Carvin Bolt

2002 model (Strat-style) made in the USA. 22 frets. Solid ash body transparent blue high-gloss finish. Tung oiled maple neck. Birdseye maple fretboard. S/S/H. Volume, tone, 5-way selector, coil tap. Fixed bridge. Locking Sperzel tuners. 15" radius, 25.5 inch scale. Medium jumbo frets. Hardshell case standard. All the features you could ask for in a Strat-style instrument, but nothing is perfect.

I play finger-style pop/jazz and I was able to get a nice tight, warm tone out of it. I also play blues and it the Bolt could nail that BB clean very well. I played it straight into a 4x10 tube amp with just a bit of reverb. It was very quite using the neck and middle p/u. It is capable of all the normal single coil sounds and it was very quiet. The bridge humbucker can wail, also. The tone control was more usable than most I've encountered. Great tone, but again...nothing's perfect.

This is where this Bolt really shined. The action and p/u adjustments were perfect. The set-up was impeccable. The materials, construction and assembly was as good as any instrument I've ever touched and I've been playing for 45 years.

It seems built like a tank, but I never gig without a backup.

I've not had any experience with them.

As I said I've been playing for 45 years and I've been around the geat track a few times. The Bolt I played belonged to an acquaintance and it has convinced me to order my own Bolt+ model. This thing is just a killer value. I don't know why Carvins are not more widely used. The standard Bolt that I played was as good as any custom shop Fender I've seen and I am a long time Fender fan.

2003 Bolt. Pearl blue finish over alder, SSH pickup configuration (two AP11's and a M22SD bridge humbucker). 5-way switching plus an on/off swich for the 'bucker plus a coil tap for the same. FT6 bridge (strings through the body, hard tail), and a hard rock maple neck with a 22 fret ebony fretboard. 25.5" scale. Reverse in-line headstock (an optional feature) and sperzel locking tuners. A solid, well made, versatile guitar.

This guitar can do it all. Turn the single coil AP11 in the neck position on, roll back the tone, and rip off some Cream. Roll the tone back on, run it through some chorus and twinkle away. Slam the 5-way switch to the middle AP11 pickup, run it into a Fender amp, and start playing "Sweet Home Alabama." Or kick it all the way down into humbucking mode, turn your rectifier on eleven, and shred.

Perfect. Not one flaw. Action to 1/16", pickups properly adjusted, and solid as a rock.

This is a heavy guitar-it's built like a tank. I think I could clock someone with it and it would still be in tune. Yeah, I'd say it'll be reliable and dependable!

Ummmm, let's say dealing with Carvin is hit and miss. They're not evil, just not always terribly accurate. Keep calling 'til they get it right.

Carvins are the best playing, best sounding guitars on the planet for under a grand. You could spend TWO grand (think Fender) and not get half the guitar. Plus, with Carvin's "custom shop" you can get one configured almost any way you please. Highly, highly recommended.

2001 Bolt-T Wilkinson Tremolo, Strat Style, Made in USA, 22 frets, Solid one-piece Swamp Ash body with a clear matte finish, black earloid pickguard, ebony fingerboard w/ mother of pearl inlay, med jumbo frets, maple neck w/ tung oil finish, black chrome hardware, sperzel locking tuners, S/S/H w/coil splitter (2- AP11s 1- C22), .010 Elixir strings, case incl.

Bought used, so features picked by someone else, but they were what I was looking for also. Carvin builds to order so they get a 10 for features.

OMG! I have a mahogany Bolt-T with 3 single coils and a maple fingerboard that I thought had tone. This thing eclipses it! I play all styles of music from jazz standards to classic rock to progressive rock to modern rock to blues. Considering some idioms would be better suited for hollow bodied guitars, this axe covers all territories pretty darn well.

NOTE: Woods and pickups and strings ARE the sound of any electric guitar. I've seen reviews here saying their guitars sounded thin. If you want a silky, thick, singing ax go for the combination here- you will not be dissapointed!

