Gibson vs. Fender vs. Gibson

you forgot one...

How about a Rickenbacker?

I'm not an outstanding guitarist, but remember the one
John Lennon played- three pickups, semi-hollow body?
I think it was a 320 or 330 model? Even the solid body
versions were wonderfully balanced and played like a
dream... that same balanced body design is found on
the 4000 series basses- I love my 4001 for its tone
and playability. I can see why Geddy Lee used one.

I never could understand the mystique about Carvin
guitars. I owned a Stereo 160 that was in excellent
condition, but I wasn't impressed with its sound or
appearance- the bird's eye maple was well done,
the neck (which appeared to be "fixed neck"style)
was nice, I guess. It didn't impress me. I won't diss
Carvin- I just wonder what makes them great to
others.

Faithmonster :confused:
 
actaully last night i was about to post about a rickenbacker, i was lookin at that exact one! i've played the john lennon signature 12 string model, and i loved the way the neck felt. do you know what the average price for one of those (330 i think)?
later cats
 
ok actually the Ric is a 370, it has three pickups, 24 frets. are the pickups single coil or hum? and again, do you know an average price for it
?
 
I've been playing the same sg for 26 years....I've had plenty of opportunity to take in some other guitar and set the sg aside as my first choice....that hasn't happened yet...
 
rickenbacker is a nice guitar but not so much of a rock guitar... too much twang. besides john only used it till around rubber soul. then he switched to the casino. i love my sg over my 69' hendrix strat but the guitar is all neck. still the sg plays like a ferrari compared to the strats.
so i say get all 3!
 
in defense of...

Is there anyone out there who owns or plays a Carvin
guitar on a regular basis? Tell us what impresses you
about your guitar.

Like I posted earlier, I owned a Stereo 160, bird's
eye maple set neck(?). It was a well crafted guitar,
but I was not as impressed with it as I was with
instruments of comparable quality. But that's me
and I'm a bassist more so than a guitarist. Please
give us your views on this guitar.

Thanks!

Faithmonster
 
FAITHMONSTER....

I own a carvin.
i bought it in 1981, and have used it constantly ever since.

it's a dc400, all koa. neck, body.
ebony fretboard.
mother of pearl inlays.
Kahler tremelo.
stereo.
originally, it had single coil/humbucker tap switches in it, phase switches, for a multitude of sound combinations between the 2 carvin humbucker pickups.....
after i had it for about a year, i had the neck shaved to custom spec at zion guitars in greensboro, north carolina......
after that, i experimented with pickups in the bridge position, starting with a dimarzio super distortion, then a seymore duncan jeff beck, and finally a seymore duncan custom.
the neck pickup is the original one.

i was playing an ibanez artist before that, one of the really nice ones, with abalone inlays, and gold plated hardware, a really beautiful guitar, with a fast neck.

i spent a year, looking for guitars. i travelled full time then, so i hit every music store on the east coast.......

i couldn't find anything that really interested me, and the main thing was, i wanted a sound that no one else had, and so i started looking for something other than the obvious fender/gibson solution.

i had played a carvin someone else had, and like it, though i went for a different model and wood........

once i got it, i realized that it was head and shoulders above ALL the other guitars i had played.....

the wood was machined perfectly. the inlays were without flaw. The quality of the koa was intense, and the sustain was all there. Even going with the stupid kahler trem worked, though at the time the floyd rose was not an option, i think that would be the better choice.

Now, you have to remember, the guitars they made in 1981 are probably NOT the guitars they are making now, but i imagine the difference in the lower priced carvins, and the top of the line carvins are probably worth the money.

to hear this guitar recorded, i have two songs.......

one, called "Mates of the Soul", features the carvin throughout, and the melody/solo guitar is all on the neck pickup......
http://artists2.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Trouble/index-2.html

the 2nd, called "Bat's Brew", features the carvin on the solo guitars and 2 of the rhythm guitar parts (there are 4 in all).....
http://artists2.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Trouble/

not only does this guitar play like a dream, but it's got a real ballsy tone as well......
 
Didnt those carvins have 24 magnet poles in each pickup and did that have anything to do with the stereo outs on the guitars.
 
HEY DARRIN-

yeah, the pickups had 24 pole pieces, 2 for each pole on each bobbin......
but it didn't have anything to do with the stereo output......
that was actually an output for the neck pickup, and an output for the bridge pickup, which i never used, and ultimately disconnected.......
i ended up taking all the electronics out, putting a regular paf style humbucker in the rear, and taking the tone controls out (it was a les paul setup, i went with volume-volume........) and that dialed it in for me...........
 
That was a Koa wood on that ax. I once had a drummer that had a Tama artstar with that sme wood.

But was that that same design that was supposed to be an answer to the explorer. I thought it kind of looked uncomfortable.
 
DARRIN, don't know which model of carvin you're talking about....

in '81, the model i got looks like a smaller bodied strat, except with pointed horns instead of rounded horns, and a headstock that looks more like a les paul than anything else....

it's all koa, the neck, body...... a different sound than maple, or basswood, or ash, or anything else......
 
Gonna get a Les Paul?

Think again -- the Hamer Archtop Studio guitar like the one referenced below on eBay is better and less expensive -- you will not regret it. If you have any doubts as to the quality, go to worldclassguitars.com and click on Hamer Shop Tour to check out Ed Roman's visit to the Hamer factory. You will feel very secure. These guitars are one of the best kept secrets out there.

Search for the following (auction ends September 4):

American Hamer Flame archtop studio (Amber) w
Item # 1460245556

spwee
 
gibsons rule

hey i've got an 84 lp studio custom i believe it's there first production year ,cost around 850$brand new with hard case .it's lite and everybody that has aver played it says it's one of the best they have ever played .if the new ones are half as good they'll be a good buy . i also have a 62 es-330,doesn't stay in tune that great but when it's on it's awesome the neck on it should be the template for all gibson necks . but having said that there is a big place in my heart for a butterscotch tele ,can't get that twang with a gibson yee haw
 
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