Carvin DC127

My guitar was made in 2005. It has a maple neck with an ebony fret board, koa overlay on the headstock, mahogany body with a koa top, gold hardware, Allan Holdsworth pickups, thru-body bridge, stainless steel frets, rounded body, no fret board markers-side dots only, tung oil finish body-and back of neck. Came with a nice case standard.

Sounds awesome! It has nice balanced tone with great articulation! Sounds rich, warm, yet clear and somewhat open...as you can gather I really like the tone....part of it is probably the Allan Holdsworth pickups, which sound great to me, the othe part is the combination of woods that I choose....they just sound really good together!

Better then the rest of the factory made guitars except for maybe PRS.

No problems yet....none detected.

Better then some....worse then others......the customer support people are doing their jobs as they are supposed to for the people they work for.....they must have some manegment problems to even allow customer support to have as many issues as they do with their customers....boooooooooo......a mark against them...to bad.

I have been playing for a long time. I love the way it sounds and plays...the vway it feels...looks nice too! I play it through a VHT Pitbull Classic and a Bogner Ecstacy 101B with a Trutone bottem open back cabinet loaded with Weber Alnico Blue Dog and Silver Bell speakers. I have allot of other guitars this is the only one with the pickups it came with....they're that good in my opinion. Most of my other guitars have WCR pickups and one has seymour duncans; if I thought the pickups weren't some of the best there are I would have changed them. If you don't get the tone your looking for with one of these guitars try a different set of pickups....they are built better then most and at least half of your tone is in the pickups that you use. If you overlook the customer support issues, which I had none it easily gets a 10!

2002 dc127 black, active, locking tuners. 2 hummers. Carvin case.

I play blues and rock mainly strats through marshalls loud. This git bites, has no souls, sucks the soul from your fingers. It sounds from bad to worse. Only unplugged is it nice.

Neck is out of line so the high E falls off, I don't know how they did that on a neck through. Frets stick out from neck, everyone of them Ha Ha. It's a bad joke... sick. All the pot are junk I spent hours try ing to clean them and the jack, useless. Now I know why everybody buy Chineese it's not only cheap but better built. This workmanship is a crime.

I wouldn't be caught dead having this cheap noisy toy around my neck. I tried to get the tremo arm and holder replaced and thoses monkeys said I had to buy a whole new unit @$100. not what I wanted to hear.

After hours on hold I was left pissed and used. E-mail were unreturned. Stuff they sent was the wrong matterial at overnight rates, what a ripoff.

It's a loosy git. I've been playying 30 years and have everything, now I know why I've never seen one on stage. The pickups sound like dish water. The neck is wierd. Even the case is crap. I think I'll burn it in the park, the charmas so bad on it, It's a bad trip.

Well, I've had this guitar for a while and its about damn time I got around to writing a review on it:

My DC127 was made in 2003 in the US as are all Carvins. 24 frets maple neck through body with an ebony fingerboard with no inlays on the guitar and a tung oiled walnut body. It has the M22V in the bridge and the M22n in the neck, more on those in the sound section, three way pickup selector, coil splitters for each humbucker and a phase switch. All passive electronics. It has a string through body stop tailpiece bridge, I'm not a big fan of trems. Sperzel locking tuners, normal size frets, and a 25 1/2 inch scale. When you can coustimize the features that you get on a guitar I really have to give this the best rank. I mean the finish looks fantastic and everything else I asked for so I have absoultly no complaints.

Ok as far as the pickups go I'm quite satisfied with the neck pickup, it delivers a very warm rich tone and I'm absoultly in love with it. The brige is a nice sounding pickup with distortion, but its a little thin sounding when I play clean. Its not noisy at all on any setting, except when I split the coil on the bridge humbucker with distortion. But thats to be expected. I'm using this with a Carvin SX200H head into a fender cab or just recording driect into my computer. I'll give the pickups a 7 because of the fact that I love the neck but am not quite satisfied with the bridge.

