Pinball

Bought a very tasty Carvin Bass from Conan. Good to deal with and condition exceeded my expectations for a used instrument. Cheers!

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1344762275' post='1768761'] I have one at the moment. I say "at the moment" because it is about to move on again! However, it is only moving on because it is surplus to requirements and it's a choice between that one and my Geddy Lee - which I really love! It is a beautifully made bass, with excellent quality materials and hardware. It sounds very good and is tonally very versatile due to effectively having three pickups as well as a three-band EQ. The neck is lovely and wide, which is what I like - although getting strings to fit the 35.25" scale and through-body stringing is a bit awkward! If it wasn't for an ultimatum from Mrs C, I would happily keep it, gig it and record with it. [/quote] Well thanks to Conan I am the new owner of the bass mentioned above I can 2nd his comments. It is a beautiful XB75P and is well made piece of kit. In size shape and string spacing it is pretty similar to my TRB 1005. My TRB is a monster which I like a lot but I have to admit that the Carvin handles and feels better and is lighter. First play just confused me as with 6 Knobs, a selector switch and a passive option. In fact it is a straightforward system, with some extras. Basically its Master volume (pops up for passive option), Pan/blend-between jazz and humbucker, a dual or single pick-up selector switch and active hi, med and low knobs. The "extras" is a pan/Blend to mix in the Piezo and magnetic pickups. See link: [url="http://www.carvinguitars.com/manuals/P-SERIES.pdf"]http://www.carvingui...ls/P-SERIES.pdf[/url] The action is set a little low for me-the fact that it can be set so low is a credit to the build. I left it like that at the moment as I'm experimenting and playing the fret board with two hands. Its apparent that the pups have a wide range of sounds. They have plenty pop and the passive mode is most welcome. That little bit of knowledge of the controls helps tremendously to get the most out of it. It is by far the most versatile bass I have owned. Only time will tell if it will be the one I reach for first. I look forward to trying some more Carvins in the future

hmm I have settled with pretty much 12 o'clock settings across the board on the amp and then change the guitar settings. I'll give the "flat" set up a try. I think my problem at the moment is that I have yet to settle on favourite guitars and keep switching. I have settled on sound in terms of pedals though-if I want a heavy sound I have just about given up on distortion pedals in favour of a Hartke Bass Attack. I seem to get the aggressive sound I want from that without loosing the sweet sound of the bass.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1345586151' post='1779259'] looked at it in shop. rolled fingerboard which the more expensive tangle woods didn't have. Didn't play it though- did look good [/quote] Played Momats and that is a really nice bass, great sound. I can't imagine that is a sub £300 though?

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1345585390' post='1779239'] Nowt wrong with HZs! [/quote] +1 on that

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1344526810' post='1766000'] I think we'd better correct this, then! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN6bNk-bW6w&feature=relmfu[/media] [/quote] Wow, I just got this DFA album on the back of these clips and absolutely love it, thanks for posting. I'm inspired!

I had similar problems with pain moving around and eventually it got so bad that I was having trouble sleeping and walking around like my arm was in a sling. My local GP got me some physiotheripy. I soon had a physiotherapist kneeling on my chest and causing me pain. I also got a whole lot of exercises to do and within a couple of months the pain dissapeared. My advice seek medical advice as my shoulder would never have recovered as quickly without it.

Is this an official Knofler signiture model?

I haven't been to the Bristol one but went to the one in Birmingham. I overheard someone saying that they were disappointed in the last Bristol one as it was smaller and quieter. This isn't surprising as it is trying to establish itself. I intend go along this year to support it and have a mosey about. The Birmingham one was excellent IMHO. There were parking problems and big queues of people waiting to get in. It had plenty of specialist gear, mainstream manufacturers and large retailers. I saw a great demo of TC helicon gear and some amazing guitar work from Chris Wood that on their own made it worth the trip. There was also lots of bass interest and some superb playing on the stands. Hopefully the Bristol show will develop into something similar. There is an excellent music scene around here so the support should be there. The Bristol show has recently moved from September to October. The site is a bit all over the place for the last Birmingham show but the experience was much better than the web site. I i recall important content being added only a couple of days before the event!

Just watch this site for a month or so, there are some great deals on here!

