Carvin CT6M

Great options, gold hardware, coil tap, stainless steele fretwire, flamed maple top, birds eye maple fretboard, Snag chip etc. Nice tweed case but not the quite the same high quality as of the guitar.

Clean and distorted sounds are great. Not really Strat-like or Les Paul.. it has its own voiceing and great definition. The multi-pole piece pickups are great when bending the strings to extreme. Pickup selector is a little too far aft for me as I am accustomed to a Strat.

Only minor adjustment required to achieve ultimate playability. Neck feels broke in right from the start. The finish is awesome with no glaring flaws. The hardware is tight yet smooth. Well matched wood top with deep blue on flamed maple. The nicest maple fret board I have seen. Minor buzzing at the bridge, not sure why, but just pressing the string with my finger directly on the saddles corrected the problem.

Only had it a few weeks and have used it on two gigs and several practice sessions. I don't expect any problems with it being gig worthy.

I had a bad experience with Carvin customer service and posted an honest set of comments in a previous listing. However, Carvin talked me into trying a third time. They admitted they had a lot of problems with computer email software and some of their customer service folks but assured me that it had been corrected. During my ordeal most of their CSRs were friendly but I am difficult to satisfy and expect a high level of attention to detail and professionalism from any High End manufacturer. Carvin delivered on all facets and truley came trough in the end. They deserve a pat on the back for not ignoring my complaints. A heart-felt THANK YOU goes out to their entire staff for all of their hard work.

The guitar is stunning and the playability is fantastic. The company will work with you and attempt to satisfy even the most demanding artist. I look forward to a long business realtionship with Carvin and hope to post many more great reviews on their equipment. I really love this guitar and respect and admire the staff and management of this American company.. "KUDOS" to you folks. The value and apperance of this instrument far exceeds the price paid.

My CT6M was made in late 2005. It has an optional quilted maple finished in a triple step deep blue finish which is absolutely stunning. This is my first stainless steel fretted guitar. I can't honestly find a reason anyone would want anything OTHER than stainless steel frets. They are glass smooth and when coupled with my tung oiled neck option, I've gained a neck that is faster than anything I've ever played before. In my 41 years of playing professionally I've owned them all. Tuners are Sperzel locking type and the guitar holds tune perfectly. It is a dual humbucking configuration with push pull coil tap on the tone control and 3 position toggle selector for front back or both pickups. There ARE no other features needed for this guitar. This guitar is my number one guitar and always will be.

My style follows Carlton, Clapton and Vaughan and myself mostly! My steady gig requires me to do a lot of classic rock cover tunes and this guitar fits the bill perfectly. I have worked for the past 13 years as a solo act. I sequence all of my backup music. I don't use the internet garbage. It is a quiet guitar and is capable of six distinctly different sounds. Add to that different EQ settings whether onboard or outboard and it is almost limitless. It can be either rich or bright sounding.

The guitar was set up perfectly AND in tune after travelling from the California factory into the frozen wasteland of Minnesota. Fit and finish is flawless. I have touched nothing on the guitar in terms of setup or action. Take it out of the case and play it! That's it.

The guitar will totally withstand live play. It is extremely comfortable and balanced and becomes part of your body when you strap it on. Since getting this guitar, I never go to a gig with an electric backup. I do carry an acoustic electric (also a Carvin) for obvious acoustic chores.

No I do not work for Carvin...so far they are all "10"s and customer support is no different. The tweed vintage case that the guitar came in (built by an outsource company) had the most minor binding in one of the hinges. One phone call later I had a new case coming to me, no questions asked. They also arranged for the UPS man to pick the old case up at my house, no charge. A few weeks later, they apparently decided I needed another case as they sent AN EXTRA ONE! Also, because of repeated business, having purchased five Carvins to date, they have showered me with perks....guitar straps, picks, caps, t shirts, window logos, on and on and on.

