Carvin acoustics?

[marshall409]

I'll be looking for an electro-acoustic right after Christmas. Any thoughts on the Carvin Cobalts?

What other brand acoustics do you suggest i look into?
Probably looking at a budget of up to about 500-600 dollars.

Adam

 

[Jamz0r]

You should probably explain what style and applications you plan to use it for.

There are lots of nice acoustics, but many have special qualities that you may or may not need.

 

[marshall409]

okay

well. quite a few. i like playing classical, but my brother already has a great nylon string so im good there. but id still like to be able to fingerpick. but mostly it would be chording and song writing that i would use it for.

i couldnt really say id be using it for something particular. i love tommy emmanuel, neil young, green day, bach, eminem, johnny cash, rise against, oasis, billy joel, elton.....see what i mean?

chordings, picking, fingerpicking, sound effects open tunings, and pretty much has to have a pick up. all i know is that i should be looking for solid woods and not laminates especially for the top. i see alot of cedar tops. is that a common choice? is it the best? what kind of bridge is the best? one with bridgepins or no? i know fishman is supposed to be the best

Adam

 

[TelePaul]

well. quite a few. i like playing classical, but my brother already has a great nylon string so im good there. but id still like to be able to fingerpick. but mostly it would be chording and song writing that i would use it for.

i couldnt really say id be using it for something particular. i love tommy emmanuel, neil young, green day, bach, eminem, johnny cash, rise against, oasis, billy joel, elton.....see what i mean?

chordings, picking, fingerpicking, sound effects open tunings, and pretty much has to have a pick up. all i know is that i should be looking for solid woods and not laminates especially for the top. i see alot of cedar tops. is that a common choice? is it the best? what kind of bridge is the best? one with bridgepins or no? i know fishman is supposed to be the best

Adam

Hmmm....well, cedar and spruce are popular alright. As far as I know, and Light or Muttley will probably kill me for this, they give a brighter tone. I've a Martin D 15 which is mahogany; more bassy tone. Its a matter of preference.

I'm a folky when it comes to acoustic so I went with a dreadnought; nice for all-round strumming. If you were serious about picking, you might go for a Grand Auditorium which is suited to picking and medium strumming; Clapton plays these for the most part. A Jumbo is the opposite, larger resonance and good for heavy strumming. Neil plays dreads if that makes any difference!!!

 

[marshall409]

thanks.

that helps. im curious about what the hell all those different body types mean....auditorium, folk, dreadnought,etc...

time for some research.

anyone else with some particular brands to check out?
stores around here have fenders and gibsons, all of godins great brands: seagull, la patrie, art/lutherie, etc.
takamines, ovations , ibanez???, and im pretty sure somebody around here carries martins and taylors, i forget who though.

Adam

Adam

 

[TelePaul]

Lights the one to talk to for Martins. I love La Patries though, awesome stuff.

 

[Anfontan]

Hmmm....well, cedar and spruce are popular alright. As far as I know, and Light or Muttley will probably kill me for this, they give a brighter tone. I've a Martin D 15 which is mahogany; more bassy tone. Its a matter of preference.

I'm a folky when it comes to acoustic so I went with a dreadnought; nice for all-round strumming. If you were serious about picking, you might go for a Grand Auditorium which is suited to picking and medium strumming; Clapton plays these for the most part. A Jumbo is the opposite, larger resonance and good for heavy strumming. Neil plays dreads if that makes any difference!!!

I have a D-16 basically the spruce top equivilent of the D-15 I suppose. One of the other members of my bluegrass band is a fan of the 00 and 000 sized guitars-he does a lot of fingerstyle stuff and says it better suits his style. I believe he has about a '53 Martin that is one of his favorites. That Martin is so light they have to open the case after the gig to be sure its in there!
I'm almost leary of giving out info with both Light & Muttley around-if you hand out wrong info they will let you know, but its sure great that they are here, that is for sure!

 

[Richard Monroe]

If you can wheel and deal or stretch the budget a tiny bit, play the Breedloves.
They are the best sub-$1000 acoustics I've played lately. Ovation-not. Why go to the trouble of a solid top and get a body that's solid-plastic?- Richie

 

[Anfontan]

If you can wheel and deal or stretch the budget a tiny bit, play the Breedloves.
They are the best sub-$1000 acoustics I've played lately. Ovation-not. Why go to the trouble of a solid top and get a body that's solid-plastic?- Richie

Not only that but they slide off you're lap when you try to play it sitting down!

