Carvin C-780S

Satin finish, lightly done. Jumbo acoustic style with Tusq nut and Tusq compensated saddle. Solid, vey resonant spruce top. Mahogany back and sides...appear to be HPL, not solid, but I'm not sure. Standard 14 frets to the box. Excellent on board preamp and EQ controls. Passive piezo pickup under saddle. Mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. Binding on body, neck and headstock.

Sound is 'Taylorish', but with more attack in mid-range and high end. I played a lot of Martins and Taylors, Breedlove, Takamine, Gibson, and even a Collins before buying this guitar. No regrets whatsoever. Sounds better tha many guitars that sell for 3 times it's price.

This guitar was immmaculate! I checked it over very carefully, even looking inside with a light and extendable mirror for sloppy glue joints and excess wood or bad braces, etc. Found nothing amiss---exceptionally clean outside and in. Finish was perfect. Fit was excellent also. A very impressive looking guitar. Didn't particularly like the Elixer strings, but no problem to change them out. Action was super right out of the case, rivaling the best on electric guitars.

No problems there yet. I take really good care of all of my guitars, so I don't expect to see what happens if it's dropped out of a hot-air balloon or something. The instrument seems to be solidly constructed, but very light and resonant.

Sorry, no experience there, as the guitar was just fine when I received it.

Acoustic tone is a matter of preference. I have a very nice 40 year old Epiphone FT-350 that sounds great, but is less punchy than this axe and has a more baritone presence. So each instrument has it's own character and sound; you either like them or you don't. I happen to love the resonance and tone of this guitar. If you're looking for a great guitar at a very reasonable price check these out before you buy.

Jumbo body with cutaway. Fishman electronics. Solid spruce top. Mahogany back and sides. Rosewood fretboard. Mahogany neck.

The tone of an acoustic is very subjective. More so than electrics IMO. I agree with a prior reviewer that there isn't a tone of low end roundness to the tone of this guitar. I personally don't care for that in an acoustic guitar.

What I like about this guitar is that it's got a very balanced tone. Warm with sparkling highlights that aren't harsh.

I played many acoustic guitars up to the $2,000 price range in shopping for this one. If money was no issue, I would probably have bought a Taylor. The Taylor tone is more to my liking than other brands. Larive (sp?) is a close second. I didn't like any Martin under the $2k price range.

This Carvin satisfied my need for a Taylor type tone very well. I won't say it's better or worse than a Taylor. But I would put the voice and characteristic of the tone in the same category.

Plugged in there are a vartiety of tones available. By the time you play with the eq, phase, volume, notch, etc. you can find many tones. Recording direct it sounds a little "sproingy" but that's not unusual for this kind of setup.

No problems. No flaws that I noticed.

Action is very good. Neck is comfortable and very playable. Very solid feeling guitar.

I bought it at the Carvin outlet in Santa Ana and it was set up perfectly. Owned if for 3 years now and haven't had to touch the truss rod once.

Carvin has decent customer support. It has gotten better in the last 6 years IMO. I wasn't too impressed with it prior to the time they implemented their web site.

Personal preferences aside, I think this guitar compares favorably to any guitar up to about the $1,200 price range. Period. It's an incredible value. The price is such that I dont' think twice about taking it out and playing it wherever I need to. I wouldn't take it to the beach or camping, but beyond that, it's a real work horse.

For the 10 years prior to the purchase of this guitar I used a Takamine F-340S which is a decent guitar. Also a work horse and very playable. The Carvin is superior to the Takamine though. It's tone is much more crisp and lively. It feels more solid too.

While I'd still love to have a Taylor someday. Since I bought this Carvin I've never looked back. I have the acoustic I'll have for a long time. It does everything I need it to do. It sounds the way I want it to sound. It feels the way I want it to feel. And I paid less than half of what I figured I'd have to spend in order to be this satisfied.

I whole heartedly recommend that people check these guitars out.

AA solid spruce top, Mahagony back and sides (laminate), satin finish, cutaway body Fishman Matrix Pickup, Fishman Prefix Plus, Mahogony neck.

