# N Carvin BD!(Loading 56k joke @ 56KB/sec..loading....loading)



## Scott (Feb 19, 2008)

Alright, my long awaited Carvin Bass has finally arrived. On with the show!






Awe! It's a box!





Rusty Canadian knife of Doom is MIA. So i'm using THE HOUSE KEY OF DOOM!!





EPIC CUTTING!!





DROPPED MY KEYS! PICKED UP A CAT!! 





I love these Carvin Cases 





The contents of the box. The mini box is my extra pack of strings that Bart threw in for my fretless 





Unfold, and lets have a look inside!











BART!!!!!!





Fly by night! Woo!! Time to open er up.





 Not a great pic, so on to the close ups.





Headstock.





Body. But wait...aren't those the picks that I had in my Blue Carvin 6er that I hated with a passion?





They are!!!  





But I got the rosewood knobs! (Thanks Pops! )





Birdseye fretboard. 

And some filler shots from different angles...















































But wait! I forgot to check the pocket for the extra strings!





....The box maybe!





BART!!!!!






And a blurry close up of the third fret area, which they seemed to have scratched. Can feel it and everything..


The pickups it has are the standard option on the Carvin basses, but when I was placing my order, I wanted to get the Humbucker and Single combo. (HB2 - HB Bridge Pickup & Coil Switch/H50S Neck Pickup) And I was told that when you order the piezo's (which I did) that the Humbucker/Single combo came as standard, and was told that I didn't have to pay the $30 up charge because of this. So I said cool to that, but apparently THAT'S NOT THE CASE!! 


I hated these pickups so much in my Blue carvin...And so far, im not dialing in anything that I like on them, which doesn't come as a surprise...

I'm not sure where to go from here, because the bass is hot as hell, and took so long to finally get here....but it's not completely what I asked for.


So in short, two faults...Wrong pickups from what I was told was included, and a scratch on the fretboard at the 2nd-3rd fret mark.


Whatever I decide to do....i'm keeping the Pops knobs


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## Shawn (Feb 19, 2008)

Very nice! Bunny Brunell =  too.


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## Lee (Feb 19, 2008)

I'd send it back and tell them that it's not what you ordered. There's no sense in paying all that money if you're not going to get exactly what you want.


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## Scott (Feb 19, 2008)

But.....it's so hot!


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## budda (Feb 19, 2008)

sexy.


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## Codyyy (Feb 19, 2008)

What's with Carvin fucking up EVERY single guitar I see on this website?


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## HighGain510 (Feb 19, 2008)

Codyyy said:


> What's with Carvin fucking up EVERY single guitar I see on this website?



Yeah I'm noticing the same thing.  

Fuck Scott.... that flamed koa is so fucking hot.... and then they fuck it all up by messing up the pickup config (and the lack of roundwound strings). FUCK. 

That top is killer though... it seems like they're tossing out a lot of killer tops but fucking up orders left and right.  Makes me sad because that koa top is incredible.  You keeping it and asking for a big discount since they fucked up twice Scotty?


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## yevetz (Feb 19, 2008)

congrats


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## Scott (Feb 19, 2008)

HighGain510 said:


> Yeah I'm noticing the same thing.
> 
> Fuck Scott.... that flamed koa is so fucking hot.... and then they fuck it all up by messing up the pickup config (and the lack of roundwound strings). FUCK.
> 
> That top is killer though... it seems like they're tossing out a lot of killer tops but fucking up orders left and right.  Makes me sad because that koa top is incredible.  You keeping it and asking for a big discount since they fucked up twice Scotty?





Eh...I dunno. I don't really care about the scratch, but if I don't like the sound im getting from the pickups, no amount of a discount is going to fix that. Unless it's like, 80%....Then i'll live with them


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## HighGain510 (Feb 19, 2008)

Are the Carvin J-style pickups the same size as any aftermarket drop-in pickups? If so, maybe they could compensate you for the price of a nice J-set of pickups perhaps?  Still... I'm a HUUUUUUGE sucker for Koa thanks to Ron Thorn!


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## Scott (Feb 19, 2008)

Yeah  "Hey, I don't like your pickups you put in my bass. Can you comp me the money I need to replace them with Bartolini's?"

My original order was only to have the bridge pickup, with no neck pickup. It would have voided my return policy as well. Good thing I didn't go down that route. I probably wouldn't have received the right pickup in that case either


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## technomancer (Feb 19, 2008)

Looks sexy as hell, but sucks they screwed up the order. All of these screw ups have made me decide I won't be ordering a new Carvin anytime soon.


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## Edroz (Feb 19, 2008)

how dare Carvin waste that gorgeous Koa top on a left handed abomination! 






























j/k Scott, that looks awesome!


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## Michael (Feb 20, 2008)

That looks sweet.


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## Apophis (Feb 20, 2008)

Awesome, congrats
I love that wooden knobs


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## HighGain510 (Feb 20, 2008)

Scott you don't say "hey I want money for new pickups!" when you call them dude.  Just explain that they messed your custom order up (twice, right? wrong fretboard delayed it a long time?) and if you're willing to keep it see if they'll discount it. If they do you can use that money towards ordering pickups that you'll like in the bass. Win-win... you get to keep it and have money towards pickups that will make the bass sound as good as it plays, and they don't have to deal with a return/in-stock lefty bass.  Just a suggestion.


