inch scale. Came to my door unfinished, with wiring schematic, blank trussrod cover, and truss wrench. Price included a nice tweed hardwood case, which matches my amp perfectly.

My style is in the bluesy, classic rock vein, but all-original. Think "Zeppelin meets Beatles".

Signal chain: Carvin Bolt Plus into a Sabine tuner, Dunlop Crybaby Wah-Wah, and an HBE Power Screamer, then into the imput of a 1995 Fender Blues DeVille (4X10, 60 Watts, all tube), out from the preamp,into an MXR Phase 90 and a Boss DD-5 Delay with outboard tempo tap, and back into the power amp section of the DeVille, before hitting your ears.

Bright sounding guitar. Light, strong, resonant wood. I'd heard some good things about Carvin pickups, but the ones that came with the kit sucked HARD. The bridge pickup was microphonic and fed back immediately upon installation. Said feedback was the only personality I could hear in these pickups. However, pickups I can fix. See below for details.

How well was the guitar set-up at the factory? N/A
How well were the pickups adjusted? N/A
Properly bookmatched top? Yes. Properly routed bridge? Yes.
The woods were well-crafted, routed, and generally flawless, and the jumbo frets were impeccably crowned and polished. The abalone inlays were each, for the most part, stunning, but for all the extra money I paid, I would expect every inlay to be equally stunning. Come on, Carvin.

This is a really durable guitar. I have used it on gigs without a backup, and it's totally reliable (Now).

I've dealt with Carvin before, and it's a great company. Everyone there has always been very nice and helpful, and I never was left wanting when dealing with customer support - until this purchase. When I wanted to mod the guitar (see below), I had to deal with Carvin's main guitar guy, and he was not only rude, he did not listen to me, or even seem to care what the problem was. I ended up getting help from another Carvin employee after complaining about this twerp I had to deal with. Months later, I had another quandry, and the guy at the 1-800 number routed my call to this same pain-in-the-neck guy, and guess what? He still hasn't gotten back to me. Maybe he thinks that a do-it-yourself'er who buys a guitar kit doesn't deserve the same consideration as the ones who spend more money on a full custom shop job. Or maybe he's just an elitest asshole. Carvin, fire this knob. He doesn't deserve to work for such a great company.

I've been playing for 16 years, and have owned Fender Stratocasters ranging in quality from poor to excellent, a couple great Les Pauls, a few Hamers, an Ibanez, an most recently, two Paul Reed Smiths. Because of the diversity of sounds I demand from a guitar, no one axe seemed to cut it. It all comes down to that old Gibson vs. Fender debate. I had to have both vibes in one instrument. With the PRS's, I found some comprimise between the two. However, just like every guitar before it, there were some things about it that drove me up a tree.

Being the control freak I am, I decided that I needed to get a guitar with every feature I need, and none that I don't. The only way to accomplish this was to build my own from scratch. My dream guitar now has:
*A beautifully rich gold sparkle finish (My drummer just happens to be a master woodworker), with gold hardware.
*Equally beautiful abalone fret markers (In easy to see blocks - I'm not only the sole guitarist in a power trio, I'm the lead singer, so I need big targets when playing live).
*Locking tuners and strap buttons (Convenience/safety).
*A double-cutaway for upper-register access AND a 3-per-side headstock (6 inline tuners confuse me when I'm singing, playing, and working the audience).
*A thin neck - PRS got me hooked.
*Jumbo frets - WAY expressive.
*A string thru body, hardtail bridge (I never use tremolo, and hate the sound of springs, and tune-o-matic bridge/stop tailpieces drive me nuts when I change strings - they fall apart).
*22 frets - The neck pickup always sounds better with a 22 fret neck.
*Custom electronics - One 500k volume pot, one 5-way Strat style switch to access humbucking and split coil sounds (See below), no tone knob (I play rock!), and one Gibson style 3-way switch (Used as a kill switch or for the "feedback flutter" that you can usually only get out of a 2 volume Gibby).
*My "db" logo engraved into the trussrod cover. A local engraver did it for seven bucks. Boffo!

Pickup configuration:
I installed a Duncan Alnico II Pro Neck and a Rio Grande Muy Grande Bridge, and I'm starting to dig the combination - so much versatility! All 5 sounds have distinct character, but are way different.

Position 1: Neck humbucker = Like buttah! Really breathes - you can hear the wood, and it sustains forever. I've always used a '59 or a Jazz in the neck, but I now see what all the fuss is about with the APH. It's more graceful.

