The Carvin / Kiesel thread

Your new lounge venue, "the Tone Hole"

 

I’d rather not have to “call his guys”.

 

Wonder if "the guys" would do a pointed angled headstock on a bass? That was a no-go a few years ago when I asked about it.

 

Halloween sale:

 

I always like sales, especially Kiesel sales, but i dont want any of those options

 

I was hoping for a Candy sale as in previous years, but I guess with the new builder they don't need that business.

I would have gone all in on a Crescent either Pink or Purple candy over master grade quilt

 

Halloweennis rarely anything more than black and/or orange things. You want Black Friday. (If they do one this year)

 

I suspect Kiesel doing those types of sales is going to come to an end.

 

There was one black Friday and one president's day where I think Jeff realized they went way over-board on the discounts.

This one is basically their 2018 Halloween sale, plusthe addition of the free Thorium/Illusionist pickup upgrades.

 

Looks like they are coming out with a version of their Solo that's more "tele"-like, with a pickguard, control plate, ashtray bridge, and "tele" pickups.

Spotted in a video one of their artists posted to their YouTube channel where they toured the factory.

A few years ago they teased this Wilkinson bridge as a possible option for their Solo model, but it was never really "officially" available. It's got 3 saddles, but each one has a pivot point in the middle so you can adjust the angle.

In the video, Jeff mentioned that the pickups in one of the two they showed were SD Antiquity pickups. Kiesel doesn't make their own covered single coils, nor do they make a pickup with the 3 screws for an ashtray bridge.

The working name is the RS, or "Retro Solo", but it'll have the Solo's normal forearm contour, sloped plate-less neck joint, belly cut, and that pivoting-saddle bridge. Seeing how far out that pickguard extends on the bass side, I suspect it won't be available with the Solo's "SCB-like" optional body bevel, which is a bummer, IMO.

 

I don’t think I’d buy one, but this a great idea and looks good so far.

 

Are Teles like ‘the thing’ now?

 

Were they ever not?

 

There's already too many companies making Tele copies.

I really don't understand this move from a business perspective - it doesn't fit their aesthetic, it introduces new parts to stock, and it likely means more low-cost builds when they're already running at capacity.

 

Because Teles sell like crazy. Same reason Aristides did it.

This is a genius move. They're going to literally print money with these things.

 

Yeah, I'm kinda surprised they didn't take this route with the first Johnny Hiland sig, but these will sell like hotcakes.

Be prepared for a slew of hot pink dragon burst teles hitting reverb soon.

 

But if they're already at production capacity (or over, if their build times keep increasing). They're already printing money. Selling cheaper models that require new parts to be stocked would only cost them money vs selling their existing models. For example, any $1300 Tele they make is taking the place of a $2000 Crescent/Aries/Vader at this point.

I'm curious if this means they're looking to expand into a bigger or second facility.

 

The only thing they're going to have to stock is the bridges and the control plate and everything else they're already tooled up for.

I don't think this will replace a 2000 dollar Vader or Aries because it appeals to a different crowd that doesn't really look to Kiesel. Also, it's really really easy to make a delos 2k, I'm sure they'll get plenty of 2k+ tele builds. It does seem silly that they drop this at the busiest they've ever been, though.

I'm no economist or business minded person though.

 

Are they "at capacity"? What does that mean? They don't batch build, so it's more about stretching individual build times vs. not taking orders, which is usually what that means.

Tele players aren't afraid of spending money, so I don't think the per unit price average will drop.

This is just like brining the Delos to the lineup. The classic designs have an absolutely massive following and mean practically guaranteed sales to help prop up the more niche headless and pointy models.