NGD - Carvin DC727 - Koa, Limba/Koa, Zebrawood

Alex C

Inspired
I'm a first-time Carvin/Kiesel owner with a new DC727 that I ordered as a graduation gift for myself after finishing grad school.

Here are the specs reproduced from the packing slip:
Code:
DC727   7 STRING GUITAR, FIXED BRIDGE
SS      RPL TO GRAPH TECH STRING SAVER
KOA     KOA BODY SIDES
/GD     Highly figured koa - see Jeff
          Jeff to pick out koa body sides
          Kiesel pickups, Kiesel logo black
TF      TUNG-OILED FINISH
RB      FULLY ROUNDED BODY EDGES
50      5 pc LMB neck w/ koa stripes
NWHO    NO HEADSTOCK WOOD OVERLAY
ZWF     ZEBRAWOOD FRETBOARD
NIN     NO TOP INLAYS-SIDE DOTS ONLY
STJF    STAINLESS STEEL JUMBO FRETS
R20     20" fretboard radius
32      TWO COIL SPLITTING SWITCHES
BC      BLACK CHROME PLATED HARDWARE

The sustain on this guitar is fantastic; even unplugged it rings out for days compared to my previous 7-string (an early-2000s Ibanez RG7421). The Kiesel pickups seem great, and everything sounded excellent on my existing Axe-Fx presets, especially the clarity on higher-gain stuff. (Pickups in the previous guitar were Crunch Lab and Liquifire.)

I was able to get some photos in direct sunlight as well as some indoors in a room with several windows. In the brightest light all of the intricate details of the figuring are visible, and in lower light everything is warmed up and becomes richer-looking, a bit darker brown and less reddish. It's like nature's version of Mystic Dream.

I'll include some pictures in this post, and a larger album is located here: https://imgur.com/a/mf3CQ#0

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For color/contrast reference, here are two images from Kiesel's social media "Pics of the Day" during the latter stages of the build:

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sweeeet! I was looking at their CT624's before I bought my PRS :p

So are Kiesel guitars just Carvin's that have custom options? When I was looking at Carvin's before, they all said Carvin, not Kiesel
 
So are Kiesel guitars just Carvin's that have custom options? When I was looking at Carvin's before, they all said Carvin, not Kiesel

My sales guy (Chris Hong) mentioned during the ordering process that the DC727 is normally considered a Carvin guitar, but mine was "custom enough" that it could have a Kiesel logo. I'm not sure if that was because of the limba/koa neck (which isn't a standard combination and added 4 weeks to the build time) or because Jeff Kiesel selected the koa for the body wings.

I'm pretty sure the Vaders, the Neil Zaza and Lee McKinney signatures, and the SCB models are all labeled as Kiesels regardless of options. (Anyone who is better-informed can feel free to clarify.)
 
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