Carvin CT6M

2nd time submitting a review...I'll keep it clean this time ;-)
2008, CT6M, C22s, Sperzels, abalone blocks, stainless frets...all the usual. AND - a custom finish from yellow to green to blue on the outside on quilted Maple. It Is STUNNING!

Features? You can order it any way you want. For that, I give it a 10...

So...the stock C22s are good. I've owned several Carvins and have played with several of their pickups so I can speak with some authority. I like the Carvin pickups and on some guitars they are perfect. I have a DC-135 (all Koa) with a C22 in the bridge and it's great. And, even though I liked the C22s in my new CT6, we all have our favorites and my favorites happen to be the Dimarzio Evolution set (DP158 and DP159) that have ultimately found their way in my CT6.
Stock Carvin isn't noisy, isn't dull, isn't anything bad. Dimarzio is better. For that, Carvin out of the box gets an 8...

Factory set-up? Damn near perfect. I changed the strings and exercised the intonation adjustments - just to see if they worked. I'venot adjusted the truss rod in a year.

Pickups? They were adjusted perfectly for C22s. And then I swapped them...

Properly bookmatched top? Please...I do not know what enchanted forest Carvin gets their wood from but I'd like to camp there. It's as good as can be had without a doubt!

Flaws? No. If nothing else, it is obvious that the Carvin people who made this instrument take great pride in their work.

Blindfold me in any Guitar Center. Hand me 9 of the highest-dollar instruments on the pegs along with the Carvin and let me pick the best playing one. Without a doubt, it would be the Carvin. It's simply that good.

Sure - all pro finish. Whatever Carvin uses for a finish is more 'ding resistant' than Gibson (I have several of each...) While I'll never gig with just ONE guitar, I've played dozens of shows with only Carvin instruments in the rack.

I've dealt with the Carvin people on several occasions. I've had nothing but positive experiences with these guys. I see some negative comments on-line but have always received all-pro treatment.

I really can't say enough about the quality of the instrument. Nobody out there can come close to this.
Would I buy a PRS with an ebony board, genuine Abalone inlay, custom three color burst finish and stainless frets? Uhhhhh. Sure. I like the PRS mystique. BUT...Would I pay $20,000 for this? No. Fortunately, Carvin has made it possible to get such an instrument for half than you'd spend on a 10-Top Custom 22.

Mine is a quilt top, abalone block inlay, ebony board, SS frets with a custom finish ($300 upgrade three color burst from yellow to green to blue I personally specified) matching headstock. It is a truly exceptional instrument. I've owned and played all of the major names in guitars (10 in my current collection) and my new CT6M is right at the top of the list in terms of quality, appearance and overall construction. Functionally, it's pretty basic - pickup selector, coil tap, volume and tone. Sperzels make changing strings a 5 minute operation. The customization options make this a 10.

While the stock C22 pickups are competent, we all have our favorites and I've substituted in a set of the Dimarzio Evolutions (DP159, DP158). This combination makes for a distinctive, complex sound that is unparalleled by any stock Gibson or PRS I've handled. As one friend put it: there's a lot of tone going on there...I also have a CT4 with a Floyd Rose and a DC135 with a Wilkinson that still has the C22. The CT4 I bought used with the M22SD pickups in it that were higher output but too thin for my taste. I like the contrast I get between the CT4 and CT6.

If I could rate it a 100 I would. The guitar handles beautifully and is the most 'precise' feeling guitar in my arsenal. With the stainless frets, it feels like a well oiled machine. If you combined a Parker with a PRS, this is what you'd have. The quality of the workmanship is absolutely top notch. I have no idea what enchanted forest supplies the wood for the Carvin tops but I'm glad I got a piece of it. I have my CT6 finished with the black back and sides option (a bit of a guilty pleasure as I'd normally scorn the notion of painting a nice piece of wood) so I can't really see the grain of the mahogany but it makes the guitar look bad azz and further enhances the appearance of the top as was my intent. My CT4 has a tung oiled neck and I like the feel of both finishes for different reasons. If I had to change one thing, perhaps the head stock could be 10% larger and be more proportional to the overall guitar but I'm really splitting aesthetic hairs now...

I've not had any trouble with a Carvin instrument and don't anticipate I will down the road. My pride and joy was knocked off the stand at a gig and suffered a little ding on the back of the neck...something that would have marred any guitar. I've seen head stocks and necks snapped off Gibsons that suffered less of an impact.

I've seen some negative comments about the Carvin customer support but my experience was quite positive. I got a postcard in the mail confirming my order and ship date. I ordered it in late October and although it was about a week past the initial delivery date due to "longer time in finishing" I still had it in time for Christmas. I'll cut them some slack as the final result was stunning. I spoke with the customer service department on several occasions and they were always professional and accommodating.

I've been playing guitar for almost 25 years now. I own a couple of Gibsons that sit in their cases since getting the Carvin guitars. The Carvin product is simply superior in finish and playability. I'm motivated perhaps to get my Les Paul upgraded to the stainless frets to improve playability but it still won't look nearly as nice as the CT6. If mine were stolen, I would do two things: immediately order another to replace it and find the sorry SOB who was fool enough to walk with my axe and parade their head around town on a pike. I'm not sure how Carvin does it but they sell AMERICAN MADE, CUSTOM, TOP-SHELF instruments for mid-level dollars.

I have a California Carved Top made in 2008 with a gorgeous quilted top, "deep sunset burst" finish, gold hardware, abalone block inlays, stainless steel medium-jumbo frets... the total jaw-dropping package.

The push-pull coil tap is a nice feature and the standard Carvin C22 pickups were OK, although I ended up replacing them with Paul Reed Smith Dragon pickups (IMHO the best pickups ever made).

Having never played a Carvin guitar before I was initially impressed but considered my Paul Reed Smith Custom-22 a better instrument, but after just a few hours of breaking in this guitar it became my primary instrument... I don't even remember the last time I played my Paul Reed Smith!

I gave this guitar an 9 for features because of the standard pickups, my modified guitar with the hot PRS Dragons rates a 10.

As mentioned above, I quickly swapped pickups on this so I didn't get a lot of time evaluating the sound, but it was decent. Using it with my Carvin Legacy amp (all tube) it had a nice, warm and full sound, but I wanted a lot more power and opted for PRS Dragon pickups.

With the PRS Dragon pickups this guitar is monstrous, huge low end and bright high end, great sustain (a lot of this comes from the masterful construction by Carvin and not the pickups)... this guitar is now my ideal.

Again, considering the standard pickups I give this an 8, with PRS Dragons it rates a 10.

Set up on this was pristine. I set up all of my own guitars for intonation, action, etc... I didn't need to do anything with this guitar except plug it in and enjoy it.

I've owned this guitar for a year now and play it constantly, beating on it pretty hard, and I have had no issues. But, it's important to note that with the gorgeous woods, finish, abalone, and gold hardware I obviously treat it well... but hey, it's rock 'n roll and I am often a bit inebriated while playing it so accidents happen, and so far it's held up nicely.

