Carvin Guitars vs Ernie Ball Guitars shootout

VirgilGuitar

VirgilGuitar

Inspired
I finally ordered my AxeFX ultra this am, but I have also been eyeing out a possible new guitar - I currently own a PRS Custom 22, a couple of strats, a Gibson Smartwood and a recently purchased Ibanez RG770 reissue. Each guitar has its own attributes like the following:
PRS: Killer tone, sweet intonation.
Gibson: Has the tone of the LP's but 300 lbs lighter.
Strat: The quack of the fat 50's pups
Ibanez: Shredability and stunts.

At first I was looking at Music Man guitars - specifically the JP6 model (Without the piezo). The different things I liked, was the maple fretboard and how the neck is connected to the body and the tremolo bar, which looks a bit easier to tame than my "Edge" trem on the Ibanez. I'm not crazy about the price, because I would want it in the Mystic Paint scheme, which brings it up to $1800+

Then, last night, I was digging into Carvin's web site and started looking at a through neck Anniversary model making it with rounded edges and possibly a cool Spalted Maple wood and the Wilkinson tremolo... I can go to the local store and try out the JP6, but can't try out a Carvin - I'm not really looking for arguments as to which one is better - just looking for some insight if you are an owner of either of these brands and tell me what kind of music you play and what you like about the instrument specifically - I can expound if need be - thanks!
 
The Music Man is a great guitars but for the money the carvin is hard to beat. The California carve tops are PRS killers no doubt and at half the price of a PRS you get a lot of instrument for your dollar and there US made to boot. The down side is they have no resale why this is I have no idea so I would look for a used one. I see them out on ebay quite often and for a lightly used one they sell around the $900-1,200 range. New they sell around the $1,600-$2,000 depending on options.

I picked one up and played it and had I not owned a PRS already I would have bought the Carvin Cali Carve top, though I would have changed the pups. I have a buddy that owns an ST300 and it plays fantastic, he walked it out of the store new for $950 with a case.
 
Sixstring said:
The Music Man is a great guitars but for the money the carvin is hard to beat. The California carve tops are PRS killers no doubt and at half the price of a PRS you get a lot of instrument for your dollar and there US made to boot. The down side is they have no resale why this is I have no idea so I would look for a used one. I see them out on ebay quite often and for a lightly used one they sell around the $900-1,200 range. New they sell around the $1,600-$2,000 depending on options.

I picked one up and played it and had I not owned a PRS already I would have bought the Carvin Cali Carve top, though I would have changed the pups. I have a buddy that owns an ST300 and it plays fantastic, he walked it out of the store new for $950 with a case.
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I hate to sound naive, but I don't have a huge concern for resale value if I really adore it - like my Strat for instance - it's a Japanese 70's reissue that I bought 17 years ago and have no intention of ever selling it - I owned 2 other strats since then (USA made)- traded one up and the other is for sale, so other than that, did you actually own one? what was the action like? was it a fast neck? I could always switch out the pups. I built a killer one online last night and it was still $200 cheaper than the JP6, but, I hate to drop so much cash on a "Picture" of one if you know what I mean - thanks for your post!
 
Sixstring said:
The Music Man is a great guitars but for the money the carvin is hard to beat. The California carve tops are PRS killers no doubt and at half the price of a PRS you get a lot of instrument for your dollar and there US made to boot. The down side is they have no resale why this is I have no idea so I would look for a used one. I see them out on ebay quite often and for a lightly used one they sell around the $900-1,200 range. New they sell around the $1,600-$2,000 depending on options.

I picked one up and played it and had I not owned a PRS already I would have bought the Carvin Cali Carve top, though I would have changed the pups. I have a buddy that owns an ST300 and it plays fantastic, he walked it out of the store new for $950 with a case.
Click to expand...

I don't think the resale value issue with Carvin really holds water in today's market. That's mostly a viewpoint from the 80s and 90s (pre-Internet and pre-Ebay) that still carries on as urban legend. I watch lots of Ebay auctions and see many guitars from various brands (including the "biggies") that take similar hits as Carvin in used value.
 
VirgilGuitar said:
Sixstring said:
The Music Man is a great guitars but for the money the carvin is hard to beat. The California carve tops are PRS killers no doubt and at half the price of a PRS you get a lot of instrument for your dollar and there US made to boot. The down side is they have no resale why this is I have no idea so I would look for a used one. I see them out on ebay quite often and for a lightly used one they sell around the $900-1,200 range. New they sell around the $1,600-$2,000 depending on options.

I picked one up and played it and had I not owned a PRS already I would have bought the Carvin Cali Carve top, though I would have changed the pups. I have a buddy that owns an ST300 and it plays fantastic, he walked it out of the store new for $950 with a case.
Click to expand...

I hate to sound naive, but I don't have a huge concern for resale value if I really adore it - like my Strat for instance - it's a Japanese 70's reissue that I bought 17 years ago and have no intention of ever selling it - I owned 2 other strats since then (USA made)- traded one up and the other is for sale, so other than that, did you actually own one? what was the action like? was it a fast neck? I could always switch out the pups. I built a killer one online last night and it was still $200 cheaper than the JP6, but, I hate to drop so much cash on a "Picture" of one if you know what I mean - thanks for your post!
Click to expand...

I just wanted to point out that they don't seem to hold there value as much as other guitars seem to, as pointed out they have been pledged with a reputation from earlier years and haven't quite taken off like they should and the resale reflect that. Like you said if you like then who cares about selling it.