BTW- I am SOLD on Elixir strings. I used to easily go through a set of conventional string in one 4 hour gig. Elixirs last almost 4x longer, I buy them in bulk at a discount, so I get a bright, long lasting sound that actually saves me money in the long run. Who'dathunkit?

I run the guitar through a Flextone II XL 100w 2x12 combo digital modelling amp. So every base is covered sonically. But you CAN tell the difference between guitars when I change them. This one sounds the best wth the custom presets I came up with using a different Bolt-T. Go figure...

I bought this guitar used and it was like it came from the factory- not a blemish on it. Action slightly higher than advertised, but I like it that way so I can really bend and get underneath the other strings for 3 half-step David Gilmour-esque bends. I'm able to do it as effortlessly as I do with .009s on my other Carvin Bolt-T. Tight pocket and clean workmanship all the way around. Fretwork=flawless. I gotta tell you- the matte finish Carvin uses in combination with the Swamp Ash is gorgeous! A natural looking light brown tint that really brings out the deep grain. I would guess any translucent finish (such as Vintage Yellow) would be equally as beautiful. But the fact that it has no shine from the matte finish makes this guitar a natural beauty to behold. The black chrome hardware and black pearloid pickguard are a very stylish accent.

This guitar weighs in at over 8 pounds and is a solid piece of ash. Feels indestructable and I don't feel as if I need to pamper it like I did with vintage guitars I owned that had lacquer that would dent if you looked at it the wrong way. ;-)

The matte finish does hide small blemishes better than the glossy. I bought this guitar as a backup for my other Bolt-T but it has immmediately become Axe#1. The only reason I felt compelled to get a backup is because when you break a string mid-song with a tremolo, the thing goes way out of tune and you're sunk. With a backup, I can quickly switch guitars and not miss a beat.

CS at Carvin is a crap shoot. Period. Keep trying until you get someone reliable.

I got a practically brand new $700+ guitar for under $500 WITH an ABS hardshell case. When I ordered my original Carvin from the factory they didn't have Ash (the one regret). So now my dream's come true.

I have two other Bolt -Ts and they also crush the truckload of Fenders I tried in the $700-$1000 range in sound AND quality. Yes, they don't sound *exactly* like a Fender, but each one has its own p/u configuration/wood combination and has a unique, expressive, muscial tone that comes close enough (better, I say!). I'm not handing out 10s here for the heck of it- this guitar has surpassed my every expectation by a mile. Let's face it, every guitar is a unique piece of equipment, and every company puts out both good and bad pieces. I can honestly say after extensive research and shopping, Carvin has been more consistent than Fender in delivering top quality instruments at reasonable prices. And at least they'll fix, rebuild or refund in 10 days if you don't like what they give you.

Beautiful Classic White finish, Black Chrome Plated Hardware, String Saver Graphite Saddles for FT6 fixed bridge, Sperzel locking tuners, Engraved Truss Rod Cover, Vintage Tweed premium plywood hardshell guitar case. Otherwise, the standard stuff. AP11 single coil pickups in all positions. I guess I got all the features I wanted.

This is pretty far from being my only guitar, so I wasn't looking for versatility when I bought it. I'd say it's very versatile though - it can do hard rock, classic rock, blues, singing clean strumming rhytm, funk, country and even jazz, as long as you pick the right amp.
I use it mainly for distorted hard rock leads (mostly studio work nowadays) through a Laney VC50 (British EL34 2x12 amp). I use few effects: Boss pedal EQ, Ibanez TS-9, Jim Dunlop Crybaby wah and sometimes a little Dallas Arbiter fuzz.
It's extremely quiet for a single-coil guitar - in all positions. I doubt anybody will complain about the noise. The AP11 pickups are very warm and sweet, but much hotter than Fender Stratocaster stock pickups.
I for myself don't like RW/RP middle pickups, but that's the system Fender uses on its Stratocaster models since a while ago. I think they sound weak in the 2nd and 4th positions.
I've made a few mods to it, including rewinding of the middle and bridge pickups. The bridge pickup was rewound for more turns of coil winding, giving the pickup a darker sound and a higher output. The middle pickup was wound with the same amounts of turns and the same wire, but in the opposite direction (= no RW/RP middle pickup anymore).
The rating it received in this cathegory is the rating of the sound of this guitar in [i]stock condition[/i], before the modifications were made. If I'd rate it the way it roosts today, I'd give it a 9.

