Carvin DC127

This is a Carvin DC127 I bought new in 1997. It has two humbuckers, active electronics, Wilkinson trem, Sperzel locking tuners, and a gloss black finish. The active electronics have knobs for adjusting high and low tone (boost or cut), coil split switches, and a phase switch. The body and neck are made of alder and the shape is basically like a Stat. The guitar came with a hard shell case and adjustment tools.

I play mostly classic rock and a little heavy metal. I play through a Marshall 30 watt combo and a DigiTech RP-7 multi effect unit. Compared to the other two guitars I use, a Carvin Bolt with a Hot rails bridge pickup and a Les Paul copy with a Iommi Gibson bridge pickup, the DC127 is much more versatile. The pickups are not has hot as the Iommi or Hot rails, but they give a nice consistent sound. The DC127 sounds best when played through the RP-7. Because the guitar has a good overall sound, it mixes well with different effects. The active electronics are useful for making quick tone adjustments. The guitar also sounds great when playing without distortion. I do not like the sound of the guitar with the pickups in single coil mode, too weak for my tastes. I also have not found a good use for the phrase switch or the knob that allows you to blend the bridge and neck pickups. The guitar is extremely quite.

The guitar was just about perfect when it arrived. All I needed to do was tune it up and I was ready to go. The action is incredible, the strings are set low (great for metal speed playing) and there is virtually no fret buzz. The strings rarely go out of tune, even when using the trem. The finish flawless and still looks good today. I am having trouble with the pickup selector. Occasionally when I switch to the neck pickup, the sounds drops out. I have tried cleaning the switch but it still happens. I have not contacted Carvin about this.

The guitar is very reliable. Except for the switch problem, everything works great. The finish has held up well over the last three years. I once dropped a chair on the guitar, it dented the wood but did not crack the paint.

The only time I delt with Carvin was during the purchase. The salesperson was very helpful and did not try to pressure me to buy more stuff. I called Carvin once after order the guitar to check on the status. They check with the factor and gave me a good status report and estimated finish time.

Overall I really like the DC127. It is very versatile and can cover all of my musical tastes. The guitar is fun to play because the action is so good. If I where in the market for a new guitar, I would consider buying from Carvin again. For the price, you can not beat the quality of this guitar.

I got mine with the mahagony body/neck option M22S/D bridge pickup, C22 neck pickup, greenburst finish, tung oil on the neck and reverse headstock and straplocks. The free case it came with fits the guitar like a glove. You can get whatever you want, it really gives a feeling that this is your guitar.

This guitar sound great! I had to raise the pickup height to get a bit more output from the pickups, but other than that this is a very versitile guitar, especially the neck pickup in high gain just sings Only complaint I have is with reverse headstock option, when palm muting the open low E string it produces some unwanted overtones but nothing that is really a major problem.

The guitar came setup great, all I had to do was slightly adjust the intonation, and eventually the height of the pickups. These guitars are very easy to set up. Action is very low and the fretboard radius is wide so it's a guitar built for speed. The greenburst gloss finish over mahagony is beautiful!

Well I had an accident at a gig and I wiped out on the floor and unfourtunately the headstock paid the price, but that is really my fault not the guitar's. I've heard that the tung oil on the neck is not a strong as the regular laquer, but the feel more than makes up for it. Really I don't think any guitar would have withstood my accident. Before that I was so confident in it I didn't bring a backup to my shows.

As stated above I had an accident so I had to send the guitar back to be repaired. Well from my location it takes a week for it to get to Carvin. They did repair the guitar at a great price and did excellent work. However, at first they didn't tell me anything about billing until I called a couple days later. Then they had a mix up in shipping and sent me the wrong guitar, but after they got my guitar back they upgraded the shipping to 2 day air at no extra charge. When I ordered the guitar the salesman was extremely helpful and friendly, and even sent me a free t-shirt.

Carvin probably has one of the best price/quality ratios in the business. I've been playing for 8 years and this by far the best guitar I've owned/played. It was broken and I was extremely upset when it happened, but very happy that it was repairable. I play this guitar through a Carvin Legacy and it's just a great rig. If this guitar was lost I would get another one without hesitation.

24 frets, neck through body, koa neck and body sides. Tung oil neck, sunbusrt body and headstock finish. Active electronics: 2 Humbuckers with phase switch and coil splitters. 1 master vol, pickup pan, master treble, master bass. Non-trem bridge, locking sperzel tuners. Case inclued.