I've been playing since 1964. The guitar would be replaced if stolen even if I had to have crucial body parts removed to do it. I've never played a Smith, a guitar that many compare the CT6 to...and I never will fork out three times what I paid for this honey just to have a PRS either! Other gear owned include a 1966 all original Gibson Byrdland, a Carvin AE185, Carvin AC375, Carvin CL450, 1936 Regal Acoustic, 1960's Harmony Jag copy, 2004 Fender 50th Anniv Strat....Alesis sequencing gear, MIDI sound modules, Boss GT6, Bose PAS system, JBL Eon G2's, Behringer 2222 UB mixer, Carvin SM162 mixer, Mackie DFX mixer, Boss BR1600 CD, Roland Juno D keyboard, 800 copies left of my May 2005 CD release (hint)

2005 California Carved Top CT6M

USA-made in Carvin's California facility.
Deep red triple-step stain finish with blackburst top, sides and back.
Solid AAAA flame maple top.
Honduran mahogany set-in neck and body.
Carvin C22N neck humbucker pickup, and C22B bridge humbucker PUP.
-- The C22N and C22B are "custom wound w/vintage plain enamel wire"
Master volume and three-way pickup selector.
Push-pull tone with integrated coil splitter.
Three-way PUP selector switch.
Sperzel locking tuners.
Features Carvin's "Rapid Play" neck:
--- 25" scale rosewood fingerboard.
--- Abalone block fret markers.
--- 22 medium-jumbo frets; 12" radius; nickel fret wires.
Gold plated hardware.
Strings-through-body.
M-series tune-o-matic bridge, which sets in the body.
Dunlop Strap-Loks.
SNAGG chip. anti-theft system.
Case is extra.

The neck profile isn't as thin or flat as Gibson's "slim-taper '60s" necks, but falls somewhere between the slightly meatier (for a Strat) Fender MIM Robert Cray Strat and the '50s necks available on Gibson's Les Paul Standards (not the Historics, however, which are like baseball bats).

In addition to the mix of standard and custom options listed above on my particular guitar, Carvin offers the buyer many other finish, build and hardware options, such as Bird's Eye maple or Ebony fret boards, Mother-of-Pearl dot or block inlays, 10" or 12" radius neck, black or chrome hardware, a Floyd Rose or Wilkinson tremolo, stainless steel frets, and more.

This is such a simple, user-friendly guitar, yet extremely versatile because of the coil splitting feature. I play mostly blues and classic rock, some jazz, and modern country, and this guitar fits the bill perfectly.

This guitar can get you close to some of the trademark Fender and Gibson sounds, but it really has it's own voice and should be considered as it's own unique entity.

I go for a clean sound and play through a slightly modified (for a tighter, cleaner, almost-Twin sound) Fender '59 Bassman LTD RI, and this guitar covers the full tonal spectrum clearly and convincingly. It prodices nice highs, clear mids, and chunky but tight lows.

I use very few effects -- basically, I have a pedalboard with: (1) Boss tuner; (2) Boss CS-3 compressor; (3) Boss EQ pedal; (4) Voodoo Lab Sparkle Tone OD. That's it.

I can't say enough about Carvin's craftsmanship on this guitar. True, machines do most of the work (order up Carvin's free DVD and see for yourself), but the handiwork was really evident in the finish work.

Whoever sprayed and blended the red body stain and darker edges was a true artist. I asked for a soft, feathered blending of the black into the red, and Carvin nailed it. The bonus was discovering that they put the body color on the back of the body and neck as well (usually Carvin applies a clear gloss over the natural mahogany, but no body stain), then did some neat tricks with the black to create a truly stunning looking guitar.

The AAAA flame top is perfectly matched. The neck joint is tight and solid. And the set-up was dead-on, according to my wishes, right out of the box.

In fact, the guitar shipped from California, where it was probably in the 70's or 80's, and was flown and trucked over several days to New Hampshire and in temps down in the 20's -- then it sat in a UPS warehouse facility for four more days. When I finally got the guitar, opened the case and took it out --- it was in perfect tune and on pitch. The action was set perfectly, and according to my instructions -- and I found no buzzes, rattles or other annoying sounds.

I've been told Carvin's guitars go through a three- or four-day Quality Control check and final set up after they are built and before they are shipped. It certainly is apparent in my guitar.

Is there such a thing as a totally flawless guitar? I don't think so, but this guitar is about as close to truly flawless as it gets. I'm still looking but can't find anything wrong with it.

This is NOT a light guitar. The body composition -- maple and mahogany -- is similar to a Les Paul. I have a Les Paul that weighs in at nine pounds, and this Carvin CT6M is probably pretty close to that. However, it doesn't feel overly heavy on the shoulder. I use a three-inch wide strap and that helps, but the guitar itself is well balanced.