I didn't have to deal with any issues concerning this guitar, so I can't really speak to Carvin's customer support on this. I do, however, own a lot of Carvin gear for my studio - PA speakers, power amps, Legacy Guitar amp, and... well... still not a lot of data points on customer service because I never need it!

There was only one issue with the initial shipment of my Carvin Legacy amp in 2001 - it arrived with a broken power tube so I called and was immediately shipped replacement tubes at no cost, and the perosn on the phone apologized for the inconvenience. It sucked to get a brand new amp and have to wait, but they were helpful.

Overall, considering I've only had one issue and they were helpful, I guess they get an 8.

I've been playing guitar for 21 years now and my other guitars include a Paul Reed Smith Custom-22, a Fender American Standard Stratocaster, a Fender HM Strat, and 10 other lower quality guitars that don't get much attention at all and aren't worth mentioning. This guitar is the best guitar I have ever played, and every time I go into a shop hoping to find something I like better I come home and am happy to play my Carvin. If it were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy another but probably need years of counseling to deal with the loss.

I love it's amazing looks, it's incredible playability, and, with the PRS Dragon pickups, it's phenomenal output and sustain. There's absolutely nothing about this guitar I hate except the way it makes me not play my other guitars often enough to justify keeping them.

At $1724 this guitar was definitely not cheap, but honestly it was worth it. If that's too big a price tag, check out the set-neck guitars from Schecter, I originally bought my Carvin because someone stole my Schecter C-1+.

The guitar is beautiful! I ordered a new CT6M in fall of 2006. Carvins are all made at the Carvin factory in southern California. The CT6M is a 22-fret, mahogany-body, passive dual-humbucker, "PRS-style" electric guitar with a carved, figured AAAA maple top, mahogany neck, body-matching figured maple headstock, and Sperzel Locking tuners. The guitar has one volume knob, one tone knob (with coil splitter for single coil-like sounds) and a pickup toggle switch. It also has a string-through body tun-o-matic bridge, for added sustain. I ordered mine with a Bird's Eye maple fingerboard, rather than the standard ebony. I also ordered gold-plated hardware, in addition to the Carvinlogo being inlaid with gold, which is standard. You really can't find a more gorgeous guitar. It's absolutely stunning! And Carvin has tons of available custom features to choose from.

My electric music style kind of Classic Rock, but this guitar could definitely do Metal. Right now I'm using it though a Carvin SX-200 amp, but I've used it through a Peavy solid state and a Marshall. Occasionally, I'll run it through my POD 2.0 direct if I'm at a venue where my amp is too loud (SX-200s can't be turned up over about 2 or they'll pretty much kill somebody), and that works all right. I'm not using any effect pedals with it at the moment. The sound is pretty warm and full, and the coil tap adds some nice variety, but I'm not sold on Carvin's pickups. The guitar comes standard with Carvin C22 humbuckers, and they're solid and realiable, definitely. I'm just not completely sold on their tone. I'm thinking of putting some Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers in it.

The guitar was well set-up at the factory. Certainly it played nice. All the same, I had a luthier set it up again and that made it all the better. Mostly the bridge's intonation needed adjusting, and that was it. The nut is graphite and should last longer than a typical bone. Carvin's "Rapid-Play" neck is a winner and plays great. The pickup height was fine. They're weren't any construction flaws that I could find, and I looked. The woods are gorgeous and it was obvious the thing was built with thorough attention to detail. Everything was beautiful.

This guitar is built for gigging. I've played it at 40 or so live gigs, and it's been good so far. I'm not wild about the Sperzel locking tuners, at least I haven't noticed anything special about them. I pretty much have to tune the guitar as often as any other I've owned. The finish will last, the strap buttons and cable jack were good, too. I've only had two problems with after doing regular gigs: (1) apparently you need a humidifier in the case even though it's a solid body - my fingerboard shrunk a little so I can feel the frets protruding when I run my hand up and down the neck (maybe that's my fault, or maybe that happens to maple fingerboards more often than ebony - I don't know), and (2) the coil splitter knob keeps coming loose. I have to tighten the thing about once a month. Not that big of a deal, but a little disappointing.

I only called them once during the time it was being built. The guy on the line wasn't overly friendly, but he did answer my questions. I did call them again after it was delivered to ask about some excessive buzz around the 12th fret. The guy this time wasn't particularly helpful, but since the luthier set-up fixed it, it didn't hurt in the long run either.

I've been playing for around 15 years and have some experience touring. Most of my guitar work has been acoustic, but I've been almost exclusively electric the last few years. I've played Fenders (both strats and teles), Danelectros, an Epiphone Les Paul, and an Epiphone hollow-body Joe Pass jazz guitar.

If it were stolen, I'm not sure I'd replace it. It would great to find one used for a little less and throw some different pickups in it. The only real drawback to the guitar is what I would call a very warm but not terribly exciting tone from the pickups. If Carvin offered Seymour Duncans during their custom work, this thing would get a huge thumbs-up all the way. It's well-built and beautiful, and you really can't beat it in terms of Bang-For-Your-Buck. It's a pro-quality, custom instrument for about half the cost of the PRS guitars it most closely resembles.

Custom made to order with "strat" style mahogany body, but with set neck, ebony 25" scale 22 fret board, carved maple top, Sperzel locking tuners, a variety of coil tapped Carvin humbuckers. USA made direct factory order. Every order is custom manufactured to your specifications. Pick your model of interest. Solid mahogany body, with a wonderfully thick maple top, not a thin cap, set mahogany neck with ebony fretboard (other fretboard options (2) maple, rosewood, available). No fancy binding options for fretboard. Body can come with a natural binding on the top. Fill out a form, or talk to a service rep. Pay the cost, and you get a work order number to track the manufacturing progress on their website updated as each of the manufacturing steps are completed. In four to eight weeks, you get a note saying you guitar is shipped and your custom guitar shows up on your doorstep. I ordered mine with Mother of Pearl block fretboard inlays on the standard ebony board, stainless steel medium jumbo frets, Wilkinson tremblo, standard Carvin coil tapped humbuckers, and a quilted maple top with clear gloss finish...more about that later.

On electric guitars, I play jazz and blues primarily using a Fender Deluxe, Peavey Delta Blues 210, or VOX AC30. I own (4) Les Pauls, (5) Parkers, PRS Custom 24, USA Fender Strat and Tele, Custom Jackson, Ibanez, Yamaha, etc. etc. etc. I chose the standard Carvin coil tapped humbuckers. There a number of pick-up models that are options for little or no money. Including harsher and muted pick-ups for metal etc, etc. The web site has charts showing the dynamic range of each pick-up option. Talk to a factory rep to make sure you get the pick-ups that suits your style of play. Mine sounds like nothing else I own. It's neither good nor bad.. its just a unique sound. The Carvin pick-ups are completely differet than anything else I own. They're clean and provide a lot of versstility with the coil tap. Not as Throaty and Dynamic as Les Paul or Seymour Duncan. Smooth with a good range, similar to a PRS... but not the same sound as anything else. The website has demos for you to listen to their versatility. Spend the time on the web-site and talking to their reps to ensure you order the right pick-ups for your stlye of playing.