The guitar was actually perfectly set up from the factory (intonation, action, pickup height...). The fretwork seemed flawless. Compared to my American Deluxe Fender, the overall quality is much nicer on this one. The finish is better as well.

I wouldn't use it without a backup, but I wouldn't do that with ANY guitar. I have only had this one for a few years, so I'm not sure I can give it a fair rating, but it seems rock solid.

Haven't had to deal with them.

Been playing for 35+ years. I love its ultra-nice overall quality feel, its versatile pickups, its incredible box-stock performance and its great-for-lead slim neck. For the price (less than $700 including tweed case), it's top-notch.

The bottom lines:
Not a version of a Fender Stratocaster, even if it's similar in many ways. If you want a Strat with slimmer neck, better upper fret access, flawless overall quality and tons of options, this is it. I've tried Bolts with full-sized Carvin humbuckers as well as Carvin TBH pickups too. Don't let the price fool you - this would be a great guitar even if it was $1500.

the bolt is carvin's copy of a stratocaster. i ordered it 6/9/01 from the carvin website, got it 7/26/01 and shipped it back 7/27/01. mine was alder, painted gloss black with a white pickguard. the neck was maple with a maple fingerboard (the only option on it). it had three single-coil pups (ap 11) and a five-position switch plus a mini-toggle switch which allowed all seven pickup combinations. it had one volume and one tone control. hardware was all chrome with a string-through body fixed bridge. the tuners were non-locking. scale length was 25 1/2" and it came string with 9's. the neck radius was 15". i got a hard shell case for it. i have no opinion as to the features - it is what it is.

i'm primarily an acoustic guitar player. i finger-pick blues on a gibson j-200 and play blues slide on both a national style o and a national delphi (i'll post reviews of those instuments later). i was looking for a strat style electric to fool around with when i got the bolt. i didn't want to spend a lot and was a little put off by the inconsistent fender quality. i played it through a silver face fender champ i bought over 20 years ago. i thought the sound was pretty good. i could get lots of different types of sound. with the tone control rolled of and using the neck pickup there was a decent jazz sound. the bridge-middle pup combination had that hollow scooped out tone. the high e string did sound weaker than the others but i made no attempt to adjust it. i would say the sound was the best quality of this guitar, but realize i'm an acoustic guitar player - people who've played strats for years might have a totally different opinion.

this is where i was disappointed. i had read about the great carvin action in lots of reviews. the saddle height was not particularly low, the neck had just a little bit of relief and there were no buzzes if played with a light to moderate touch, but the nut was way too high. if i had raised the action at the saddle it would have been fine for slide. my j-200 professionally set up with light gauge strings (12's) tuned down 1/2 a step has a better action than this guitar with 9's! (both have the same scale length). what i liked least was the flat finger board. i didn't think that a 15" radius would be that different from my gibson's 12" radius, but it was. i think that with a professional set-up this guitar would play quite nicely, but it really wasn't very good as delivered.
there was a pretty obvious flaw in the finish, right below the input jack about three by one inch - it looked like a piece of tape had come in contact with it before it was completely dry. also, there was a large gouge in the cover of the middle pup cover - looked like someone slipped with a screwdriver while adjusting the pole-pieces. neither of these flaws affect the sound or the action but i would never buy a new guitar at full price with defects like these.
finally, mine did not come with the set of adjusting tools.

i returned it the day aftr i got it so i really couldn't comment on reliabilty or durability.

i ordered on the web. the only time i talked to a real person was when i called to return it. no hassles - the guy didn't even seem to care why i was returning it (i told him anyway).

i've been playing guitar on and off for about 25 years. i play mostly acoustic blues - fingerstyle and slide. i'd still like to get an electric to fool with but i'm going to wait till i have the time to try a whole lot of guitars. ordering this carvin was the lazy way of doing it. if i liked it great - if not send it back. all told i'm out about $35 for the shipping to me and back to carvin.
for someone who likes this sort of neck, is willing to deal with sending it back (after waiting 6-8 weeks), can accept some flaws and will get a professional set-up this could be a good guitar.

