Carvin Bolt-T Kit

I bought it used, but it looks brand new, so I am going to call it a 2002 model.
Alder body, maple neck with ebony fretboard, standard CArvin stuff, Sperzel locking tuners, frets appear to be jumbo/mediums, 25.5" neck scale, 22 frets, bolt on neck, passive single coil AP11 pickups with a switch so the bridge pickup can be on constantly no matter the pickup selector.
Body and neck Tung-oil finish about 4 or 5 coats.

Sound? David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) type of sound, very woody and transparent with tons of sustain. Very rich with excellent overtones. For overdrive, a pedal works best because the output of the pickups is low.
For overall sound a coil tapped humbucker in the bridge might work best, but as for as the bell-like tone this guitar gets it in buckets, plus sustain, which is important to me...
I think most of the sustain comes from the tight neck and bridge combo. The neck is tight by virtue of the double truss rod and the ebony fret board, so there is not sustatin killing slop in the neck and the small Wilkinson bridge with the springs helps out on the sustain too.

Since this was originally a kit someone else built the set-up was not right. Probably why is was sold. Nut and bridge were too high and three strings did not inonate right. Brought the nut height on first fret down to 15 thou and the 17th fret string distance down to 62.5 thou. plust intonation and no fret buzz...ahhh, perfect.
This guitar is really very light even with the alder wood...I have not weighed it yet but I suspect it is under 7 lbs.
Typical Carvin quality of parts...excellent.

I own another Carvin...everything is solid on the guitar...if you feel you need a backup when you gig, other than extra strings...i would get a better built instrument...

Had not had much customer support needs, but when I have called Carvin they have always been excellent

I paid $250 for an excellent guitar, so value is way up there....
To do better than Carvin you need to get into the PRS realm of things, $1,500++., otherwise your on your own..... Fender and Gibson are too inconsistent quality wise and stability of the instrument.

Since I play about 3 times a week the thing I like the most is that it stay in tune so well and it always plays and feels consitent day in and day out. MAy not be the best tone, or the best finish or the best wood....It is like buying a Toyota automobile...it will get you there and back for the next ten years in comfort and style

I've slowly put this guitar together over a 3 year period, replacing parts on my Ibanez 540-S Sabre until it was gone. I have the swamp ash body, Wilkinson tremolo, Sperzel locking tuners, 2 Lace Sensor single-coil picks and a Seymour Duncan "Holdsworth" humbucker at the bridge with a coil-splitter. The neck has a great feel, solid and not too thin. The body has a nice singing sustain and the top-end cuts through any mix.

I play everything from progressive nu-metal to jazz. This guitar gives me that great clean strat spank that I used to get with my "58 strat and with the humbucker, I can get a full singing tone with distortion that cuts through the mix. I used to use an Ibanez 540-Sabre but I missed the sound I had when I had one of the old Ibanez Allan Holdsworth guitars. Live, I run through an old Rocktron ProGap which I can't part with, Rocktron Intellifex, Digitech DSP 128, ADA power amp and 2 Marshall 1936 2x12 cabs. For recording, I use a Johnson J-Station. Haven't found a sound I can't get out of this guitar.

I put the thing together myself over time by slowly replacing the parts on my Sabre until I finally replaced the body with the carvin body.

This guitar is built to last. Even if it was damaged or broken in some way, because it's a bolt-on, I would just replace the part that was broken and slap it back together.

Great fast shipping. They have a great customer support network in place and they even faxed me a schematic for the pick-up selector when I pointed out that the one they sent me was different then what was on their website.

I've been playing 25 years. This guitar combines all the features I've loved about other guitars I've owned. It can do the strat thing, get heavy but still not get lost in the mix, sustain forever, stay in tune without a Floyd Rose and it's light on the shoulders. Carvin let's you build a custom guitar the way recording artists do. If I were in a touring band, I would buy another one in case I broke a string on stage. It's the only guitar I will ever need!

2002 Model Bolt-T kit, made in USA of course. 22 frets, I got mine w/alder body after reading Steve Brewer's review (thanks, Steve, I had just enough time to change the order before it was shipped, plus I saved $30.00!). 5-way switch, S/S/H pickups, maple neck w/ebony fretboard (sweet!), I tung oiled the finish, Wilkinson trem, locking tuners,hard shell case.