All orders are custom made based on a list of options. The wood, construction, and set-up are first class as you would expect on a custom made guitar. Electronics are good, quiet when they're suppose to be quiet and set-up is low and wonderful straight from the shipping box. I ordered Pearl block inlays in the ebony fretboard with stainless steel medium jumbo frets, Wilkinson tremblo, and a quilted maple top with clear finish. It's a beautiful instrument, custom to my order, well made, sounds wonderful ... BUT THE WRONG COLOR. I wanted a clear, quilted maple top to match my PRS custom 24, Les Paul, and USA strat all in natural finishes (my favorite). I was excited to learn that I could get a custom order guitar that rivals a Les Paul limited edition / custom, or PRS Custom with "10 Top" for quite literally, thousands of dollars less than either model. While the order form says "clear deep gloss" finish, and the factory work order says "clear deep gloss" finish... I was instead sent my custom guitar with what I would characterize as their color option "vintage yellow" (think Les Paul trans amber, not clear natural, not even close to clear gloss on quilted maple... its yellow). My clear gloss finish is not even close to their color chart for clear gloss, or other "guitar gallery" photos on their website for "clear deep gloss". Yes, that's my biggest disappointment with my "custom order". Its not ugly, it's just not the finish I ordered. Other minor issue is oxidation on the Wilkinson tremblo intonation adjustments, that doesn't appear on any other of my (4) Wilkinson tremblos... but the oxidation is a minor issue (two years after manufacture) and I dont' hold that against Carvin. I can't explain the their "vintage yellow" color option being delivered as "clear gloss". They should have recognized this in the manufacturing process before shipping (it's not their first attempt at this "clear deep gloss finsh" based on photos on their website).

Guitar is well built. Construction quality is far above the price category. Have never had a problem with the electronics, (locking Sperzel) tuning, or maintaining set up even with the tremblo in use. Not as heavy as a Les Paul (thank goodness). Similar in weight and size to my USA PRS custom 24. I've owned it about two years with no problems. The gloss finish is very thick (appears to be more than three coats based on my wood working experience with maple). You can play Rock God with it without worry. I treat all my guitars as fine instuments. It's in the same category as any of the professional models in durability.

Good quality instrument in every way. Construction, fit and finish everything you would expect in a custom made guitar (.. other than my issue with being the wrong color...). I've had no problems with the construction, electronics, or other hardware since owning for about two years. I did call to discuss the color not being similar to their color charts, or being similar to there other guitars finished with "clear deep gloss", and did respond to their quality survey on delivery... and have heard absolutely nothing from them.... none of the "...return the product and we'll make it right..." nada... nothing. Put yourself in their position. It's a custom order, and they don't want it back. I choose not to pitch a fit... not my style. It's still a wonderful guitar, good electronics, well made, durable... just not the color I "custom ordered".

I've played off and on for more than 30 years, I have about 30 guitars, ....everything worth owning (4 Gibson Les Pauls, 5 Parkers, PRS custom 24, USA Strat, tele, Jackson custom... etc. acoustics, classicals etc. Fender Deluxe amp, Peavey Delta Blues 210, VOX AC30...), and a few not worth owning.... Carvin has several models that are interesting to me including a custom bass. Carvin's market is to provde a custom made professional quality guitar for less than a custom price. Wonderful body wood with beautiful maple top, wonderful ebony fretboard with stainless steel frets, great set-up straight out of the box, good electronics and unique voice closer to a USA PRS than a Gibson humbucker with coil tapping. Even being the wrong color, I would buy other... I'm sitting here thinking about doing that right now... In the hope of getting the color (natural) that I had actually ordered.... the only thing holding me back is poor experience I had with my "custom order" and what do I do with the "custom guitar delivered in the wrong color" that I already have?

It's Carvin so there's endless amount of features that you can get. I am using the green one I cant remember the specific name of the color. It has the abalone inlays on the fretboard which makes it look very nice. Has the stock C22 pickups.

Guitar sounds awesome. Especially for blues and jam band type music. It can also be used for heavy metal. I was using a Indyguitarist Plextortion and a BBE Sonic Stomp and this guitar sounded amazing. Put the pickup in the neck position and this thing just rips. Flip to the bridge and you have that beautiful warm tone.

Clean sound the guitar is nice as well. I'm sure it would sound nicer if it were in a better amp than my stock Fender HDR. But overall it is very nice for both Clean and Overdriven.

One thing I found with this guitar was that it tended to be very bassy. I had to turn the bass on my amp down to 2 to equalize it with everything else. But with the amp adjusted the guitar sounds great.

The guitar is built and shipped in excellent condition. I believe the body and neck is just one piece of wood so there is no bolt on neck. The action was great. I have lowered it slightly and this guitar is so easy to play. I am not exaggerating when I say that it is really almost effortless to play.

One thing that I would mention is that the pickup switch seems kind of cheap or maybe not well made. When in the middle position it is really loose and sometimes will cut the guitar out.

This guitar will easily withstand live playing. And besides the pickup switch the hardware seems fine. It is very dependable and I wouldn't have a problem using it without a backup.

Really this guitar is so easy to play and it sounds so good. When you think about it the price isn't really outrageous for what your are getting. I have gone to guitarcenter and played a Les Paul for the same price that made it seem like i was playing a squier after using the carvin.

Wow, these pickups have little character. I guess the Carvin "sound" is just "sound"

pretty much flawless except for some tooling marks on the neck. the maple top looks good up close but back up a few feet and it looks pretty weak and dull

action was okay. I've had better

fretwork was a B or B+at best
the fanboys at the carvin bbs go on and on about fretwork. they need to get out more because these frets don't compare to the really good stuff (Anderson, Grosh, Parker)

but good for the price.

Horrible. I waited 18 weeks for this guitar. I emailed a bunch of times after a few months and never got a response and called a couple of times and was blown off. Cust Sup is batting .300 (okay for MLB) but not so good for a MI firm.

Really pretty guitar but kinda sterile and no vibe at all. I waited a long time and only had 10 days to try it out. No time to drop in some new pups besides youd void the deal by messing with it.

I wanted to like this guitar, waited forever, but it has to go back because I can't afford the eBay hit [probably lose $800] when I realize it isn't going to work out.