It is a solid guitar, and a quality instrument. The components appear to be top quality, The finish looks like it can take a beating and still hold up well. I always have a couple of guitars so, by default, I do have a back-up. But I would play this without a backup with no worries.

I dealt with two different folks (Tyler and Charles) in the course of the two-mont building of this guitar. In one case, they applied an additional discount that I only learned about some two weeks after placing the order. They didn't have to honor it, but they did so willingly.

In the second, they agreed to bump up the shipping to two-day air from UPS Ground in an attempt to get the guitar to me by Christmas. When I asked how much for the shipping upgrade, I was told, "Merry Christmas from Carvin."

I had a small issue with a buzz in PA speaker a few months back, and thought it might be in the crossover. They shipped me a new crossover by two-day air, no charge, and allowed me to keep the old one as a backup (still seems good).

My band's bassist has had some contact with customer service over his many years of playing Carvin basses and bass amps, and they have always bent over backwards to make things "right" for him. He still plays a Carvin amp he's had for 25 years, and it just plays on.

In my opinion, Carvin has the best customer service department of any instrument manufacturer I have dealt with. It should be a model for folks like Gibson and Fender.

I have been playing guitar for almost 40 years, and own a 1975 Les Paul Standard (I bought it new in '75), a 2005 Les Paul Standard, a 2005 Mexican-made Fender Robert Cray Strat, an Ovation acoustic electric, and this Carvin CT6M. I play these through a new Fender '59 Bassman LTD RI, modified with Weber speakers and upgraded power and pre-amp tubes. The pedals/effects are few and listed at the top of this review.

I pretty much ordered my CT6M the way I wanted it. Had I known about the body stain effect on the back, I would have ordered it that way. I didn't know about it, but lucked out and received the guitar finished that way. It is much more stunning with the blending of black and the red body color on the back of the body and neck, than jhad it come "standard" with just black into clear gloss over mahogany.

If lost, stolen, or lost at sea (or a Louisiana flood), I would definitely replace this in a heartbeat. This guitar does it all so well.

Too many things to love, and nothing to hate. It is a lot of guitar at an affordable price. I especially love its simplicy -- one volume, one tone, one switch -- oh, and locking tuners to boot!

I can't really compare the CT6M to anything else. It is not a PRS; it is not a Gibson Les Paul or an ES-335 or an SG; it is not a Fender Strat or Tele. You can come close to covering these sounds, but you should really let it's own voice out and let it speak for itself.

Carvin really has proven itself to be a quality guitar maker, and its custom shop approach is a huge plus. Joe Walsh is using one of these with the Eagles (I saw him playing it off and on on a non-Carvin-sponsored concert video of the Eagles' farewll tour), and appears on the DVD to talk about the CT series.

I think too many folks dismiss Carvin out-of-hand when considering a guitar purchase, and that's a shame. I was turned on to their guitars by my bassist and, like he said after he got his first Carvin bass, I only regret I waited this long to try a Carvin.

They have a 10-day trial policy from the day you receive the guitar, and they invite buyers to put their gear through a serious workout in those 10 days. If you don't like something -- even if you don't like the finish you picked out -- you pay the return shipping, and they'll refund your money. You really can't go wrong.

Good selection of features, stainless fret wires, gold hardware etc.

Don't know how it sounds. I returned the guitar before connecting it to an amp.

Action was very low from the factory. Excessive fret buzz on the entire neck. Even after the proper amount of forward "bow" was set with the truss rod, the upper scales still buzzed even with the action raised to greater than 12/64ths. The 13th and 17th frets were not properly seated for the 4th 5th and 6th strings. The overall finish was impressive. However the mahogany neck chosen for the guitar had two knots in the wood that made the finish uneven at the 2nd through the 5th fret area. The plastic bezels for the pickups were not dressed properly. A noticable gouge was on the neck pickup on the upper side and the bridge pickup was not dressed at all on the bottom side. I returned the guitar because of the fret problem.

Don't know, sent the guitar back.