This guitar has the best sound of any guitar I've owned, in fact I sold my old Charvel to get it. With the humbucker, I can get good pinch harmonics, and the single coils also sound great in every position, producing Strat-like tones and even some creamy sounds I haven't heard out of many guitars in this price range. I honestly haven't gotten a sound I dislike out of this guitar yet. The only reason I gave it a nine was because this site warns that glowing reviews won't be accepted.

This thing went together like I hoped it would - easily. There weren't any flaws in the wood, and I only had to sand it lightly before finishing it with tung oil. All the hardware I ordered was there and the pickguard came assembled. The thing that sucked was waiting for the oil to dry, and I actually rushed the staining job because I was eager to put the thing together and play it. Still came out looking and smelling nice somehow.

Like any nice guitar I will baby it, so it should last a long time. Everything is solid and dependable, would gig without a backup.

Great CS. When I called to change things (black pickguard to red, swamp ash to alder) they were polite and helpful. Haven't had a need to repair, probably won't have to the way I will treat her. No warranty that I know of.

Playing for 5 years, bought this guitar after reading the reviews here. Totally worth it, it's a fully pro guitar for a low price. My jamming buddy is probably gonna spring for one after seeing and playing mine. Great guitar, check it out before buying some overpriced piece of junk at a music store!

I will receive a Carvin Bolt-T tomorrow, according to the UPS tracking system and cannot yet comment on most of the items herein. However, I wanted to share some initial observations regarding Carvin and my choice of features - predominately the swamp ash body - with anyone who is considering purchasing one of these instruments, as I've already made a few mistakes. I'll update this comment in a month or so. First, Carvin's web site does not advise the purchaser that kits have to be built at the factory. I've been waiting roughly six weeks for mine to arrive. I called the company several times and they indicated that there was a backlog post XMas, so perhaps my waiting period is not the norm; HOWEVER, the web site should include this information (that's the beauty of such sites - you can update them instantaneously). As it was, I opted for fast shipping (3 days) at double the standard shipping cost. That's a stupid waste of money if the kit requires building and is backlogged.

Take this for what it's worth: BEFORE choosing a body wood type, determine what kind of finish you will ultimately apply. I intended to use oil (Tung or Danish) since it looks great on Carvin's website, folks on this site and GP/Gig Reviews used it with good results, is inexpensive, and can be applied by hand. After purchasing the supplies, I decided to research the best way to apply oil finishes, only to discover that: 1) ash is an open-pored wood and needs to be grain-filled and sealed before finishing in order to get a smooth result, Carvin doesn't tung oil swamp ash bodies because they got "splotchy" results (according to my phone call), and articles in Fine Woodworking and web newsgroups indicate that "tung oil is not a very durable finish, and will probably wear thru on the body just below the strings, where your palm or fingers will be coming in contact with it". Regardless of the accuracy of the above, upon hearing my dilemma, the guy I spoke with at Carvin provided the advice to "just experiment"... I'm now considering having the body finished by a professional, but after all this, I'll probably try my hand at applying a spray can nitro-cellulose lacquer. More on my results after I finish, shoot the guitar, or send it to a pro.

So far, I'm unimpressed. Carvin was unsympathetic to my suggestions that they provide customers with a Bolt leadtime order status on the web. After complaining about the unadvertized backlog and my paying for express shipping, I expected them to send it faster (next day maybe) once it was "built"; however, it appears that I am getting what I paid for - just 6 weeks later than anticipated. Secondly, with all of the literature and comments regarding tung oil finishes, I believe Carvin is negligent in not advising customers who order the swamp ash body that oil is not an appropriate finish. I guess I should have deduced that earlier when I was looking at the custom shop colors and ash was not included with the alder, mahogany, walnut, maple, and koa bodies. Perhaps I'm just not very preceptive...

I beleive I bought this guitar in 2000. The body is standard alder. Tuners are standard Carvin, which are as good as any high priced non-locking tuners. All controls are standard except for the coil splitter and humbucker, if that didn't come standard: I can't remember. Pickups are hum, single single. Got mine without a trem. I didn't order any accesories. I did order the lefty option and a perloid pickguard, which was beautiful. The rating for accesories here is sort of "N/A" since I specified what they were when ordering: In reality this is a custom guitar, with a standard pricetag.