Amazing! Triple stain black with a flaim top, back was clear coat with tung oil neck (speeds up the neck play) Stainless stell jumbo frets. Its a standard guitar how many ftrs can it have... well this one has all you need

I was playing on a Schecter and didnt think of going with anything else untill I got the Carvin cataloge and saw the CT6M with in dark red. I went to the store played on it and fell in love. two days later I got one... and by got one i mean i ordered it and 5 months later got it... the sounds is fantastic but with all instruments you need to get what feels right. even if its not a "the best guitar" per every one else. get what you like and you will love it.

the guitar has an awesome sound and a perfect weight to it. All my guitars have to sit perfectly or i wont buy it. this one does! action is floating just above the jumbo friets and my sweep picking is almost efertless.

still new only played at 1 show but so far so good. I dont think i will have any problems with it

... the guys at the Carvin store in Hollywood are fantastic (ask for Mosha) the communication between them and the factory HORRIBLE lost two orders of mine. after 3 months of waiting i found out the guitar had not started yet. Talk to Carvin of Hollywood they said they would put it on rush and i would have it in 2 weeks. well when all the dust had settled my voice recovered and i had my guitar it was nearing the end of 5 months from purchase date. Not happy at all about that. I did get them to put in a bunch of free stuff saved me around $500. almost made up for it. would have been fine if i didnt brake my spare guitar in a show while waiting for this guitar to be finished.

its all about how the guitar feels. read these reviews learn something but most importantly go to the store pick one up and play on it. You will know right away if its for you. Dont buy because of brand name buy because its the guitar that fits you. You will find horrible problems with a guitar you dont really wan and be able to write the most amazing music on a guitar you love to play.

Buy it because you want it. Ignore every one else.

This guitar is fantastic for me and my purposes as a traveling musician playing Hard Rock/Screemo/Metal

American made, Strat style, black burst/deep blue triple-step quilted maple on solid mohogany body, neck through design, M-Series Tune-o-matic bridge, Sperzel locking tuners, two Carvin Classic C22 Humbuckers - selectable with a three-way toggle switch, a single volume and single push-pull tone control that doubles as a coil split, string through-body construction, abalone inlay, black chrome hardware, black gloss finish back/sides/neck.

Very versitile guitar...the neck humbucker is great for jazz/blues. With the toggle switched to utilize both pickups it's great for classic rock (ala Tom Petty/Pink Floyd), and using the bridge humbucker your leads scream and rhythms are great for harder rock/metal. Little to no noise when plugged in...I use a Roland JC120 for blues/jazz...clean, bright sound...and a Line 6 Spider III 212 for the hard stuff...very crunchy and hot sound.

I cannot say how well it was set up from factory, since I purchased it used, however, the M-Series Tune-o-matic bridge makes the setup a breeze. I will say that when I bought the guitar, one of the ground wires was loose...a simple solder and it was good as new. The hardware is in mint condition and the pickup selector is quiet as can be when switching back and forth.

I love the knob setup and toggle placement...it allows me quick adjustments for leads, etc. The hardware seems solid...it is chromed black, but hasn't scratched, chipped or rusted yet. Strap buttons are solid. So far it's been very dependable (since I fixed the ground wire). I have used it on several gigs without a back-up.

I haven't had to get it repaired, but I also live in San Diego, near the Carvin factory, so I don't think I would have any problems if I had to deal with customer service folks...I could just drive it over to them.

I've been playing for 18 years. Other that my Carvin CT6M, I own a 1992 USA Fender Stratocaster, 1980's Ibanez Roadstar II, 1985 Charvel/Jackson Strat Style, 1983 Ovation Legend acoustic, 1978 Epiphone 12 string, 2005 Washburn D-10 acoustic (for beach & bonfires). If my Carvin CT6M was stolen I would go Ape-Shit...this is one beautiful guitar...it looks fantastic and I can use it for whatever style of music I am playing. Most of all, the price was amazing...I paid $1,300 (used) for a guitar that retails for $1,800 and I would have paid more! I'll put this guitar up against any Paul Reed Smith or Gibson out there, especially for the price. A comparable PRS or Gibson would cost at least $2,600.

2006 Carved Top model. Flamed maple top. Natural body binding. Black back & sides, Mahogany neck and body. Ebony fretboard with block inlays. Medium jumbo frets. 12-inch radius. Sperzel locking tuners. Tune-O-Matic bridge. C22B and M22N pickups. Gold hardware. Cherry burst finish.

Good guitar for Jazz, Blues and Gospel. With the pickup splitting push-pull tone pot, many great sounds can be dialed in...from warm block chords to smoking leads.

The setup was great, very low action & pickups were adjusted correctly. Not flaws noted.

Seems like a solidly built guitar that will stand up to day in day out playing. Seems dependable.

No support needed

40 years of playing and owning various Gibsons & Fenders, this is one of the best guitars I've owned. If it were stolen, I'd buy another. I chose the CT6 over the PRS CE22. The Carvin just felt and sounded better. Price never came into the equation & I would have easily paid $1000 more for it.

2005 Carved Top model. Quilted maple top. Natural body binding. Mahogany neck and mahogany body. Ebony fretboard. Abalone Block inlays. Stainless Steel frets. 12-inch radius. Sperzel locking tuners. String-thru body with Tune-O-Matic bridge. C22B and C22N pickups. Black chrome hardware. Antique Brown finish.

In general, I like the sound of the CT6M. It???s a wonderful instrument, and it???s the nicest of the three Carvins I have owned. But, as many others have noted, the pickups just don???t cut it. I???ve owned he guitar for year and a half, so I???ve given the stock pickups a more than fair chance to win me over. Well, they haven???t. There???s just something lacking. They do tend to be thin sounding and bright, and not in a good way. I???m going to be swapping out the stock pickups in favor of a matched set of Seymour Duncan ???59s.

My CT6M was in excellent condition when I received it. I bought it off of Carvin???s In Stock web page. The action and intonation were near perfect out of the case. The quilted maple top and finish are just stunning, as are the Abalone Block inlays. The guitar was, and still is, very comfortable and playable. Carvin really excels in this category.

I have started to run into volume/tone pot issues. Scratchiness and flat out volume loss. The electronics are mediocre. The pickup switch is flimsy and quality of the volume/tone pots is suspect. When swap out the stock pickups, I will be replacing these parts as well.

I haven???t had to deal with them.

Carvin makes great guitars. Their pickups aren???t for everyone, but that???s why there are replacement pickup companies -- right? Swap out the pickups and the basic electronics, and the CT series guitars from Carvin are just great, great instruments. And the amount of money you save and you have a quality guitar for -- quite often -- half the price of some other pricier builders. Don???t shy away from Carvin???s guitars because you don???t like their pickups. How many other stock pickups are swapped out by players who buy guitars from other manufacturers? Plenty.

Typical features for this model listed below. Mine was deep triple stained sunsetburst on flame maple. Typical features between a Les Paul and PRS, with the exception of the un-spectacular pickups that come with the Carvin.