Position 2: Neck coil tapped = Kind of like a "toned-down" Strat sound - almost plays like a rich acoustic guitar. I can lay into it, and it never gets harsh or muddy. Again, that APH is a wonderous thing.

Position 3: Bridge single coil + neck single coil = Articulate. Funky. Not your usual in-between Strat "quack", but it snaps, boings and bounces quite nicely. Great for playing fast and ballsy chord progressions, too.

Position 4: Bridge coil tapped = One of the fullest, best single coil sounds I've ever played. This sound alone is worth getting a Muy Grande hummer. It just sings.

Position 5: Bridge humbucker = Position 4 squared. Corpulent, over the-top, and a bit compressed. AWESOME for Pagey-type riffing. Gets thinner above the 12th fret, but that's where the Duncan really takes off, so that's when I usually switch to the neck.

For years, I've searched for that elusive balance between the snarky punch of a Fender and the fat sweetness of a Gibson. This combo hits it in a way that even my PRS never could - uncompromisingly. I would highly reccomend this setup to anyone, because it covers so much dang ground.
This is the ultimate guitar for me! Everything I want, nothing I don't, and if it were lost or stolen, you bet I'd replace it, and to exactly the same specs.
A DIY custom jobbie is not for everyone! If I had not gone through 16 years of playing guitars I wasn't completely satisfied with, I never would have had the knowledge or loving patience I needed to build my perfect axe. It's a

This is a March 2003 creation. I got the standard Bolt Plus kit (rear-routed) with the addition of jumbo frets, M22SD (bridge) and M22N (neck) pickups. The guitar usually comes standard with medium jumbo frets and the C (classic) series pickups. The other standard features are Sperzels, ebony fretboard, alder body and string thru fixed bridge. I also bought the case to go with it. All for less than $500 for a new American made guitar. I saved $200 by putting the guitar together and finishing it myself. The guitar is wired with a 5-way switch. 1 and 5 are the Bridge and Neck humbuckers on full. 2 splits the bridge into single coil and 4 splits the neck into single coil. 3 splits both humbuckers and uses the inside coil of each. Lots of good options for pickup sounds.

This guitar does a lot of things very well. My other guitar is a Parker Fly Deluxe. With the exception of piezo, the Carvin can do it all. The M22SD is nice and hot. Makes for a better soloing pickup than the one in my Parker. The M22N is a great neck pickup. Gets real sweet and bluesy. Wonderful for soloing and clean work. With the alder body the guitar has a even range of frequency response. I usually use this with either my Carvin SX300R preamp or a Digitech RP2000. I play for my church worship team and I need a guitar to do many different things. This guitar doesn't let me down.

All I have to say is WOW!!!! The fretwork is some of the best I have EVER seen. My Parker's stainless steel frets are the only ones that I would say are better. The neck was perfectly sanded and ready to finish. Same with the body. I put on 3 coats of tung oil and she was ready to go. I can't comment on any part of the finish except the sanding and wood quality since I was responsible for the tung oiling. The woods were perfect and very light in weight.

The strap butons were a little on the small side and you would need to get some strap locks.(Dunlop Straplocks are an available option) After I had it assembled the guitar seemed more than sturdy enough. I have been playing it for two months and it has had no problems, but 2 months is not a lot of time. Still, I am not worried. Even though I put it together it is very well built and very solid. Great hardware and components. I have no fear of using this without a backup.

I have one problem with their support...sometimes you get people who have no clue of what is going on. I was originally told that it would take about 2 weeks and to call back then to see if it was ready. Well, I did. They said check back Monday, it will be ready then. I called Monday and they said check back Friday, it will be ready then. These phone conversations happened for 3 weeks after my initial 2 week wait. What would have been better was to let me know that it would take at least a month. Instead, I had people who had no idea of what was going on telling me to call back. Either there is a communication problem with them or I just got some lazy reps. I have ordered other things from Carvin before and have had no problems. Usually, I would consider this an isolated event, but since I had to go through 3 weeks of being run-around it wasn't a one time fluke. The trick is to get someone who has a clue. I am going to take a few points off for this. Still, I at least had a warm body to talk to every time and they were polite and responded quickly.

I have been playing for 15 years. This is a great guitar. When I hold it I get a very Nuno Bettencourt vibe. I can't be happier with my purchase. I have been looking at some strat guitars and I have been appalled. The US strats have had some of the worst fretwork I have ever seen in a guitar that sells for $800 and up. That left me with no doubts about my choice for a strat type guitar...a standard Carvin bolt kit (with pickguard). A US made guitar with more options than a US strat at a fraction of the price. Can't beat that for a guitar that is made better and plays better.