The Carvin / Kiesel thread

[spudmunkey]

tldr;

Jeff Kiesel: "wHaT's An It DePaRtMeNt?"

To be clear, that's been the case since before he had major decision-making involvement. they haven't had a "relevant" website for, what...20 years?

Whenever I want to hover over a color in the paint section it's off screen.

Yeah, you need to scroll down further so the option is higher up on the page so that when it pops up, it does in-screen. It seems to load about 10 lines down. But don't worry, it's probably because you're using Chrome....it's optimized for IE 6.0, and Netscape Navigator.

 

[Miek]

I'd wager an ibanez style neck heel would garner more buyers than an online visualizer at this point and that's just my and definitely doesn't have anything to do with my opinion of their bolt on neck joints.

 

[Selkoid]

I'd wager an ibanez style neck heel would garner more buyers than an online visualizer at this point and that's just my and definitely doesn't have anything to do with my opinion of their bolt on neck joints.

Damn are they really that bad?

 

[mbardu]

Damn are they really that bad?

Nah it's not bad.
It's solid and gives good access to high frets so it does what it's supposed to do.
It's not really the best design out there (could use some sort of internal "shelf" or other way to physically block it besides a pin), but still very good.

Most people (me included) just don't like how it looks, and it does look way less refined than AANJ/Suhr Modern types. Then again, the modern Tom Anderson neck joint (albeit with a superior design) also looks unnecessarily chonky so it needn't be a sign of quality.

 

[Miek]

It wouldn't stop me from buying one but i feel like it's very out of step with the rest of their hyper-modern designs.

Maybe I'm crazy but I feel like it pushes me to look more at the neck-through models instead.

 

[spudmunkey]

I actually prefer the Kiesel heel to my old 90s S's AANJ, but the one corner at the lowest point could definitely use a rounding-off. They just need to keep enough "meat" around that screw hole, and I would think that'd be do-able....just round it over so there's the same amount as the other similar screw.




However, that would make the heel part on the end of the neck itself look chunky since it's symmetrical, so then they would need a separate program for right and left-handed necks. I suspect their design let's them use the same necks on both left and right handed guitars.

 

[Hollowway]

I agree with @spudmunkey about an options/spec list. There’s a build on reverb right now that had so many things I’ve never seen that it really made me wonder what all is NOT on the website as an option. I didn’t know you could get KRG colored bobbins, for instance. And I heard that hot pink was a color option for a long time that wasn’t on the builder. I know in theory they can do anything with an option 50, but if I’m going to order something I kind of what to know what the general options are before I’d decide if I really need to go completely off the reservation. As best as I can tell there are more color options, fade options, inlay options, etc than are listed.

 

[Avedas]

I agree with @spudmunkey about an options/spec list. There’s a build on reverb right now that had so many things I’ve never seen that it really made me wonder what all is NOT on the website as an option. I didn’t know you could get KRG colored bobbins, for instance. And I heard that hot pink was a color option for a long time that wasn’t on the builder. I know in theory they can do anything with an option 50, but if I’m going to order something I kind of what to know what the general options are before I’d decide if I really need to go completely off the reservation. As best as I can tell there are more color options, fade options, inlay options, etc than are listed.

I think I remember Jeff saying they do this on purpose. Most people order from the basic set of options which is easy on their operations, but if you want something else you can always "call the guys". They're pretty open to entertaining ideas if you ask directly in my experience.

 

[laxu]

I think I remember Jeff saying they do this on purpose. Most people order from the basic set of options which is easy on their operations, but if you want something else you can always "call the guys". They're pretty open to entertaining ideas if you ask directly in my experience.

And depending on the case will also make those non-returnable for something like a different control layout.

When I ordered my Aries AM7 I sent them my mockup and asked if they could find a darker red/brown piece of mahogany to use as I feel it would look better than the light color stuff they had on many builds. I don't know what they did if it's just a finish or if they used a darker piece but it looks great and cost me nothing extra.

When ordering from Kiesel it's best to always get your specs from the builder and then email them to a sales rep to ask any specifics you might have. I found that process worked really great with Chris Hong (chris@kieselguitars.com) and would recommend him if he still works there.

I'd try to avoid custom options as much as you can and consider what you can do yourself e.g. put in different pickups that Kiesel does not offer.

 

[bracky]

Is that something that happens IRL?

Do companies that provide virtual builders deal with higher return rates?

I’ve noticed many Kiesel customers get buyers remorse during the build time. They see something on Facebook or Instagram and start questioning their choices and already are specking the next build before the previous one is finished. With the nature of wood there is no way your super exotic build is going to look just like the builder representation. The grain lines will be different. There will be other subtle differences. This will concrete the idea in a customers head that they deserve a refund and can go ahead with what they actually wanted in the first place. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Avedas]

And depending on the case will also make those non-returnable for something like a different control layout.