I mainly play rock, and asked the salesperson at the time of my order what they recommended. The rep stated the stock C22B's were the best thing going, with the right amount of punch and warmness. I'm here to say that they are the furthest thing from warm and punchy as you can get. I may have replaced them with a Dimarzio Tone Zone if I decided to keep it. Harmonics that usually leap off of my Ernie Ball Axis, just die on the Carvin. Cleans are decent on the neck, but I rarely use the neck pu, so I have'nt spent much time on them.

VERY disappointing. This was my first Carvin, and also my last. Out of the box the guitar was not in tune, and the B string was so loose it was laying on the frets and was stuck to the magnets on the pickups. The sunsetburst finish looked really amazing on their site, but in person I was dissapointed. Apparently, the triple step process fills in the figuring, so the flame isn't 3-dimensional like other finishes I've seen before. Basically, it looks the same from every angle. I can say that the top was figured nicely. After a thorough inspection, I noticed some spots of orange peel that wasn't properly buffed out of the clear, and a spot where it looks like they nearly buffed through the finish near the edge by the horn. The neck was tung oiled, and felt nice. The shape of the neck is not good nor bad...just kinda ordinary. On the back, the neck joint had some glue that wasn't cleaned up, and was very visible under the clear. I also noticed a crack in the finish by the stap lock in the top horn.I tried to lower the action, since it came out of the box a little high for my taste, and could not get rid of some serious fret buzz. I took it to my local luthier, and he noticed right away that the 3rd, 4th and 17th frets needed to be filed down considerably to get them in line. The 12th fret also had a sharp edge that looks like it had not been touched at all. For a $1500 guitar this was unacceptable to me.

Can't tell, and didn't own the guitar long enough to rate this fairly

This is the deal breaker. I had really liked the idea of dealing directly with the manufacturer, and after reading their forums, it seemed like they had a lot of hardcore fans that had high praises for their customer service. When I called to order the guitar, the phone rep seemed totally aloof, unhelpful, and provided one word answers to most of my questions. Any question I had outside of the generic info their site listed, forced him to put me on hold for minutes at a time while he apparently asked someone that knew the answer. After placing the order, I was given a date 2 months away. At the end of 2 months, I called to check it's status, and was told the guitar didn't meet their QC and was sent back to be re-finished. The rep stated they thought it would take another 2 weeks to ship. After 2 more weeks, and hearing nothing, I called back...AGAIN...and was told that the guitar was sent back for refinishing...again. I told the rep that I was told the guitar was already sent back the first time to be refinished, and the rep stated he had no furhter information. So...1 month later the guitar finally shipped, with not a single heads-up or apology from Carvin. When I called back to voice my concerns over the quality issues I noticed, the agent (who sounded totally disinterested) stated I could send it back, and wait another month to get it back. So...to get a guitar built right from Carvin, I would have had to waited close to 6 months? I don't think so.

I've been playing for 22 years. I really wanted this guitar to be what Carvin claimed it was. I was fully open to the Carvin experience, and was fully prepared to spend $1500.00 for a guitar that I knew wouldn't be worth half of that once I received it. I've owned every guitar under the sun, and I'm not overly critical with my gear. My opinion is that as you spend more for gear, you should expect more from it. I think that if Carvin's sales/ service people would have been better, I would have kept the guitar after having them try to fix all the issues mine had. I still own a Jackson Soloist, Erie Ball Axis, and a Warmoth custom strat, and those guitars have NONE of the QC issues mine had. Your milage may vary, but my next purchase will be with someone else.

CT6M quilted maple top, natural binding, sperzal tuners, mahogany neck and body, dual humbuckers, abalone block inlays, dragon burst special finish exra$$$$

I play mostly southern gospel (kinda country sounding) but also play praise and worship and Christian rock. The sound was very good and very warm and full. It had great classic rock tones, good country, Very good blues.

Here we go, The was great a little stiff but very playable. I usually play with 9's on an American Deluxe Strat so that was some of it. As I said the pickups were very good. The finish on the other hand. I payed extra for a special finish. The color was awsome but the blue specs in the natural binding the air bubbles or crack what ever it was and the scratches under the clear coat were un acceptable. Sent it back for a rebuild 5 weeks later got my new on still blue specks in the finish and this time a dent on the lower horn. So no more rebuilds for me give me my $1750 BACK

I would say as far as durability it would have lasted very good. Seemed pretty solid.

Well, With the first guitar it was OK but when I was waiting on my 2nd they lost about 10 points in this category. First they promised next day air shipping becuase I had payed for it with the first guitar IT SHIPPED GROUND. When I called I spoke to someone else and they said it was never recorded in the computer so they could do nothing about it. This was the Manager also, So I wait another week to get to WV and then more flaws. So I called and the manager said that these are the flaws that people look over. This told me that flaws are acceptable to them these days. They made me pay for shipping back another $40 so in all I lost like $125 in shipping on 2 guitars that were flawed. SO CHECK YOUR GUITAR WELL BEFORE YOUR 10 DAYS ARE UP.

I have been playing for about 15 years I own American Deluxe Start and Tele, Carvin AC375, Just ordered a USA Dean hardtail, Fender Cyber Twin head and others. My final thoughts are as follows. I have ordered 3 other guitars from Carvin and they were perfect and own probably $20,000 in pro audio from them. They have always been great until now. I sent a letter back with the guitar voicing my opinion but it probably got trashed before anyone important read it. As far as I concerned that was my last new Carvin EVER I can get guitars with less flaws on E-Bay.

2006 CT6M - Quilted Maple top, trans blue stain finish on top, clear finish over mahagony back, C22B and C22J pickups with Coil Tap, Ebony fingerboard with stainless med jumbo frets, tune-o-matic bridge with string through body. sperzel locking tuners.

I usually play through a peavey 5150 head and a 4X12 cabinet. I also use the GNX4 for a number of things. My style is hard rock. I have found this guitar to be incredibly versatile. I think it would be an excellent choice for any style of music you want to play. Crank up the overdrive on your amp and this thing screams. Turn it down some and you get a huge array of wonderful tones. I love the C22B and C22J pickups. They really compliment each other nicely. The coil tap is a great feature that I am now starting to appreciate. The tone control works great. You can change the sound dramatically just by turning the knob.

Everything about the way this guitar was built, finished, and setup is second to none. The maple top is one of the finest I have ever seen. The finish is absolutely flawless in every way. The guitar arrived from Carvin setup perfectly. It equals or surpasses any custom or botique guitar you could have built anywhere.

I have only had the guitar a short time but the build quality is very obvious. It seems very clear that barring any abuse this guitar should last along time.

The only dealing I have had so far with Carvin was calling to order the guitar. When I called the sales person was friendly and helpful. We went through the options and I placed the order. He gave me a estimate when it would be done and wound up being within a couple of days of the eventual finish date.

I have been playing guitar about 20 years. I have owned a variety of different guitars over the years from Fender, Ernie Ball, Kramer, Ibanez, Steinberger etc. This by far the finest guitar I have ever owned. The workmanship that went into it is outstanding. The resulting sound it creates is amazing. It is wonderful to play and to hear. The value that Carvin provides with this guitar is outstanding. It is actually a much better instrument then other similar style guitars costing more then twice as much. If it were lost or stolen I would call Carvin immediately to have them start building another one.