Beware of the customer support. I ordered the guitar in May and finally in August they informed me that the guitar had a defective truss rod and another build would be required. I finally received the rebuild in October, and found it to be lacking in the quality promised. I had to request assistance several times to finally get a response, and had to threaten to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. They tried to pacify me with additonal discounts, but I requested an expedited shipment and a guitar without defects. I am truly disappointed that Carvin seemed to care less about my concerns with the rebuild. I had stipulated that the guitar be defect free since I had been waiting almost 24 weeks for the builds. After I recieved the guitar with flaws, I repeatedly emailed customer service about returning the guitar and tried to place a telephone call to the customer service manager, none of my attempted contacts were returned. It appeared to me they were not interested as to why I was returning the instrument.

I have been a working musician for over 25 years. Carvin may indeed make a great guitar and provide good customer service, but I fail to decern either. They assured me this was an isolated instance, however the lack of prompt replies to queries, and the failure to deliver a "defect free" product has soured me on this company. Buy at your own risk, the shipping charges to return a guitar to the west coast can be expensive. Carvin did however pickup the guitar on their dime and returned it for free.

Carvin california top ct6m amberburst with set bridge and string thru body.

This guitar sings. I have been playing for about 20 years and have always considered myself a strat player. I finally decided that maybe I needed a guitar with humbuckers to round out my sound- but being a strat player all my life, I just don't dig the looks of a strat with a humbucker,so I did some research and took a chance and man, I could not be happier.sustain forever. The coil splitter is awesome for clean tones.

It's funny- I've always been a big brand name guy.Heard about carvin for years but would never have even considered looking at them- but wanted something similar to a Robben ford baker without the price and I took a gamble.Man am I amazed at this guitar. Set up was great fit and finish I would put up against ANY prs I have seen- maybe I just got lucky but I am over the moon with this guitar


I

have only had it for about a month but don't forsee any problems.......

Absolute 10.I cannot say enough about this guitar.This would be the last guitar I would ever sell (including an american strat deluxe plus that I had personally signed by Niel Young which is very special to me.)Highly recommended.

22 fret, AAAA quilted maple top, honduras mohagany body and neck, quilted maple headstock top, 24k gold plate hardware, ebony fretboard, abalone block inlays, stainless steel frets, coil splitter, C22B humbucker and C22N humbucker, dunlop strap locks, Sperzel locking tuners, String through body bridge. Deep red triple-step finish over the maple top and headstock, natural mohagany finish on body and neck.

The guitar is stunning, far more stunning than you could buy off of any wall, only a custom guitar could look this amazing..and thats exactly what it is.

Every step of the way i was involved in picking out what i wanted on this guitar and how i wanted it, the guys at the shop were way helpful.

ill be simple and just say simply beautiful, probably a mix between a PRS and a Les Paul...very smooth sounding is the way i describe those pickups, carvin makes great pickups, i'm not sure i know anybody or have heard of anybody changing out their carvin pickups for another brand. They are a bit hotter than a PAF but smoother and more fluid sounding.

beautiful sounding guitar ESPECIALLY clean...with the coil splitter as well you can get some great single coil tone.

all the guitars from the carvin shop come set up by a tech, i did have my action adjusted at the shop because im picky, but thats it, no biggy. plays great, very comfortable. when i opened the case i was amazed at how beautiful it looked i asked for a very tight grained piece of quilted maple to be used on the guitar because i dont like the big bubbley grained ones, and i got just what i asked for, a beautifully tightly quilted work of art. far better than any PRS ive seen in person.

Best quality wood ive ever seen in an instrument hads down.

its very solid feeling, VERY solid, straplocks for extra protection, this guitar could last as long as any vintage les paul.

awesome guys at the shop, im a regular at the shop in covina, ive been playing about 12 years, own a fender stratocaster, 1982 gibson explorer, martin HD-28, and a few carvins, I've played hundreds of different guitars over the years, and by far the Carvins are the prizes of my collection. their quality, craftsmenship, price and service are world class.

if you aren't sure about whether to buy this guitar over a PRS or Gibson for that matter...just read the reviews in Guitar One and Guitar Player magazine...seriously this guitar is a work of art, and far superior to guitars that sell for thousands more.

Ordered the day before Christmas, 2004 ? received the day after Valentine?s day 2005. Blue quilted finish, gold hardware, stainless steel fretwire, cream pickup bezels, tung oil neck, abalone inlays (actually didn?t order them) and strap-locks installed. Those are my details ? for all the standard features check out the website. With all of their options you can't go wrong. NO other company gives features like this to the average man.