The guitar came from the factory set up with elixer 9's on it. I changed the strings to my usual Erine Ball 10's and couldn' be happier with the feel of the guitar. Its got a nice thin U neck profile, low action and with the tung oiled body and neck a very fast neck. The finish on the wood is absoultly flawless, its a beuitiful walnut.

I have and will continue to use this guitar in live situations, its continued to hold up aginst all that I can throw it up aginst. The strap buttons a solid, I got it with straplocks installed and they've never failed me. The only flaws in the finish have come from me banging it on things or hitting it with stuff accidently. I would gig without a backup if necessary but I always bring a backup just in case.

On the few occasions I've delt with Carvin support they've been more than helpful. I honestly think they're one of the best companies I've ever delt with. They quoted me 6 weeks for my guitar to be built, plus shipping. It was at my door in 5 and a half weeks much to my suprise. They did screw up the order with my amp head, they forgot to include the cover I ordered for it. I called them and they overnighted it to me the next day for no charge. I absoultly love their service and would reccomend them to anyone and would love to have the extra cash to be able to deal with them again.

I've been playing guitar for about 6 years and this is the absoultly best guitar I've owned or played on. I would buy another one in an instant, if I wasn't a broke college student. If this were stolen I would be devistated and would do my best to get a new one asap.

I don't know the year - possibly a 2000 It's the standard DC127 with a fixed bridge. Maple neck with mahogany body sides. Classic sunburst finish. Tung oil neck (great feature). Black hardware. Straplocks installed (a must). Tweed case. Otherwise pretty stock. Just looking at their options make this a fantastic guitar for features.

I do some rock/pop songwriting/recording at home with my carvin. I don't know which pickups came with the guitar (used), but I suspect it's the standard C series humbuckers. I love the middle position and neck position. The bridge is a little too treble when clean, but with distortion, it does smoke pretty well. I've read a lot of these reviews here, and overall, I'm very happy with the stock pickups. I play through a pod (v2.0) directly into my computer through some Event reference monitors and it smokes the old American Standard strat I once had. Very versatile with the coil taps.

After I got the guitar (again, used), I brought it to a local tech for a setup. He got the action real low. There's a dab of buzz but it's not overwhelming. The intonation on the Low E string wasn't right though, and it appears that the saddle can't go far enough back to properly intonate. The tech said it looks like the bridge wasn't laid out properly. I don't know, but it bothered me at first. Truth is, it's not really a problem - it's only out a dab. Recently (had the guitar for two years), I'm noticing some fretting out at the 20th fret or so on the high E. But it just needs the action raised a tad. Overall, the finish is amazing, and everything is great. My only gripe overall is the neck shape. I have small hands, and it's a really flat wide neck. I've gotten used to it, but it still doesn't feel like "home".

Can't see any problems. I don't really gig with it. The finish looks brand new after 2 years. Seems fine.

N/A - never had to deal with them.

I've been playing guitar for 18 years or so. Not really my primary instrument, but it's become my primary instrument. I teach guitar about 25 hours a week, and I'm using the Carvin now as my teaching guitar. I grow to like it more and more each day. Aside from the wide neck, I can't complain at all. I love it so much I put an order in last week for a new Carvin carved top model, and I stare at the pictures onlive every day in anticipation. You can't go wrong with Carvin - top notch!

2001 Made in USA. Neck through body. One volume, one tone control, 3 way switch. Two humbuckers. Pickups: M22T, M22v Passive electronics Mahogany body with clear finish, Strat style. fixed bridge. Sperzel locking tuners. Mahogany neck. Tweed case(optional)

I play rock, blues and jazz. I prefer a clean sound with some reverb. This guitar is bright even though it's all Mahogany. The middle switch position, (using both pickups) sounds like it's single coil, probably because it has 24 fret, thus putting the neck position pickup closer to the bridge. I don't like this tone at all. I sold the guitar because of this sound!