All the features have been covered, this is not a complex instrument. Set neck; carve top, 1 Tone (with coil split), 1 Volume control, String through set bridge. My particular guitar is a 5A quilt top w/ triple black clear stain and a tung oil finish on the neck. The hardware is the black chrome and I ordered the standard C22 pups (I have a ton of extra pups at home PRS, DiMarz, Duncans if I need to change).

I haven't left a guitar stock since I was very young; I am always looking for a particular sound of my own. I have to say that after a couple of months with this guitar (in stock config) I am amazed at the wonderful variety of tone that can easily be achieved! Everything from very subtle almost acoustic tones to serious metal screaming. The harmonic qualities of this instrument are remarkable. As for my amplification path: For gigs I play through a Genz-Benz El Diablo Head and a modified Mesa large Recto 4 X 12 cab with Vintage 30's and super 90s mixed in. For smaller gigs and practice I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Carvin Nomad, both with extensive circuit mods. Effects: Rocktron Tsunami Analog chorus, Line 6 DL4 delay, Vintage MXR phase 90 (had it for 30 years), Ernie Ball volume pedal, Dunlop Cry Baby (Faesel Chip) and Furman clean power source.

I've heard and read all the stories about the guitars being in tune and set up when they got to their new homes and I must admit I was skeptical. we the big day came , I took it out of the case and ...It truly was damn near in tune, I am amazed. The setup wasn't quite to my liking but a 1/4 turn on the truss rod resolved that issue.
The finish is spectacular! On the day I received it, after only playing it fot about 25 minutes I injured my left hand with a knife (nothing to do with the guitar), sustaining a nasty gash. So after 9 or so weeks of waiting I couldn't actually play it for another 2 weeks. This gave me plenty of time to go over it with "a fine toothed comb" as it were. I have owned countless numbers of guitars over the years and this is one of the finest, if not the finest finish job I have ever seen. PRS, Fender, Schecter Custom, G&L, and my other handmade customs (and especially Gibson) don't do a better job. It is virtually flawless. Kudos Carvin Custom shop finish folks!

I have only owned it for a few months, but I don't see how a mahogany and maple guitar with a finish of this quality could not hold up at least as good as others.

This where we come to some bumps in the road. I was not impressed by the qualty of the people I initially dealt with. The salesman I ordered the guitar from rushed me through the order. This was the first time I have ever ordered an insturment over the phone, and he intensified my anxiety over the process. Here I was placing an order for the flagship model in their inventory (a fair sized chunk of dough to most of us) and he really made me feel like I was taking too much of his time when I asked questions and then My credit card was charged with the wrong amount ...twice! I have owned Carvin PA and amp gear in the past (ordered the same way) but I never had this kind of treatment before.

I finally got a hold of the customer service and quality manager, Marco, and everything was very smooth from that point on.

I have been playing guitar for 40 years now. My preferred styles are Melodic Hard Rock and some Prog, but I do play everything any chance I get. I currently own several Customs made for me by a local luthier with selected Warmoth bodies and exotic necks and a 1984 Japanese Strat that I've had for close to 20 years. (And of course my CT6) I have owned PRS, countless Gibson's and Fender's, Ibanez (vintage and modern) Schecter Customs, etc etc. I left the realm of name brand guitar makers behind years ago when I became completely disgusted with their absurd prices and complete lack of quality. I never did buy a name anyway; I always fell in love with that particular guitar. This Carvin is what I think to be the beginning of a new love affair (at least with this particular instrument). A great, world class guitar.

2005 San Diego Shop
Deep Sunset Burst over Quilted Maple
Gold Hardware
Cream Pickups and Bezels
Tung Oil Neck
Mother of Pearl inlays
Stainless Steel Frets
Dunlop Strap Locks
Sperzel Locking Tuners
Tune-O-Matic fixed bridge

I can't believe I opened the box and it was in tune! Pickups are clean and noise free. Can play everything from Jazz to Hard Rock. Action was low and the stainless frets are very smooth. Played through a Fender Super Reverb '65 RI.

Action and intonation were perfect. Neck relief needed no adjustment. Small spot on side that missed buffing. Dull, about the size of a pencil eraser. Carvin would have re-buffed it for me, but at my request, Carvin sent some of their buffing compound and I rubbed it out with no problem.

One Sperzel tuner had a nick in it like from a screwdriver. Again, new tuner sent, no questions asked.

The tweed case was a different story. The storage compartment was completely busted loose. This came from the guitar shifting in the case during shipping. I heard this same complaint from other owners. Again, replaced quickly, and I suggested they somehow pack the guitar in the case so it can't shift.

I do play live anymore, but the instrument is as well made as any I I have not played live since my high school days, so no comment there.

My room for playig is humidity controlled. I have about 15 guitars. This is one of my top players if not THE top.

Photos here: http://gwfweb.com/guitars/pages/carvin.htm

Always handled any issue I had. Like everyone, they sometimes make mistakes, but I have NEVER had a problem getting a solution.

If I had it stolen, I would immediatly order another! This is my 4th Carvin.

decent features, but very little information available regarding these features.the sales personnel were vaguely knowledgable, unable to answer most questions.
made in usa, quilted maple top, 2 hummies, alder body that feels like plywood, actually a decent price compared to the competition.

the sound can be hit or miss, the pups make a lot of noise when not playing, and this is through 3 different amps, 1 tube, 2 ss, the solution being never stop playing.scratchy volume controls which is the worst of all control problems.thin sound for a solid body, it may be hollowed out to save money in building, and foam sprayed inside to try and fill the void.chinese finish, poor clear, needed polishing which made it look better.

action was high, 3 strings needed adjustment at the saddles, both for height and intonation.internal soldering looks hand-made, as in poor soldering, cold solder joints, sloppy.one small cut in the finish near the bridge, which amazingly slipped through, but then maybe by offering factory direct, qc is not a part of the process.3 frets on top of neck needed dressing, as they were sharp enough to cut skin, but a quick inspection found these before any damage was done.the scratchy volume control really bugs me.

the top strap button was loose, minor tightening, but then with no qc these small things will happen. i would not trust this guitar as the only guitar at a gig, definitely bring a backyp.the clear finish around the body edges was buffed vry thin, even though the top clear was somewhat spotty and needed buffing, as if someone tried to polish the guitar after the hardware was attached, and couldn't get to the top. with no qc, these sort of things will slip through.

when calling and asking about the options, 2 sales persons werw vague, kept putting me onn hold to go ask someone else questions, but yet when the people were on the ohne, nothing but laughter was heard in the background. obviously knowledge of the product line is not required to answer the phone in the sales department. i still have 3 days left, and at this moment, i am thinking return for a full refund, and i only lose the shipping money.

my fenders have all had problems, as well as bcrich and ibanez, and i was pointed towards carvin as bang for your buck. still did not get a clear reply to my questions about frets, pups, neck options, and whether the body was solid or hollowed out and filled with something like foam. but finally handling a carvin personally, i can see whay some people might like them, as they give you a product cheaper than the competition as long as you can live with the quality falws. but then qc must have been eliminated to streamline this direct sales process. that scratchy volume control still bugs me. i would have liked to get better prebuy information, but then for the money, you cannot expect carvin to care. if i return this guitar, which it is 90% sure right now, i won't replace it with another carvin, but try and find a high-end guitar for a good price, a jackson, ibanez or even a prs if i could get one for less than my mortgage. i can see that carvin is trying to go head to head with prs and they may do so one day, but not now, too many qc issues, sloppy wiring, poor quality controls, no qc, finish flaws, and sales personnel that must not be on commission otherwise they might stop laughing long enough to try and find the answer to buyer's questions.
if you're lokking at carvin, be ready to compromise!