I also own a used DC127, with maple neck and mahogany body sides, and a thru the body fixed bridge. I didn?t buy it new so, I don?t know which pickups came with it, but I suspect it?s the hotter M22 series. On this CT6M, I ordered the standard C22 pickups because I find the DC127 pickups to be a little brittle ? particularly the bridge pickup. Not bad, but more trebly than I prefer. While my DC127 has similar woods, I think the CT6's construction ? with a set neck and mahogany body/maple top ? make for a much more resonant body. The sustain on the CT6M is amazing. Far better than the DC127. The strings may also be a factor ? I use 9?s on the DC127 ? the CT6 came with 10?s ? elixirs, and they felt great right out of the case.

Plugged in, I was immediately impressed with sound of the pickups. I loved the sound of my DC127 for home recording, especially through my POD. But the CT6 is much more like a PRS ? I tried a ton of PRS?s in the stores before buying the Carvin, and I just can?t figure out why they cost so much more. The C22 pickups are great. I still find myself using the middle and neck pickup more than the neck pickup alone. Also, the single coil sound of the CT6 is more convincing than the DC127. The guitarist in my band uses an American Standard Strat, and I had him use my guitar for a couple of songs. The volume for one is much louder than the strat (what do you expect from a humbucker). But what he said that most impressed me (and I must agree), is that the strat has such a specific character to its sound and the Carvin pickups have less personal color. Cleans are untainted. Any effects you use are enhanced because the pickups are so neutral in their own character. A trat will always sound like a strat - the Carvin can sound like anything you want it to. I love it because it gives the ability to get so many more sounds. I?m now using a V-amp pro, and it?s amazing easy to get great sounds out of this guitar.

The guitar showed up with some minor gripes but nothing to warrant sending it back. For starters, the first thing that was weird was the finish where it meets the neck. I ordered the tung oil feature on the neck (amazing feel), and it?s clear that they put the guitar together and then finished it, taping off the neck from where the high gloss finish meets the body. As a result, there?s some gloss finish on the side of the neck where it meets the body. I?m griping on a small detail, but it kind of bothers me that they didn?t keep all the gloss off the neck ? it creates a shiny line on the neck. I?m the only one that can see it, but hey.... Also, the blue finish bled slightly into the natural binding. How bad? Hardly. But it?s clear that it happened. I guess this is where the difference in price is apparent between a PRS and a Carvin. Also, there were some nicks at the neck joint, but some friends who own set neck guitars (this is my first) assure me it?s just glue that hardened at the joint. Again, just a minor detail. I also found that the pickup ring color didn?t look the way I expected ? I was going for that PRS look with Cream rings, and black pickups. Part of it is that even though the rings are cream, they used black screws. So, I bought some aftermarket gold metal rings with gold screws, and it looks stellar. BUT, it turns out that the Carvin pickups aren?t as wide as standard, so the rings have some wiggle room now. I?m thinking of adding gold pickup covers to stop them from moving, but not a biggy. Carvin is smart to mount their pickups with three screws (instead of the standard 2) ? it would be great if Carvin made gold pickup rings an option.

When I ordered the guitar, they asked if I wanted the abalone inlays. I read one of the reviews here that said they didn?t look so good, so I said no. I didn?t pay the $80 for the option. Low and behold, the guitar showed up with them. Now here?s the rope ? they look amazing! And this is coming from someone who didn?t think I?d like them. They have a blueish tint to them, which works great with the blue finish of the guitar. They ALL look good.

The stainless steel fretwire is great. A tad on the jumbo side. But like all Carvins, the neck is such a joy to play. The neck profile is different than the DC127. Not as wide and thin. I?d say perfect! Ironically, I picked up my DC127 for the first time in weeks the other day, and suddenly I?m realizing how great that guitar is too. Much lighter, but the wider/thin neck isn?t so wide and thin after-all. But if you?re scared of a ?wide-thin? neck the CT6 will not disappoint.

Another thing ? the quilted inlay over the headstock doesn?t have the matching natural binding ? a small thing, but again, it?s $1000 less than a PRS, and you can see where they cut costs.