This is one of the quieter guitars I've played. I run it though a vox wah and into a mesa dc-5 combo, occasinally mixing in some effects through the amp's eff. loop. The guitar will give me a wide variety of tones, even without tweaking the amp's controls. Nothing really fancy, just, good, standard sounds, but there's a LOT of them. The phase switch is useful for some interesting nasal sounds, single-coil mode sounds good also. Both pickups (humbucker mode) are smooth. I don't know if it's the pickups or the electronics after them, but the guitar will get pretty loud. When I set my amp on the lead channel and don't play, there's a bit of hiss and nosie, but it's not from the guitar, because it's almost the same whether the gtr. vol. is off or full. The electronics cavity is compleltely shielded, and i suispect that this really helps (rejects radio signals, flourescent lights, etc.)

I bought this as a year-end "clearance" model, before they upgraded to passive/active electronics package, so it had been sitting in the store (Covina) for a while. There are were an array of visible-in-the-right-light pick scratches, as there is no pickguard. The action is beautiful. Sometimes i think i might need to rasie the strings or switch to a heavier gauge, though, as there is the occasional annoying fret buzz. I ended up moving the pickups farther from the strings than they were set from the factory, in an attemp to better match the volume to my passive archtop (I'm not really interesting in blistering death metal gain, so the loss in output does not bother me.) All the hardware (black) is top notch, no problems.

This is fine axe for gigging. I've heard that koa is soft and dings easily, but I've had no problems with that. I play it at least 2 times a week at various venues, and I've never had any problems with strap buttons, hardware, etc.

I've never dealt with carvin aside from this purchase.

I've been playing for about seven years; this is one of the better guitars i've played. Just about the only thing I can think of that might feel nicer is a parker, but i haven't played them too much, so i can't really say. Esepecially when you consider the price, the guitar was a fantastic deal. If it was stolen, I would definitely buy another one.

This was a standard DC 127, see the other reviews for details. I did get the active electonics.

There is a distinct sound to this guitar, and I'm not quite sure how to classify it. But, I did not like it. It had poor sustain, and had very little meat to it. Frankly, the guitar just didn't sound great.

Cosmetically, this guitar was ok, but I had to return it to the shop twice to fix the pickup selector switch, and I had to have a new Sperzel tuner sent out b/c one of mine malfunctioned.

This guitar was ok, but it so unbelievably light that it did not feel at all sturdy. But, it should be ok for live playing, as long as the pickup selector doesn't fail you

They've got a bunch of teenagers taking care of their customer support lines. Every time I called I was treated with an indifferent attitude - and the same stock answer each time I encountered a problem - I'll send you the part and you can fix it yourself or send the guitar in and we'll repair it. I just did not respect their support people, nor did I feel they respected me, the customer

My word of advice is never to buy a Carvin guitar. They make a lot of grand claims about how they cut out the middle man and pass the savings on to you, but I found their gear to be inferior. I sold my guitar after 1yr because I was so frustrated by the problems I was having, and by the very mediocre tone.

1992 Model. Last of the pointy headstock with straight string pull. HaS A 2 piece Koa neck and koa body wings, neck thru. Tung oil finish. Sperzal tuners. M22 bridge and M22V neck humbuckers with coil taps. Ebony fretboard, 25" scale. Has strat style schaller fixed bridge with strings thru body. Ordered to my specs, so a 10. I shoulda ordered the phase switch though.....

Sounds great. I haven't changed a thing since I bought it. The ONLY guitar I have not swapped pickups out of. The M22V neck humbucker has an extra treble bite over the standard M22's. Really great for overdriven blues. The bridge humbucker has some good crunch and sustain. Sounds great through all amp settings. Never microphonic. The Koa adds some neat tone of its own. Twangy and sweet.

The wood is lightly flamed Koa, very beautiful. The il finish is susceptible to dings and scratches over the years, but I keep it oiled up. The neck on mine does not have the graphite rods, therefore if is susceptible to humidty changes. The neck has to be adjusted every so often. No flaws when i bought it. played right out of the box.

Held up well since 1992

Never called service, none needed.