I haven't owned one but picked up a few at a store and the NAMM show back in January, played on them for quite a wile. The Cali single carve top felt real nice the neck was very PRS in feel with a slight difference in the neck carve, action was low and neck was that of a PRS in speed.

The fret board has a nice radius again very close to a PRS and the sides of the fret board had a nice smooth shoulder, no sharp edges. The 24 fret had the same feel to it neck wise, just great over all guitars. As soon as I can afford to I'm going to pick one up.
 
I have owned three Carvins, and I can attest that they are excellent guitars! My current Carvin - a C66 (see: http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b97/salvere/Carvin C66/) is one of the best sounding, and definitely the best playing guitar I've ever encountered. I used to own an Eric Johnson Strat from Wildwood Guitars, but the Carvin sounded so close to it tonally, and played so much better that I sold it with no regrets. It's still my grab and go guitar, and has easily handled everything I've thrown at it.

My only warning would be to triple check your order with Carvin after making the call, and be sure to have them send you an email detailing it. I've avoided some build errors and hassles because of that.
 
Excellent - thanks so much - I jumped into the Carvin Forum last night and am getting lots of info from them - I figured that are all avid Carvin players, so what a better place to find out more about them - the photos are great - it had me drooling - thanks for the share!
 
Another voice attesting to the build quality and value of Carvin guitars (and basses!). Both Carvin and EBMM make high-quality instruments, using many of the same manufacturing processes.

I've owned and played a number of Carvin guitars, and been very favorably impressed by each one.
 
Get a Carvin, they're great. Also listen to Pianoman, make sure you double check your order and get a written confirmation. The telephone support has always been great for me, but I wouldn't rely on e-mail alone to deal with them.

I asked for a custom stain job on my last guitar, and the salesman liked my photoshop mockup so much that he waived the upcharge for custom stain work. He also used a few expletives when describing his excitement over getting the guitar built - they definitely seem to take pride in providing great instruments.

The necks are amazing (look into tung oil, ebony fretboard, and stainless frets!) and the finish/build quality rivals or exceeds much more expensive guitars. I own a Strat and 3 Carvins, and don't honestly see myself buying any other brand but Carvin going forward. Here are a few pics for ya :mrgreen:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/ ... t6hq10.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/ ... t6hq11.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/ ... 00025s.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/ ... tar-03.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/ ... tar-06.jpg

CT6T: I really love the sound of this guitar. It just has balls for the kind of music I do. I play mostly hard rock (influences are Rush, King's X, Sabbath, AiC) and dabble in some bluesy stuff. I've got a mahogany body and neck and the guitar has a really nice full sound, a little subdued on the high end, as expected with mahogany. Never gets too harsh, though. You could definitely do metal with it, but it really shines on the medium-high gain stuff. The guitar plays very much like an old Gibson SG my friend had, FWIW.

If I had to do this guitar all over again, I'd probably get a fixed bridge. I like the guitar's sound so much, I would rather re-tune it during a set than grab another guitar when we change tunings. The floating tremelo becomes a headache in that situation. I might would try another neck pickup, just for experimentation, not because I don't like the current sound.

DC400A: This guitar is a shredding machine. I forget what fretboard radius I got, but the scale length is longer than the CT6's and I find my fingers don't trip over themselves up past the 12th fret. Of course, I really spent time honing my chops on this guitar before getting my CT6, so it may just be locked into my muscle memory by now. It's solid and the tuning stability is amazing with the neck through construction and the fixed bridge. I have the Fishman acoustic bridge, which is cool, but I don't honestly have much application for it in live use. If I had an FRFR system, I could see using it more.

If I could redo this guitar, I would get passive electronics (you have to get active electronics to use the Fishman bridge). I find that the actives are a little "sterile" (sorry for the cliche). I just prefer a more ballsy sound. They do have their applications though - 80's clean/chorused tones sound GREAT and the bridge pickup sounds awesome for palm muted chugga-chugga metal. I have a Holdsworth pickup in the neck and an M22SD in the bridge and I find that there is almost too much difference between the two. The M22SD is so hot that the Holdsworth drops out of the mix which switching pickups on the same patch. I'd also get a tung oiled neck instead of a finished neck.

My next guitar from Carvin will probably be a combination of the two: DC400 body with passive electronics and a mahogany body.
 
Hey NaturalScience - thanks for the great pics - does this look like a similar setup to your Dragonburst (Besides the birdseye maple fretboard?):
Base Model Options Quantity Price
DC145T
Right Handed
Wilkinson Tremolo
NMAH - Mahogany Neck & Body $100.00
-CG - Clear Gloss Finish (Standard) $0.00
QDD - Deep Dragonburst Quilt $330.00
CSN - Clear Satin Finish Back Of Neck (Natural Wood) $70.00
-IN - Inline Headstock (Standard) $0.00
QPH - Quilted Maple Headstock Matches Body Color $25.00
BMF - Birdseye Maple Fingerboard (Tung-Oiled) $30.00
-DI - Dot Inlays (Standard) $0.00
STJF - Stainless Jumbo Frets .055" H .110" W $40.00
R14 - 14in Fretboard Radius $40.00
22T - C22T Bridge Pickup $5.00
-C22J - C22J Neck Pickup (Standard) $0.00
-400 - Black Coils w/ Black Bezels (Standard) $0.00
32 - Two Coil Splitting Switches $20.00
G - Gold Hardware $50.00
-46 - Elixir 1046E Light Gauge .010 - .046 (Standard) $0.00
BL - Black Logo $0.00
HC11S - Form-Fitted ABS Hardshell Case FREE

This is looking close to the setup I may get
 
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