Out of the case, the guitar was in perfect tune. It took two days before I could detect any detuning. There was a dab of buzz on the open strings (especially the E string), but nothing too bad. After two weeks of taking it around to my students in the cold, the neck is clearly starting to settle, and the buzzing is getting a little worse. I think the action is rising a bit at the upper frets too. Eventually it?s going to need a set-up. This is going to happen with any guitar shipped over the country in the middle of the winter. Still though, this guitar is such a joy to play. Better than EVERY PRS I picked up in the stores.

I don?t expect any problems. The DC127 was probably two years old when I bought it 3 years ago, and I?ve had no problems what-so-ever. Great quality components. No worries.

I hate that I have to wait on hold forever to speak with someone. They do seem hit or miss, but I?m having more hits than misses. The rep that sold me the guitar was great. He talked me out of some options that I?m glad I didn?t get (satin finish neck instead of tung oil), and I?m glad he suggested the stainless steel fret wire. The guitar was finished one day before they said it would be. I called to get a tracking # and they gave it quick. I even called to find out what strings are on the guitar, and someone is always helpful. I also lost the snagg tag that had the snagg id # to register on the website. After a call and two emails, someone finally emailed me the #. That was pretty nice of them. Overall, I have no worries that they do the right thing.

What more can I say. I looked at PRS and I think for the $ I got a killer deal on this guitar. Plus, unlike the PRS I have a string-thru-body bridge with individual intonation adjusters. The finish is amazing, and aside from some seriously minor details, it?s just like the PRS. The sound is amazing, and I?m very happy with it. I?m already thinking of getting another one with a trem. Floyd rose or Wilkinson? I can?t decide. Compared to the DC127, the CT6 is prettier with the carved body. The small headstock is perfectly balanced. It?s a lot heavier than the DC127. Truth be told, I think I prefer the neck thru to the set neck. But I also don?t like the 24 frets of the DC127. So overall, it?s as close to all the things I wanted in a guitar, and none of the things I don?t. You can?t go wrong for half the price of a PRS.

Review of a 2005 CT6M, made at Carvin's factory in San Diego, CA. 22 Frets, Quilted Maple Top, Volume, Tone with a pop-up split, 3 way selector switch, H/H Pickup Config with a C22B in the Bridge and a Holdsworth H22N in the Neck. Body and neck are Mahogany, Top is Quilted Maple. Finish is a Deep Green Triple Step, with a thin black-burst (approximately 1/4" to 1/2", around the edges. Clear coat on the back, and tung-oiled neck. A quilted veneer covers the headstock, finished in the same color. Bridge is a Tune-O-Matic with the strings through the body. Sperzel locking tuners. Ebony fretboard with Dunlop 6100 jumbo frets, abalone block inlays. Chrome hardware. Got it with a tweed case and Dunlop straplocks.

This guitar's sound is amazing, I personally love the C22B pickup in the bridge. My setup is very simple, a Behringer V-Amp2, that's it. I hook that up to my computer and this guitar just screams. Massive sustain and will keep up with any kind of metal I wanna play, from Tesla to In Flames. Excellent crunch and lead tone. The holdsworth adds a unique rich tone to the neck, even distorted it just cuts through incredibly, I love it.

They advertised a "fast-play" neck on their website, I was expecting just sick action with the strings barely resting above the frets. While i'm not disappointed, I still thing the action is a little high. I get occasional buzz on the low E if I really hammer on it, but it's not really an issue. Overall though, this neck makes my US Strat's neck pale in comparison. It truly is "faster". Pickups were perfect from the factory. The bookmatched top is brilliant, looks like I have a "ghost face" right below the tune-o-matic. Really cool. The only finish flaw I could find was a very thing amount of white around the neck joint where it meets the body, which i'm assuming is glue, should be easy enough to cleanup.

Everything about this axe represents Reliability and Durability to me, It feels and looks solid as a rock. The only complaint I have about any of the hardware, and it's been addressed here, is the p/u selector. It feels "loose" though it isn't, maybe it's not a real good quality switch I don't know, and i'm not real fond of the placement of it, but that's just cause im used to the location of the strat selector. If I didn't need an alternate tuned axe, then hell ya I'd go solo with this to a gig.

