The Carvin B50 has arrived!

Hey guys, the Carvin I ordered finally arrived on February 7th! I ordered the bass on 11/28/11, so it took about 2 months from order to completion. I paid for the bass in advance, which turned out to be somewhat of a “sour” moment, only because they never sent a notice or email that the bass had been shipped, and I wanted to make sure I was home to sign for it.

Another bassist on YouTube ordered a B50 about a week before I did, and he advised that I contact my sales advisor because the factory was running a week or so behind, in which he wasn’t notified. My advice to you guys is that if you really want to know when your bass is on it’s way to it’s new home, that you wait and pay closer to your completion date. They won’t ship the bass without payment in full, and this way they’ll be forced to keep you abreast of your build info. If you call and ask about your bass, just know that it may take a day or so for them to get info from the guitar department.

I was very excited about receiving my bass and I wanted to post info about it on the blog on that very day, but I decided to wait until I had time to try it outand see what I really thought about it first. So here we go!

The Specs

Carvin Box with specs list

•  Carvin B50
• Swamp Ash Body
• Black Stain w/ Flame Maple Top
• Blackburst Edges
• Active/Passive Electronics
• SB HeadStock / Flame Maple / Color Matches Body
• Abalone Dot Inlays
• Abalone Carvin logo
• Master Volume / Blend
• HardShell Case (free promotion!)

Carvin Hardshell Case

This is my first custom bass, so the experience was akin to the “kid in a candy store” adventure that everyone can relate to!  I ripped through the box, opened the case and found this beauty:

Carvin B50

What a gorgeous bass!  I was very impressed with how this bass turned out.  The paint and craftsmanship is impeccable!

SB Headstock on a Carvin B50

Back of the Carvin B50

There is so much beautiful detail in this guitar.  If you look closely, you can really see the grain pattern of the ash on the back of the bass.  Even on the back of the neck, there’s this lovely “dancing maple”:

Maple colors on the neck of the Carvin B50

And here’s the back of the headstock:

Carvin B50 - Back of Headstock

Aesthetically, there is absolutely nothing to dislike about this bass.  I had a vision of what this bass would look like, and the actual product turned out to be many times better!

The Sound

Okay, so in all honesty and to get right to the point, I didn’t like the way it sounded.

I tried this bass out in three of my normal playing situations, and the tone just wasn’t for me.  Nothing is functionally wrong with the electronics, but the J99A’s and the preamp are just not my taste.  I’m sure this is all my fault.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m a huge Sadowsky fan that was looking to expand into some other kind of basses, mainly for backup purposes.  Carvin is one of a few companies that I’ve tried.  With that being said, I opted for the volume blend, an by many accounts this affects the range of tones you can achieve.  With this option and a very very very generous tone knob (I usually only opened it up to about .5  on a scale of 10 because it seemed to make everything really really “treble-y”), I just couldn’t find a tone that I liked.  I also thought that I could appreciate the 70′s pickup spacing, boy was I ever wrong on that.

I listened to countless clips on YouTube and other places of the B50 / SB4000 / SB5000 (same electronics), I’ve actually played Sekou’s personal bass, I’ve even heard Sekou in concert and the one thing that occurred the most in all these instances was slapping.  This bass is a slap monster.  I couldn’t find a clip or recording where the bass was used prominently for fingerstyle playing (which I do 95% of the time).  My hopes were that I could dial the tone back enough to not be so bright (Marcus Miller 70′s type), but also not too dark (when you eliminate all the treble and roll the tone knob all the way off).  Maybe a midrange control would have helped?

The Bottom Line

Carvin makes incredible basses.  I just hate that I didn’t really like the J99A’s.  Maybe my ears are just tuned to the Sadowsky’s.  The preamp has a very strong presence, but in most of my playing situations it was really bottom heavy.

There aren’t many Carvins in the Atlanta area that would allow me to really dig in and “try before I buy”.  I had to just order and hope for the best, and in my case take advantage of the 10 day return policy.  And I honestly don’t think 10 days is enough time to make a decision.

I really like the size of the bass and thought about just upgrading the electronics to maybe a Nordstrand combo, but that would be another $300-$400 investment into a 70′s spacing that I can’t appreciate.  Not really worth it to me.  Looks like I’ll be trying something else… maybe even another B50 with a different setup.

I know the obvious solution is to just get another Sadowsky.  But let’s just keep searching for now!

It’s nothing to walk down any isle and hear incredible musicianship.  Here’s a video of my bro’s Jermaine Hall and Oliver McEwan in an impromptu jam session at the TC Electronics booth.  They’re jamming to MJ’s Human Nature.  Enjoy!