This guitar sounds pretty darn good. I like a heavy sustain/metal sound, and this guitar fufills that order. I am not all that experienced with various guitars but I can tell you that with my amp, it sounds better than an epiphone Les Paul Standard, which was also played through this amp. By the way, my amp is a Peavey Revolution 112, see my review of it. The Les Paul lacked the highs that this guitar had, and not quite the output. This guitar had a brillliant sound, perfectly suited for leads. And by turning town the tone control, you can get a warmer, more contemporary mellow distortion. The humbucker is blistering, perfectly suited for leads, and I didn't even order the optional SD Humbucker. I'll bet that M.F is bad to the bone!
As for the clean tones, They are very, very good. The single coils are very quiet. They are not genuinely twangy, a minus if that's what you want, but you can get SOME twang. Not much experience with clean tones, so my opinion may not matter that much.

My guitar from the factory was perfectly machined. I understand that Carvin uses CNC machines extensively in their manufacturing process, with manned Q.C. at the end, and it shows. Everything fits perfectly, especially the neck. And the neck itself is great. Perfectly straight, as they have designed them to be. Neck relief adjusts well and predictably.
The fretwire was perfect as well. Perfect saddle. A+

Will it last? Sure it will, If you put this kit together properly. It's a big piece of wood, pretty much. Don't bang it around!

Well, I dealt with the company when I was ordering it, since they are a factory direct company. The salesperson was friendly. I have never had to make a warranty claim.

I have been playing for about 9 years, but there are many who are much better guitarists who have been playing for half the time. I love the overall quality of materials used, and the sound of the pickups, the humbucker, especially. I looked at other guitars, but they seemed cheap(quality-wise) for the price. Carvin guitars seemed much better, especially afer I read some of their reviews. If I had to do it over again(if I had the money, in other words) I would buy a Carvin already finished, assembled and set-up. It would make the guitar a just a little more playable. I probably wouldn't seriously consider another brand for two reasons; the price and the incredible neck that Carvin puts on its Guitars. Please e-amil me if you want to know more.

This is a 2001 Bolt-T kit with a Wilkie Trem, Swamp ash body, H/S/S with a coil tap.The hummer is a M22SD, Carvin's hottest. The single coils are AP11's. Gold hardware, Sperzels, graphite nut, ebony board on maple, white pearloid guard, and my own poor, yellow tinted gloss nitrocell finishing job with materials from GuitarRe-ranch. I replaced the black plastic knobs with gold metal ones. Including case and finishing supplies, it was about $550. I put the finish on too thin and not so carefully, because I was in a rush, but it will do.

I like it. It sounds very Fender on the twang side. The swamp ash has a nice snap to it with my thin finish. The neck pickup is set low to give me a rounder tone to contrast with the hotter bridge PU. The neck and middle are very Telecaster sounding, but the bridge leans toward metal and hard rock. Very the sounds are best for country, Byrds, Beatles and REM, while the bridge will do hard rock to metal. The tap thins things out and cuts a little output, but the tone is still a good lead tone. I picked the pup combo so this would be a versitile axe. I play through a 30 watt Legend combo with a tube pre stage but solid state power stage, solid wood cabinet. 12" Celestion. Amp was bought used in 1984 for $135. I play blues and rock of all types. I use 10's. This guitar with the pickup selection offers a lot of variety.

A very nice kit. High quality components and nice two piece swamp ash body. Neck is wider and flatter than classic guitar models. Fretwork was excellent. Neck pocket was perfect and the parts needed no sanding. Everything fit perfectly. My lame finishing job was the only problem, but if I had more time, it would have been perfect. The Wilkinson is a quality tremolo unit, but they should figure out how to move the saddles backward for intonation adjustment in a way other than sliding them with your hand. You can move them forward with the screw, but not backward. Anyway, no rattles. My set up is low and perfect. No buzzes. Intonation is perfect despite above mentioned issue.

I doubt this guitar will break, but I would recommend soldiering the wires instead of relying on the screw caps as they suggest in the directions. I have not heard of any problems with the screw caps, but they seem like an iffy way to keep the wires together. This guitar will last with the usual maintenance.

High marks. I emailed to make sure I got their hottest humbucker in it and Marco responded the next day. I own one other Carvin and they have always shown this level of service.

Been playing for about 20 years. I have a 79 hardtail strat, a 97 Les Paul Standard, a Carvin SC90, a Rick 4001 bass, a Hohner Steinberger copy, with a Heritage 575 being built. I'd get another one if this one was stolen or lost so I could put a better finish on it. I bought it because I wanted to put together the kit and have a quality instrument when I was done. For $550 in parts, it is a good deal for a new guitar.

