Is Kiesel worth the wait?

bonewax21 said:
Well guys I just put in my order for a v6 quilted aquaburst that looks like my profile pic. I guess in 3 months we'll see what kiesel can do. Thanks again for all the feedback, it's much appreciated.
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I'm excited for you and I hope it turns out just how been imagining it. Please post your thoughts / pictures when it comes in.
 
Lets see. Kiesel standard: glow in the dark side dots, stainless steel frets, carbon fiber rods along with the truss rod, every Kiesel custom built for you.
PRS do not have any of those things as standard unless you have it custom built and if your going to do that might as well go with Knaggs
 
I waited about 8 weeks for my Vader. Paid $400 extra for a premium flames AAAA top. Sent them pictures of other guitars and detailed emails explaining what I wanted and didn't want regarding the book matching angle. They sent me exactly what I told them I didn't want (an extreme angle). No communication at the factory.

I couldn't wait another two months, so I kept it. The clear coat is also wavy and looks like shit. My advice; if you pay big money for a premium top, quadruple check with them on the progress and have them send pictures to minimize your wasted time. I've played Carvins and Kiesels since the early 90s. But I think I'm done with them.
 
They are worth the wait as you get a work of art to your specifications. I have had several over the years and have no desire to get any other brand. Vaders are my favs.
 
I think it’s Definately worth the wait. My first Kiesel was a Carvin DC200 stereo from 1982. It’s the most solid neck Ive ever played. I still play it often. I have a 2013 DC600 which I absolutely love as well.

my nephew has a Vadar and says it’s so easy to play and fast, that it’s hard to believe (20” Radius).
He has a 2020 Kiesel SH on the way, and while it’s delayed by several weeks, he couldn’t care less, cause he knows what he’s getting.

my son is also getting a Vadar for graduation, and I can’t wait to play it too.

Kiesel typically builds 500-700 guitars at any one time. Right now they’re at the 1100 mark

I’ll gladly wait for Made in USA products like Kiesel and Fractal any day
 
Love my lefty Carvin DC127 (2011), but I remeber it taking a looong time to get - something about limited frequency runs of the 'backwards' ones.

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I have 13 Kiesels/Carvins, and I love them all. I will admit that I am not a fan of their Lithium pickups though. I swapped the Lithiums for a set of DiMarzio Air Classics in my new Kiesel NZ6H and it’s a killer sounding and playing guitar. I consider Jeff and Chris at Kiesel brothers...they have always gone out of their way for me to ensure I’m satisfied.
 
I had a custom BASS built and it took close to 10 (TEN) MONTHS to arrive!
Heck, I've had IEM's take long to arrive than 8 weeks.
Had a custom build IEM cable take 3 months...

<shrug>
 
They are mostly good but I've seen some real dogs and if your's has a problem that are not very good at service . Some just plain not what was ordered and an absolute age to sort it out if at all. I would never have a guitar built because the last 5% that makes all the difference is a lottery and not in the builders gift no matter how good they are. Find a guitar that is built play it and decide for your self because an order sheet of options is no substitute .
 
My Kiesel CT624 was built in 2017 when they initially moved into their current facility. I was sure the time was going to run long, but they delivered exactly when promised. My guitar is absolutely perfect and is my main guitar. I was sure I was going to have to replace the Lithium pickups, but they have remained in the guitar. I really like the neck pickup and the bridge pickup is a little bright, but nothing that cannot be rectified by rolling the tone knob back a little. They both split as well as anything else I have used and with both pick ups split in the middle position, it gets a pretty good "strat" tone.

I did not consider Carvin for a custom build specifically because of extremely poor brand image. Once they made the change to Kiesel, I insisted my guitar have Kiesel badging. I have no intention to sell this guitar, but I know my guitar is worth more in the secondary market than if it had a Carvin badge.
 
Sean D. said:
did not consider Carvin for a custom build specifically because of extremely poor brand image
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Interesting, I was never aware of this (bought my Carvin in 2011), but when Carvin became Kiesel, I did feel thankful to have the Carvin branding as the name "Carvin" seems so much better to me than Keisel, which I know is the orignal company owner's family name, and the orignal branding name of these guitars many years ago, however, I think the original owner was onto something when he changed the brand name to "Carvin" a few years after the company was formed - I mean c'mon "Carvin" vs "Keisel" as a name - it's a no brainer to my ear - but I guess if there were issues, they needed a way to lead customers to a new place - I never had any issues with my Carvin DC127 - maybe I got lucky.
 
