Carvin DC100

Just picked up on ebay. Looks like an 83. All maple construction. Body, neck...everything except the fingerboard which is ebony. What a nice straightforward rock guitar. USA made. 24 frets. Looks like new. The DC100 is fairly rare as it is...but the all maple is REALLY rare. Google DC100 and you will see that these truly are rare. Rated 10 because it has the features it is supposed to have.

I was quite surprised at how great this guitar sounds. I did not know what to expect with a solid maple body. I have heard critisism of the Carvin pickups being muddy..but not on this guitar. Maybe the maple brightens the sound but it is a great combination. Sounds as good as my Hamer with Duncans.

Is set up pretty nice...super low action. YTiny amount of buzzing. I have not had time to set it up yet, I am sure I will get it perfect. I ahven't met a guitar that can't be set up real nice yet.

It's an 83 and it looks new! The finish is so hard on these Carvins, they are great. I love my Hamer, but the lacquer gets scratched very easily. The Hamer has to be babied if you want it to keep it's looks. Not htis one. Strap button is located on the back as I like them. No drilling required on this one.

I've been playing since about 1968. Yeah I may be old but I ain't dead yet (OK I almost died in 2004..heart surgery blah blah blah). Since my surgery my playing has slowed down a lot, but at the same time I think I've actually gotten better. Listen to "Tasty" by The Good Rats and you'll understand. I know that I just got this guitar, but I've had so many that I know a quality instrument when I touch it...this one is. I may even buy a new Carvin one of these days. I play through a Peavy Prowler tube amp...don't play live anymore. I have been interested in Carvin since I started getting their catelogs in the 70's. If it was lost or stolen I would bye another one...I don't think I'd find one though.

Black solid body, set neck, 1982 model. 24 frets, all playable! Two
Carvin M-22 humbuckers with 22 individaully adjustable pole pieces
each. Heavy tuneomatic style bridge and stop bar tailpiece. Indestructable polyurethane finish. Carvin's own tuners and hardware.
Very thorough shielding - No Noise! Thin neck, very fast action.
Came with great hardshell case, wooden construction with thick black vinyl covering and beautiful maroon plush interior, thickly cushioned.
My only addition would be a coil tap for one of the pickups.

I play everything from the Eagles to Judas Priest. Hard rock, heavy
metal, and a lot of sidestepping into southern rock. When I first got
this guitar I was running it through a Peavey Musician series with a
4/12 cabinet. We usually played outdoors and I never had any trouble
competing with our other guitarist who had a Les Paul with a Dimarzio
Super Distortion in the bridge position. We did a lot of twin leads
and the combination was very good. Since then I've replaced the big
Peavey with a Peavey Bandit 50. The small combo is much better for
the occasional session which is more common for me now. The Carvin
has all the tone that I need. I don't use any effects except a little
reverb and occasionally some chorus. Of course for my kind of music you don't need a wide variation in tonal range. If that's your thing,
the DC100 will get dark and bluesey or bright and janglely. It's not
a hollow body and it's not a telly but if you're willing to play with
the settings you can get as close as any other solid body that I've heard. The M-22 pickups are completely adjustable. Each of the 22
polepieces can be adjusted with an allen wrench so that the response
of each string can be tailored. And with all those little poles packed tightly together you never lose your signal when you're bending strings! You can get some really harsh effects by banging the
strings directly on the pickups. And of course, I really like that
high E.

This guitar came from the factory totally playable. I played it for a long time (as in years) before I had a shop do any adjustments.
As I have said previously, the action is very fast. The neck and body are rock solid (no pun intended!). It is a very plain guitar,
with no binding and only very basic dot inlays, but what is there is
very well executed. I have never had to replace any switches or pots,
and this is my main axe. My only complaint is that the action is so easy that it makes playing slide a little difficult.

This guitar was made to be played hard. The finish is nearly bulletproof, sweat on it all you like. It CAN be damaged by solvents,
however. There's a scar right down the middle of my guitar caused by lighter fluid or something (it's been so long that I can't remember).
I replaced the standard strap buttons with Schaller strap locks long ago. I have used this Carvin many times with no backup.

I have never had to ask Carvin for customer service, but judging from
their reputation they would be excellent. I ordered this guitar factory direct and had no trouble. If I remember right, I simply sent them a check with an order form and received my shipment quickly.

I have been playing guitar for 26 years. At one point during my college years I was very cocky, and I really was better than most of the players that I knew, the Carvin was a big part of that. Unfortunately, I pawned it and much of my other equipment a couple years ago during a financial crisis and was unable to recover it. If I ever find another one I will buy it in a heartbeat! I am sure that
the new Carvins are every bit as good as this and I may yet buy one of those, I just don't like the current body styles as well.

1981 made in the USA. 24 frets. 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way pickup select switch. Hum/Hum Carvin M-22 pickups.Neck is maple through, healess to the solid mahogany body. Ferrari red. Double cutaway-like an SG but more similar to an Ibanez GAX70. The bridge is weird, being two pieces, but attached together. The tail piece has micro-tuners even though it is not a tremelo. Tuners are schaller micro-tuners. Neck is medium (LP like), frets are medium, and the fretboard is rosewood(unusual for carvin)Included orignal hardshell case

Suits my style pretty good(classic rock,metal and punk). I am using it with a zoom 1010, an OLD crate 100+watt amp and my friend's fender ultimate chorus. No noise what so ever, using every effect i can throw at it. The sound is average, the pickups are the only weaklink. They come across as somewhat flat, but with some EQ work, you can get a passable sound. The neck pickup produces a bassy, somewhat distorted sound. The bridge pickup is clear and shallow, with nice treble response depending upon attack. The mix shows some an even response (5/5/5). A decent Distortion tone requires more work, but can be aquired.

The action is fine, about 1/8". Pickup level is execellent. Everything else is fine. the only flaw is that the fret ends hadn't been sanded after a re-fret job done by the previous owner.

this guitar is damn strong. the finish seems as though it will take a beating, after all there are no marks after 20 years of use. Hardware is in fine working order, no problems here. I would gig without a backup if i absolutly had to, but there is no sense in taking chances.

I have been told that if there is any problem that wasnt grossly my fault, Carvin will take care of it.

Been playing a few years. I own a few crate amps, and one other guitar(hamer centaura). If this guitar was stolen, i would never be able to find one exactly like it to replace it. I love the look, but hate the pickups. When some money comes along i intend to stick some SD 59's in there, and have myself a tone monster.