decreebass
Business Secrets of the Pharoahs
Specs first - pron later:
DC7X
27” Scale Neck-Through Design
Stainless Steel Regular Frets
Quilt Maple Top On Alder Body
Deep Black Cherry w/ Blackburst Edges & Black Sides/Back
Mahogany/Maple Neck
Rosewood Fretboard
Abalone Inlays/Logo/Knobs
Natural Body Binding
Carvin 19:1 Ratio Locking Tuners w/ Pearloid Buttons
Chrome Hardware
Floyd Rose Tremolo w/ Locking Nut
Passive Electronics w/ Coil Splitter Toggles
Strap-Loks
I ordered this on the 6th of January. I got the card in the mail a few weeks later saying the birthdate was going to be March 6th (Pisces, for those of you in Rio Linda). To be perfectly honest, it was kind of a non-starter from the beginning: I didn’t know the EBMM Majesty was actually going to be released so I said F it and just ordered the Carvin. Well, if I had done even the slightest amount of research, I would have seen that the Majesty was INDEED a real guitar getting ready for production. But it was too late. So there I was, with two guitars on the way (poor me, right?) one that I KNEW I wanted and one that I ordered because I didn’t know that the one I wanted existed.
Fast forward to last Friday; lo and behold I get the shipping email from Carvin telling me my 7X is on its way! It was scheduled to be here tomorrow but I get off work and on a whim look up the tracking info and it says “On Truck For Delivery!” I was stupid excited; I even hesitated doing my laundry - which just involves me going around to a room in the back of the house that I rent an apartment in - because I didn’t wanna miss the delivery. But my fears were unfounded; I had plenty of time since it didn’t get here until about 1800 local time.
I unboxed it and laid the case on my table. I unzipped it but didn’t open it. I had to prepare myself for the worst - since as many of you know, despite my Carvin fanboyism, I’ve been pretty disappointed by almost ALL of my builds (sometimes my fault, sometimes not; but I won’t get into that here since there’s a million of my ‘why I’m mad at Carvin THIS time' threads…
Anyway, I opened it up and was… well; here’s the pics:
They nailed all the specs. They even got my custom wiring correct: when the pups are split, I want the outer coils to be used, not inner like most coil splits. The binding looks fabulous. The woods are all correct. I think I wish the color was a little brighter and I’m a bit underwhelmed by the character of the quilt; I paid an extra $100 for a hand-selected AAAAA quilt top and this is apparently the best they had? It’s whatevs. I’m sure when I get a chance to get some outdoor pics the color will pop and the quilt isn’t HORRIBLE, just not as luxurious as I had expected - especially if you check Carvin’s daily photos on their FB page - LOTS of gorgeous quilts to be had. I guess the guy who chose mine was having a “meh” day so he picked a “meh” piece of quilt. I highly advise against spending the extra money. Some people get amazing quilts without asking. Turns out it’s a craps shoot either way, apparently. Anyway, I’ll digress. The rosewood looks very nice; it’s a nice shade of redness. I’m debating whether it looks thirsty or not. It definitely doesn’t look as rich and silky as my JP13’s fretboard, but then again that one is also naturally darker. I’ll leave it alone for now.
Craftsmanship is, of course, amazing. Not a flaw on it. Inlays and logo are flawless - the abalone on this guitar has so much character! Hardware is nice and solid. I even think the finish under the bridge looks nice.
Sound is wonderful. I dare say this has even more clarity than my JP13 - especially when I split the bridge pup; even tritones sound clear and distinct. The action shipped a little high - still very playable and shreddable, but I generally like my action so low that it buzzes, but I’m not gonna fuss with it unless it becomes a nuisance. I’m not gonna go into tone wood descriptions or pickup characteristics since (a) I don’t believe in “tone wood” and (b) it’s virtually IMPOSSIBLE to accurately A/B two different professional quality pickups in the same guitar side-by-side. Besides, I’m horrible at describing tonal characteristics. I’d be like Larry David: They sound ‘pretty… pretty… pretty… pre-tty GOOD!’ I definitely like this guitar better than my DC800 as far as tone and playability; I’m sure a LOT has to do with the 7X’s passive pups. It’s gonna take some getting used to with the longer scale and thicker strings (since I’ve been jamming out on my JP13 pretty exclusively) but I think it’s gonna be a nice love affair - I look forward to my relationship with this guitar.
Overall, a very playable and beautiful guitar. Carvin really did a good job with this one. It looks like my JP13 7 will get a rest for a little while Of course, this one will be sacrificed on the altar once my 
Majesty 7 gets here. I’ll post more pics once I get some good outdoor ones during the day.
Thanks for reading, looking, and jacking! You deserve a good time! I was hoping to be the first one to post a 7X NGD but I'll take second - there's no shame in losing... wait...
EDIT: Total price paid, delivered to Hawaii: $2,091
I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't post this, since I've complained about people not telling us how much their guitars cost - it's not a class/bragging thing or whatever, just edification for fellow guitar enthusiasts.
EDIT 2: Here's a few outdoor shots. It does look quite a bit nicer in sunlight. But, of course, the doesn't shine inside a house lol. Enjoy more guitar pron!