NAMM & EBS Logos

Guys I’m headed to NAMM in Anaheim, CA!!!  This is my first year and I am so very excited to be attending.  For those of you that may have never heard of it (from namm.org):

NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), commonly called NAMM in reference to the organization’s popular NAMM trade shows, is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads and strengthens the $17 billion global music products industry. Our association—and our trade shows—serve as a hub for people wanting to seek out the newest innovations in musical products, recording technology, sound and lighting. NAMM’s activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages.

In the Winter and Summer every year, NAMM sponsors trade shows that allow all of the merchants and manufacturers to showcase their products.  This results in every musical company that exists convening in one place to show off the goods!!!  Nearly every person that is endorsed by these companies stops by and performs, showcases new products, takes pictures, signs autographs and just hang.  It’s an incredible opportunity to hang and network with musicians from all over the world.

NAMM isn’t open to the public, so a manufacturer or merchant has to help you gain access.  EBS Sweden, a company that graciously allows me to endorse their pedals, allowed me the opportunity to go to this year’s conference!  I am very thankful and grateful for this opportunity.

I’ll have tons of pics and video in the coming days!!

1. Shielded the control cavity
2. Changed to CTS pots
3. Installed Nordstrand NJ5F pickups
4. Installed a Nordstrand 2B Preamp
5. Wired the controls to be Vol/Blend/Bass&Treble Stack.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a fanatic for Roger Sadowsky bass guitars.  I’ve been playing the same M5-24 since 2006.  I call her Brownie because of her Sunburst color and she gets virtually NO downtime and has had one vaction in 5 years (when I played a Sadowsky MV-5 for a tour in South America)!!  We’ve toured 5 continents together and prayerfully we’ll be able to do more.  With all of that being said, I think it’s time to get her a little relief!!

I’ve been searching for another bass to try that could be a great backup to Brownie.  I know that the obvious solution would be to get another Sadowsky, which I will one day, but for now that price tag puts this idea a little out of reach.  The prices of those wonderful instruments have increased over the last five years and I have to admit that I faced a bit of sticker shock when I went back to start pricing basses.  I totally understand it though.

In the interim, I’ve researched almost EVERY bass manufacturer that exists.  I’ve even bought inexpensive basses and have modified them in search of a great backup/alternate bass.  The new Fenders are inconsistent in sound/feel, the older Fenders cost just as much as the new ones, the Squier’s feel/sound great passive but do not have any realistically usable preamps (if any at all), G&L’s are great but just don’t suit my taste or work load, Warwick necks are too small for my hands, and I’m not a fan of the Shecters,  ESP’s, Epiphone’s etc.  So that leaves a few options that could work in my world… Ibanez Premiums, the new Lakland AJ’s and the Carvin SB5000 / B50.

Of the last three basses mentioned, I figured I’d just take a first stab with Carvin.  I met Sekou Bunch at a Jazz Festival in California last year.  We were in the slot right before the band he was with that night.  As we were leaving the stage he invited me to his trailer to check out this new bass, the Carvin SB5000.  He raved that this was an incredible instrument and that I should come play his bass.  I must say that I’ve never owned anything from Carvin before and I had always received those magazines from the company that just seemed to magically follow me wherever I moved!  So I was familiar with the brand through media, but this was my first time up close.  The neck on this bass felt incredible and when he played it on stage the sound was big and round yet articulate for every note.  I was really feeling this bass, except for one thing… the body shape.

Carvin SB5000

I’m just more of a traditional when it comes to bass body styles.  This design is close to a traditional shape, but that upper horn on the bass just didn’t appeal to me.  I went to the website anyway to check out the specs, and it was then that I found out that Carvin offers the SB5000 bass and many others as a custom build.  My Sadowsky was a metro model, so this custom thing really intrigued me and I was very elated to know that I would have a unique bass. A little more delving into the site lead me to the Carvin B50 which has the SB500 electronics with a more traditional body shape:

Carvin B50

Discovering this bass sold me on trying Carvin first.  Everything about this bass is appealing to me.  I honestly don’t think that too many people are aware that the B50 is basically the same as the SB5000.  Web searches yielded little to no information about the latest B50 models.  So when I get my bass I’ll do reviews and YouTube clips on how the bass sounds.   I just made the order on Cyber Monday, which ironically was the last day to receive close to $200 off the price of the bass at the time, but has been since extended for a week.  The base price is somewhere around $860 and price fluctuates with the options you choose for your build.  Build time is currently running about 7 weeks.  This is great considering that many smaller companies average about 6 months.

Please visit Carvin and check out these basses.  I’ll keep you posted on the process!!