I special oredered it through their custom shop on November 11. It took eight weeks to make. It is made in the USA. I'll start from the top. I have the flying V headstock option. I don't like its shape that much, but its not bad. I have Sperzel locking tuners.It has 22 standard frets on an ebony fingerboard (Its real nice. The neck is Mahogany (I like mahogany soooo much!). The body was also special ordered Mahogany(It is a real nice piece of wood!!!). The pickup config is s/s/h and has a five way switch and a splitter for the humbucker. All electronics are carvin's own in house brand but I may change them out later, but I am not sure yet. It has a black pick guard. It has a hardtail chrome bridge. I made sure to order a clear finish so I could see the quality of wood used, and I have to commend carvin for not cutting corners or using cheap wood on such an inexpensive instrument. Bravo Carvin!!!!!!

I mostly play everything I can (and this guitar is versatile!), but this guitar seems to be directing me into blues playing. I have a tendency to experiment with open strings quite a bit and I must say that this ax lets me use open chords and still sounds nice. I can't say that about many other guitars I've tried.I don't know about tone but I really like it quite a bit because it sounds good with overdrive and clean,but I must say the humbucker is a little harsh for my taste. I am tempted to change out the pickups for some seymore Duncans because I have a good connection for his stuff, but I am not sure if it will take me closer to where I want to be in terms of tone. I play it through a Yamaha DG 80 and this guitar sounds very good, but I do get some annoying hum. Its not really that bad and I think I am being picky about it. I have to give it a 9 only because the humbucker could sound less harsh.

This is where Carvin really shined. The quality of the mahogany, the perfection of the clear finish. The tung oil on the back of the neck. the quality of the tuners, The ebony fingerboard are of very high quality. I have a luthier here in fountain valley california I took it to before I decided to keep it and he said regardless of price it was a nice guitar (except for Carvin electronics. He is not a big fan of their pickups). when I told him the price I paid for it his jaw dropped. All is not perfect though. I can tell that the intonation is ever so slightly off, but that can be adjusted in six months when I have it set-up and maybe change the pickups. I have to take a point away for the intonation being off but boy did they come close to a ten.

I really cant tell yet. I have only had it about three weeks but the finish and the hardware and the quality of wood is very good. I can't say anything about the electronics. I suspect it will work well for the rest of my life. I really baby all my harmonicas, keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars. I don't play professionally yet so I don't tax my equipment.

Carvin had good customer support and they followed up the purchase with a direct call one week after my purchase to see if I was happy with it. I must have a warranty but I have not looked at it but Carvin equipment seems to be always at least good in everyting they make. It real professional quality stuff. This guitar is no different. One last thing is that the salesman was really patient with me since I ask lots of questions and it takes me forever to make a decision.

I am a really pick SOB and am very critical of instruments. I really am an acoustic guitar player who plays electric because I like the feel of electic guitar strings. I own a Larrivee C05E (my main axe). I have an old kramer pacer (which I never liked that much, but it was a gift from my brother before he died so I keep it). Its just not the guitar my carvin is and cost $800.00 about 15 years ago at least. I have my eye on my friends Ernieball Music Man Axis Super Sport because its so light, has better tone and the neck feels better (for playing long periods of time),but seems a little too thin and when I do open chords it seems you have to be extra careful not to bend the high e string off the fingerboard (that doesn't happen with my Carvin); doing hammers and pulloffs at the top registers on the high e string also requires more finess with the EBMM than my trusty bolt. The other draw back is that its a $1350.00 (with Piezo pickup)guitar and they wont bargan down much at guitar center. If I take the money into acount and the quality of instrument vs. my friend's strat, and EBMM I would have to say that in terms of shear value Carvin is a 10+. The EBMM is also a good guitar for the price but no one can beat carvin in the price devided by the value equation......Bravo Carvin for a modestly priced ass kickin product made in the USA...It blows away any Ibanez in existance away.

