carvin hh

I've had mine for 6+ months now and I have to agree with pretty much everything AH said in the video. Mine varies from his in several aspects but it has easily replaced all my former favorites as my #1 axe. Can't really stand to pick up any other electrics now.

Here are some of the options on mine that differ from AH's standard model,

HT - Mahogany Top
NMAH - Mahogany Neck & Body
MP - Mother Of Pearl Block Inlays
STF - Stainless Med-Jumbo Frets .048" H .103" W
R12 - 12in Fretboard Radius
Weight: 5.4 lbs

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cheers, that's awesome very nice custom. stainless steel frets option is a real bonus too. been looking for a headless for a while, these look like they'll be great to play.
 
never had a problem buying sight-unseen from Carvin. Setup,playability and finish has always been great.
Would buy another from them in a heartbeat.
 
Same here with the Carvin brand and coming from a die hard PRS player as long as you know what you like in a guitar physically, you can't go wrong... well except for the electronics :lol the tone, volume pots and pickup selector suck badly. That is the only issue I have with Carvin guitars.
 
Sixstring said:
well except for the electronics :lol the tone, volume pots and pickup selector suck badly. That is the only issue I have with Carvin guitars.
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Active electronics on both my Carvin's are fine.. much control.
 
Rook said:
So, what... It just looked nice?

I joke, I joke. I know that's not what you were saying. It's just how I read it at first glance. :)
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Ha, I see how it could read funny at a quick glance. I actually have been looking at possibly accruing another Carvin but it has to have the specs I want when it comes to fit and finnish. Of course I will be changing out the electronics ;)
 
I have 7 Carvins, 6 with passive electronics & 1 with active and have NEVER had a problem with any of them nor have I found a need to change or modify any of the p/ups or electronics.
 
t0aj15 said:
I have 7 Carvins, 6 with passive electronics & 1 with active and have NEVER had a problem with any of them nor have I found a need to change or modify any of the p/ups or electronics.
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I can't stand the slow ass pots and the clunky feel of the switch they use, I grew very fond of the type of pots and toggle switch that are specific to PRS. The pup's I can work with, they didn't sound too bad but I might eventually do a swap to something in the PAF output range. The CS series are still a little to hot for my liking @13.6k but I'm dealing with it in the input trim section.
 
I think the pots Carvin uses are 'fresh', and hence need working in. Mine have. However, while they require a heavy pull early on, the motion is smooooooth, like hydralic. And they don't 'knock' at either end, even if you clack 'em.

The HH2 is a nice guitar, uber light, but it's a weird beast. (I went stock to see how Holdsworth wanted it.) On the tuner, striking a note reveals a slightly delayed rise to pitch - and then it stays there, immobile, for eternity. VERY pure tone, with a lot of mid. The stock set-up is very firm, and the jumbo frets reinforce this, which results in traditional bending being a little weird. No surprise, as Holdsworth doesn't do bends. The response, though is crazy, legato is super easy, again made for his playing. The stock pick-ups are both mid-rich. The bridge pick-up is low gain-ish, but has enough to do metal without a lot of amp gain. Still, not really made for that. Smaller frets, and lighter string gauge (I think they're 12s) might help.

In short, I love it, but I always go back to my DC or other strat design for chunking.
 

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Loquenau said:
I think the pots Carvin uses are 'fresh', and hence need working in. Mine have. However, while they require a heavy pull early on, the motion is smooooooth, like hydralic. And they don't 'knock' at either end, even if you clack 'em.
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The Pots that PRS uses are built to Pauls specs by CTS and come with that non-resistive feel to them new. The Carvin pots look like they might be a generic they get a good deal on because they buy in bulk (not sure of the manufacture). Not saying that they use bad or cheep pots it's just the spec on the pots are not to my liking.

With the PRS spec pot, a small flick of the finger and I can slam the volume shut with minimal effort "clack". Even super quick volume swells are effortless. The Carvin pots you can't do this with even after time of use they always seen to have that sluggish feel to them. I don't have the time to wait for a pot to break in or stop playing to fight with a slowmotion volume or tone pot.
 
are the tuners hard to turn on these Carvin HH's?

I had a cheapo headless guitar (I use the term loosely) back in the 80's and it was way too hard to turn with those knurled knobs.
I ended up just giving it away.

I've had great luck with 4 or 5 Carvin's I've owned. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat (if I had the cash)
 
MesaGuitarGuy said:
are the tuners hard to turn on these Carvin HH's?
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I find only when I haven't turned them in a while. There's an initial resistance, and then it jumps a little, so I turn them just out of that resistance, and then turn again into the tune pitch. Or back, and then up to it, though I don't think it's actually gotten sharp over time as other guitars can.
 
Interesting chat on the Carvins. I own several, including two basses. All are very well made, and very durable. Some of my Carvin gear is decades old, and still performs flawlessly. The comparisons to PRS are interesting. I have three PRS, two custom 24's and a Hollowbody II. The PRS is certainly different than the Carvin, but I find both are well suited for my needs. PRS and Suhrs are great for recording. I don't like performing with expensive instruments. My Carvin DC-400 is my main stage guitar. It has coil splitters and a piezo Wilkensen trem. Great guitar for performing. Extremely versatile, stays in tune well through my shows, and covers a lot of ground just with the choice of single coils or humbuckers. I knew when I bought it that it was not going to be like my PRS or Suhr guitars, but that is why I bought it. I needed a versatile guitar to spare me from dragging 8 guitars around. The DC-400 is a great guitar. I would not hesitate to buy another.

I have tried a few of the HH when I was in CA visiting. I liked it a lot, but I'm already a headless player. Two headless things on the same stage is too much for me.
 
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