LeftyBassist.com

Hi Guys,

I’m reluctant to part with this absolutely stellar bass, but, I have an opportunity to buy back a bass that I had custom built for me a few years back so the Carvin has to go to finance the purchase. A custom bass where I walked into the builder’s shop and said:”I want that board for the body, that board for the top, that board for the fingerboard, these neck dimensions, and these electronics and this hardware.” Sort of a sentimental piece if you will.

On to the Carvin. NAMM show 2014 bass, Icon 5P with walnut body wings, flame maple top, 5 piece neck through consisting of 3 pieces of walnut and 2 pieces of maple. Beautiful birdseye maple fingerboard with abalone position markers. Hipshot A-style bridge with piezo saddles. Two single coil (but very quiet) soap bar pickups. Bartolini P2 size I believe. Electronics consist of Master volume push/pull active/passive switch; pickup balance; piezo/mag balance; stacked bass and treble concentric pot; stacked mid freq sweep and boost/cut concentric pot.

Shortly after I got this bass I bought a brand new F Bass BNF 5, that I sold to Bassaria a while back. I paid more than twice the money for the F Bass than I did for the Carvin. I did an A/B comparison between them and I honestly had a REALLY hard time justifying the extra money for the F Bass, as beautiful as it was. The quality on the Carvin is VERY close to the F Bass. It’s as simple as that. And Carvin really seemed to get it right with the Icon. Even Marcel at F Bass commented to me that he didn’t know how Carvin was able to build the quality of basses that they turned out and sell them at the price point they do.

Very versatile bass tonally and I would say that the walnut sort of sounds like a combo of alder, maple, and mahogany. The maple top and fingerboard give it some nice top end snap as well.

This bass weighs pretty much bang on 10 pounds but the balance is perfect and, going back to the F Bass for a second, Marcel Furlanetto told me once that they strive to have their basses come out in that weight area. Maybe just a bit under but that the weight is a factor in the sound.

34” scale, 19mm string spacing at the bridge. Asymmetrical neck.

I’ve never gigged with this bass and it’s pretty much dead mint. Comes with a Carvin gig bag that is also in perfect condition and I still have the original Carvin shipping box.

I can send more photos to anybody that’s interested.

New, a similarly configured Kiesel bass would be pretty close to $2100 by my calculations.

I’m looking for $1750 US or best offer, plus shipping from V9K 1H5 Canada.

That is some spectacular wood on that bass Mark

A beautiful bass! GLWTS....

Thanks guys. Listen, I’m willing to listen to feedback on this sale. It’s a weird deal ‘cause I think the bass is spectacular and, when new, they’re worth more than they ask for them. So maybe I’m pricing it too high.

Input welcome.

It's a tough call I think... if your bass had been built by a custom builder like Fodera etc., it would be worth what you're asking - or more - all day long. It's a shame to me that Carvin builds high quality basses, but they just don't have resale value. I wonder if that may have something to do with their in-house use of their own electronics... This IS a Beautiful bass though, most likely a rare build at that... so I hope you do well on the sale...

Well, sort of a valid point, although a used Fodera would still be several grand. Nature of that beast. But I sold my F Bass for twice what I’m asking for the Carvin and, as good as that bass is, this bass is only slightly, SLIGHTLY, lesser quality. Now, as far as these electronics go, I think it’s simply a matter of taste. There’s actually nothing wrong with these pickups or the preamp. They work very well and sound quite good to my ear. But, they have their own sound. Just as Bartolini does and Aguilar, etc., etc. Again, I’m not sure if Carvin put extra effort into the Icon preamp but it’s pretty decent.

Anyway, I’m open to offers, but if it doesn’t sell before my next boat deal I won’t be heart broken. I’ll just turn this bass or the other into an E to C 5 string.

$1650 OBO

A few more pics

One more

I'll just say it again - that is a Beautiful Bass!

I recall playing this bass at NAMM, but I can't recall what my impression was!

Carvins notoriously sell for far less than they would seem to be "worth" based on the cost of ordering a similar model new from Carvin with the same options, and it is even worse for lefties. I commonly see the same lefty Carvins sit for sale for months and months on popular auction sites with no action. Often you're lucky to sell for *half* the cost of buying the same bass new. Sometimes it might be different for very new models with popular options, but generally they simply sell for much less than any other equivalent basses.

This is not a dig on Carvin's quality. My No. 1 bass for more than fifteen years now is a Carvin (still beating out my Zon, my Fender, and everything else I've played or owned), I own a handful of Carvin/Kiesel basses and guitars, and I've bought and sold a few others beyond my current stable.

I just got an '81 LB50 and I absolutely love it.

pete

Price drop to $1400 on the board. $1500 on Reverb. Will consider a package deal for both Carvins. Downshifting to 4 strings.

Price drop to $1300 for board members. Dropped to $1400 on Reverb.

For those that might be interested, I would consider doing a package deal for this and the Icon 6P fretless, with a Mono Dual bass gig bag for $2000 US plus shipping. They would be shipped in the Mono bag.

Both basses with Mono Dual Bass Gig Bag for $2000 US plus shipping.

I would also consider a trade for a Genz Benz GBE 1200 or a ShuttleMax 9.2.

Smoke free studio but not beer free, garage kept in a rack with power buddy, both amps there are up for grabs...

Nice rigs Joe.