The guitar was set up very well. The action is good. There were no flaws and Carvin stands up to it's reputation as a good builder. The 3 way switch had to be replaced shortly after I bought it. It started out as scratchy and noisy, then went bad.

It's a very solid guitar and will stand up to live playing for a long time. The hardware is good, finish is fine. strap buttons solid and dependable. No backup needed

I have not dealt with Carvin for service. Warranty? Maybe 2 years

I've played for 30 years. I have a Fender Strat, Telecaster, Gibson ES135. If it was lost or stolen I would not replace it (but I sold it) I find the DC127 to be physically too small. It looks like a tiny guitar, not substantial enough. This always bothered me. The tone is only average. I've compared it to other guitars and I gave it a fair chance. I thought I'd gamble on it because I had received catalogs from Carvin for years. My advice: Get a Fender, you won't go wrong there. The tone is thin and the guitar is tiny. I don't speak poorly of companies, just an honest evaluation.

Three C22 pickups (humbucker at bridge), alder body. It's cherry red - sounded a bit gay when I ordered this over the phone from Sydney but actually looks awesome.

One feature I don't like is the whammy bar doesn't screw in, it just slides in (and thus falls out all the time) - very annoying. I suppose I should get round to just finding a screw in one that fits.

The tuning system is absolutely awesome. I don't know why ALL guitars don't have this system.

The pots are kind of cheap - I'm going to replace them soon. The volume has been fuzzy when I turn it since shortly after I bought the guitar.

I can't get the action very low without buzzing... a bit disappointing because Carvins seem to have a reputation for playability.

It is generally a very bright sound. The pickups are not that good, as most ppl have said... sounds great though when you get some Seymor Duncans in.

Remember though - this is a VERY light guitar. Of course its not going to sound as fat as a big heavy Gibson or hollow body.

Unfortunately the main advantage of a thin neck (playability), is hindered by not being able to get the action low.

I play every style through this guitar. Its basically got that Fenderish sound because of the lighter weight and single coils, but can cross over into more Ibanez style shredding. I guess it's like a PRS in many ways.

It was mostly set up fine... just needed the usual adjustments... except that - for some odd reason - someone had wrongly cut the back plate that hides the underside of the bridge. I couldn't access the strings. Not wanting to weaken the plate more than I had to, this was a weird problem to fix and ended up having to request a new one be sent.

The pots are going to need replacing.

Everything else is very well made and will last. In terms of body, tuners, bridge, electronic set up - this is how a guitar should be made.

I live in Melbourne, Australia and I got this guitar sent from Sydney. You can't use the custom online ordering thing like you can in the states (unless you pay heaps more)... but it's still fun buying it from the Sydney shop because they have heaps to choose from. Just make sure you read heaps of these reviews so that you really know what you're getting.

They didn't give me a whammy bar and the back plate was wrongly cut, so I wrote to them and asked for a new one which was sent with a bonus pack of picks to cheer me up.

This is a fine guitar... very professional and well worth the money. It looks great. One guy I know... who really knows his guitars... said it was the best looking guitar (in terms of construction) he had ever seen!

Obviously there is the problem with the pickups... but the only stock pickups I have ever liked are gibson ones.

The main other problem is with the action, but apparantly most Carvins are not like this.

I suggest getting the Carvin as a comparable alternative to models like Fenders, PRS, Ibanez. It is not like a Gibson.

Made in 2003 in San Diego CA. 24 Fret solid body, Mahogany under Walnut top. Active electronics : 2 coil splitters for the 2 humbuckers, 1 phase switch, 3-way pick up selector. The pickups were the standard pu's that come with the guitar. The neck is a 5 piece laminated neck which runs through the body. There are abalone block inlays on the neck. Back of the neck is tung-oiled. Sperzel locking tuners and string saver saddles. Came with tweed case.

I really recommend getting the tung-oiled neck option. The back of the neck feels like very smooth natural wood. Once you start rockin out, other guitar necks can get kinda slippery. The natural feel of the neck is really nice.

