Duesenberg Carl Carlton Model

The finish is Vintage White.... everything else is standard like every other Carl Carlton model.
P-90 in the neck, humbucker in the bridge. Built in 2006. I don't like "tons of features....." Simplicity is the key here. The stairstep style tuners are "the best feeling, manly tuners ever." They exude quality.

The Bigsby style vibrato is stellar. This is NOT a Bigsby but is based on that. The arm snaps back a little faster and with more precision which is cooler for my style. And for those of you who change strings often, like me, you know those little "nipples" that are on Bigsby's that are such a pain in the ass to fish the ball end of your string through? THOSE HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH A THIN PLATE WITH 6 DRILLED HOLES! So all you have to do is thread your string through and voila'.. done! Safe and secure in no time. Yes, THERE IS A GOD.

First off, I'd been looking at Gretsch guitars for years. The Carl Carlton is what I bought instead.

The sound of the humbucker bridge pickup is very open with a level midrange response; not "notched." I'm not sure what the specs are on it.... that really doesn't matter to me. I can tell you that it doesn't sound like a REALLY powerful pickup... instead it's more subdued yet lively. It's bright in a musical way, not cutting. To me, a Gretsch bridge pickup has more "ping" on the very highest frequencies; the Duesenberg has a flatter more even top end and doesn't register the hair thin top, top end of a Gretsch... know what I mean? Didn't think so.....I'm tryin : ) I use the bridge pickup 90% of the time.

The middle position sound surprisingly Stratlike... some cluck... like a strat in the middle and bridge pickup together; only with a little less output.

The front pickup still requires experimentation for me to comment much more. It doesn't have a ton of sustain but doesn't require that from me. But I must say.... it has some ping, a little beef and seems sweet. A unique sound for sure. Somewhere between a frothy souflee' and pond scum.

One last thing... this guitar sounds best when played kinda hard.... not thrashing per se, just aggressively... I played the CC through many amp heads and 4X12 cabs and guess what.... to my ears it absolutely smokes through either of my small Fender blackface combos; a Princeton or a non-reverb Deluxe.

Right out of the box the intonation on this thing was so dead on! I love that kinda stuff! Those Germans..... and the precision.... awesome. The sting gauges are kinda odd:
.010 .013 .017 .028 .038 .049

It seems as though the D string is from a .012 set and the A string is from an .011 set and the top 3 strings are from a .010 set. I got used to it quickly and custom ordered some sets from GHS.
Here's something weird:
The case that came with the guitar isn't tall enough for the bigsby style vibrato arm to stay fully extended. Tht's right. When you lay the Duesenberg in its case and close the lid the bar stays slightly pushed down.... about that German engineering, how did they miss this? Now, the wonderful bigsby style vibrato arm has a slight bit of "play" in it when you first push it down.

Also, the black case is beautiful but it's not hardshell, it's kinda semi-hard.... flacid so to speak. A little flimsy for such a fine instrument. Sorry, you lose points here. At some point I will probably get a better case made.

Don't know the answer to this one. I can tell you it feels very sturdy and solid. We shall see how it hold up in the future.....

Haven't had to deal with the company yet. I don't anticipate any problems.

I've been playing for 30 years. The better part of those in recording sessions and yes, I'm picky about my stuff. I'm at a point where if I don't love an instrument, amp or pedal, I'll get rid of it..... I won't be getting rid of this anytime soon.

I actually prefer this guitar when played with clean sounds, it's just so massive sounding through those little Fenders I've got. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great with some breakup too.

I would say if you want to whip out some super fast solos, this isn't the guitar to do that with. It's more a pack mule with flair ( whatever that is) to work up cool parts. It's versatile and I need that in the studio. This thing is better sounding than the smaller body Starplayer in my opinion. The Carl Carlton just feels like quality to me.... like a big hollowbody should. The neck isn't too big or too small....like mama bears porridge, it's just right.... this guitar will bring me joy AND make me some money.

traditionell eingeleimter Hals, 22 B?nde
Hollow-Body mit Sustain-Block
arched SpruceTop and Back with Maple-
Super Tremola very smooth operating.

Electronic as in the STV:
P-90 at Neck & Grand Vintage ?59 Humbucker as bridge PUP (passive PUPS);
special Duesenberg Tw?ng-Sound in the Mittle-position of the 3 way toggle;

Wow I finally got my Duesenberg CarlCarlton today and it is amazing how clear and loud the CC rings unplugged!. Plugged in the amp the tone comes instandly. At has plenty of sustain and a twang- even more then my Starplayer I also have. And lead sounds sing just easy the P90 rings clear sings in lead really cool & layed back; The humbucker is doing a great job also. Perfect for my kind of music.

