Purchased from: Custom order from Carvin 7/01

Features: Mahogany body and neck, traditional headstock, 1046 strings, standard hardware, rounded body sides, graphite nut, C22 pickups, tung oil finish.

Sound: The guitar when not plugged is clear and loud. Unlike an acoustic, which has volume, this guitar can easily be played without an amp. Understand I am referring to playing alone in a relatively quiet room. Pinched harmonics are not a problem with this guitar. When plugged in, the tone is to die for. With the pick selector switch on the bridge pickup, the guitar speaks with authority. Move it to both pickups and she mellows out. Still has a bite but a little more tame. Selector switch to the neck produces jazz tones rivaled by full body guitars. The guitar also has coil tap switches that allow single coil selection. Like most single coil guitars, there is a little hum. Nothing to write home about.

Action, Fit & Finish: The action was perfect right out of the case. Neck is straight and the strings the correct height above the fretboard. My only regret was getting standard frets. Next guitar will have the small frets. The guitar is well balanced. I can let go of it and it will stay in the same position I left it in. This even with a nylon strap. Finish is one of the finest I have ever seen. This is pure wood with not a stitch of paint anywhere. I like to feel the grain of the wood under my hand. It has a rough texture that is associated with bare wood.

Reliability/Durability: I have banged the poor instrument a few times and dropped it once. The only marks are on the edge of the tip of the headstock where the wood is sharp. On the rounded body, there is no indication that the instrument hit anything.

Customer Support: I have only had to use Carvin customer support once. It was not related to this guitar though. I am very pleased with the people at Carvin. They have been known to "bend over backwards" for the customer. This you do not find much anymore.