I ordered mine standard stock with Sperzels, white pearloid guard, Wilkinson whammy, and the hardshell ABS case. Can't complain about features, after all, it is a kit. The quality of the features it came with is great.

I was looking for the traditional flexibility that came with owning a Strat, mostly to record country crossover, blues, blues/rock and modern rock through a POD. The variety and quality of tones you can pull out of this ax is admirable. I have been extremely pleased with the tone and quiet traits of the pickups.

Everything they shipped fit like a glove. I didn't expect the action to be perfect, as again, get real, it is a kit. I still have a little tweaking to do to eliminate A/D fret buzz, but am confident in what I have experienced to this point it is easily remedied. I really enjoyed having the ability to choose my own finish and have been thrilled with the results of the staining job I gave it (ordered through Stew-Mac.) Superb neck.

It seems very solid, although the body dings easily as any body without a heavy urethane coating will. The Sperzels are the bomb - why did I wait so long to try them?! The Wilkinson seems rock solid and stays in tune, but to be honest, I usually play without using the whammy bar. I can't blame Carvin for the ding-ability of body, so once again, high marks.

n/a

While I have played guitar for 30 years, I am primarily a bassist, so don't let the numbers fool you! I do not consider myself to be a "guitar player," but I can play well enough to record sessions on my own time. I bought this as a badly needed addition to my acoustic and Les Paul Standard. As a songwriter and recording musician, I know what quality gear and tone is and this kit is really good stuff. I would cry if this guitar was stolen, collect the insurance money, and immediately order another. I would also hope the culprit gets run over by a freight train. What do I love about this ax? The neck, the tone, flexibility, Sperzels, the Wilkinson, the hardware, the shielding, pickguard, it's general feel, the price (!!!), the ability to finish it how I want and it only took me a long weekend to assemble. By the way, this kit is a breeze to work on. Solderless connections, good instructions, and the only waiting you have is in between coats of what every you finish it with. Things I don't like... the fretboard is a bit narrow for my Bassist fingers, the case is mediocre. That's it folks. I won't insult this guitar by saying it is a great buy, but I will say it is a great guitar that happens to be at a VERY reasonable price.

2001 kit from the Carvin Shop in California. 22 medium jumbo frets, hard-rock maple neck with ebony 15" fret board; graphite nut; tilt back head stock w/sperzel locking tuners. S/S/H configuration AP11 single coils, C22T humbucker. Swamp Ash body; Wilkinson tremolo; w/fitted hard shell case. Coil splitter for humbucker. I added the Schaller strap locks and Carvin deluxe strap. I give it a 10 because it was exactly what I wanted.

I can only give a first impression on this as I just completed the assembly last night. WOW! I really love it. I had read some good stuff (and bad) on the AP11 and found them to be relatively quite considering they are single coils with good tone. The review of the C22 were not that great but I really like it. I mainly play at my church and when not playing there I like blues. I tend towards more clean sound and not high gain so this suits me perfect. I did notice though, as stated in other review that the C22 is somewhat quiet for a humbucker but it wasn't too bad. Overall I was very impressed with the sound that came out of this instrument.

Since I did all this myself I can only complain about myself. One thing that was really nice was the Wilkinson bridge saddles were perfectly intonated once the guitar was strung. That was impressive. The direction for the Tung Oil finish are complete and easy to follow with nice results. All the pieces fit together nicely. The neck pocket was a good fit; a small gap but less than 1/32" so I wont complain too much. Sustain is good none the less. I give it a 10 because I will keep tweaking it until it is perfect.

I can't really comment on this since I haven't had it very long. The Sperzels are solid, the woods seem to be very solid and quality. The electrical connections appeared to be very sound. Just going on the reputation of the components and the quality of the wood I would say this thing will last as long as I want it to.

I wasn't too impressed with customer support. I had called to ask if the "always on switch" and the coil splitter were both standard or if I had to specify that. He said they were standard, however, when I got it all that was on it was the coil splitter. It wasn't that big of a deal and I figured if I found I wanted that I could add it later. Other than that I haven't really had to deal with them.

I've been playing about 5 years. I mainly play acoustic but have been picking up the electric more and more. I have a Martin SPD-16r acoustic and a MIM Fender Tele. I play through an old Fender Deluxe tube amp. This has a great sound with a lot of tonal variations even with out the "always on switch". The neck fits me great and it stays in tune well even after hitting the tremelo pretty hard. I compared it to other guitars but just on features and components and nothing came close for the price I paid. I chose this for the price of getting every single component I wanted. Similar priced guitars didn't have all the features I wanted and guitars that had all the features cost twice as much. I'm not too much of a sound critic so to me it sound absolutely wonderful. It was money well spent. I would advise anybody who is remotely interested in building their own guitar to give the a shot.

