Just ordered a Carvin Cobalt C850T
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anorakDan
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Not their acoustics, but I have one of their AE 185, semi-hollow, acoustic electrics and it's a wonderful guitar. Very high quality materials and finishing. I'd recommend Carvin guitars to anyone wanting an affordable custom guitar and didn't want the fun of putting it together themselves.
I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Strat Avenger
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I don't have one, but they are dang NICE guitars (and made in USA). I like their new contoured heel on their bolt-on neck guitars. They basically copied Fender's.
DangerousR6
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I've always wanted one of these... :headbang:
Doughboy
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Carvin doesn't make anything bad. High quality gear, amazing prices & great customer service. I think of them as a less custom version of Warmoth, where you get your instrument ready made. For the price, they're amazing. I'm getting thier CS6 soon, but nothing beats a Warmoth for total detailed, custom, down to the nity gritty, final outcome.
Cagey
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I think that's a very good choice of an acoustic. I came close to buying one of those myself some time back after playing one that belonged to someone else. Very high-quality instrument that sounds great. But, right about that same time I had a bit of good fortune that stopped me from ordering one. A local studio was liquidating some of their instrument stock, and I managed to pick up a Taylor at a bargain-basement price. So, no Carvin for me. It was close, though.
Missed it by this much!
Missed it by this much!
bagman67
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My siblings and I got together and bought my brother a Carvin C750T cutaway dreadnought for his 40th birthday last year and he is over the moon for it. I've played it some and it's really very well set up straight from the factory, and sounds great. The cases they ship in are also extremely solid.
Bagman
Bagman
Cagey
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richship said:
Do it. You won't be sorry. Being manufactured overseas isn't the black mark it used to be years ago. In fact, a lot of stuff coming from over there beats the snot out of the stuff that's being manufactured here. Labor, insurance, taxes, regulations, etc. all conspire to make it nearly impossible to build anything here for a reasonable price, so you either pay through the nose or accept gear that's had a great deal of the quality and integrity taken out in order to meet price points. I hate to pick on Gibson again, but they're a prime example. They'll want $3,500 for a guitar you can get at least as good if not better for $350, with greater attention paid to quality and detail. I'd like to support American manufacturers as much as anybody, but I've got to support myself first or I'm no help to anybody.
stultzies9
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I've owned a C750 for about 6 years now, and for the price point, it's wonderful. I bought it for $600 brand new (if I remember right), and I'll put it up against any of the Taylors or Martins in the $1500-2300 range. You really can't go wrong with one.
Just to further what others have said, I've never owned one of their Cobalts, but I played several of them when I was at their factory store a few years ago, mostly to see if the quality was fairly consistent from one to the next. The answer is a resounding yes. For the price, they're tough to beat. And I have owned a DC127, an LB75 and a Vai Legacy 2x12 cab in the past and those were all top notch for the price. Still hate that I ended up having to sell them to pay the bills when I ended up unemployed for too long a few years back. So yes, kudos to all things Carvin.
Cagey
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shanejw said:
Yeah. And an MTS 3200 stack is almost the same thing as an acoustic guitar. I was going to tell him what a great car my last Accura was, so he'd feel better about having bought that C850T, but it was white, so it's not really the same thing <grin>
I'm just pulling your chain. I know what you're saying: there's little risk in buying Carvin gear. It's good stuff, reasonably priced. It's a bit of a mystery why they're not bigger than they are. One of the better-kept secrets of the music industry. I suspect it's the mail-order aspect that holds them back. For so many years you had to actually fondle an instrument or play with a piece of gear to know if it was worth a damn. But, dealer markups are practically criminal, so they'd lose their substantial price advantage if they went with traditional distribution.