 

[TelePaul]

I'm almost leary of giving out info with both Light & Muttley around-if you hand out wrong info they will let you know, but its sure great that they are here, that is for sure!

I don't want Light to strike me down

 

[marshall409]

thanks guys.

thanks for the help guys. will check out the breedloves. leaning towards a godin family because ive never played anything from them that doesnt just fit me like a glove. theres some nice seagulls ive played at the shops. many not so nice fenders. why oh why do they all suck so much?

Adam

 

[tdukex]

Not electro, but these are all very nice guits:

Larrivee Parlor (love these)
Larrivee 02 (used)
Larrivee 03 (used)

Taylor Big baby
Taylor 110

 

[TelePaul]

Why hasn't Light smited us yet???

Meanwhile, i was thinking. Adam if you have your heart set on a semi acoustic go for it. But you might be better off putting all your money into a nice acoustic then add a pick-up later...you could hold off and get a gourmet piezo or something.

 

[homestudioguy]

I'll be looking for an electro-acoustic right after Christmas. Any thoughts on the Carvin Cobalts?
Adam

Hey Adam!
I bought a Carvin Cobalt 750 last June and it is just an awesome guitar.
It was like $619 with a hardshell case.
I played it for a day and then went to the local Guitar Center and played an $1800 (on-sale) Taylor and a $1500 (on-sale) Martin and the Carvin was by far the winner as far as sound, playability, and of course, price.
My brother let me custom design a Carvin Electric for him and it, too, is an awesome guitar. It ended up costing him about $1200 though.

 

[TelePaul]

Hey Adam!
I bought a Carvin Cobalt 750 last June and it is just an awesome guitar.
It was like $619 with a hardshell case.
I played it for a day and then went to the local Guitar Center and played an $1800 (on-sale) Taylor and a $1500 (on-sale) Martin and the Carvin was by far the winner as far as sound, playability, and of course, price.
My brother let me custom design a Carvin Electric for him and it, too, is an awesome guitar. It ended up costing him about $1200 though.

I dunno if you can compare guitars that arent the same price...I mean in guitar magazines, a ton of guitars under €300 get five stars (or whatever), largely for the price. But so do 1959 re-issue LPs...so does that mean the guitars are as good as each other? Obviously not. I'll have to check out this Carvin myself though. I know their electrics are good.

 

[homestudioguy]

I dunno if you can compare guitars that arent the same price...I mean in guitar magazines, a ton of guitars under €300 get five stars (or whatever), largely for the price. But so do 1959 re-issue LPs...so does that mean the guitars are as good as each other? Obviously not. I'll have to check out this Carvin myself though. I know their electrics are good.

When I went to GC, I chose the Taylor and the Martin because they were about the same size as the Carvin, both were acoustic-electric like the Carvin and they both had the cutaway like the Carvin.
By the way, the model 750 is now on sale for $549 .
Add the $59 hardshell case and $20 for shipping.

Carvin Cobalt 750: http://www.carvin.com/products/single.php?ItemNumber=C750T&CID=CBNE
Carvin Acoustic User feedback: http://www.carvin.com/comments/comments.php?CID=AGTR
BG

 

[Micter]

Let me shed some light on the situation. Carvin's Cobalt series acoustic guitars are manufactured at the Cort factory in Korea. They aren't actually made in the USA as the rest of their guitar line is. They get the guitars shipped to the San Diego plant, change the nut and strings, repack them and sell 'em off. Now with that said, I belive the Cobalt series (especially the 750 and above) are a great value and sound very good. My Takamine G series is in the same ballpark as the 980. I could flip a coin as to which I like more. Trust me the Takamine G series are great guitars.

 

[danny.guitar]

Let me shed some light on the situation. Carvin's Cobalt series acoustic guitars are manufactured at the Cort factory in Korea.

Never knew that.

Cort has good guitars though, despite being made in Korea/China. I've been playing the same one for 5+ years, and it's perfect for finger style/Tommy Emmanuel stuff.

It's not quite as good for strumming though, sounds kind of harsh, but that could just be my guitar.

Cort is a good brand for your budget, but I would look into maybe Art & Lutherie guitars as well as the ones mentioned. They seem to be great all-around guitars.

 

[TelePaul]

Trust me the Takamine G series are great guitars.

Played a few of those, loved em all.

 

[marshall409]

thanks.

thanks for the additional input.
this is canadian dollars for anyone who didnt notice my location.
any other help is greatly appreciated.

Adam