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Hey everybody, i was thinking of getting the carvin dc400ta and was wondering how good of guitars they make compared to jackson and other brands?

A friend of mine has two Contour 66 (I believe that's the model name); very nice guitars, but not my cup of tea, personally ... they compare favourably to Jacksons, Ibanez, etc, I would say.

how is it not your cup of tea?

Awesome stuff. I'm becoming a Carvin whore. I have a Carvin Legacy half stack and I just ordered a CT3M guitar. And I'm already considering a DC127 set up to be a shredder axe. They have a good formula, VERY high quality gear at a price much lower than you would expect. I don't think you'd be disappointed. Even if you were, you can send it right back to them, they give you a 10 day trial period just because you order stuff sight unseen from them and they understand that. Their customer service is a little hit and miss though. The salesperson I got (Casey) was awesome, another one seemed like he was too busy to do his job of answering questions on the phone. Ask for Casey if you call them.

Although the Carvin styling is not as classic as a Strat or Les Paul, every one I have played has been an excellant playing guitar. And, based on my experience, they honor thier warranty and money back guarantee so you have nothing to lose by trying one for yourself. Lew

My X-100B amp turns 20 years old this year-- super reliable and I'm still finding new ways to get different tones from it! As for guitars, the old DC series from the 80's blew away most Gibsons. My opinion, if you please...


Originally Posted by fusion101how is it not your cup of tea?

I'm not a fan of trans wood finishes, for one thing. I prefer crazy 80's style graphics. I'm also partial to a very wide nut, floating floyd, and after market pickups ... Carvin just doesn't fit me, cosmetically, is all.

I have played one. It was AWESOME.

1 on 'it can't hurt to try.'

One consideration that others have had is resale value. Of course, if you are like me and don't do much guitar swapping, that's a non-issue. Great bang for the buck, IMHO.

Though its been a while, I've bought bass speakers from Carvin, and they were EXCELLENT, no complaints. These guys know how to give you the most bang for the buck!

I've never bought a guitar from them (I normally like to play them BEFORE I buy them), but I've bought plenty of other equipment from them and have absolutely no complaints about their service OR their product.

From the book I'm currently reading, The Elecric Guitar, I came across an interesting tidbit:
The Carvin company was formed in 1946 by Lowell Kiesel, and the name came from his two sons, Carson and Gavin.


Originally Posted by TwilightOdysseyFrom the book I'm currently reading, The Elecric Guitar, I came across an interesting tidbit:
The Carvin company was formed in 1946 by Lowell Kiesel, and the name came from his two sons, Carson and Gavin.
Gason would have been an equally unattractive name

Or Songa! ugh.


Originally Posted by TwilightOdysseyFrom the book I'm currently reading, The Elecric Guitar, I came across an interesting tidbit:
The Carvin company was formed in 1946 by Lowell Kiesel, and the name came from his two sons, Carson and Gavin.does it mention that in the 60's they were assembling their guitars form Hofner parts?

I think that was kind of cool.

I have 2 Carvin DC127's. One with a floating Wilkinson (all maple)and one with a hardtail (maple/alder). I love the workmanship on both, and after the Duncans were swapped in, they sound as good as anything out there.

Carvin makes a fine guitar in most respects - they usually come from the factory with about the best set up I've ever seen on a new guitar.


Originally Posted by Benjy_26does it mention that in the 60's they were assembling their guitars form Hofner parts?

I'm still in the 1940's ...

I'm more interested in their MTS series cabs.... I've tried their guitars on several occasionas and while I agree they looked and sounded great and displayed excellent craftsmanship they just didn't quot;feelquot; right to me.

I bought a 6-string model of theirs several years ago. It was...different. Nice to look at, but felt a little like a toy. Definitely not much weight, which could be good or bad. The finish was a little weird - it was supposed to be a sunburst, but the area containing red was very fat, and was like candy apple red, and really stood out; the colors didn't seem to blend all that well. The pickups just plain sucked; feedback at high volume being the worst problem. It didn't stay in tune that great - it had sperzels and a wilkinson (spelling?) bridge. I wasn't using the sperzels correctly I later found out after I sold it. So I'll never know if it was all me, or some of the guitar. The bridge floated too much with string bends - I could have taken some time to block it or put more springs on it to hold it in place better. I recall me not liking certain notes - I think they buzzed more than others or something, and it pissed me off at the time. It was supposed to have been set up and ready to go, but I think it could have used a pro set up even after I got it. But I didn't want to drop even more money into it, and I didn't know much about setting a guitar up back then. I tried to like the guitar, since it was around $750, and supposedly quot;custom,quot; but I just didn't like it. And I waited until after the return period before I figured out I really didn't like it. It took me like 2 months of playing it to realize it was not my dream axe.

It was a fair deal for the money, but when I look at their prices now, I just don't know if it's worth it or not. I think they raised their prices a lot since I ordered mine. I think their bolt kit would be a great value, given that it is $350, and they sell the assembled version for over $700. But for some of their $1000 and over guitars, the pickups should be Duncans or DiMarzios but they're not and you'll end up taking out at least the bridge pickup.

I would personally rather go through Warmoth and build a dream axe that way, with kick ass pickups, nice heavy wood, etc. For a grand, you could really go nuts.

thanks for all the help guys and i decided on geting the guitar with a koa body and koa neck through with probably a tung oil finish and piezo electronics and swap the pickups out for duncans. it should end up costing me about 1600 so this is going to be one hell of a graduation present


Originally Posted by fusion101thanks for all the help guys and i decided on geting the guitar with a koa body and koa neck through with probably a tung oil finish and piezo electronics and swap the pickups out for duncans. it should end up costing me about 1600 so this is going to be one hell of a graduation present

If you ever do it, now's the time, all guitars are $100 off and options are 50% off.