Got this with the swamp ash body, Wilkinson whammy, Sperzel locking tuners, straplocks (still waiting for these!!!), s/s/h with Holdsworth humbucker with coil splitter and "all on" switch, tortoise-shell pickguard, deluxe gig bag and padded Carvin strap.Also had jumbo frets installed on the ebony board.

This axe is extremely versatile and of high quality.Very easy to put together, finish, and set-up. Used 6 coats of tung oil, rubbing with 000 steel wool between coats; did good sanding job with fine, then the finest grade paper I could find.AP-11's sound great; nice and dark in position 1 (I'm a jazzer....read my Ibanez GB-10 review); plenty of "strat" quack in positions 2 and 4. Since the Holdsworth is fairly low output, had to raise the humbucker closer to strings than the AP-11's. Have grown to love that hummer...blends well with the AP's and when I kick in the coil splitter, I get a bit more "cut-thru" or bite to the sound. It has taken me a few months of consistent use to get to the point where I can write this review; as I initially wasn't crazy about the humbucker. I play a lot of general business, some classic rock, and a bit of jazz. I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (love this amp!), Carvin AG-100D (Great amp!), and a Polytone Mini-brute (like the Carvin better!!). This axe is well shielded so makes little if any noise (less than my friend's Tele). Wilkinson whammy o.k. (I'm not a dive bomber), and works well with the Sperzels and graphite nut. Love the feel of the ebony board. Just to give you an idea of how much I love this axe...I use my GB-10 only for jazz gigs! The swamp ash body is beautiful and very resonant. From my research, it is supposed to be the most resonant tone wood for solid-body guitars. Quality of materials is unbeatable for the money (think this was about $550 with case...which is a great gig bag!). Dislikes...none!!

Everything fit together perfectly without alteration. Keep in mind..I'm a klutz as far as woodworking goes. Definately the best $500 I ever spent. I love this axe, and it looks great with the red tortoise-shell deluxe pickguard. Decided to play it safe and ordered the chrome hardware (read reviews about black wearing off; gold on my Ibanez and any other axe I've owned isn't durable).5 position switch is sturdy (bet they upgraded as I read some bad reviews about this).

Please...buy this axe. You won't be disappointed. Swamp ash definately worth the money, and have grown to love jumbo frets...have on all my axes as adds sustain. Sure wish I had my strap locks!!

Sales people very helpful...ask for Sean. I'm gonna have to call and either get a $10 refund or push for those strap locks. Standard pins are o.k.

I've been playing professionally for 27 years. Own an Ibanez GB-10, Alvarez Tenor Banjo for dixieland gigs, Larrivee D-7 1976...incredible axe; can't find it on their website, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Carvin AG-100D, and Polytone Mini Brute amps, Ibanez Tube Screamer and Zoom Pedal. If stolen would definately re-order (but probably without whammy as I don't use it much). Am considering installing a Fishman power bridge to get acoustic quitar sounds. With that installed, don't think this axe could be beaten at all. Love it.
Every bit of it!

Read the catalog for the features and options.

The sound? I like it. For the most part, it works for me. It's got some quack and twang. The tone seems to be on the bright side. I like the way it balances out the sound when I'm playing thru mid-range heavy amps. However at high gain settings, it can get piercing and it can get noisey. (Note:I play thru a 5150:) I get this strange "howling" feedback sound when I crank up the volume. It seems to be coming from the tremelo springs. It feels weird when it happens because the whole guitar starts to resonate heavily in my hands. Anyone else out there experience this? Please let me know especially if you know how to remedy the problem. Also, I'm wondering why 500ohm pots were used for the single coil pickups. Dislikes? Well, it sorta bugged me that the nut seemed to have been cut for a 9 set but that was my fault for not specifying.

A guitar playing, guitar repairing friend of mine played my guitar and said that it resonated well. There seemed to be a lot of string vibration transfer between the body and neck. And I did notice the exceptionally tight neck/body fit as I was putting the guitar together.

I love the Wilkinson Tremelo. I was surprised to how well the guitar stayed in tune. I'm sure the locking tuners helped.