I am running this DC127 through my Dunlop Cry Baby Wah->Demeter compressor->Legendary Tones Time Machine (Signal Booster)->Ibanez TS-9DX Tube Screamer->Guyatone P3 Phaser->Carr 4x10 Imperial Tube amp. I play in a jam-rock-funk band and we cover a wide array of styles. Check out www.evidencebomb.com !

<<I very much recommend the Legendary Tones Time Machine and the Carr Amp. Check reviews of the Time Machine on Harmony Central.>>

To be honest the stock pickups sound very trebly and bright to me. The active electronics are great but there is no 'meat' to the sound. I'm used to playing my Epiphone Dot semi-hollow body with dual humbuckers. The Carvin is a much stronger and clearer sound but it loses that analog 'something' and is REALLY bright... for lack of a better word. It is very hard to describe. Even when I turn up the bass on the guitar, the low end is kinda boomy and does not give the same feel as my Epiphone. For strictly lead playing, it is fine. It really does scream. But I play more rhythm than lead so it was not doing it for me.

So I changed the pickups to Seymour Duncans. I put a Jazz in the neck position and a JB in the bridge. Now we are talkin! It is still not the same as the Epiphone but in a lot of ways it is much better. The active electronics and the phase switch and single coil taps really make this an all-in-one guitar. In a flick you can turn your meaty rock and roll tone into a funky-strat like sound. I was looking for 1 guitar that would give the the ability to do many different styles. This is it. I very much recommend putting in some Seymours ! I'll give it a 6 with the old pickups and a 9 with the new.

The action is a little high and I do get some buzz on the frets. But it is really not a big deal. (I use .010" strings.) Everything else on the guitar was flawless.

Even for 3x the money, you can't get a better looking guitar with these features. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. It feels great ! That is why I spent so much time and money getting the pickups worked out. This guitar feels like a million bucks. Go to Carvin.com and custom order a guitar or you can browse their pre-made guitars on hand. It takes about 4-weeks for them to make the guitar for you but you get everything you want. Their site is very interactive and you'd be crazy not to at least take a look. But if you are reading this you have probably already been there-done-that.

I do gig with this guitar and I have had it for about 7 months. It is fantasic. Especially now that I have all the pedals and crap that make it sound just like it sounds in my head... even better sometimes :)

Carvin has a special process where they don't need to put too many coats of clear-coat on the guitar. I don't know how long it will last with the fewer coats but it really lets the wood or color come through very well. A PRS is kiddie toy compared to these guitars. You know it the second you pick one up.

I did have a problem with one of my Sperzel locking tuners and had to get a new one sent to me. I just called 'em up and said that the string was not locking in properly and they shipped it out no charge. Of course I am the original owner so I got no hassle.

Been playing for 8 years... other gear I have is listed above. If it were lost or stolen I'd be PISSED. In all honesty I would proably play a few more guitars from some custom builders and like their guitars but laugh when they want $2,000 - $5,000 for a guitar. I'd then go right back on the Carvin site and order a new DC127.

Here is the bottom line.. why pay well over $1000 - $3000 for a good Gibson/Fender/PRS? All of these guitars only have a couple of different tones and they don't even come close to feeling or looking as good as a Carvin. Besides, every Joe-Schmo has one of those... who has a Carvin?

I am giving it a 9 for value only because I had to change out the pickups to suit my taste.

2003 Custom
Neck Thru
Active Pickups (3 switches: 2 single coil splitters, one phase)
Beautiful Saphire Flame Top Finish
Sperzel Locking Tuners
Fixed Bridge
Swamp Ash neck (=ORGASMIC)
Case included
Made in USA
Active electronics (bass, treble, and volume)

***WARNING***
The pickups are NOT big enough for Seymour Duncans or EMGs. They are only big enough for Carvin pickups unless you want to waste tons and tons of $ and ruin the guitar! U dont need to anyways, it SLAYS!