Low Action, perfekt setup up by the music shop. the brigde is doing a little noise unplugged as the most ABR1 bridges do. The finish on top is perfect, perfect painting and craftswork. (But I saw at least 2 CC and Starplayer which were not such good crafted ( check the binding and look into the F-hole and check the gap for the bridge humbucker is carved carefully and exact here some latest STV and CC show flaws!!!). As I said mine is done very well. The paint "orange transparent" is very beautiful. The pickguard is not 100% my taste I wd prefer a simpel black instead of glitter...

no doubtthe CC performes very good. You (I) cd gig without a backup but I do have another Duesenberg and this will always be at the gig. Welldone, straplocks included, too .
The guitar is "Build like a tank"... thats true !

Very helpful at G?ldo - 24 months warranty as EU law tells.,

for 25+ years, another Starplay black with LesTrem and a USA Stratocaster with 3 VV from DiMarzio, Engl Straight 100,Takamine and Ibanez Accoutics. (A strong 9)

Built in October 2003 by Tom (they hand you out the paperwork at Duesenberg's) in Hannover, Germany. Laminated top semi-hollow-body with rounded cutaway and Duesenberg-improved Bigsby style vibrato. Back is carved flamed maple trans black. Duesenberg P90 (neck) and Duesenberg HB (bridge)pick-ups with 3-way switch, trans-orange finish, 22 medium frets and classy ivory binding on the well rounded (midsize-to big C) glued-in, palisander covered mahoganny neck. One volume and one tone pot, Kluson tuners with Duesenberg Art-Deco wings and - of all the things in the world - a silver sparkle scratchplate..... this is a sharp looking performer that makes you shine on stage

OK, this is not the over-charged a-million-knobs-and-pots toy, but it comes with all the features. You can't give full points if it hasn't ALL the options, but then - you don't discount points from a Porsche for being too small to transport a family of seven plus their three dogs .... other car's are made for that. The Duesenberg Carl Carlton is not an acoustic jazz box and does NOT NEED a handcarved solid top. Neither do you expect a super heavy tone from it. It plays in the Gibson 135, Gibson 335, Guild or Gretsch ballpark .... and so a 9 is the best and clearest rating.

I play in a Blues band. We do Hendrix, Gallagher, Lynnyrd Skynnyrd ..... you got the idea. My main axes are Stratocasters and I wanted something with a working tremolo and some Rockabilly flair. Say it's my last effort to look good before I hit the 40 next year!

Because of our music style, I only use two amps: a 1967 Twin Reverb for the bigger stages or a 1965 (Re-Issue) Deluxe Reverb for rehersals ans clubs. My FX board is a Cry baby, a Boss Compressor and an old Ibanez Tube Screamer from the dawn of time. That's it.

The duesenberg is WAY more powerfull than any guitar I own so far (OK, I only play Strats, Teles, and a P90 equipped Epiphone Sorrento). It get's more crunch and more gain out of my amps, so the entire band wanted me to play that axe exclusively through our set because it is warmer sounding and you can cut the grain with the volume pot.

OK, but some songs don't feel right on the Duesenberg (I mean - why should I play Texas Flood on anything other than my Strat - TS - Twin Reverb setup?).

The Carl Carlton is a (physically huge and very heavy) guitar with a huge tone and it delivers a meaty, full throttle sound.

- The neck PU is warm and punchy and with the volume cut and the tone rolled back, you can play the odd Jazz gig and get acknowledging nods for the perfect instrument.
- The intermediate position adds sparkle and transparency to the tone (say a Strat with combined neck and bridge, but on steroids). I play most of the time with this setting, and I only switch to neck or bridge for solos.
- The bridge HB is cutting and powerfull but lacks the last bit of top end shimmer. That's a problem of all humbuckers by the way. The tone is very sharp and makes your solos cut through any music!

I must note the long sustain and the very, very well working trem system. Dieter Golsdorf has taken the Bigsby idea a step ahead and this is the only vibrato I ever had, that works without detuning....

Very short here:

Everything perfect!!!!!! Everything. When the guitar arrived by mail, It was even in tune!!!! Imagine that! This guitar has the german Mercedes Benz feel to every part of it. I only think that the standard 10-50 strings are a tad off, so I switched to 11-52.

The guitar is built like a tank and all the metal parts are made to the specs of Duesenberg. Dieter Golsdorf not only owns Duesenberg and Diego (DIEter GOelsdorf) but also Kluson (yep!). The guitar even comes with a proprietary straplock system that is also compatible to Schaller Straplocks. Great.

Never had any problew with it

More than 30 years of guitar playing, close to 20 years of Blues and still learning. I would immediately buy the same guitar again, no question. After seing me with this guitar and taking it in the hand, our Bass player bought a Duesenberg Star Bass. What more can I say?

The only bad thing: the Carl Carlton is heavy as a rock and you will suffer from the weight if you play a long set!

I was close to buy a Gibson 135, but everybody plays a Gibson and their quality and versality is nowhere near the Duesenbergs, so when I had the two guitars in my hand for a comparison, the Duesenberg won the shootout. There is a world of difference, really. No wonder so many different artists from completely different musical worlds have been seen with Duesenbergs recently.

