Carvin Bolt-T Kit

I have had it about 6 months now. Made in USA. I play 3 to 6 hours a day (mainly blues). I ordered mine with a mahog. body, torty pickguard and 3 singles. The 22 fret maple neck with ebony board. Standard 5 way switch with master tone and vol with switch for bridge pu. Carvin A11 pickups. Hardtail with chrome hardware. The featers of the unit are similar to a traditional strat but I like the switch for the bridge pu, and the master tone covering the bridge pu. I also order hardware for Gibson, Warmoth and Stew Mac and built a 2 bucker LP wired pickguard for the guitar.

I love the 2 bucker tone, and the 3 singles are very good as well. I thend towards humbuckers, but hte Carvin singles were much better than anticipated. Nice tone in this guitar. From a Jazzy tone to country twang. The hartail has a tele like quality in the bridge postion. Nice. I play a POD and Blues JR. Sometimes use Dano Daddy-O or Fab Tone. Nice tone in most settings ...anywhere a single coil would fit it does. There is the standard single coil hum ... not bad.

I understand it is an assemble at home unit. But, the body neck pocket fit were off slightly, body pocket is about 1/64" too large. Everything else looked nice, (1 piece body!) and was well done. I used Tung Oil and Wax on the body, and tung oil and lemon oil on the neck.
Action was was very good, with fretwire being very nice (a little taller than Fender which I like).
Carvin pickguard material was exceptional!
When dropping in a Warmoth 11 hole Strat guard, one screw hole is in a different place (but as the guards are the same shape it is not noticable). To get the traditional 2 bucker strat guard to fit a slight bit of wood needed to be removed from the body in a couple of places.
Plays excellent.

Hum ... I don't play out. The neck is thin ... very thin. As such it seems to need adusting more often than my other guitars (relief). When there is a majfor temp-mosture change it needs and adjustment. Everyhting else has been good.

Carvin special ordered the body material and kept me up to date on a back order. I could have order other fret board wood (maple), neck materials, body materials, and fret wire (jumbo). They were easy to deal with and prompt on e-mail while I was pricing this guitar. Great value.

I have been playing about 20 years. I have owned a few guitars over the years. Best $380 guiar I have encountered new. If the neck pocket had been a better fit it would have been perfect. Love it. It is now my number one. Not only if it were stolen, but as I like it so much I will likely order another one to keep in the 3 single mode (my number one is dual bucker mode).

This is a standard Bolt-t kit with: (3)Single coil AP-11 pickups, Wilkinson trem. Volume, Tone and Bridge on switch. Interestingly, Carvin is using 500 ohm linear taper pot for volume, and 500 ohm audio taper pot for tone. (Usually Strat type guitars are 250 audio taper pots)

I play just about all styles of music except, but primarily country-blues-older 70's guitar rock stuff. This guitar is incredible. The pickups in this puppy put the pickups in my Tex-Mex Strat to shame. Much brighter and alive, yet still can get nice and swampy when the need arises. The bridge pickup took some tweaking to get it set so it wasn't TOO bright, but other wise, I'm amazed

The Carvin neck has taken a bit to get used to. It is a narrow, wide neck, and I have pretty small hands. Once I adjusted...the neck is very nice. I think that I would have preferred a little narrower neck, but I am not going to complain. This is the fastest neck on any guitar that I own. Fit and Finish-this is a kit, and much has depended on my ability to finish the body. I give myself a 6 (with 11 intentions). Everything went together flawlessly, with the exception of one of the tuner screws breaking. (Carvin replaced the screw, as well as the neck that the screw broke in...INCREDIBLE customer service)

Since I am a hobbyist, not a professional, I can only give a slanted opinion here. I would use this as one of two guitars If I were playing live. I can't get the Gibson dual-humbucker sounds out of it, but for any Strat type of stuff, this guitar is perfect.

Carvin has been exceptional--see the story about the neck and broken tuner screw above. I didn't expect them to replace the neck for free(I broke the damned thing--and scarred the neck trying to remove it). But they did.

