The Carvin Cobalt C980 is a full-sized jumbo acoustic guitar that is Fishman Prefix Pro+ equipped. The back and sides are a very high quality rosewood laminate; the grain structure and gloss finish are absolutely beautiful! The top is AA solid spruce and is also beautifully bookmatched with more visible grain than I would have expected from a AA grade. Very nice! The build quality is top-shelf with no excess glue visible anywhere. Copious amounts of Paua Shell inlay are beautifully executed in this guitar and there is not a ridge to be found anywhere in the neck or body. Only two strings were slightly out of tune as it came out of the box, and the fretwork was perfect. This guitar was just flawless!

There are two aspects of this guitar, when played acoustically, that just stand right out... projection and sustain! Tone is remarkably rich for a brand-new guitar. It is warming up even more as it gets played, but the projection is unbelievable! I played a jam session at a large club with some electric guitarists and as we were setting up (huge place, mind you), two guitarists on the opposite side of the stage were trading rhythm and leads. Clearly, they wanted to work off of each other, so I grabbed my C980 and started banging out some rhythm for them. They were standing right next to their amps which were facing them and people were starting to fill the place. One of the lead players looked over at me feeding off of the rhythm and then he got this quizzical look on his face and looked at my guitar in amazement to find that I wasn't even plugged in! People in the back were diggin' the jam and were able to hear me over these shredders while I was still in full acoustic mode! THAT'S PROJECTION! During the acoustic portion of the jam session back at the sponsor's house, the Cobalt was the clear favorite of all of the players, including the Taylor owner who is a signed artist on Alan Holdsworth's "Gnarly Geezer" label! He prefered the Cobalt over his Taylor in every aspect and in his own words, he "covets" my guitar! The neck is just so playable and fast... even electric guitarists feel right at home here.

I use this guitar primarily for supporting a music ministry by playing in church. Subtle tones and dynamics control are just fantastic with this guitar, and plugged in tone is even more spectacular than pure acoustic! I used it on four of six cuts of our ensemble's new CD, Autumn Stroll. Reviews have been outstanding. It was recorded both plugged in and with two microphones to combine the best aspects of this guitar. It performed flawlessly in the studio environment.

The fact that Carvin can build a guitar of this quality for the price they charge is unreal. It has to be the best buy in the industry! With their 10-day money-back guarantee, purchasing this guitar is a no-brainer. To coin an old phrase, "Try it. You'll like it!"

Greg Bogoshian