I've been obsessing over a new guitar purchase for a couple of months. I have a list of features I want and couldn't find them all in one guitar. Today I found an Ibenez and a Carvin that are both pretty close to my specs. The Ibenez is the ARZ, the Carvin is the CS3M. They are both Les Paul style but with 25" scale and a contoured heel and body. I kind of like the Carvin, because it can be ordered exactly like I want at their custom shop in San Diego for a very reasonable price. But I have no experience with either brands.
Anyone that has owned Ibenez and Carvin solid body electrics, would you please comment on how you like them.
Has anyone ordered a custom guitar from Carvin?
One last thing. Anyone notice that Suhr guitars only has one model now?

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

...Carvin, if you ask me.
They are more organic, luthier-type.

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FIGHT!

FIXED.....^^

Well considering this is a FENDER FORUM...Ummmm...No....Suhr is not a frequent topic of discussion, but to be fair Pensa-Suhr was the company or shop at one point.
Suhr these days is very much a boutique shop and due to it's small size, it would be insane to try to compete with large production facilities like FCS....

As far as your question, a Fender Custom Shop should be the appropriate answer but for the sake of humour , a Carvin is a better bet than Ibanez, at least Carvin is in California, close to Fender and has been around almost as long...

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

How long does it take to get a guitar ordered from the Fender Custom Shop? I've heard of people saying they've waited over a year. For someone that wants to play their guitar, that's a long wait. Carvin says 7 to 8 weeks on their website, I don't know how accurate that is.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

I have a Carvin Solid body electric . I have owned it for about 20 years , and no problems has been detected yet Friends ( an Ibanez owner, as well) have tried it , and keep telling me that it is almost dull , because it is so close to perfection. Well , that is a question of taste and preferences again- I play more Fender these days- but now and then I pick it up , and feel more like a shredder ( ...than i really am )

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A-man

If one were interested in a Les Paul style solid body electric guitar this model looks interesting:

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

In light of what you are looking for in a guitar and the fact that this is a Fender Forum, I would highly recommend you look at either a Blacktop, Thinline, or Custom Telecaster...they all have Humbuckers and sound BIG!....You don't need to go the custom shop route...they are all very nice guitars. Carvins are ok (but, I would NEVER buy a mail order guitar that I can't try out first, and beyond Zappa...no truly distinctive guitar players come to mind that play em)...and Ibanez to me, is like....a generic butt rock kind of guitar...buy one if you want to sound like the eighties, I guess.

That's a variant of the ARZ that I was thinking of. I'm probably going to order a Carvin that is similar in specs to that. It's not the last guitar I'm going to buy. Being able to order exactly what you want is pretty enticing.
I emailed Carvin to see if I can go into their shop to order. There's so many choices of woods, finishes, neck profiles etc., that I'd prefer to see some of the options.
I'm still looking for an EC Strat in Daphne Blue, but the Carvin will temporarily calm the GAS.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

The Blacktop Tele is on my list. I checked the entire Fender line up. I have two Tele's right now and there's several features I can order with the Carvin that I'd like to try. Joe Walsh is playing Carvin's now. The model I might order is similar to one he's been playing, except I'll probably get it with no finish, just Tungs Oil. Probably Koa body, maple neck. Not sure about Ebony or Birds Eye maple for the fretboard. Looks are going to come into play, and the Birds Eye Maple sounds like it would go well with the natural Koa body. I'm also not sure about a Tune O Matic bridge and Stopbar, or through the body strings. Walsh's is through the body.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

The Blacktop Tele is on my list. I checked the entire Fender line up. I have two Tele's right now and there's several features I can order with the Carvin that I'd like to try. Probably Koa body, maple neck. Not sure about Ebony or Birds Eye maple for the fretboard. Looks are going to come into play, and the Birds Eye Maple sounds like it would go well with the natural Koa body. I'm also not sure about a Tune O Matic bridge and Stopbar, or through the body strings.[/quote]

I totally see your point! Yeah now I'm drooling over the woods! I still can't shake the fear of buying a mail order guitar...Let us know how this goes!

Drew365 - this posting just made me gas for another Carvin. I checked out their site for the model you want... But I already plan as soon as possible to get me a Precision , so a new Carvin will have to wait. Here is a (not so good) picture of my old faithful :

It is all Koa - oiled. Ebony fretboard. Gold hardware. Kahler Floyd Rose . Still loving this one

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A-man

I've been wanting to get a Carvin since I started playing. Been getting catalogs from them since 1986, and still haven't got one yet! One of these days!

I have no problem getting a mail order guitar. I bought my Gibby LP off ebay just a few months ago, not a single problem with it. I've never heard of an unsatisfied customer from Carvin. I've heard of people having to send their guitar back because something was wrong, but had their situation corrected. I'm sure there are some horror stories, there always are, but they are far and few between.

asgeirman-That is pretty much what I would order from them. Awesome looking geet!

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2000 American Deluxe Stratocaster
2011 Gibson Les Paul Trad Pro 50's
2007 Epi Les Paul Custom
90's ESP Eclipse
JH-1B Jimi Hendrix Crybaby
Analogman KOT
Korg Pitchblack
Boss NS-2 PH-2
Blues Deluxe Reissue
1999 & 2007 Marshall TSL 100 w/1960BV cab

http://www.carvinchannel.com/play.php?vid=114

To reply I've included the link to none other than Joe Walsh.....
Here is my take on Carvin's, I have played a couple and liked them, I also had a 59 Les Paul Custom BB 2 pups from the time I was 17 until 37 years of age. So I am fairly certain as to what I like and dislike, in between those guitars of today and yesterday, I have had Electra's, Ibanez's, other Gibson's and quite a few off brands...Funny but today I still am with Fender..
Today I'm pretty much a Fender Gas-a-Holic. There are nice guitars out there but the armchair critics notwithstanding, it is really difficult to find a consistent quality guitar that not only is a versatile instrument but also holds it's value.....Fender's Strats and Tele's fit that criteria as well as being affordable no matter which monetary spectrum you happen to be in.
That being said, I would not hesitate to buy a Carvin, to my specs, they have been around almost as long as Fender and do pride themselves on quality equipment. Let's face it today's Fender is a bar set quite high.




Now My Stratopartster Build III features Carvin Pups, HII and M22 ( HSS ). They absolutely scream or whisper....( currently undergoing major tune up ) I also prefer the Carvin traditional emphasis on wood highlight rather than Ibanez's line which mostly reflects a Hardcore Metal product line.....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I never met a Carvin that I liked.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

In my opinion. if you cannot afford Fender custom shop, Carvin is next in line.
the necks aren't quite as thin as an ibanez wizard, but not as thick as a les paul.
and the quality is much better than you would expect at the price point.
i have 2 ( and one more coming) and love them equal to fender .

also the blacktop is nowhere near a carvin on fit and finish. thats the same thing with ibanez. unless its a JEM or other high end signature they don't compare.

each carvin I ordered was still in tune when I took it out of the box. and the setup was perfect with a very LOWWWW action. my 62 hot rod even needed a little adjustment out of the box.


I highly recommend the stainless frets also, simply because they last so long.
its nice to never need need a fret level or recrown for years

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