Steve Vai, Carvin, and Fractal

Desmo808

Experienced
Carvin Audio is going under. I got an email from them about their final liquidation sale because they're closing down. The news was confirmed on the Kiesel guitar forum.

I know Steve Vai is already on board with Fractal, but for his stage amps he uses his signature Carvin amps (or possibly, soon-to-be formerly used). Maybe Matt can talk Steve into going 100% full on FAS. :)

On a sadder note though, I am sad that the Carvin Audio brand will be laid to rest. :(
I got a great deal on their IEMs during their Memorial Day sale.

Kiesel Guitars (formerly the guitar segment of the Carvin company as a whole) is still strong, so no worries there for Kiesel guitar customers.
 
oh no...ya know i really love my 4x12 legacy cab..dam...could this be the fractal effect in play?
 
I feared this was coming after Kiesel Guitars split away. Carvin had some audio gear but when's the last time you saw someone using any of their recent products? The V3M and the Legacy 3 are both really cool modern designs that featured modern, compact, flexible designs. They beat a lot of better known brands to market with great features. Their pro power amps should have been at the forefront as digital came in across the board. But they never really managed to modernize their approach to the market, or deliver the things people were looking for, or just get product into people's hands, visible on the market, demoed on the YouTubes, and so on.

Take the TS100. Stereo rackmount tube amp, 2x50W through EL34s. A few tweaks for features and the right marketing, and those could have been very hot with this crowd and other digital instrument groups. But how many even know about it? It should've gone head to head with the Fryette Power Station.
 
Bummer. Long-time Carvin user here.I still have a small Carvin PA that I use for solo appearances (admittedly not many these days). I have had that PA since the early 90's. Still works great. I guess it is just a sign of the times. Not much live music, or musicians. Sad. Another chapter closes.
 
Kind of makes me wonder how long this was in the works. It seemed strange when they spun off their guitar line into it's own company. If they were planning to shutter Carvin, it makes more sense.
 
I hate to see them go. I got my first Carvin guitar (DN612) in 1982 and my first Carvin amp (XV112E) in 1983. I've been a big fan ever since. I sold the amp in the early 2000s because I was tired of lugging a 100w tube amp to places that only need a 10-20w at the most. It was still a great sounding amp when I sold it but I could already see I wanted to go the digital route. I would like to see the old X-series and V3 modeled if Cliff decides that it's worth the effort.
 
That's um...interesting. I dunno how to feel about this, really. On one hand, it's not like there's not another bajillon companies that can't fill the void of what they've been doing. But on the other hand...all those jobs being lost....
 
They made solid products that were well-regarded, reasonably priced and made in the USA when many of their competitors (looking at you Peavey) moved production to China. I'm sad to see them go.

I do wonder why the guitar company was named Kiesel instead of just calling it Carvin Guitars. Carvin is a guitar brand that had been around for decades. I'm not sure why they threw out that brand name that they'd worked so long to build.
 
They made solid products that were well-regarded, reasonably priced and made in the USA when many of their competitors (looking at you Peavey) moved production to China. I'm sad to see them go.

I do wonder why the guitar company was named Kiesel instead of just calling it Carvin Guitars. Carvin is a guitar brand that had been around for decades. I'm not sure why they threw out that brand name that they'd worked so long to build.

Good point about the Made in the USA thing. Forgot about that part. Damn.
 
This is a shame, but when they were spinning off the guitars into its own brand, I figured either the family was going to sell off the audio portion, offshore it to the Far East or Mexico, or close it down. I'm sad it was the last option for all that worked there putting out good stuff.

It's a shame that in the era of smaller and lighter 1U or 2U power amps, instead they were still making stuff like it was the 1980's and 1990's rack days where you needed a heavy 3U or 4U power amp to project power. Add to that the slump in cab and amp sales and you could see their sound reinforcement sales were not going to carry the weight to keep the doors open.
 
They made solid products that were well-regarded, reasonably priced and made in the USA when many of their competitors (looking at you Peavey) moved production to China. I'm sad to see them go.

I do wonder why the guitar company was named Kiesel instead of just calling it Carvin Guitars. Carvin is a guitar brand that had been around for decades. I'm not sure why they threw out that brand name that they'd worked so long to build.
Kiesel was the original company name many years ago. The guitar line was an homage to the company founder.
 
Who's next?
My guess is Peavey...
Gibson is a close second- they will go fully bankrupt- but will restructure, fire a few idiots with a golden parachute and always keep making guitars with the name on them- you know- because they made good guitars- before my mom was born.

Every 6505 user is probably a Fractal user now- lost EVH a long long time ago- and Undercover Boss made them look awful-
 
I feared this was coming after Kiesel Guitars split away. Carvin had some audio gear but when's the last time you saw someone using any of their recent products? The V3M and the Legacy 3 are both really cool modern designs that featured modern, compact, flexible designs. They beat a lot of better known brands to market with great features. Their pro power amps should have been at the forefront as digital came in across the board. But they never really managed to modernize their approach to the market, or deliver the things people were looking for, or just get product into people's hands, visible on the market, demoed on the YouTubes, and so on.

Take the TS100. Stereo rackmount tube amp, 2x50W through EL34s. A few tweaks for features and the right marketing, and those could have been very hot with this crowd and other digital instrument groups. But how many even know about it? It should've gone head to head with the Fryette Power Station.

It was a strategic split. It would appear that they saw it coming for while, too. They didn't want Carvin to drag the guitar business into oblivion.

Maybe the problem was marketing. Not being in Guitar Center is gonna kill ya. People need to try stuff out before they get into it, usually, even with very liberal return policies, like they had.

Maybe they had too many products. Too much competition. Too big a used market. Ultimately it's because cost was too high. North San Diego County (Poway/Rancho Bernardo area) ain't exactly cheap to operate in. Employees are just too expensive in this country to do do manufacturing on that scale (too small), and that was the whole cachet. Nearly everything they made was, in a way, bespoke. Made-to-order. Handmade. Made in the U.S.A. You just can't outcompete Asia on cost.
 
Back
Top Bottom