I've been playing guitar for 30 years. Currently I own 5 acoustic and 4 electric guitars. If any of the guitars I own and love (8 of the 9) were stolen, I would replace it with exactly the same thing. I bought the Carvin as my first attempt to build my own guitar from a kit. Since then I built a Warmoth guitar from parts, and it is also a beauty. I had no way to compare Carvin with anything else out there, so it was a bit of a crap shoot. To be blunt, I feel that I got significantly more than I expected for the dollars spent. If anyone out there is thinking of purchasing one of the Carvin kits, do it.

This is an update for my previous posting.. the Bolt-T kit that I put together that was shipped with the wrong-way Sperzels, which required me to drill an extra alignment hole in order to get the high 'e' Sperzel mounted, then finding out that the Sperzels were geared for a standard headstock, and tuned backwards on my reverse headstock... that Bolt-T.... remember ???????? :-)
Anyways, I called on a Weds and spoke to Sean McAnally, my original salesman. I've dealt with him twice now, and he's very customer focused... super guy. He works on commission, and I can tell you he's a great guy to deal with. (subtle influencing mode off)
So, Sean was horrified when I explained my problem... he literally apologized for like 10 minutes or something. He wanted to set up a three-way call on the spot with the head of the guitar assembly dept, but the guy was out to lunch. He took down the info, and then had the problem investigated. I got the impression that Carvin took this poroblem very seriously. He called me on Friday, and priority mailed a replacement set of Sperzels to me, which I received yesterday, along with a brief handwritten note of apology.
He had originally wanted to replace the entire neck, but I had done some custom lettering on the headstock, so I didn't want to have to recreate that. Plus, I was looking at the nut again,(I had originally thought that the 'g' and 'b' strings were filed down really low) and it's actually not cut low on both sides, it's very even on the headstock side. I guess the guy got a little uneven when he was filing, and wore down one side a little bit. This doesn't really affect anything immediately, it just means that the nut might wear down a little quicker on those two strings, but a nut replacements only around $30, and I've never had to replace one yet. I'm not worried about it, so I didn't even mention the nut to Sean, as it's actually not as bad as I had originally thought.
So in conclusion, this apparently was just a qc error on someones part, which the company never caught, but once notified of the problem, they took immediate steps to resolve it in the manner that I had requested. I'm satisfied with their efforts, and can really recommend Carvin as a good company to deal with.
Oh, And I get to keep the original set of Sperzels too :-) I might use them on my next Bolt.

I won't go into the standard features of the kit, I just want to mention that the maple neck(ebony FB) and the alder body were of good quality, very light and resonant, with good grain. The options I got were reverse headstock, Sperzels, Wilkenson trem, humbucker in the bridge, and a turtloid pickguard. I also ordered a HC11 case (ABS plastic), so the total for everything was around $540.
I finished the body in 6 coats of Minwax Tung Oil (sanding between coats with #0000 steel wool), and 9 'coats' of Minwax Gloss 'Wipe On Poly' as a protectant clearcoat (sanding between coats with #000 steel wool). After drying, I final sanded (wet sanded) the body with 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grits sandpaper (in that order). I then put a good coat of Migulars Gold car polish on it and hand buffed it for additional protection and gloss. The end finish on the body is very smooth, and has good feel to it. The tung oiled alder looks fantastic, and the clear coat (while not quite as good as a production finish when viewed upclose under good light) is reasonably glossy. From a short distance, it looks 'store bought'.
I finished the neck in 4 coats of tung oil. I sanded with #0000 steel wool, and then later on, with 1000 grit wet sand paper. (silky smooth! :-)
I replaced the C22T humbucker with a Dimarzio 'Tone Zone', and cut the pickguard to accept a neck humbucker, this I filled with a Dimarzio 'Air Norton'. I left the AP11 in the center position. I wired the supplied switch as a split for both humbuckers, enabling them both to be used in single coil mode (both of which sound pretty decent, I must add... far better than I had expected)
I had the nut cut for a .10 - .46 string set.

I'm pleased to report that this kit really delivers soundwise... I did juice it up with two additional humbuckers but I kept one AP11, and the end result is that it can really rock, while still sounding very much like a 'Strat', when I want it to. It sounds very fat and resonant.. you can feel the neck and body vobrate in your hand when you pluck the strings. The Tone Zone sounds great, and the Air Norton had a killer distorted bluesy tone... with even more edge on in single coil mode. It has good sustain, and can be either bright or slightly dark sounding, depending on what combination you're using. The AP11 is very quiet, as are the humbuckers in single coil mode (another suprise)
I'm using it with a Peavey Classic 30 amp and various Zoom and Danelectro effects.

