Carvin SH 575 guitar

Revelation · #1 08-02-2011, 09:14 PM

I just received a Carvin 575 guitar that is bascially their 550 guitar with a midi jack and 2nd jack for the piezo pickup for that more acoustic guitar sound. http://www.carvinguitars.com/catalog...hp?model=sh575 Though I love Gibson guitars, so many have that Gibson sound, and I wanted something different. Ibanez was another choice but the Carvin is like $1,000 less, plus it has a lot more colors and options to choose from. I am a blues, rock player who is starting to get into jazz more and more. Sort of a Larry Carlton, Lee Rit type of playing.

The craftmanship is typical Carvin high quality with the wood, pickups, and every little detail being outstanding. The sound is quite special on this guitar. I A/B it against my Les Paul custom with clean and distortion. The voicing on the Carvin has a little acoustic sound to it while delivering a clean detailed sound that is more netural than the thicker Gibson sound that we hear on all the jazz records. This is a refreshing change and I would say closer to the Ibanez sound though I could not compare the two. Neck is very easy to play on, and the action is quite low. No problem hitting the higher register on the guitar. I am thinking about putting 11's on it over the 10's it came with, but so far I like what I am hearing a lot. When adding distortion, it has a more polite sound with nice sustain. Wonderful for jazz, and it can get that Larry Carlton 335 type of sound. When I added more distortion from my Mesa/Boogie V Twin pre amp, it gave more umph, but it was controlled; unlike the Les Paul which goes into overdrive. The guitar sounded amazing through my Fender Twin along with the Boogie V Twin. In using my Boogie Express amp it had a little bit of a boxy sound.

The piezo pickup along with separate bass and treble controls controls the sound nicely. It does not make the guitar sound just like an acoustic, but it does sound similar to some acoustic guitars that have a pickup in it when you play it through a PA system with low action. I read a review on this guitar and they said the pickup was noisy, but I did not find this the case with mine. If you are in a praise and worship band, switching between electric and acoustic can be done pretty quickly. All in all an excellent guitar...along with a very nice case.

When using the acoustic pickup, I did find the sound to be a little thin. I noticed with the PRS jazz guitar they put 010's strings on but if you choose the piz. pickup option, they put 11's on it. I was told this really helps improve the sound of the acoustic sound of the guitar. The 10's are better if your doing rock, but with playing jazz, rock/blues I really like the sound I get with 11's better. If I was just doing jazz, I would put 012's on.

Gitarguy · #2 08-02-2011, 09:40 PM

I have been eyeing those particular Carvins. They seem really nice.

Post some pictures for us, please.

Revelation · #3 08-02-2011, 09:47 PM

I actually tried one out for a week and was so impressed, I just ordered mine today. If you go to the Carvin SH 575 area under gallery, mine will look like the deep blue curly maple top.

fep · #4 08-02-2011, 11:16 PM

Rev, there is a review of a sh-550 that several forum members did which I think you'll be interested in:

http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...valuation.html

lpdeluxe · #5 08-03-2011, 08:17 AM

I took part in the evaluation and I was very taken with the SH550. If I didn't already have a 335 I'd get one. Monday night I played with some friends, including the guy who bought the review guitar. Another friend had brought his Martin EM18 solid body electric, a great sounding instrument. The owner of the Carvin sings and plays rhythm; the Martin person plays lead (me on bass). Anyhow, at one point they traded guitars and I was once again astonished at the fine tone of the SH550. It was plugged into my Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight, no slouch of a tone machine itself. I'm still tempted to get one, especially with the Bigsby. It is a handsome, well made, versatile and comfortable (for those of us who don't fit solid bodies) electric, one of the gems of the current marketplace. I'd like to add that I'm not a cheerleader for Carvin: I've had electronic equipment from them that I've liked, but also an LB20 bass that I really disliked. The SH550 is a winner.

IanD · #6 08-04-2011, 05:04 PM

Revelation, I am soooo jealous!

I was following the evaluation on the SH550 that lpdeluxe mentions because I have been considering a Carvin like that for some time. The addition of the midi capability, for me at least, turns a highly desrable guitar into an almost irresistable (& possibly perfect?) one.

The problem is, here in Australia Carvin guitars are fairly rare & although there is a return policy (direct to Carvin) the cost of shipping back essentially makes it a 'buy it, keep it' arrangement.

I tend to prefer a sound in the area of Benson/Carlton, so it seems to fit the bill in terms of what I like to hear in a guitar. You say the neck is easy to play on, is that because it is thin? thick? flatter radius?. I play a semi-hollow Gibson, semi-hollow Ibanez and a tele, all quite different necks but tend to prefer the thicker, flatter neck of the Gibson for jazz or blues, so the feel of the neck is very important to me.

Any further evaluation/comments/insights would be very welcome.

Revelation · #7 08-04-2011, 05:26 PM

You have a Gibson, Ibanez, and a Teli and your jealous?

Ok I have a Les Paul and Strat and I like the neck on the Carvin best. It is a little flat but not too narrow. Action is a tad too low for my taste. On my custom order I requested they raise the action just a tad. If you go to the Carvin web site there are great video examples of the SH 575. I did not buy it for the midi but for the acoustic pickup as well as the jazz pickups. Again I prefer 011's on the guitar as it puts a little more jazz sound to it and less of a rock n roll sound. Don't get me wrong it still sounds great with 010's but my taste us for a little more jazz sound. 012's would be too hard if I want to play the blues.
Feel free to ask anymore questions.

lpdeluxe · #8 08-05-2011, 09:43 AM

I haven't played the SH550 in a while, but I remember the neck as being very similar to my ES-335. I don't like skinny necks, and I would have remembered had it been thin. Thanks for your answer, Revelation.

lpdeluxe · #9 08-05-2011, 10:06 AM

I just got an email from Carvin announcing the new cedar top SH550. Very pretty guitar, without the flash I objected to in the figured maple top version. It's also a bit lower in price. Maybe I could justify one with a Bigsby....

helios · #10 08-05-2011, 05:33 PM

Here's a SH-550 I had a couple of years ago. It was featured in a Carvin ad. The workmanship that Carvin offers is high end PRS quality at a fraction of the cost.