Carvins are great values. This thing plays like a PRS and looks it too at half the price. Order it the way you want and keep it for life. Don't worry about trading it in. Keep it and enjoy it.
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Koa wood finish with Tung Oil. Great feel. This wood adds great tone to an already great guitar. Sounds and feels more solid than Maple or Alder. Black hardware. Added active electronics, no fret dots. (There are tiny dots on edge of neck.) Two humbucking pick-ups with coil splitters and phase switch. No tremelo. Custom ordered through the Santa Ana store. (The addition of active electronics and phase switch makes this essentially a DC200, minus the fancier fret blocks)

Great sound! With two pick-ups and coil-splitters offerring single coil mode, and a phase switch, the range of sound is infinite. Incredible sustain! I favor the neck pick-up, or the two together, although the bridge pick-up excellently produces the treble sounds one would expect. With Active electronics, there is a slightly crisper, glass like bite. Picks up very subtle nuances! I play through the Carvin SX100D amp.

Incredible action! Comes with ultra lights, and plays lightning fast. Strings easily bend. I am even considering moving up to regular lights, as these may be a bit too fine for my taste. The finish is incredible! The koa wood feels great and sensual! It is a soft wood, so keep that in mind if gigging. I play at home mostly, so I don't care! Sperzel tuners are great! Stays in tune fabulously! Definitely the best guitar I have owned.

I expect the guitar will hold up well for most situations. Everything is solidly constructed. My sole reservation is the Koa wood finish. It is a soft wood, and may not survive serious gigginf without dinging! Might want to consider standard finishes for such use. I'm willing to sacrifice some durability for the feel and tone of this guitar however. I ordered the Dunlop strap locks for added security.

Excellent. The staff at the Santa Ana store were helpful, without being pushy. Allowed me to try nearly every guitar in the store without asking if I plan to buy! Other models quite impressive as well, btw. I was able to see the qualities associated with the different combinations of pick-ups, and wood selection. Custom made guitar took six weeks, as promised, and included sturdy case. Staff is knowledgable of their product, and are helpful in making selections. I have had no problems since, so I cannot speak to customer support in that area. However, when I dropped in to pick-up additional straps and strings, they recognized me and asked how the DC127 was doing.

Excellent! Not inexpensive but not at all out of line for the quality received. Plays as well and better than guitars I have tried running up to $2500! A great guitar from a company that genuinely seems interested in making a fine product.

1998 all koa body with rounded body edges and 2 piece koa neck through and tung oiled finish. 24 fret black dense ebony fingerboard with gorgeous abalone inlays and Sperzel tuners, fixed bridge. Dual humbuckers with phase switch. Volume and tone controls, 3 way pickup selector and coil splitter swithes. All gold harware. Matching headstock overlay. Hardshell case included in price.

This guitar is pure heaven. I love it's rich smooth and mellow tone thanks to the koa. Sustain is very good thanks to the neck through construction and the fixed bridge. Humbuckers are extremely well matched and complimentary in tone. Humbucker mode has just the right amount of distortion and throatiness. Single coil mode has a very refined twang that definately does NOT sound like a strat. Not even close. I especially like the phase switch, which gives a pleasantly annoying thin whiny sound like a nine dollar pawn shop amp. Excellent for those quick "change-ups". The overall tone is rich and full and the playability is the best due to the wide neck and good fret height. Action can be lowered beyond belief if that's what you like, not me though. I play it direct through a Carvin MTS3200 100-watt tube half stack (in 50 watt mode) and they absolutely sing together.

This guitar was a replacement for the one I sent back to them. The first one was a shame. The koa had knots (furniture grade) and the pieces were mis-matched. It looked awful like a blind man selected the wood. The Wilkinson tremolo wouldn't stay in tune. The active electronics were of use to me. The passive electronics provided plenty of bass and treble without the clutter of added knobs and switches. Plus it just sounded funny. This guitar was a lemon. When I originally ordered it, I had a detailed list of the requirements and at the top was the selection of wood to be used. It was like they took my instructions and tossed them out the window. It was nothing like I wanted. Even the case was a mess. However, when I returned it with a new improved (and concise) version of the instructions and a personal phone called to insure positive action, they produced a guitar that I could be proud of.
A few comments on the new one: The stock fixed bridge was not seated to the guitar due to the ground wire layed underneath it. I had to remove the bridge and countersink the wire into the wood a little to allow the bridge to bear fully on the body. This was also the case with a Carvin bass I had ordered and sent back. Also the saddles were not polished properly and I kept breaking strings dur to the friction. DO NOT buy the tung oiled finish for the koa! It is extremely soft wood. I let a freind hold it and the rings on her fingers put dents in the back of the neck!!! It was only 2 days old and I had dings that were almost unfixable. The fix was easy but nerve racking. I took my carefully manicured thumbnail and rubbed it gently over the affected area until the dents blended in. That's how solf this wood really is. However, nothing beats the feel of this beautiful wood against the palm. Never sticky and always smooth and effortless. I am extremely careful not to wear anything that could dent it and I don't allow anyone else to play it now.