I did the finish myself, as described above.
The bridge came correctly intonated from the factory, and I followed the instructions concerning overall setup... it actually was very easy. I did manually adjusted the height screws a bit on the trem a bit just to fine-tune the action, but it was very good right from the start. Great neck... It easily compares with the Carvin TL60 that I bought new earlier this year.
The kit overall was very good quality, but was not perfect... I had ordered the reverse headstock option, and the nut was cut accordingly. But whoever did the neck didn't consider that 'reverse headstock' also meant that the Sperzels also go on 'backwards', which means that the peg alignment holes have to be on the opposite side of the main post hole (as compared to a standard neck) This meant that I had to drill a new peg alignment hole for the high e string before I could mount the Sperzel. And concerning the Sperzels, the set sent to me was geared for a standard neck... they still work ok, but they need to be tightened counter-clock wise, instead of clock-wise. This is annoying, but I can live with it, assuming no other Sperzels are available (I plan to contact Carvin later today and tell them about the neck, and see what they say)
The nut also was cut inconsistantly... the g and b strings were cut much deeper than the other strings, which I had thought might cause me some set-up problems, but so far it hasn't.
The fingerboard, and the overall countours of the neck are itself are perfect, with Carvin' usual high quality...I dunno what happened to the other items I mentioned... maybe someone new?
The overall rating for the kit is very good but I have to drag it down some due to the Sperzel hole and the nut.

Dunno. It seems very solid, with quality made parts. I think it will last.

I'll tell you after I speak to Sean later on today..... :-)

Been playing for a while, stopped, then began again in earnest last year. I've owned two Strats, and this thing is much better than either of them. I've also played a lot of them in stores, looking for a good one that I really liked, before deciding to try a Carvin Bolt kit. Just in the short time I've had it, I'd say it plays better and sounds better than 80% of the various Strats I've tried... the only exceptions I could think of were Fender custom shop models, and those weren't perfect either. This is a great kit, and overall, it is a tremendous value for the money. The finished guitar isn't exactly like a Strat mind you, (the 15" radius on the neck means that the feel is different than most Strats), but it has a lot of the Strat sound to it, and it very well made, with quality componants.

Bought the kit and was amazed with the quality of all the components. I got the fixed bridge, perloid pickguard, bridge humbucker, and sperzel tuners. I sanded it up and put it together, just to check the fit of the parts. I ended up playing that way for a few days, it was that much fun. I just recently finished it and am very impressed by the results. Play's great and sounds great. The project was pretty easy and very, very fun. I'm gonna make another one for a friend. I'll give it an 7 because it's a great guitar, but I like to reserve 8,9, and 10 for truly exceptional guitars (like I'd give a Tom Anderson an 8, maybe a 9).

I did a thorough comparison to my Strat with Antiquities and it faired very well. It's bridge humbucker is not that impressive, but I'm not big on bridge pickup tones in general. Remember, 6 is a good rating from me! I'd give my Wolfgang a 3, my Strat a 7, my Les Paul and Tele (stock pickups) a 5, and my PRS an 8.

I set the guitar up myself (of course, I built it) and was easily able to get a great action with near zero buzz. The playablity is simple marvelous and I can't emphasize that the neck and body joint was rediculously tight! Great fit! I give this the highes possible marks for the ABILITY to be setup correctly.

Well, that's really up to the job I did building it, but I'd say that all the components are high quality and I expect them to be very reliable. I'm gonna gig with it tonight, although I always bring at least two guitars in case I break a string, but I would trust it for a gig on it's own.

They were cool, sent it out fast. Can't complain.

This is a great guitar and a very fun project. The would grain of the alder body is not that great, but I finished it with a stain anyway because I wanted to learn how. I tell you that this guitar could hold it's own against some of those $1000 to $1500 guitars out there. I give it a 7, because...well, it isn't the greatest guitar in the world (when I find that guitar I'll give it a 10) but it's far above the pack in terms of playablity and overall quality. In terms of quality to price ratio, it could possibly get a 10. People give out these 10's way too easliy on the review database.