Features: 9/10

The guitar is a 2001 DC127, FSK finish (black stain on flamed maple), with a through-body maple neck (tung oiled) and alder body wings. It has a birdseye maple fretboard with 24 medium jumbo frets. Matching headstock laminate, fixed bridge and Sperzel locking tuners. All the hardware is black and the electronics are standard with an added phase switch. The neck pickup is an M22V and the bridge is an M22SD. I would have liked a five-way selector switch better than the tap switches, but no big deal.

Sound Quality: 6/10

This particular guitar did not capture the perfect metal tone I had imagined. The instrument does not put out the lower frequencies that my Strat does. The M22V in the neck is great for open chord strumming and jazz-type chord work; the M22SD sounds brittle and cold to my ears. This guitar is best suited for U2- and REM-type rhythm stuff.

Action, Fit & Finish: 9/10

From a workmanship point of view this guitar is a piece of art. The action is amazing and the black stain finish is mesmerizing. The only flaw in this area was a faulty coil tap switch that was easily replaced.

Reliability/Durability: 10/10

No issues as of yet.

Customer Support: 10/10

Carvin express mailed me a replacement coil tap switch with no hassle, and were very friendly during the ordering process.

Overall Rating: 7/10

This was the first Carvin I bought and even though the guitar did not suit my playing style, I knew it was a great company with great quality and that I would most likely do more business with them. I ended up getting a bolt kit which was more the guitar for my style. I plan to keep this guitar because after I got over the frustration of it not doing what I wanted it to do (metal), I found out that it did other things very well (such as textured rhythm).

Unfortunately, sound quality carries the most weight for this rating.

Amount Paid: US$900

Purchased from: Carvin Corp. - National Telephone Sales, (800) 854-2235