DC7X
27” Scale Neck-Through Design
Stainless Steel Regular Frets
Quilt Maple Top On Alder Body
Deep Black Cherry w/ Blackburst Edges & Black Sides/Back
Mahogany/Maple Neck
Rosewood Fretboard
Abalone Inlays/Logo/Knobs
Natural Body Binding
Carvin 19:1 Ratio Locking Tuners w/ Pearloid Buttons
Chrome Hardware
Floyd Rose Tremolo w/ Locking Nut
Passive Electronics w/ Coil Splitter Toggles
Strap-Loks
I ordered this on the 6th of January. I got the card in the mail a few weeks later saying the birthdate was going to be March 6th (Pisces, for those of you in Rio Linda). To be perfectly honest, it was kind of a non-starter from the beginning: I didn’t know the EBMM Majesty was actually going to be released so I said F it and just ordered the Carvin. Well, if I had done even the slightest amount of research, I would have seen that the Majesty was INDEED a real guitar getting ready for production. But it was too late. So there I was, with two guitars on the way (poor me, right?) one that I KNEW I wanted and one that I ordered because I didn’t know that the one I wanted existed.
Fast forward to last Friday; lo and behold I get the shipping email from Carvin telling me my 7X is on its way! It was scheduled to be here tomorrow but I get off work and on a whim look up the tracking info and it says “On Truck For Delivery!” I was stupid excited; I even hesitated doing my laundry - which just involves me going around to a room in the back of the house that I rent an apartment in - because I didn’t wanna miss the delivery. But my fears were unfounded; I had plenty of time since it didn’t get here until about 1800 local time.
I unboxed it and laid the case on my table. I unzipped it but didn’t open it. I had to prepare myself for the worst - since as many of you know, despite my Carvin fanboyism, I’ve been pretty disappointed by almost ALL of my builds (sometimes my fault, sometimes not; but I won’t get into that here since there’s a million of my ‘why I’m mad at Carvin THIS time' threads…
Anyway, I opened it up and was… well; here’s the pics: They nailed all the specs. They even got my custom wiring correct: when the pups are split, I want the outer coils to be used, not inner like most coil splits. The binding looks fabulous. The woods are all correct. I think I wish the color was a little brighter and I’m a bit underwhelmed by the character of the quilt; I paid an extra $100 for a hand-selected AAAAA quilt top and this is apparently the best they had? It’s whatevs. I’m sure when I get a chance to get some outdoor pics the color will pop and the quilt isn’t HORRIBLE, just not as luxurious as I had expected - especially if you check Carvin’s daily photos on their FB page - LOTS of gorgeous quilts to be had. I guess the guy who chose mine was having a “meh” day so he picked a “meh” piece of quilt. I highly advise against spending the extra money. Some people get amazing quilts without asking. Turns out it’s a craps shoot either way, apparently. Anyway, I’ll digress. The rosewood looks very nice; it’s a nice shade of redness. I’m debating whether it looks thirsty or not. It definitely doesn’t look as rich and silky as my JP13’s fretboard, but then again that one is also naturally darker. I’ll leave it alone for now.
Craftsmanship is, of course, amazing. Not a flaw on it. Inlays and logo are flawless - the abalone on this guitar has so much character! Hardware is nice and solid. I even think the finish under the bridge looks nice.
Sound is wonderful. I dare say this has even more clarity than my JP13 - especially when I split the bridge pup; even tritones sound clear and distinct. The action shipped a little high - still very playable and shreddable, but I generally like my action so low that it buzzes, but I’m not gonna fuss with it unless it becomes a nuisance. I’m not gonna go into tone wood descriptions or pickup characteristics since (a) I don’t believe in “tone wood” and (b) it’s virtually IMPOSSIBLE to accurately A/B two different professional quality pickups in the same guitar side-by-side. Besides, I’m horrible at describing tonal characteristics. I’d be like Larry David: They sound ‘pretty… pretty… pretty… pre-tty GOOD!’ I definitely like this guitar better than my DC800 as far as tone and playability; I’m sure a LOT has to do with the 7X’s passive pups. It’s gonna take some getting used to with the longer scale and thicker strings (since I’ve been jamming out on my JP13 pretty exclusively) but I think it’s gonna be a nice love affair - I look forward to my relationship with this guitar.
Overall, a very playable and beautiful guitar. Carvin really did a good job with this one. It looks like my JP13 7 will get a rest for a little while
Of course, this one will be sacrificed on the altar once my Majesty 7 gets here. I’ll post more pics once I get some good outdoor ones during the day.Thanks for reading, looking, and jacking! You deserve a good time! I was hoping to be the first one to post a 7X NGD but I'll take second - there's no shame in losing... wait...
EDIT: Total price paid, delivered to Hawaii: $2,091
I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't post this, since I've complained about people not telling us how much their guitars cost - it's not a class/bragging thing or whatever, just edification for fellow guitar enthusiasts.
EDIT 2: Here's a few outdoor shots. It does look quite a bit nicer in sunlight. But, of course, the doesn't shine inside a house lol. Enjoy more guitar pron!
