Carvin Ebony Kiesel Edition SCB6

[ferret]

Love this. Love the SCBs, love it in ebony. If we were both accurate weighing, you came in lighter weight than my walnut beast too.

I think I like your photos a bit better than Carvin's, they seem to have a greenish tint.

Can someone educate me as to what this Kiesel edition business is?

Roughly: Take any model and it's base price, add $2000. Nearly every option you could want included from there, with a 5 pc body/headstock (Top and back woods with thin layers between), and Jeff himself (And sometimes his dad I believe) build it and sign it.

 

[GXPO]

Roughly: Take any model and it's base price, add $2000. Nearly every option you could want included from there, with a 5 pc body/headstock (Top and back woods with thin layers between), and Jeff himself (And sometimes his dad I believe) build it and sign it.

That's interesting... I'm not sure that alone is worth the $2000 but I suppose for the personalised service and anything goes attitude that comes with it, it would be fun to play around with. Some great guitars coming out of it either way.

 

[Blue1970Cutlass]

Goddamn Carvin is awesome!

 

[Tyler]

I love it! HNGD

 

[Garnoch]

I feel like Jeff should have worked on his signature a little before signing guitars lol - but nah man, that is stunning. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on how it plays and sounds. I'm gonna be gettin' me Kiesel in a little while - probably after NAMM.

Ha, yeah. I've seen his and his dad's signature before on others, and like Appollyon, supposedly Jeff's son too, but I see two squiggles and a dot, so I have no idea what is what haha.

So AWESOME!!! (though for some reason I would love to see a single-coil in the neck..is that weird?)

Are you allowed to discuss roughly what you paid? From what I understand most keisel editions come in around $3000ish? (I could be wrong) considering the hard to source ebony did that add considerably to the final cost?

Congrats on an EPIC guitar!!

Jeff had mentioned a couple of times the cost on Facebook so I don't see why not. It was the standard $3,000. Luckily I paid in full before he started work. I have no idea if he would charge the same now because in the beginning he did mention things that could be added charges. You'd never find this for $3,000 from independent luthiers, Someone on Facebook said it reminded him of a Knaggs. Have you seen Knaggs' prices?

"X" approved! That actually means a lot X-Mann. Thanks.

Here's the cross section.....

 

[xwmucradiox]

That is a beast. I would love to see Carvin offer a model like this in the 27" scale length of their ERGs.

 

[slim231990]

Sick man hngd

 

[vilk]

Dude... oh, dude... the guitar!... i mean... piojopijpijpoijpoijpoji

 

[Andromalia]

 

[Lorcan Ward]

Happy NGD!!!! $3000 for a guitar of that quality in such a quick time is outstanding.

The ebony is pitch black, the joinery is perfect and the rest of the wood is very figured. I hope it plays and sounds as good as it looks.

 

[yellowv]

I saw Kiesel post this on FB. You sir are a lucky man.

 

[Garnoch]

So a lot of people thought it's be a really heavy guitar, but it's 8 lbs. I was actually surprised by how small the guitar is. I love the SCB in general so much better than before seeing it in person. I took some family shots to show why it doesn't weigh a ton, in addition to the bezels....

 

[BlackWinds10]

The quality on that looks absolutely ridiculous. Holy. Shit. So stoked for my Carvin now!

 

[capoeiraesp]

You're a very lucky man to get such a piece of ebony.

 

[SeditiousDissent]

I realize I'm a little late to the party, but that is a work of art. HNGD, man. You've helped increase my Carvin SCB GAS tenfold. Thank you!

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I love this so much

 

[Garnoch]

I’ve had some time with the guitar now so here are my thoughts on the new Carvin SCB6 design, the “Kiesel Edition” and on the M22SD pickup.

I’ll start out by saying I have two Carvins in addition to the SCB6, a 22 fret CS6 with an S22 bridge pickup and a 24 fret DC600 with a C22 bridge pickup. I’ll also say I prefer 22 fret guitars for a few reasons. 22 frets is the reason I originally asked Jeff Kiesel to do a CS6, even though I also wanted a SCB6. For those that don’t know, Jeff is the grandson of Carvin founder Lowell Kiesel He followed his grandfather and father into the company, and just this year, Jeff’s son started working there as well.

The SCB6
Jeff announced this new design of his earlier this year. I was nervous I wouldn’t like this new model in person, but I actually like it way more than I did in any pictures. It’s a great size and weight and just beautiful in person. It’s extremely comfortable to hold and to play. But… I won’t buy another with 24 frets. Been there, don’t that. I’d buy a few though if they started making a 22 fret variant.

The Kiesel Edition
Jeff announced the Kiesel Edition in March. These guitars would be more detailed with front and back wood with a thin layer in between and a 5-piece neck. The cost would be $2000 on top of the base model’s cost. That would cover most if not all extras and Jeff would be integral in the building process, including hand picking your wood. He would also keep in touch personally, send pics throughout the build process and sign it.

The process itself was very fun. Was it worth it? It was for me for two reasons. One, I got a guitar that exceeded what I’ve wanted for a long time. Two, the finish, the attention to detail and the set up are better than anything I have or have played. Here’s how I’ve kind of rated my guitars in my head based on guitars I’ve played. My DC600 is on par with my ESP, I would have called them 99% perfect. My CS6 is are hair above so I called that 100%. I have three South Korean guitars, two LTDs and one Schecter. I’ve heard great things about South Korean guitars and I agree with it all because unless I just got lucky, all three of them are just about as good as the ESP, so lets call them 97%. My old Peavy and Gibson I’d call 80% and 90% perfect respectively. I have an Ovation that I would call 50% an a Chinese Schecter at work that I’d call 30%.

