At the risk of sounding like a Carvin salesman (haha), here's a little background information: Carvin is what many people call "the best kept secret" in guitars, mainly due to the fact that you cannot buy new Carvin instruments in typical music stores. You can only get them directly from the factory (either by phone sales, carvin.com, its mail order catalog, or at its few stores in California), which is a good thing because factory direct prices are usually much cheaper than music store prices for comparable quality instruments. The company is celebrating its 65th anniversary this year - and it's owned by the sons of Lowell Kiesel, who originally founded it in 1946 (he named the company after his 2 sons Carson and Gavin). Carvin's probably best known for its custom-built guitars and basses, but it also makes most of its own electronics, such as guitar and bass amps, power amps, mixers, speakers, etc. All of its electric guitars, basses, amps, and most of its electronics are built at its factory in San Diego, CA.
One of the things I love about my Carvin guitars is that they are neck-through body construction, where the neck goes entirely through the body. This creates some amazing sustain, and also gives super easy access to the 24th fret. It seems to be rare these days to see this feature on guitars. I'm also a fan of Carvin's pickups - and especially its active/passive electronics, which provide endless combinations of tonal options.
Some of Carvin's current endorsers include Steve Vai (amps), Yngwie Malmsteen (acoustic/electric guitars), Joe Walsh (guitars and amps), Timothy B. Schmit (basses), and many others.
An interesting little tidbit of information: on the inside front cover of all of its catalogs, Carvin prints Psalm 98:4-5.
Below are links to some pics of my Carvin electrics:
My 2001 DC400C:
http://electricshockmusic.com/images/dc400c_12.jpg
http://electricshockmusic.com/images/dc400c_15.jpg
My 2006 Ultra V:
http://christopherlee.electricshockmusi ... _large.jpg
http://christopherlee.electricshockmusi ... _large.jpg
http://christopherlee.electricshockmusi ... _large.jpg
http://christopherlee.electricshockmusi ... _large.jpg
And my new 2011 DC727C 7-string:
http://christopherlee.electricshockmusi ... C_0104.JPG
http://christopherlee.electricshockmusi ... C_0106.JPG
http://christopherlee.electricshockmusi ... C_0111.JPG
As for the amplifier that I use, about 13 years ago I very heavily modified a Guild Thunderbird amplifier from the 1960s. I bought it used from my great uncle for $75, and it had sustained a lot of wear and tear from the 20+ years of his road use. It still has the original (2) 12" C12N Jensen speakers, but I replaced several capacitors and modded the head's original electronics and tube configuration, plus painted the head and re-covered the cabinet. After I made the modifications, I discovered that it's actually a rare amplifier these days and worth a decent penny - but it looks and sounds amazing!
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)