Carvin CS3S

2008 USA Carvin, 22 Fret, solid Mahogany body,1 volume 1 tone, push pull coil tap, 3-way selector switch.

New single cut from Carvin
Stop tail piece
Sperzel locking tuners
Ebony Fingerboard
Abalone block inlays
Stainless Steel medium jumbo frets
S22B/S22J pickups Chrome covered
Dunlop Straplocks
Hardshell case

I play a variety of styles but mostly mainstream and alt. rock and P&W. After playing many guitars over the years from Hamer, ESP, Washburn, Traditions, Etc. I have to say this guitar is the best sounding i have ever owned. I heard negative feedback on the stock Carvin Pups, but from the moment i plugged this baby in I was in tone heaven. I'm still not used to the coil tap feature but i'm playing around with it and liking it more and more. pickups are dead quiet, bright and full tone, I play mainly through a Line 6 Spider III HD150 half stack and i've run through tons of the preset tones with it already. It sounds amazing no matter what. Clean to metal and everything in between. Heck it even makes the Spider sound better in the "tween" tones.

It's a custom shop guitar so i got exactly what i wanted. Fit and Finish are spot on. A tiny ding in the top edge and a slight burn on one of the bezels (from the buffer i'm sure). It was pretty close to being in tune out of the box and intonation was very close. frets are smooth as glass and the tung oil neck is a dream. I didn't know what i was missing until I ordered this guitar.

Haven't had it long enough to know from experience, but I can tell It's the best built guitar I've ever owned. I'm sure I'd be comfortable gigging without a backup if it came down to it, but now I'm thinking I'll be ordering another one to BE my backup!

No opinion as of yet.

Been playing since I was 16 (40 now) and I currently won 3 guitars and one bass. I record my own music in my home studio. I see another Carvin in my near future.

If this guitar were LOS I'd not hesitate a moment to replace it with another Carvin.