The sales staff was extremely helpful, spent a good hour and a half on the phone with me picking out the right options. The "thin black burst" I requested was achieved to my satisfaction. Couldn't be more happy with them.

I've been playing for about 20 years and owned about 10 guitars and this is by far the best. I would definitely replace it if it was lost, stolen, or beyond repair broken. I had previously owned a Carvin Ultra-V back in the 80's and loved that guitar as well, so no, for the price I wanted to spend I didn't look at any other guitars. I did research LGM guitars, but they were a bit more expensive. I'm left-handed, and most stores just carry the standard Strat, Tele, Ibanez cheapies, and maybe a LP in Left handed models. So I don't get much chance to play other guitars. I was getting a carvin from the get-go pretty much. All I gotta say, is for the money, you can't get a better guitar. They have a 10 day return guarantee, try it, they blow away anything in this price-range, IMO.

This CT6M was made in 2004 in the good ole USA, California. It has 22frets and a ebony fingerboard with Jumbo frets. I got it with abalone block inlays. It has a mahogany body and neck with a flamed maple top. 1 vol. 1 tone control. Tone pot is push pull as the pickups are tapped. It came with standard C22N and C22B pickups, which sound great. This guitar has a triple step Deep sunsetburst finish with gloss on the back. Gold Hardware, graphite nut, and sperzel locking tuners. 25"scale with an extremely comfortable neck profile. I got this with a tweed case and Dunlop straplocks installed.

I really love the sound of this guitar. I play it through a Carvin mts tube amp. Ton's of sustain. The C22n neck pickup is awsome for playing bluesy stuff. The C22b has a great tone for a vintage sounding pickup. Doesn't get as dirty as I usually like but is very high output for a vintage pup. I play all kinds of music and from gospel to hard rock, it works for me.

Well, here is the point where I was dissappointed. When I got the guitar, I thought man it is georgous, that was, until I played it. After playing it a minute, I noticed that the nut was all scratced up and that the scratches went all the way to the beginning of the 2nd fret on the side of the fretboard. Then I noticed that the guitar would buzz like crazy on open strings, best I could tell, the nut was cut a tad too low. The finish on the guitar was excellent and looks like great wood quality. The action was a tad high but I didn't want to lower it anymore cuz it was already buzzing. The Abablone blocks were also dissappointing to me. It has 5 beautiful pieces, 1 ok looking and then all the rest are just plain grey, just awful. I'll never make the mistake of buying a guitar site unseen with abalone blocks again. I sent the guitar back, now the scratches are no longer on the nut, looks like they buffed it and painted over it? There is still a minor nick on the side of the fretboard at the first fret though. They did fix it to where the strings no longer buzz in the open position but now they buzz at other places. With a tad over .010 relief and 5/64 string height (low e 12th fret) it still buzzes like crazy in some spots. Also, it looks like the side of the fretboard is painted and now the paint is starting to come off all the way from the ninth to the 22nd fret. Also, when I got the guitar back, one of the Sperzel's was broke, they did send me a replacement tuner though when I told them about it. the reason this catagory gets as high as a 5 from me is because the paint on the body and the flame top are beautiful.

This guitar seems like it will withstand live playing. I don't know how long it will be before the gold hardware starts fading so I can't anwser that one. The finish seems good enough to last for a long time, but after seeing paint coming off the side of the fretboard, I'm starting to get worried. I can depend on it and I have gigged using it without a backup.

Customer service has been pretty good with carvin. They've tried to help me out the whole time. I only have 2 complaints. One is that one time when I called, I got passed around on the phone to 5 different people till one of them finally decided to try to help me out. My 2nd complaint is that they are not on the same page. Over the phone, they tell me that they can fix the light abalone problem. Then the repair guy calls me up and tells me they can't. Try talking to each other and finding out fella's? Is it that hard? I got my guitar back and they sorta fixed some of my problems.