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## Scott (Feb 20, 2008)

Yeah so I just called back and told them the situation (Spoke to Bart again. Didn't mention the lack of strings for my fretless )

My only option is a rebuild. He said it'd be probably an 8 week turn again again (Note: I placed this order November 7th) He said they wouldn't re route this bass and install the humbucker, they said it'd be a fresh rebuild.

I didn't ask for any type of kickback. Simply because if it isn't offered to me, I don't like asking for it.

Not sure what im gonna do though. I don't want to wait another 3 months for them to rebuild it.

These pickups do sound a bit better than the old ones I had. Probably because of the 18v preamp in this one, and the piezos that I can blend in with the magnetics. We'll see how it goes though. I'm probably going to milk the 10 day return policy down to the wire.


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## ibznorange (Feb 22, 2008)

i had to flip the pictures horizontally to appreciate how pretty that bass is. looks great
that said, id be sending it back with the wrong pup routes, a scratched fretboard, and missing strings


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## Scott (Feb 22, 2008)

Unplugged, this bass is the instrument of the Gods. Plugged in, the bass is bright as hell. That's what I was going for, so that's good, but it's hard to dial out of the bright tone, and I was hoping the humbucker would help me get a chunkier sound if I wanted it. Along the lines of my stingray. Mainly because my plan all along was to sell the stingray if I keep the Carvin, because of the price I paid for it.

I can't go through another 3 months for a rebuild though. I'll probably grab one of the carvin 5ers on ebay right now if I don't keep this one.

If I can dial down the brightness a bit, then I may keep it, because I think it'd be really good for jazzy tones.


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## darren (Feb 22, 2008)

You should call them back and explain your dilemma.

1) You love the way the bass looks and plays, and it sounds godlike unplugged.

2) The pickups are NOT what you ordered, and you're not getting a plugged-in sound that you like.

3) You would rather invest in aftermarket pickups to correct their fuck-up, rather then send back an otherwise (almost) perfect instrument.

Chances are even the Carvin MM knockoffs aren't going to make that bass sound like a Sting Ray. You may be better off with aftermarket pickups anyway.

Awesome bass, Scott... that Koa top is set off beautifully by the maple board.


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## Kotex (Feb 22, 2008)

Nice bass, but what the hell is up with Carvin fucking all these orders recently?


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## Scott (Mar 24, 2008)

If anyone is interested, I ended up returning it. Not for a rebuild, but instead just a refund. I don't want to wait another 2-3 months right now. Maybe in the future. So I sent it out around the end of February.....














































....It got lost in transit.


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## Ruins (Mar 24, 2008)

O_O 
what the FUCK>>??????
what do you mean got lost??? the post office fucked it up??? 
who's ass got to be kicked???


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## D-EJ915 (Mar 24, 2008)

man somebody jacked it  that sucks, so you still gonna get refunded?


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## Scott (Mar 24, 2008)

Not by carvin obviously. I filed the claim on thursday.


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## Ruins (Mar 24, 2008)

man good luck to you tog et anything at all
what a crappy news to hear.... damn it


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## giannifive (Mar 24, 2008)

"highly figured bmf" = highly figured bad motherfucker!


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## Codyyy (Mar 24, 2008)

giannifive said:


> "highly figured bmf" = highly figured bad motherfucker!



 People see that it's a NGD thread, and don't bother to read the rest.


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## Scott (Mar 24, 2008)

Honestly, it wasn't as figured as I had hoped it would be. I wanted it look like the fretboard had a really bad acne problem


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## giannifive (Mar 24, 2008)

Codyyy said:


> People see that it's a NGD thread, and don't bother to read the rest.



Sorry, didn't read the last page of posts.

Scott: Did you ship with a reputable shipper and insure the shipment? I hope you're able to get your money back. I've heard Carvin's return policy is pretty good, so let's hope the shipper takes care of it.


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## Scott (Mar 24, 2008)

UPS and insured for $2,000.

I contact Carvin as well, and they don't have a problem refunding my money, if it's found. So that's good.


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## D-EJ915 (Mar 24, 2008)

Scott said:


> UPS and insured for $2,000.
> 
> I contact Carvin as well, and they don't have a problem refunding my money, if it's found. So that's good.


I hope all goes well man


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## Scott (Mar 24, 2008)

I'd rather they find it. Either way, I get my money back. But still, it's a nice bass that someone else would probably love. (Besides a UPS employee)


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## Drew (Mar 25, 2008)

Damn dude.


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## Scott (Mar 25, 2008)

Delivered!


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## darren (Mar 25, 2008)

Well, that's a relief!


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## Scott (Mar 25, 2008)

Indeed. It was fully insured, but I wasn't looking forward to the wait they'd put me through.

Soon enough I will have a new carvin though. I bought a cheap carvin 5er on ebay to hold me over. It's beat to shit, and needs a re-fret, but it'll do until I reorder one to the specs I wanted.


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