I can only comment from my experience playing Legend Classics and customs. I love them because they are so great to handle. Mine are Korean made, built to a high standard and sound good. The thing that is outstanding for me is the Spector 3d curved body shape and neck profile. When something feels right it makes you reach for it all the time. I look forward to trying more of them in years to come. My adivice is to try a few and see what you think. Any with that fine sculpted touchy feely body do it for me! My favourite is relatively cheap and basic, a 2004-06, cherry red bolt on neck Legend, with thin EMG-hz.s. It is tuned down to B,E,A,D. I got it in a trade on this forum. Note: I'm in the process of getting my first 5 stringer, a 2001 Korean NS2000 5, so may be able to report on that in a week or so.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1345414142' post='1777323'] The core Carvin business model is to make each customer's bass individually. However, with such a low 'installed base' in the UK it's near impossible for people to try one out so it's unsurprising that people won't order them blind = a bit of a vicious circle Phil is planning to get about 4-5 in stock for demo purposes (of course they will be for sale as well) so that people can really test them out and he can now quote on any of the Carvin range in any sort of custom spec anyone might fancy. [/quote] Cool, thats good news. I'll drop in some time once your set up. it maybe an idea to take some Carvin gear to some shows like these: http://www.greatbritishguitarshow.co.uk/ Take the basses to the people so to speak. The Birmingham show was great and very busy, I haven't been to the Bristol show-I think it is just trying to get established but I will be going along this year.

PMT in Bristol had two, give em a call to check Not very close to you unfortunately

Good thinking, I'm already having great fun trying different basses and am happy with the ones I have but am always keen to try something different. I must admit that I don't usually try the real high end stuff as my uses will never justify spending that sort of money. Already well impressed with TRBs, Spector, Overwaters G&L's, not to mention a nice Squire/Fender that played far better than its price tag suggested it should. Re: Sandburg I just thought I ought put my playing experience in context

I played a couple recently in-store. One was a California jazzer and the other was similar with humbuckers. They felt great, necks were fast and the sound was punchier than I was expecting. I was really there trying out another bass that was half the price but trying the Sandburgs just highlighted the gulf in quality. I don't have much experience playing basses over the £1000 so can't compare it with others but they felt good to me.

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1344712425' post='1768330'] When I was [b]much [/b]younger Carvin were all kit guitars/basses (much the same as Schecter were at the time) and from a personal perspective I've never been able to sake that image off. I have a mate who built a Carvin kit bass and it wasn't awful or anything...nice wood, great quality hardware etc., but ultimately it was a [i]Carvin [/i]and for the money he could have landed a very nice Fender Jazz/Precision or Lakland Skyline. Eventually he moved over to a US Precision and the Carvin never leaves the house. [/quote] Well I guess everyone has to start somewhere. I don't have the history hang-ups with basses but totally get it as feel the same about some guitar brands. Take a look at this factory vid. I love to see them getting painted and Carvin seem to be using a good combination of technology and hand building skills. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA6IukKYymE[/media] I plan to get my hands on one next week-never played it yet but felt confident enough to buy after doing a bit of research and finding virtually nothing bad. I'll let you know what I think when I get my hands on it.

[quote name='Nicodemus17' timestamp='1345314046' post='1776234'] I was under the impression that made them more durable and improve the sound, is this not the case? [/quote] Controversial area-that is a can of worms that your opening My opinion is that for most electric lead or bass playing it doesn't make much difference other than to the the sustain of the instrument. Having said that there are a whole host of other variables e.g. strings, electrics, build material, bridge design etc. Quality is more important than the construction. Personally: I prefer set of thru-necks on leads. This is because I love a sustained ringing sound and look for everything that helps achieve it. Since I settled on my 2 favourites, both Schecter thru-neck I have never looked back or wanted anything else. For me basses are rhythm machines. I never need or want endless sustain from them. Therefore through neck is about the last thing I look for. Sound, feel and looks comes first for me.

Good suggestions above, I'd like to add in some of the Schecters like the Stiletto. The one i owned was a great player. I think the secret is to do a bit of research as you will be able to get a better quality bass 2nd hand for that money. You would get a nice higher range Peavey, Yamaha, ESP, Dean, Jackson etc. with better quality construction and electrics. You also stand a chance of getting your money back. Don't rule out Spector either. Good luck!

Schecter know how to make guitars, 3 out of the 4 of the leads I own are Schecters (4th is a Peerless semi-acoustic) and I have no desire to change them. I discovered them by accident in PMT in Bristol. Their market is mainly rock and metal but the top of the range from the mid 2000's were amazing and capable of handling almost anything-fantastic clean sounds and sustain. They are a bit like Warwick and Spector in that they have solid budget ranges, plus great higher priced and custom shop instruments.Their basses are capable too but I think the bass market is more specialist.

Hmm I know exacly where your coming from, I sold all my lead guitar pedals and replaced them with 1 boss pedal. For bass I'm don't use as wide a variation and am really happy with 3 or 4 individual pedals. They satisfy my needs so I guess it depends on what type of music you play..

Liked it, thanks for sharing. I am also on the Schecter forum and so quite a few posts of similar sound yours stands out. I think your vocals are particularly strong.