This is a 2005 Model with marbled maple top which I purchased used from EBAY. It has the standard two humbucker, single volume and tone controls with a single coil tap on the tone. The combination is very flexible, yet easy to use. I also have a Gibson Blues Hawk with Vari-tone that has more "options" but fewer useful tones.

The sound out of the box was really (surprisingly) great. I have 8 Carvin guitars and I've changed pickups on 6 of them so I bought the guitar expecting to modify it to my taste but it actually sounded so good, so rich that I played it as is for quite a while before trying any changes. The bridge pickup in over-drive humbucker mode (my standbye) was really extremely good. The neck pickup was a touch muddy when driven too hard and the single coil tones were very good but not amazing and since this is otherwise an amazing guitar I decided it deserved even better. I put vintage Bill (and Becky) Lawrence 350's on it which cleaned up the neck and improved the single coil tone while leaving a very high quality bridge driven tone in place. With the pickup upgrade it is defintely a 10. With the stock pickups I'll be hard nosed and give it an 8.

I bought the guitar used off EBAY but it showed up like a custom finished guitar - WOW! I also have 4 Gibsons and 2 Fenders and the fit, finish and build quality on this is so much, much better. I don't have a PRS for comparison but I don't know how the build could be much better. The oiled neck (not varnished) is a dream, and the quilted maple top is almost too beautiful to play.

Hey it's a guitar not a space ship. What's to go wrong? It sure seems well built but I won't use it to paddle a canoe over rapids, either.

I've bought stuff from Carvin before without any problems, but I've never needed them for support (considering the 8 Carvin guitars and 7 Carvin Amps I have that probably means something).

I currently have ~25 guitars, including 4 Gibson's (2 Les Pauls, ES135, Blueshawk), 2 Fenders - tele and strat and a bunch of others and this is the highest quality, most luxerious (sorry about my spelling) guitar I own. At the price it is an incredible bargain. I'm engineer during the day so I value function, playability and tone (all of which this guitar has in abundance) but is also so beautifully crafted. I gatta say I'm really impressed.

This guitar was ordered with standard flame top, stainless steel medium frets and non-inlayed ebony neck. The finish, as seems standard on all carvin guitars with polyurethane clear coat was rather thick, but well applied and buffed. Passive C22N/B pickups with coil tap push-pull. Neck comparable to mid-90s les paul studio, but with early PRS-style small neck heel. Being a repeat customer, case and shipping were free with purchase.

I have several guitars, each of which serves a very specific role so versatility isn't that important to me. That said, there are a wide array of tones to be found between the coil tap and the very useful tone control on this guitar- each flavored very much by the heavy mahogany body (8-9lbs) and maple cap. Though constructed very similarly to my PRS 22 Custom 10 top, this guitar has a decidedly darker unplugged tone to it with less "ring".

Plugged in, the relatively bright C22 pickups provide for an almost scoopy tone alongside the dark mahogany body. Though some might call the clean tone a bit "sterile" it is very passable when the guitar is adjusted properly. It is in moderately high-gain circumstances where this guitar really shines. With a fairly narrow dynamic range but with good separation and harmonic depth, this guitar is very well suited to Satriani-like tones.

This is where I must commend the luthiers at carvin for a job well done. The standard flame top was of surprising depth and regularity as one would expect from PRS private reserve. The frets are really the stars of the show, however. Even and smooth, they're perfectly well seated and of uniform height. The polished stainless steel makes bending almost too easy, so I had to learn to be much more meticulous with my intonation.

The neck is a slightly thicker "C" shape than their standard neck-thru guitars, but it suits this guitar perfectly. A compromise between the standard carvin shape and mid-90s les paul studio contours, the neck is suitable to marathon gigs as well as Gambale-inspired sweeps and Vai-sized slides.

This guitar is as solidly built as any and would be my first choice if I had to bring only one guitar to a gig. I always replace the strap buttons with dimarzio cliploks, incidentally.

Ordering the guitar was easy, if a bit rushed. My salesperson was very helpful and evidently managed to make note of some quirks I requested (string gauge, nut height, electronics) that I might have expected to have been glossed over in the final manufacture. On the whole Carvin has been a pleasure to deal with since I bought my first power amp eight years ago.

I've been playing for about ten years now and I must say that this is one of the best playing instruments I've ever experienced. I own an Ibanez Jem, Parker Fly, LP Studio and a PRS Custom 22 "10". Of all these the CT6M suits my style the best and is the guitar I reach for the most often. I had intended to send this one back to carvin since I bought the PRS while it was being made, but when I finally put it to the test, I found it to have a very different character and a remarkable playability not found in my other guitars. Of course the others are all set-up and intonated as perfectly as possible, but the confluence of factors, namely the ebony fretboard, stainless steel frets and the tune-o-matic bridge make for a very unique experience which suits me very well.

I expected to change pickups to duncan jb's as soon as I bought it but when I plugged into my daul rec half stack and t.c. G force I was amazed at the sound quality of the stock pickups..no joke. Cleans are really sweet and distortion has balls to the walls..I haven't noticed any noise at all clean as a whistle. I think sounds are limitless and I play everything from metal to funk. No dislikes here

Flawless I did not notice any funny business... And I worked for a major acoustic guitar company in el cajon for years....awsome job carvin very under rated

It feels solid as a rock, and I also own les pauls and two prs custom 22's..I do not forsee any problems.. But always have a back up just in case cause "s" happens..you never know

I live in san diego so I was a walk in customer... I had NO problems what so ever.. They helped me out to there full extent and even mixed the custom paint I asked for... Don't say I said so

Been playing 12 years and have a lot of gear from fender to washburn and everything in between...as far as amps go I own mesa recto, mark 4,fender bassman, 70's peavey 4-10 combo..and a marshall plexi.. It would never get stolen cause if it did I would hunt that person down till I found it...lol...na I would definetly buy another one good bye prs hello carvin...

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.