I can't give a 10 for the guitar. A 10 would mean there is nothing to come afterwards. But this is a very strong 9 OK.

2003 model. Assembled in Germany. Semi-solid. Think the body and neck are made in Korea and send back to Germany for assembly. Set Neck 22 fret rosewood fingerboard with jumbo frets. Body is Spruce top with one f-hole, laminated maple back and sides finished in transcharcoal with binding around the body neck and headstock. Mine is a two tone sunburst that looks great with the crome control knobs and crome plate along the top of the art deco scratch plate. All the metal harware is very smart and gives the guitar that 50's vibe. Pickup configuration is p90 at the neck and HB at the (tune-o-matic) bridge and finished off with a bigsby style tremolo unit with a lock facility. Screw off strap locks finish the package. Top stuff

Sounds great in it's own duesenberg way. Infuences of gretch and gibson come through as well. The p90 at the neck is fat, clean and warm sounding. Great for Kenny Burrel blues tones, and well defined arpegiated ballads. Plenty of sustain here. The bridge humbucker is a real ballsy sounding. Great for aggressive playing styles. The combined pickup sound uses only half of the humbucker and gives an almost funky (strat like) sound which is great for both rythme and lead.

Guitar came well set up but would probally benifit from a pro setup. The finishing is superb. Lots of care and attention to detail. Frets are very well dressed and the binding is excellent. My guitar has a slight blemish under the finish on the top shoulder. But it's a characterful kind of blemish so no problem. The guitar came with a good case. And to give you some idea of the thought they put into their guiatrs they even included the empty string package so you know what strings you're using and a white fingerboard cloth with the Duesenberg logo on it.

Build like a brick. Solid, functional and littered with quality parts, so I'm not anticipating any real problems here

I wanted to change the sparkle silver pick guard for a black one and emailed the company who were quick to respond.

Overall, I could be more chuffed with this guitar. I was looking at the Gibson ES135's but felt they were way over priced. I was then toying with the idea of an Epiphone 335 and changing the pickups. Pain in the ass. Then the guy in the shop recommended one of these guitars. The price I paid was a real bargain because Duesenberg don't have a distributer in Spain so the price was much cheaper. I could have bought two of these for the price of the Gibson and I'm convinced the Gibson doesn't actually sound any better and is on par with Duesenberg in terms of finish.

Semi-solid (archtop with solid block inside), single cutaway, one f-hole, 2"1/4 depth : looks like a mix between a Guild and a Gretsch (thinner, though), bur the overall construction aims to the Gibson 335/345. Set neck and 25"1/2 scale, top is solid spruce with trans-orange finish, back is flamed maple (trans-black).
One P90 (neck) and one HB (bridge) made by Duesenberg, Bigsby vibrato (with a locking feature). One vol/one tone, 3 way switch. Sparkle scratch plate and pots, nice tuners with a "scale" design. Made in Germany (Feb. 2002). A certain Gretsch appeal but a more common Gibson feel even with the long scale.
Binding on neck, head and body.

I'm playing mostly blues and rock stuff and this guitar suits perfectly my needs. First, sustain is looong unplugged (good start..) and it sounds definitely better than a 345 in such conditions (more precise). Plugged in my Peavey deltablues, it's a wonder : exactly what you expect from this configuration (P90 + HB). As a P90 fan (I've got a 1967 ES 330 and another guitar with SD Antiquity P90), I can say that these PU's are closest to the original, and the HB better than stock 490. The bonus is the middle position with a kind of split or notch filter (bright sound) without loosing any output level. The tone and volume pots seem to be well set in order to avoid treble loss when rolling the volume off.

I bought it used, and the previous owner set it up perfectly : low action and perfect intonation, good balance between both PU's.
No flaws in the finish, perfect adjustments, mint conditions. As a previous owner/user of ES 335 and 345, I'm surprised that this baby is a more than a match for my beloved Gibson (stock models at least), for less than half the price.

Made in Germany sometimes apply to cleaver but massive-built "tanks". In this case, everything seems reliable and well designed. I don't expect anything failing, but I'm not sure I will bring it with me everywhere I play : too beautiful maybe.

I've asked a few questions by email, and got detailed answers, so it seems convenient.

I've been playing for about 30 years now. I've got a couple of other guitars such as Gibson ES330, ES345 and Flying V (both sold now...), Starfield Cabriolet, Hohner LP Junior copy, Fernandes Strat (1982, "copy" thing with the Fender-like headstock), Ibanez acoustic (Dove copy bought in 1975) and Hagstrom II (1967). I wanted to go on with the 330, get rid of the FV and find something new to replace the 345.
My first idea was to buy a new Duesenberg Starplayer TV (nice guitar too) untill I've found the opportunity of buying this used Carl Carlton model. Better guitar for the same price, what a wonderful life...