USA made Carvin Bolt. 22 frets. Controls include: Volume, Tone and coil splitter. Pickup configuration is: S/S/H. (AP11 pickups are VERY nice, but I might get a single coil humbucker instead just to try them out). Swamp ash body in the strat-like style. The finish is pearl blue with a black perloid pickguard (ABSOLUTELY gorgeous). Sperzel locking tuners. Straplocks. The works.

I absolutely ADORE the sound I get out of this guitar!! I love it!! Even unplugged, you can tell it's quality of tone!! As for my music styles, right now, I'm still in the process of learning guitar, so of course, I usually cling to what I know (go figure). I usually do a lot of clean stuff, some jazz, a few DMB riffs here and there, nothing too fancy. HAHA!! The amps I'm using you're probably going to laugh at because you're probably not supposed to do this, but I'm using a stereo chorus pedal as a dual output and putting one to a Crate GT-80 (nice high/mid end) and the other to a Crate B-60 (NICE low/mid end and yes, that is a bass amp). It actually sounds REALLY sweet!!!!! I get the best tone EVER out of that combination!

The finish on the guitar is just plain old BEAUTIFUL!! Carvin always does an excellent job on their finishes. And also, the action, you can tell they put a lot of time into. The action was really low, but had no buzz. The pickups were also perfectly set. It was just......PERFECT!!!

This guitar is VERY reliable. I would play this thing without a backup any day.

Customer support was very friendly. Didn't have any problems.

I'm not one to judge too critically, since I've only been playing a year, but in my opinion, this guitar ROCKS!! If it were stolen, I'd be VERY ticked off and probably buy another. The only other thing I wish it had were piezo pickups, but I can probably get those installed. I love this thing!!!!!!

1999 Carvin Bolt - Standard hardtail except C22 w/splitter added in place of bridge AP11. Straplocks added as well. The 5 way selector plus splitter for the C22 makes this guitar quite versatile. It stays in tune very and I prefer a guitar that stays in tune on it's own rather than one with locking tuners or that use other schemes. Volume and tone knob incuded at no extra cost :) On the other hand I don't think we should rate a guitar on it's features because you get what you see.

This guitar does not exactly sound like a Strat and I am glad. It has it's own sound somewhat akin to a Strat, but it is different. The AP11s drip tone. The C22 is a good pickup as well although not of the same caliber as the AP11s. I have played it through several amps and it sounded great through all of them. It has character, but still let's personal quirks come through. I love it. To all of those out there looking for a Strat... go buy a Strat. For the rest of you, this may be what you are looking for. A great price without giving up great tone.

This Bolt came set up with really low action and that was exactly what I wanted. The neck is dead straight and as others have noted the fret work was exceptional. I did have to raise the action on the D string, but only about a half a screw turn. Excellent job Carvin. I like not having a string T and still wonder why other manufacturers don't do away with them altogether. The paint and finish is flawless and it should be. The guitar failed quality for paint twice, but by the time it reached me was perfect.

I am rather rough on guitars and because of that decided against getting another Ibanez RG570. With all of the gear on those guitars I feel like a mechanic. I really don't see much that can go wrong with this guitar. It seems solid.

Here I give Carvin a 5. Although Carvin is always ready to answer the phone I wasn't very happy when I found out that if you order from the web you get routed to a different department. Maybe it's because no one gets comission off of web sales??? I don't know, but they weren't very helpful. This doesn't mean I won't order from them again, what it means is that when I do I will call.

I have been playing for about 10 years on and off. I am not a guitar collector and prefer to have only two guitars at any time. Usually one of these sits in the closet while the other one gets played to death. I rate this guitar a 10 for price, a 10 for sound, and a 10 for overall value. If someone stole my Bolt I would order another right away.