I recently purchased the first production (prototype) CT6M that the Carvin company made. It was made in San Diego in May 2004 where I purchased it from the sales room. This particular instrument is slightly different than the regular production guitars in that the headstock name is raised instead of inlaid and the back of the guitar is a matching color to the top as opposed to the clear laquer over mahogany.It has a mahogany neck and body with a AAAA Carved Flamed maple top done in triple step blue.The flamed maple top is standard on this model.The body resembles a PRS guitar.It has two Carvin C22B pickups which are their traditional style hunbucker pickups. Each passive pickup has 24 adjustable screws which allows for very accurate adjustment and no dead spots when bending notes.It also has a coil splitter push- pull knob which provides a single coil mode as well. It has a string through construction with a tunomatic style bridge.On this guitar all hardware is chrome plated, The tuners are Sperzel locking ones. Mine has the standard medium style frets in the 15" radius ebony fretboard. It is a 25" scale neck which required a one time adjustment to the truss bar as it developed a slight back bow when changing climate from Cal. to Phoenix-easily done. The action at the last fret is 4/64" as guaranteed by Carvin. I was given a $100.00 discount and an accessory package consisting of a stand,chord,and neck strap and a case (I payed $20.00 for a tweed case upgrade). The guitar case came with a truss rod key, a key for the case and some picks. Normally the case is not included nor the accesories.Since I bought it in person, I was given some very generous bonuses by the fiendly staff at Carvin headquarters.

I play lots of blues and Contemporary Christian music and am presently learning Travis/Chet Atkins style playing. I really love the tone of this guitar. I can achieve most tones from this one instrument from Tele style twang, strat style quack to Gibson tones.I can get BB's blues tones to Santana's singing tones.It's all there! Clean tones have an airy feel to them and with the right echo, it pulls off Chet Atkins stuff quite convinceably.It drives a Boss 50 pedal wonderfully.The neck facilitates quick playing. I use Fender Tube amps such as a silver faced Deluxe Reverb and a silver faced Princeton reverb.It sounds good on every amp I have played it through. The single coil tone from the coil splitter is very full sounding-not at all thin or harsh.The humbucking tone is different than a '57 PAF Gibson but equally as pretty sounding. Basically a full range of tonal output.

This guitar was set up by the head tech at the Factory and was his "baby". It was the favorite of all the office folk and for good reason. It is a total pleasure to play. Great,low action, pickups set to Carvin specs.Again, I did have to readjust the trussrod about a month after I bought it since the neck had no relief. It is fine now. The flamed top is absolutely gorgeous with the bookmatching just about perfect. Of course, the light hitting it from different angles does at times make it appear the top isn't matched, but by changing the angle, everything lines up again. This seems to be normal in most high quality flamed tops I've seen. So far I have found no flaws in the finish or workmanship. The only thing I don't care for is the toggle switch which has some play in it before it makes the switch between pickups. I would prefer a tighter feel. This is a top of the line guitar all the way.

This is a totally dependable, gig worthy guitar. Carvin makes very good quality stuff, I don't bring a back-up for my 1.5 hour long church gigs, but when playing a normal 4 hour gig I always bring a back-up just in case of broken strings and other unforeseen circumstances.

Carvin is known for its Customer service. I have returned 2 guitars over the years for various minor reasons within the 10 day trial period with no problems. Their guitars have a 5 year warranty, and according to folks at their website, Carvin.com, they usually do their best to keep the customer satisfied. I always get a feeling like all the folks working in the various departments want to be as helpful as possible. For example, I once sripped some small screw slots when assembling a bolt kit from them. They quickly sent me more and a few more thrown in to boot. As the saying goes, attention to details separate the great from the near great!

I have been playing guitar since 1969. I own an American Standard Tele, JD Japanese Tele, G&L ASAT Special Tribute, Ibanez Artcore AM73T,Carvin Bolt,Carvin DC150. In the past I have owned a Japanese Strat,Foto Flamed Tele,Gibson 125T,'64 Fender Jaguar,'65 Gretsch Clipper,Gibson SG with P90's, and a Les Paul faded top. The only question I had before purchasing was to ask my wife for permission to get it, which she granted!I would replace it if stolen, probably with a quilt top this time as they also look great. I love the looks, playability, sound and uniqueness of owning the first made CT6M.I had compared it to the PRS ten tops I've seen around and on all counts, it compares totally favorably. The difference is only in cost, not quality.I would encourage those folks out there who aren't familiar with Carvin products to visit their web site-Carvin.com, and check out their instock guitars, the discussion forum where you can see the pictures of these incredible guitars and then take a chance and order a very affordable custom made guitar- you can't lose with Carvin.I don't work for Carvin. I just think you get the most "bang for the buck" with them.This guitar proves it.

This is the new Carvin California Carved Top model CT6M. It's basically a knockoff of a PRS Custom 22, but I think it has a lot of extra features that make it better than anything PRS is making today. It has a 1 piece mahogany body with a AAAAA quilted maple top, tung oiled mahogany set neck, and ebony fretboard. The first thing I like about this guitar over PRS is the small neck heel. It's much smaller than the heel on any post-1995 22 fret PRS. I ordered this guitar with the string through bridge/tunomatic, abalone block inlays (free upgrade), and jumbo frets. All three of those options are also not available from PRS. Having owned a pre-95 PRS, and played many more, I can certainly say this guitar is better.

The guitar sounds great and resonates really well. The ebony fretboard adds a little brightness that you don't have with a typical PRS. The guitar is wired with a 3 way toggle and a coil splitter push/pull knob on the tone control so you can get plenty of tonal versatilty, from LP to Strat to Tele, this thing comes pretty close to all of them. I was never a big fan of the PRS 5 way rotary switch so this setup works for me. My only realy complaint is the pickups. It comes with Classic (vintage) style pickups that are a little weak/tiny sounding, that I will almost certainly replace anyway so it's no biggee.

The setup was excellent, right out of the case. All I had to do was tune up and I was ready to jam. The finish on this guitar is outstanding. It's a triple step stained dark blue that really brings out the quilted maple. I can't find any flaws in the finish whatsoever. The action is low and it's really easy to play.

I don't anticipate any problems with this guitar. I've owned 3 Carvins in the past and never had any problems.

I originally ordered a DC400 from Carvin but decided the active electronics weren't for me. I used the 10 day return policy and ordered this guitar in it's place. I never had any problems with the whole experience.

I've been playing guitar on and off for 14 years. I also have a Heritage Class of 59 (Les Paul), Warmoth Strat, a custom built Randy Rhoades Polka Dot Flying V, an Ovation acoustic and a Crafter 12 string. I play this guitar through my various amps, a Line 6 Flextone Plus, a Carvin Vintage 16, a Crate Stealth amp and Line 6 Guitar Port. I'd certainly buy another one if this was ever lost or stolen. For the money, I'd say this is one of the best deals going for an American Made guitar and much cheaper that the inferior PRS alternative.