Now here’s the problem. The Kiesel Edition is beyond any of them, so I have to change all that above in my head because this is the best guitar I’ve ever laid my hands on. It looks and feels like it’s one piece of wood. I know that sounds obvious but there’s something different about it, even over my other two satin finished guitars. My daughter even commented on it. And the wood choices, holy crap. My CS6 and DC600 wood choices were close to what I wanted and expected, and I was very happy, but Jeff knew exactly what I was after and by far exceeded my expectations, even when I wasn’t sure when looking at cell phone pics. I thought the fret job was very very good on my DC600 and ESP and great on my CS6, but this Kiesel is simply outstanding. Basically no neck relief, if it were any straighter I’d wonder if it was back bowed, yet I have to attack the stings hard to get any buzz at all even though the action is freakin’ low. I’ve been impressed with a couple of my other guitars, but this one made me throw out some expletives. I fully expected to do a full setup on it after letting it settle and didn’t expect it to be any better than the other Carvins. Maybe I just got lucky, who knows, but I’m beyond impressed.

The M22SD Pickup
Wow. This will be the pickup in my next guitar too, probably another CS6 but much simplified (Unless I can talk Jeff into taking my money for something else haha). There used to be talk about Carvin pickups being crap, and sometimes there still is, but mostly in the past couple years, I’ve read a lot of people being very surprised about how good they are. I know I am. Regardless of which ones, I’m blown away by the clarity and note separation, like seriously surprised - especially with the S22, which is a killer pickup for some good old rock. I love jamming ACDC on my CS6. I’m not even close to as good of a player as most of you I’m sure. I do it for fun. But I do have good ears, it’s what I do for a living, without them I’d be broke, so hearing the S22 is always a pleasure to me.

I’m not sure how to explain the C22 pickup. It isn’t perfect for ACDC nor Thrash, yet can get away with doing both. I guess that says it, the C22 is a good generic workhorse. I actually won’t get another C22 though, but I do want another guitar with S22s. The M22SD though? Man, I could easily just rip out all my EMGs right now. I actually like the newer EMG Het Set for that kind of music, but I love the M22SD. Dial that sucker back and I actually enjoy ACDC on it more than I do the C22 even. Maybe the M22SD is the workhorse then.

Tone Report
I realize a lot of people don’t buy into tone wood so I’ve stayed away from those debates, but I guess I’ll give my take on it so I can talk about this guitar. I do believe wood makes a difference. Mainly because I’ve taken the same pickups and swapped them in and out of different guitars and could clearly hear a difference. Also, for some reason, every time I play a mahogany guitar, especially with a maple top, I fall in love with it. That could be chance though. But, I can get a different sound from different types of strings too. Also, a much bigger difference is created with your amp and pedals and speakers, etc. So does it make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Not really. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I do think it is a factor.

That being said though, I’ve never played the M22SD pickup at all, and I’ve never heard any pickup in a body made out of ebony and black limba with a walnut neck. I’ll have to update this after my next guitar, which I plan on having this bridge pickup with a mahogany body and maple top. I’ve already said I loved the sound I heard. My assumption though is based on other guitars and heavily based on how this guitar sounds acoustically compared to others acoustically.

When I first strummed it, it sounded noticeably different from any of my other guitars. I have other guitars made out out mahogany/maple, mahogany, adler, ash, basswood and koa. This guitar had a very sharp attack and was bright. When I plugged it in, I wasn’t surprised by the tone. I was blown away by the sound, but the tone was exactly what I expected. It was on the bright side, cutting really well without being annoying and had a sharp attack. It also has a nice bottom without being muddy at all. The bottom end was similar to the C22 but not as full as the S22. I actually dialed back the tone knob and loved it even more. I’m very, very happy with the sound I’m getting out this guitar. I had them install my own strings though and put cobalts on it. My next set won’t be cobalts since the guitar is already on the bright side. I’ll then see what I like more. Also, the tone knob is a push/pull coil splitter - again, very cool sounds.

Although most of the order may be obvious, here it basically is….

Carvin SCB6
Black Limba Body
Ebony Top & Back
Ebony Top & Back Headstock
Maple Layer
5-Piece Walnut/Black Limba Neck
Thinner Neck Profile
Ebony Fretboard
Clear Satin Finish
Ebony Truss Rod & Electronics Covers (Tung Oil Finish)
Stainless Medium Jumbo Frets
12th Fret MOP Diamond Inlay
No Neck Pickup
M22SD Bridge Pickup
Black Hardware with Push/Pull Coil Splitting Tone Knob
Hipshot Bridge

 

[ShawnFjellstad]

That is cool as .....

 

[Rakija]

Wow, holy shit. This is ....ing beautiful. May I ask the price good sir?

Nevermind, saw it ^

 

[Watty]

Looks like he did a great job; not sure I would pay that much for a Carvin, but your review was fairly glowing. The limba and ebony sure play nice together color wise.

My only gripe is that he used a second piece of that ebony on the back...I consider that a waste, but to each his own.