I play a Peavey Classic VTX hybrid tube-solid state amp, 65 watts. I run a BOSS TU-2, Cry Baby, to an A/B Switch (B goes to Clean Fender amp)...then it runs Radial Tonebone, Boss EQ, Then to Johnson J Station with Footswitch. To be honest the amp and the J Station dont sound too good on their own. Its eitehr too much treble or too much bass, I can never seem to get a great sound. :/ but when I plug the Carvin into it, with its active electronics (controll for bass, volume, and treble) this SOB SINGS! I can EQ it from the guitar so I can get a good basic sound, but through any amp on any setting this guitar is a monster. GREAT low end and the swamp ash neck is perfect for fast playing....it never seems to get any residue from my sweat!! This guitar is a dream come true..its fucking amazing. Hard to think I got it used (and in great condition) for only $450!! Its extremely vesitale and perfect if you are looking for that Fender Strat/Tele mixed with a Gibson Les Paul and even a ESP Kirk Hammett!!! I love it!!!!!!!

But best of all...
IT STAYS IN TUNE!

Perfect action, CAN get fret buzz but not often.

The pickups never need any adjusting.

The Brige is just fine, IT NEVER COMES OUTTA TUNE!

The finish...omg its so gorgeous. Flame top Saphire blue top...=orgasmic...its amazing how beautiful it is. Matching headstock with bodom and a swamp ash neck..it looks like heaven but rips like hell! \m/

Never gotten messed up, and I beat my guitars up sometimes. Never any problems with electronics. Never had to contact Carvin. Its perfectly sound and dependable.

Never used em, but Im sure they're nice!

Greatest guitar ever.

Sounds good. Alot of nice options on the active electronics

Horrible. Was not bought brand new, but only 4 months old. Defective, the bridge needs to be reset and since its 2nd hand, the warrenty is not transferable (bull sh*t , it hasnt been registered). Gotta send it off and pay bout 80 bucks.

read about my problem above

Bad. HOrrible. Couldn't flex a little, warranty was never registered by original owner , but they couldnt transfer it to me. This is bull, they need to be a little bit more flexible. This is why i sometimes hate large manufactures.

aside from crappy service and the defect, everything is fine. This is my second carvin, the first i have had all great experiences with, b ut then again , i never had to reach customer service.

DC127 2003 USA 24 Frets
quilted AAAA top, 2 humbuckers w/ 3way&coil taps&phase switch
seperate pan for acoustic and electric or combining both
M22SD, bridge(highly reccommended) M22V neck
body and neck Koa wood fretboard birdseye maple
custom requested blue stain/sappire burst reminicent of a Phill Collen model Jackson $100.00 additional charge
Fishman acoustic bridge, sperzel tuners
comfy neck, just right tickness
opted for tweed regular case, sick of those shaped cases closing on me and whacking into my axes while removing from case

perfect fro my rock/metal/new rock style
running through GSP2101 digitech/QSC power amp/marshall 4x12
sounds fantastic, plenty of sustain, nice fat full sound
I send the acoustic output(2nd Jack) to the mixing board and mix in acoustic on the fly via pan control.
Only dislike is the day I put the first ding in the finish!

Guitar set up just how I like it. Perfect action to me is if you slide a penny under the 12th fret and it the string is just touching.
had to raise the pickups to suit my style(more output!)
The finish and overall apperence of the guitar is nothing short of FANTASTIC,AMAZING,FLAWLESS or however you want to put it. The depth and beauty of the quilt is among the best I've seen. The color is just right. The Blue stain and Sappire Blue worked great together. I took a gamble ordering something never done before but it was well worth it.

completly reliable
get straplock option-there is nothing worse than dropping your prized possetion
completely dependable
gig with my carvins exclusively

No problems ever.

Don't be afraid to buy from Carvin direct. They make great instruments that are of the highest quality. You will be satisfied.