Unfortunately I was dissappointed with the sound of this intrument. Unplugged it lacked any bass and sounded sterile to me when strumming.
Finger picking sounded better but again there didn't seem to be any character in the sound. There was no complexity or overtones which made it sound almost processed when playing. Plugged in it sounded like just about any other acoustic guitar with a Fishman Prefix plus system which is a compromise at best as it never really captures the sound of a good guitar and a good microphone. All that being said It certainly sounds comparable to guitar's in this price range and the sound probably would have improved over time as the wood loosened up, also acoustic guitar's vary wildly from one guitar to the next, I've played Martin's and Taylors that sounded different between guitars of the same model.

The guitar definitely gets high marks here. The action was set up perfectly, low enough to be comfortable but not too low to buzz. The satin finish looked great, grover tuners, white binding on the neck and body, and the neck was very comfortable to play especially with the satin finish. The spruce top was slightly discolored but I thought it gave the guitar a little character. You would probably be hard pressed to find anything better in this price range for this category.

I would assume the reliability and durability on this intrument would be pretty high judging from the quality of the construction and the parts. Humidity is always a concern with an acoustic guitar so I would take precautions if it was either very high or low. I won't give this a number because it would only be an assumption.

Customer support was very good. The first time I called to inquire about the acoutic guitars the person was reasonably helpful but the second time I got someone who was very helpful and was able to verbally describe the difference in sound between the different models. It was also very easy to return the intrument.

I've been playing for about 20 years and own several electic guitars and one 20 year old $100 yamaha acoustic which I'm attempting to upgrade. The bottom line with this intrument is that it didn't live up to my expectations for the sound which was my major concern when purchasing without being able to play it first. I've been searching for about a year for a new acoustic guitar and briefly owned a Taylor 510CE which I liked a lot but decided was a little too pricey. There is no perfect guitar and if I could I would buy several acoustic guitar's because they each have there own character and strong points, Martin D15, D28, Taylor 510CE, Gibson J-45 come right to mind. It probably isn't fair to compare the Carvin C780s to guitars costing 2-4 times more but in terms of looks and playability it held it's own against any of these, I ultimately returned it because I prefered the sound of my old $100 Yamaha even though it is much harder to play. Every person's taste is different and every guitar is a little different so I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying this intrument and giving it a test drive especially for all the features it has for the price. The return process was relatively painless except for the cost.

See Carvin's website for the complete list of features. This is the C780 with the Satin finish. Has the Fishman Prefix Plus preamp, which is a great addition to this guitar. Carvin included a stick-on pickguard in case I wanted one. They also included the truss rod wrench and instructions for adjustment. Overall, a good, solid guitar.

Acoustically, this guitar sounds very good. It compares favorably to the more expensive Taylors, Martins, and Breedloves I've played. Of course, you get better sound with the expensive guitars, but the Carvin's sound is still very good, maybe the best in this price range. Very full sound, even textured across the spectrum, and very responsive to variations in picking and fingerpicking. Plugged in, this guitar can sound like anything. The Prefix Plus is a great preamp. The only way it could be better is if they installed a Fishman Blender, and that would probably jack the price up substantially. I've had no problem playing this guitar through various sound systems. The adjustments are very easy, and a great sound can be dialed in very quickly.

Very well built guitar. The fit and finish is absolutely beautiful. There are no flaws anywhere on the guitar. The action was a little high when it arrived, but a slight turn of the truss rod put the action where I like it. I am primarily an electric player, so the action had to be forgiving. I've had no problems playing this guitar, anywhere on the neck.

I've only had the guitar a couple months, but it seems to be solid. The components are not cheap. Tuners are top quality, along with everything else. The satin finish is great. It does not hamper the tone in any way. Strap buttons are solidly mounted.

I haven't had to deal with Carvin's customer support, so I can't really rate it. Their website was very convenient for purchasing.

I primarily play electric, and I think this is a great acoustic guitar for electric players. It plays very well, and sounds great, both plugged and unplugged. For the money I haven't seen a better value in acoustic guitars. I shopped around a little bit, but quickly became discouraged. This guitar changed it all. Hats off to Carvin for a great product!