The tung oiled finish will never hold up to live playing and gigging. All else seems good quality but only time will tell. Electronics are dependable so far.

I called to have the saddles replaced because of the string breakage and I was told they'd have to replace the entire bridge. When I received it, it was a much thicker, higher quality bridge than the original. I thought that was great until I replaced it and found that the increased metal thickness caused the height adjustment screws to protrude up into the playing area which now tears up the palm of my hand. They do not have shorter screws and I have not been able to find replacements with the extra fine threads. I will have to grind them down myself.

Played for 20 years. Own a strat, an Ibanez 540S, a Carvin AC175, an Ibanez 4 string bass and waiting on my new Carvin LB75 koa with laquered fininsh. I have a Carvin MTS3200 half stack, a Tuber drive 100-watt combo, Hartke 200-watt combo and the basic array of stomp boxes.
Despite the problems I've experienced these are the best guitars you can get for the money. And they sound and play great. That's why I have (almost have) 3 of them. Need I say more?

Made in Dec./Jan. 98/99. 24 fret, ebony fignerboard, Maple neck through alder body. 2 humbuckers, 3-way toggle, vol., tone, and two coil splitters. Black hardware. Finished in Purple Burst (no listed in there catalog, but they said they would do it for me....it is beautifull. Fixed bridge, free case, and free matching headstock.

Excellent. Gives great rock tones through the bridge pickup, and the neck pickup is amazing for blues. The sound is deffinetly thicker then a strat. Very full sounding. The coil splitters work well, and drastically effect the tone, therefore giving you much more variety. I am playing through a Trace Elliote Velocette, and a Fender Blues Junior. This sound is exaclty what I was looking for. Very versatile.

Excellent set up. THe action was very low, I raised it up a little, gave the truss rod a little adjusting, and raised the pickups a little. The intonation was a little off also. The build quality on this guitar was very impressive. Mine did have a little miss alignment between the fingerboard and the neck. There was a little lip where the neck was just a touch wider then the fingerboard on the low side. It very very small, and doesn't effect the playability at all. Other then that, I have never seen a guitar of this quality for anywhere near this price.

I think this will be a very durable guitar. I think it can easly handle gigging, and it will look good for a long time to come.

Not to sure, never had to use them.

I have been playing for about 5 years now. I have owned a few cheap strats, one American strat plus, and a few others. This beats them all, hands down. I would deffinetly buy this again, and wouldn't change a thing about it.

24 fret, ebony fingerboard, jumbo frets. Two-piece mahogany neck through mahogany body sides. Tobacco sunburst. I bought this instrument used for $350 and it has become my main guitar. I've since gotten rid of my Ibanez and Hamer guitars, for they simply do not measure up. The only instrument that I have played that compared was a $4000 Paul Reed Smith -- but I still preferred the Carvin. I am hoping, however, that they will soon offer a carved top.

I work professionally as a music instructor of guitar, piano, bass, and percussion and session musician. I, in sessions, have been asked often to duplicate numerous sounds and have always been able to come through. It amazes me when I see bad reviews of a Carvin guitar. I own two of them, and have played more than fifteen of them (some of my students own them as well) and every one of them has been a gem. I would, however, avoid the H60 pickups (the stacked humbuckers). They sound fine, but they are too week to be truely versatile. Also, I highly recommend having the instrument made from mahagony -- it is a monsterous tone wood (think Gibson, PRS, and so on) and well worth the extra fifty dollars.

These guitars play phenomenally well -- as good or better than PRS. The hardware and components are top quality, and it is a very easy guitar to set up and adjust. If you are one of those people who claim you can't get yours set up properly, either you have acquired a rare lemon (all companies make them, it's just how frequently that one can measure the overall quality -- I've seen A LOT of lemon Les Pauls), or you are too ignorant to do the work yourself and should hire a qualified professional.