I have been playing for about 8 years now and I own 1 other carvin and 1 jackson, 1 fender and a carvin tube amp. I wish I would have ask if the abalone inlays would match before I bought this guitar, guess I learned my lesson with that one. If it were stolen or lost I would not buy it again. If I really wanted a carved top, I would just get a PRS. I'm sure they have their problems too but I have yet to see one with paint coming off the side of the fretboard. And if they repaired one, it's not likely to come back with almost the same problems plus a new one like what happend to mine with carvin. What I love about this guitar is the look, the Flamed maple carved top, the beautiful sunsetburst finish, the gold plated carvin logo. What I dislike, of coarse the non matching abalone blocks and the ugly side of the fretboard. This guitar has all the features that I would want. It needs nothing else. I have always loved carvin guitars but now I do not know if I will buy from them anymore. They always used to be the little custom manufacturer who took their time to get the guitar right. Now that they seem to be getting busy, they are more like the gibson's of the world, make it fast and get it out the door. If nothing was wrong with this guitar, it would be a great deal but as mine is, it's not quite worth what I paid.

This is Carvin's new carved top model. Mine is a deep red with the triple step stain process. Not sure how this factors into the final product. All I can say is that the red is very deep and translucent enough to see the beautiful tight flame. I really am not comfortable with the standard PRS comparisons, but it seems to be the norm so I will go along with the pack. I bought a PRS 10 top Custom Bird new in 1988. No denying it was a very sweet guitar. The top on this Carvin does beat the "10" top on my PRS 10 top, so take that for what its worth. The body is mahogany with a carved maple cap. Tung oil mahogany neck with ebony fretboard and large block abalone inlays. A matching flamed maple overlay on the headstock. Tuners are locking Sperzels. All gold hardware. The tone knob pulls up to provide coil tapping. What a useful feature! Pickups are standard Carvin neck and bridge pickups (more about those later). Great features.

Here is where subjectivity really plays into the mix. A previous review commented that the standard Carvin pickups would likely get replaced for being somewhat weak. I was very surprised to read that as the pickups on my guitar seemed very "in your face" and powerful. I had to back things off a little more than I normally would. I find the guitar, with stock pickups, to have a remarkable breadth of tonal choices. From the "I's swear you were playing a tele" twang using the coil tap, to a deep Santana bassy sustainy kind of thing. My sound leans more toward the biting blues tone of a Robben Ford sound and I have no problems achieving that with this guitar.

Also an interesting and very subjective thing is fretboard material. I mentioned earlier that I had a 1988 PRS Custom with a rosewood fretboard. I found the sound of that guitar to be brighter than this CT6 with an ebony fretboard.

I can offer no complaint, even minor on the issue of tone. I was very pleased with how significant the coil tap on this particular guitar is the real deal. I briefly had a Baker Robben Ford model with a coil tap and wanted to love that guitar but it just came up short for me. The coil tap was very disappointing on that guitar. This Carvin seems to have put it all together is one terrific package.

Only one complaint and I will offer it up front. I agree that the pickup switch could be a little tighter and more substantive feeling. It works fine and it may never end up being a real issue. Just wish it felt a little stronger.

Beyond that, the guitar is the textbook example of what it means to have impeccable fit and finish. It is flawless. The finish is smooth as glass and just looks and feels like quality. Everything is in its place and nothing out of place. There are no drips, smudges, hazy areas, noisy pots, or uneven pickups. Great fretjob and actions setup. I am giving this a 9 only because of the minor issue with the pickup switch. To me, a 10 means just that...absolutely no issues at all. In the fit and finish category, I think Carvin simply cannot be beat. Maybe equaled but not beat. This is my third Carvin and all have exhibited the same attention to detail.

Cannot say for certain, as it is too new. I do have experience with two previous Carvin guitars, one of which I used regularly and owned for 9 years. It never failed me so I will presume this guitar will have a similar level of reliability and durability.

I think Carvin support is as good as any out there. Always been helpful and have a great 10 day money back guarantee. As much as anyone could reasonably expect.

I really would like to sound less enthusiastic as that seems to be the norm here at Harmony-Central. However, this guitar truly is as sweet as you could hope for. For me, the stock pickups, especially with the very useful coil tap, provides everything from bassy sustain to those biting harmonic filled leads you want out of a bridge pickup. Fit and finish is impeccable. It is as easy on the eyes as it is on the ears and fingers. I love a nice Hamer Archtop/Artist Custom/Monaco Elite or a beautiful PRS 10 top. But these guitars have absolutely nothing over the Carvin CT6 in playability, tone, and fit/finish, yet they cost significantly more. It doesn't make sense to not look at Carvin - the other quality USA made guitar.