When I ordered my Aries AM7 I sent them my mockup and asked if they could find a darker red/brown piece of mahogany to use as I feel it would look better than the light color stuff they had on many builds. I don't know what they did if it's just a finish or if they used a darker piece but it looks great and cost me nothing extra.

When ordering from Kiesel it's best to always get your specs from the builder and then email them to a sales rep to ask any specifics you might have. I found that process worked really great with Chris Hong (chris@kieselguitars.com) and would recommend him if he still works there.

I'd try to avoid custom options as much as you can and consider what you can do yourself e.g. put in different pickups that Kiesel does not offer.

I definitely agree there. I worked with Keith for all of my builds. I had planned to change the pickups in both of my straight scale builds but I just went with the default options from Kiesel since it doesn't save you any money to send in your own pickups, and now I have an extra set of Lithiums or whatever.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I’ve noticed many Kiesel customers get buyers remorse during the build time. They see something on Facebook or Instagram and start questioning their choices and already are specking the next build before the previous one is finished. With the nature of wood there is no way your super exotic build is going to look just like the builder representation. The grain lines will be different. There will be other subtle differences. This will concrete the idea in a customers head that they deserve a refund and can go ahead with what they actually wanted in the first place. Rinse and repeat.

Yeah, but how many folks are actually returning guitars?

There's less than 50 in-stocks right now, and that includes exhibition builds/protos and artist loaners (stuff that was never shipped to a customer to be returned), if they're making thousands of instruments a year, that doesn't seem like too many are returned at any given time.

If the number is artificially low because they, the in-stocks, get snatched up quickly, then it doesn't seem like having some more would be a significant problem, more so if they're replaced with "second go" orders from the original purchaser.

Maybe they're sitting on tons of returns they haven't processed/posted, but I sort of doubt it.

Other brands have virtual builders, I don't think if it contributed to significant returns they'd still have them up.

Like most things like this, you're only going to see the edge cases being affected. The guy who is sooooooooooooooo close to pulling the trigger they just needed to see it come together, and the person who totally screwed up and needs to send it back ASAP. I don't see those being as much as 50% of Kiesel buyers like alluded to at times.

 

[laxu]

I’ve noticed many Kiesel customers get buyers remorse during the build time. They see something on Facebook or Instagram and start questioning their choices and already are specking the next build before the previous one is finished.

I think that happens with many custom builds simply because of the time they take. I know for my Skervesen I thought I had figured out my specs very carefully but then I played with my mockup's finish a bit more and instead of a linear gradient I asked them to do a burst type gradient. The change was ok because the guitar had not gone into painting yet. The end result was much better than my original vision.

 

[spudmunkey]

Evertune is now (officially*) available on the Solo model (their Tele-shaped model). 6 and 7-string, 25.5 or 26.5" (for 6-string) or 27" (for 7-string).

*Officially because apparently their showroom sales guy mistakenly listed the first build on the in-stock and someone bought it, before it was actually meant to be unveiled. Ha!

 

[kisielk]

I keep seeing this on in-stock guitars, what's the deal? Did they just make them before they put this rule into place?

RMN - Roasted Maple Neck
THNN - Thinner Neck Profile (not available with Roasted Neck options)

 

[spudmunkey]

I keep seeing this on in-stock guitars, what's the deal? Did they just make them before they put this rule into place?

RMN - Roasted Maple Neck
THNN - Thinner Neck Profile (not available with Roasted Neck options)

Yes. Same with headless neck-through with roasted necks, if there are any of those left

That HD6X in the Purple/Pink and Black crackle was one made for Namm 2020. https://www.facebook.com/kieselguitars/posts/2543537152596238

There were also recent-added examples of discontinued models, but, looking over the list, they seem to have all sold out. There were at least 4 DC127 models in there at one point within the last month.

 

[kisielk]

Yeah that makes sense. I bought my HF2 from the in stock section in June of last year which was after they had discontinued it...

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Evertune is now (officially*) available on the Solo model (their Tele-shaped model). 6 and 7-string, 25.5 or 26.5" (for 6-string) or 27" (for 7-string).

*Officially because apparently their showroom sales guy mistakenly listed the first build on the in-stock and someone bought it, before it was actually meant to be unveiled. Ha!

Well, someone likely got fired.

 

[Jeff]

I think I remember Jeff saying they do this on purpose. Most people order from the basic set of options which is easy on their operations, but if you want something else you can always "call the guys". They're pretty open to entertaining ideas if you ask directly in my experience.

I don’t think they should deviate at all from the options list. The option 50 shit is where there seems to be a lot of problems.

 

[Avedas]

I don’t think they should deviate at all from the options list. The option 50 shit is where there seems to be a lot of problems.

Maybe. Maybe not. All my builds were option 50 and I didn't have a single issue, but I also didn't order anything remotely "risky".