1999 Model "Lefthanded" 1 Volume/Tone, 5 Way selector and Mini Toggle for all pickups at once. S/S/S AP11 Pickups ,middle is reverse wound. Body is Alder with Maple Neck and Fretboard. Finish is Blueburst with as far as I can tell a bit of Green mixed in. Hardtail Bridge, Sperzel Tuners and Hardshell case

Sounds like a Strat but not a great Strat!. Use through a Fender Hotrod Deluxe and Digitech RP7 for Effects. Guitar is Carvin quiet due to their exellent Grounding and shielding of the cavity. Bridge pickup is bright if not a little to tiny with out tone adjustment. Middle is reverse wound (I've never been crazy about this new fad) Neck sounds better but not as full as I prefer. 2 and 4 Quack positions are not that great due to the middle pickup being reversed.

Guitar came from the factory in good condition. I had to adjust the neck a little and lowered the action a bit (Shipping can reak havoc on a guitar) but overall I was happy with it. Hardware looked good, bridge is solid and the saddles have a contoured groove in them for string travel. 5 Way switch is cheap! and stem is to long. You can tell it doesnt fit in the case cause it was slightly bent.

Carvin has always done a great job on the necks, bodies and finishes of their guitars and the electronics though theres nothing outright wrong with them just dont compare with the quality of the guitar itself. I've gutted the electronics (Pickgaurd and all) in favor of some Dimarzio HS2,HS3 and Virtual Vintage Blues Pickups, Fender 5 Way selector and separate volume/Tone controls for each pickup (Dual Pots). The guitar itself should last a long time with proper care

Steve and Marco at carvin were great! My order ended up being a Month late and the guys kept me informed as to the status (The guitar got all the way to quality control and was rejected due to a twisted neck) so they made another neck.

I've owned Carvins in the past and have been happy with them. They have kept the quality there and havent gone the way of cheap to keep costs down. I played several Fenders (What ever Lefties I could find) from Mexican, Japanese and American standards before going back to Carvin and found that the Fenders just didnt have the quality for the price since Fender jacks up the price on Lefties!. Carvin didnt charge me a dime extra for a Lefthanded version which shows that Corporate greed hasnt gone to their heads!

Made in the USA San Diego, CA Features an Alder body with a string-thru bridge. This feature in my opinion has so much more tone and sustain. (Too bad Fender doesn't make very many stock Strats with this configuration.) Comes with standard 5 way blade switch (which went bad btw) giving you a lot of tones to choos from. My model came with a humbucker in the bridge position for your "Les Paul" growl sound provided you have a decent amp. The neck is killer! Ebony, dot inlays cut perfectly!

I compared the Bolt's toa Fender Tex-Mex Strat, the Carvin had much better output on the single coils. The Bolt also was so much more quiet. In all positions it was cleaner and had more depth to the tone. The sound is awesome! I was pleasantly suprised by its sound. I've own a lot of Strats and I have never been impressed with Fender production models. This Bolt has custom-quality details at no extra cost. A much better guitar than the production-line Strat.

This is where the Carvin kicks butt! My guitar was flawless other than the bad 5 way blade switch that failed after three months of use. It came with a natural-honey finish showing the alder grain at its best. Gives it a nice vintage look. The graphite nut looks and feels like it is built-in the neck. The fret work is awesome! The action was really low with no buzzes. So for all you Metal guys who love a fast neck...this is for you! The setup was right-on out of the case and no adjustments had to be made on my part. Everything was perfect.

I have played this guitar without a back-up. I typically use the Bolt as my back-up guitar. However, I have found myself playing two or three consecutive sets with it because it stays in-tune so well! That is huge! Nothing is worse than a moody, tempermental guitar!

Great support! Sales guys are very helpful, However, I didn't bother getting another 5 way blade replacement from Carvin. I bought a Fender switch! Sorry...but they are better!

I will keep this as my Strat replacement. I use a Terry C. McInturrf Polaris as my main ax and also have a Gibson Les Paul Classic as well. If it got ripped....I'd get another one! I think these blow away the Fender stock strats. The value is incredible!!!