Just Got a Great Deal

Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3758033895&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Can't believe i won this. I bid the minimum and figured the price would go much higher. No one else even bid on it. Heck, it's less money than i paid for my Carvin single 6. The pickups on the 6-string Carvin sound really good. They are a bid noisy being vintage single coils. Maybe some copper shielding will help. Somebody here compared the sound of these old Carvin steels to Bigsbys. Is that true?

Jim Phelps · From: Mexico City, Mexico

.

[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 07:31 PM.]

Ron Victoria · From: New Jersey, USA

With Ebay, you never know. I missed a nice Supro yesterday, buy it now for $165!!!! It was snatched up quickly. That's a nice looking instrument you bought. Good luck.

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

$250 for a double neck with case & legs in great condition? Good deal indeed, Dan!

Here's what some of what Carvin was selling in 1956 ...

http://home.comcast.net/~aevolk/1956Carvin2.jpg

Couldn't make the 2nd one display here for some reason so I made it a link.

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 05 November 2004 at 05:56 AM.]

Larry Phleger · From: DuBois, PA

A number of years ago I built my first pedal steel using a Carvin 10 string pickup. It had a great sound, although my pedal setup was very limited.

Kevin Ruddell · From: Toledo Ohio USA

Congratulations Dan , it looks like a nice guitar . Will we get a review posted after you test drive it ?
I noticed in the Vintage Guitar Price Guide that Carvin made steels until 1977.

Denny Turner · From: Oahu, Hawaii USA

What a nice find. Way to go Dan.

DT~

Stephan Miller · From: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

Dan, that's a super deal! Please let us know
how you're getting along with the new Carvin
when you've had a chance to play it a while.
What search term did you use to turn that one up? Flew right past me... -Steve-

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

That was a real "steal." Congrats on your excellent purchase.

Kinda makes the music a little sweeter, don't you think?

Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

Thanks everyone. It sounds like i've been bragging a lot, but i can't help it- it's been a very lucky week on eBay. It seems like sales have been slow there recently. Maybe it's the calm before the storm (Xmas). But it's a good time to find bargains.

Stephan, i think i just searched under "steel guitar". Maybe "lap steel"? Can't remember for sure. I'll be happy to post a review after it arrives.
Carvin steels do sound good, if my single neck 6-string is any indication. Somebody on this forum once compared the sound of carvins to Bigsby steels. I've never played a Bigsby to know. They seem to use very dense maple, possibly rock maple for their bodies. The pickups are alnico single coils. Lots of sustain with a fat sound. This pickup has some buzz, but sounds great. I'm thinking of trying to reduce the noise with copper foil and epoxy paint in the cavity. Anybody ever tried this on a steel?

Paul Arntson · From: Washington, USA

Hi Dan,
Congrats on the deals! As regards shielding, I have used the 1" wide copper foil tape made by 3M for several of my instruments. (available at Stewart-MacDonald). It has the advantage that the adhesive is conductive or something, so all the layers are connected. Plus you are not altering a "vintage" instrument if you are worried about that. The big deal is to make sure the strings are well connected to the rest of the ground plane of the instrument. They are a major part of the shielding. Also, you need to make sure that the path to the grounded side of the guitar cable (outside) is very direct and low resistance.
I try to make the point where the cable comes in as the center of the grounding scheme, because that's where you are trying to divert the static signal to, rather than have it get into the guitar wiring.

You will be able to eliminate almost all capacitively coupled noise this way (deep hum and crackles), but you won't be able to eliminate inductively coupled hum. The only way to eliminate that is to change positions or switch over to humbuckers. That is because there is no known way to truly shield for magnetic fields. All you can do is re-direct them away from the pickup. A good example of inductive hum is the noise from a flourescent light if you get too close. I have some mu metal sheet that I am experimenting with. I will post if I get any results.
Good luck. Can we hear some samples when you get things going?
-Paul

Ron Whitfield · From: Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA

Dan, I've mentioned before that Carvin's were considered "the poor man's Bigsby", when they and Bigsby were competetors in the '50s steel business, due to a design easier to mass produce and less attention to detail. I'll bet you've noticed some crudeness here and there. But these are some of the finest console steels to be had, and now you've probably gotten the last one at such a great price, lucky you. If I hadn't been tied up in my own spectacular Ebay find (1 more hour to go!!!) I'd have given you a good run, as I've been waiting a long time for just that critter to pop it's head up. I've got the dbl. 6 with the same components (and a later era dbl. 8 which I recently sold to a grateful friend), and I doubt there are many steels that could match it, except yours. You should have a lifetime of enjoyment on that puppy, congratulations, you are quickly amassing an impressive quiver!

Neither of mine had a buzz/noise problem, I'd suggest more than just shielding (which is always good), like a trip to the Doc to get back in tip top shape.

ATTENTION: Jason Lollar;

These classic Carvin PUs (the AP-6/8,?) would be an awesome future addition to your stable of reissuses.

Carvin were at least one of the first sellers of PUs and guitar/steel parts to the public, and were used extensively by Joe Maphis, Larry Collins, Semi Mosely and others, mainly in So. Cal. to great effect.

[This message was edited by Ron Whitfield on 07 November 2004 at 05:31 PM.]

Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

Paul thanks, i'll try your shielding ideas. Even if i can get the noise down by 50%, i'll be happy. Please let us know about this MU metal. If it works, you sell it to every player of vintage strats.

Ron, so you're the one who was comparing Carvin to Bigsby. You're right, i have noticed some "crudeness" in my S6. The woodwork is kind of rough and unfinished. But where it counts in the sound, this beats most of the Fenders. I was a bit nervous about the D8 purchase, but you've made me feel MUCH better. Thanks!

Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

Here's the review now that i've had it for a few weeks. In general, the carvin D8 is a very good steel guitar. I'm very pleased with it and happy i made the plunge.

The pickups sound fat and warm, (although much lower output than my carvin S6). The guitar has tons of sustain and even some "moan". The Ricky B6 and the stringmaster are both more trebly in tone and have less sustain. Each neck has an on and off switch, so they can both be on at the same time. There is a single volume and tone knobs. I wish the strings were spaced out just a little more. Carvin used the same nut for both their 6 and 8 string models. The spacing is about 7/16ths when measured above the pickup. This guitar is finished quite nicely, not "crudely" at all. Much better than my 6-string carvin, which is a later vintage. It's got a subtle sunburst. It seems to be made of solid maple. It's also built in two sections which are glued together, similar to the Fender Stringmaster in construction. One place they cut corners is the fingerboard. It's the same width as their 6-string guitars. This means the 8th string hangs over the neck a little. That's not really not a big problem since i tend to look more at the 1st string for bar placement. The nut and bridge are interesting. They appear to be aluminium. They seem to be sand-cast like the early Bigsby and Mosrite hardware. I wonder if they could have been made by Paul Bigsby for Carvin?

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