Basically, there is not much that can go wrong with a guitar if is taken care of. If you leave it in your car on a 120 degree day, expectto have a warped neck. Neither of my Carvin guitars have ever failed in any way, and I've owned them for 10 and 6 years, respectively. Of course, you might break a string, and, if you are a working professional, should ALWAYS have a backup instrument.

As far as equipment that I have purchased from Carvin new, I have an X100B head and 2 4 12 cabinets, an SX100 combo, an MX842 powered mixer, a Carvin DC135C, Carvin 4 10 & 1 18 bass cabinets, and various parts. Every time I ordered,I was treated with respect, my merchendise was shipped promptly and was undamaged, and I was happy with the product -- it was what I expected. On one occasion, a part order was a pickup short. I called them on it and they express mailed it to me at their expense.

I've been a musician for most of my natural life -- going on thirty years now. I have a degree in music, a sense of absolute pitch, and I have taught guitar, piano, bass, and drums for more than ten years. I've been approached by players including Bruce Boullett and Dave Uhrich as well as acknowledged by John Stix of Guitar Magazine. Also, I repair, modify and set up guitars and basses independently, though I used to do so for Music City in Lomard, IL. It gets really easy to determine the quality of a guitar when you get used to looking at them from the "inside." Basically, the better the guitar, the easier the set-up. I've worked on Gibson Les Pauls, at least fifty Fender Strats, ESP's, Ibanez, G n L (Also quite good), PRS, Brian Moore (I like these also), Steinberger, Hamer, Barrington, BC Rich, Kramer (dislike very much), Samick, Charvel/Jackson (the old ones are good), and so on. The Carvins that I have set up were definitely among the best guitars that I have encountered. I only hope that I will not be talking about "the old ones" someday when it comes to these guitars.

made in 1996. 24 frets. Neck through maple with alder sides. passive pickups with coil taps and phase switch. M22V and M22S pickups. Transparent purple finish. solid neckthrough strat style body. string through body bridge. Sperzel locking. Medium jumbo frets. thinner fast shred neck. with hard case. Would be 10 with active elec and tremolo.

Sound is very pure and vibrant with tons of sustain. Very unique. You can tell the company is a major bass guitar maker. Empahasis is on cleanes and smoothness of sound. Not character and drive like a fender. Pickups are super smooth. The phase humbucker sound is shred nirvana with zillions of harmonics. The single coil sounds are bright full of life but nto hard on the ears or thin. Super quiet. Humbuckers are very rich and full. I prefer to keep them phased for the riffage and solos with harmonics and normal for upper fret noodling. The phased sound is awesome. You can get the most unbeleivable pinch harmonic squeals. With the tone rolled back it sounds very mellow rich and jazzy but still balanced. Not muddy. Whitecross is the best band ever. I like a lot of neoclassical and jazz too. guitar music basically. Not for earthy blues or punk. The sound seem to unadulterated and pure for that. But smooth as melted butter.

Absolutely perfect. Finish is beautiful. flawless. a work of art. It plays itself.

The paint is like 1 molecule thick and it seem like i chip the paint ever time i touch it. Im kinda clumbsy i guess. The chord jack keep coming unscrewed and I have to tighten it. The pickups and controls are rock solid though. The tuners are the best ive ever seen. tough as nails. I would not need a backup, But i keep a yamaha pac around just for looks basically. Never use it.

Kinda mixed feelings. The first time I called to order it, the guy was half asleep and was a clueless sarcastic surfer guy. The second guyw as similar. However, Ive ordered strings 5 or 6 times since and they have always been very friendly and helpful and answered my dumb questions. Maybe they have improved their staff since I first bought the guitar a few years back

I have been playing 6 years and have this guitar a few lower end old electric and acoustics. A hofner custom acoutic. A yamaha pasifica 320. A sovtek stack and a peavy express 112. Lots of effect stuff. I use express with sovtek as a slave amp. Its sounds great. even though the gain is solid state played through my huge tube stack. I cant wait to buy another but with a floyd tremolo. just a funny thing. It is almost exactly indentical to james browns guitarist's axe down to the block inlays and phase switch. I didnt know this when i bought it. I dont really even like him but its still kinda cool.