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i was considering getting a guitar made by Waghorn guitars in bristol. i changed my mind when they said it would be an 18 month wait. 8 weeks is nothing.
 
sprint said:
Interesting, I was never aware of this (bought my Carvin in 2011), but when Carvin became Kiesel, I did feel thankful to have the Carvin branding as the name "Carvin" seems so much better to me than Keisel, which I know is the orignal company owner's family name, and the orignal branding name of these guitars many years ago, however, I think the original owner was onto something when he changed the brand name to "Carvin" a few years after the company was formed - I mean c'mon "Carvin" vs "Keisel" as a name - it's a no brainer to my ear - but I guess if there were issues, they needed a way to lead customers to a new place - I never had any issues with my Carvin DC127 - maybe I got lucky.
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I have always thought Carvin guitars were quality instruments. However, the poor brand image is one of the main reasons Carvin gear sells on the secondary market at such depressed levels. I have used all facets of Carvin gear: amps, mixing consoles, power amps, crossovers, speakers and in that realm Carvin is seen as being junk. I believe that brand image rubbed off on the guitar line. I don't think you got lucky. I have read many testimonies of outstanding guitars from Carvin. But it is also no coincidence that Kiesel has taken off as a guitar company and Carvin Pro Audio has all but folded since.
 
sprint said:
Interesting, I was never aware of this (bought my Carvin in 2011), but when Carvin became Kiesel, I did feel thankful to have the Carvin branding as the name "Carvin" seems so much better to me than Keisel, which I know is the orignal company owner's family name, and the orignal branding name of these guitars many years ago, however, I think the original owner was onto something when he changed the brand name to "Carvin" a few years after the company was formed - I mean c'mon "Carvin" vs "Keisel" as a name - it's a no brainer to my ear - but I guess if there were issues, they needed a way to lead customers to a new place - I never had any issues with my Carvin DC127 - maybe I got lucky.
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I'll also say this. Of two identical guitars with the exception of one being a Carvin and one being a Kiesel; the Kiesel will likely sell more quickly and for a higher price.
 
Well, if that poor brand image is mostly only image, and there were no actual quality issues with Carvin guitars that substantiated that poor brand image, then maybe mine will become collectable some day!

I'd prefer to buy stock but being a lefty means limited choice - in 2011, Carvin was like a candy store for
leftys - not sure about Keisel on that front now, though most manufacturers at least throw leftys a bone or 2 now compared to back then in terms of getting a stock lefty guitar.
 
sprint said:
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Ah, the sperm inlays.

I purchased a Carvin Bolt-T back in 2009. I stuck to the base level options and it cost just a bit over $700 shipped with a hard shell case. The factory setup was good (which was important to me because I didn't know how to do a setup at the time) and it played really well as a result. It was also very resonant and loud acoustically which made it a great couch guitar. Overall I think it was a solid value for the money. If I had added a bunch extra options or exotic woods I think that would have killed the value proposition.

I did have a few complaints though. There were tooling marks in the ebony fret board near the fret ends. Someone got a little careless when finishing the fret I suppose. Also, I never cared for the stock pickups (AP11) because I was hoping for a traditional strat style tone and those were much hotter than a vintage voiced single coil. The tone sounded closer to a P-90 to my ear. I could see where that might be a positive for some people. I replaced them with a set of Suhr FL pickups and that got the guitar sounding substantially closer to what I wanted. I understand that some of their current offerings are more traditional sounding. The stock volume and tone pots were very small and I suspect that they would not have lasted long. Additionally, the bridge they used was the Wilkinson VS50 which was made of relatively soft metal and many other owners had reported tuning issues developing after premature wear on the knife edges. I sold it after about 1.5 years of ownership to pay my tax bill, so I can't confirm that these concerns developed into real issues on that particular guitar.

The prices have gone way up since I purchased one, but the value is still decent if you don't go overboard with added options or get unlucky enough to get one of the ones that slips through QC.
 
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