Carvin Corporation

Sooo glad i stumbled onto carvins Unilocal page, soo sad to here Moshe was fired! That dude was awesome he set me up with my carvin mts 3200 head i was looking at getting a marshall, but when i spoke to moshe and gave him 5 min to show me the mts 3200, I WAS SOLD! Moshe helped me dial in tones i was looking for, if i had questions Moshe had answers, too bad i wont be going back to carvin anymore!

They treat you right & are willing to work with you & your situation. Talk to Luis

I’ve come through here a few times and unfortunately found out that this place is closing down and moving to San Diego. The guys working here definitely know their products, I was waiting to place an order for a friend when a few other people walked in and started asking specific questions about each guitar, Chris, the manager answered each of them without missing a beat and even recommended to try a few other guitars that had aspects that the customer would have probably liked.
I’m not a Carvin player, but if I was at least I’d know that they just don’t want to sell me whatever they can over four figures.

For Brandon D.‘s birthday yesterday he wanted to test-​drive a few amps, so to Sunset we went, hitting up the Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Mesa-​Boogie, and of course, Carvin. He figures it’s time to move on from his Marshall stack and just wanted to give the others a try.
First off, the Carvin guys were far and beyond the best for service. We were greeted on entry by all three gentlemen hanging out behind the counter, Bran mentioned wanting to try out the V3 Mini, and they immediately headed in back to set it up for him while he chose a guitar from «the arsenal» with which to sample the wares. The salesguy worked the knobs for Bran before leaving him to his own devices in the little room.
The V3 Mini is pretty solid — lower wattage, 3-​channel high gain amp, you get more saturation out of the tubes with lower volume, and a bargain at $ 550. Since they’re made in San Diego, the factory’s reasonably close for servicing.
After a rather satisfying trip to Carvin, the other places paled in comparison, particularly Mesa-​Boogie a few doors down. There we were never acknowledged despite trying to get the guy’s attention, and weren’t able to try out the diamond-​plated amp model they have (priced at $ 1,000) that’s similar to Carvin’s V3 Mini.
Looks like Brandon’s found his new amp. Thanks, Carvin guys, for being cool and helpful.

(re: the reviews of Jim P. and nick k):
I called Carvin some time ago asking how much it would cost me to change the pickup on my TL60 (it wasn’t a Carvin pickup) with a Carvin pickup that was included in my purchase. I had forgotten who I spoke to but the name «Moshe» (which I read in the reviews) rang a bell. The guy was great and the «cost» for the pickup change, if there was one, was really inexpensive and the work was promised while I wait. How can ya beat that? Now, some months later I found he is gone, according to Jim P and nick k.
Anyhow, I just called Carvin (today) because I REALLY, now, want that pickup changed and the person who answered said that a pickup change wasn’t a job they really do but he said he had a name of a guy who would do it pretty inexpensively. To my surprise he gave me the name and number of Moshe Alvarez!
Moshe now works at ESP Guitars in North Hollywood. You can reach him (TEXT only) #(1−413) 459‑0058.

this was a great store, notice i say was!!! i have been goin to this hollywood carvin location for years, and had found a few full service techs at the hollywood california location on sunset blvd. never again carvin!!! they recently let go of their great guitar tech named moshe, who would go out of his way to please any customer that came into this store!!! if you bought a guitar he would make sure that it was perfectly set up to your playing style, if you bought guitar parts, he would make sure, that you knew how to install it, or explain to you how to set it up!!! he also spoke spanish, which was a big plus, because carvin gets a lot of spanish speaking people coming in there, that did’nt really understand a lot about the amps, guitars or pa gear!!! carvin, you really did me so wrong when you fired moshe!!! i will not step foot in your store ever again !!! you really don’t now what you had or lost!!! carvin when you have a great thing or people working for you and stand by your products, keep them !!! moshe always represented your company 100% and always was showing me the newest guitars, and amps and accessories you guys had to offer!!! every guitar and amp store in that whole area of hollywood has great people working for them and you had the best person in moshe to represent your company and you blew it !!! wake up carvin, a lot of people including me will stop shopping at your store!!! never again carvin!!! good bye!!!

I’ve shopped all the guitar stores on Sunset Strip for the last seven years. Carvin has always had the most helpful salespeople, especially Moshe Alvarez. I once bought a $ 50 electric guitar pickup from him and he went out of his way to make sure I got the best pickup for my needs. Not only that, he called me the next day to suggest a way to wire it that would give me exactly the tone I was looking for. Needless to say, I was blown away by that level of customer support. Now I understand that Carson Kiesel, the big bwana at Carvin, sent his nephew to Hollywood to fire Moshe and Jason Fresquez, their top-​flight PA guy.
I’ll be 60 this year and I buy quite a few electric guitars, but despite the fact that Carvin makes some great ones, I’ll never step foot in one of their stores again if this is how they reward the employees who built their business to the level of success they’ve achieved.
Two other points about Carvin that should be noted: In the resale market, you get pennies on the dollar for Carvin guitars. They may be beautiful, but they don’t say Gibson on the logo. And their credit card rates are very steep.
So long, Carvin! You won’t see me again!

Ok so this is my first review and I feel its needed because it was a great experience. I bought my carvin bass used and it needed some neck adjustment I came into the store and they fixed it for free what a great deal! They are very knowledgeable about all of their gear which is very helpful making tough decisions easier.

Carvin has remained in business a long time for a reason. The bottom line is they are responsive to what musicians want and deliver it for a fair price. Like ALL companies they have some beauties and some lemons.
I’ve owned thousands of instruments amps pa systems in my 30 year career. I regularly buy various items from them.

I used to get the Carvin catalogs starting when I was about 15. Years later, I went for it… full-​on custom guitar. Black everything, three humbuckers, chrome gear, pearl neck inlays.
My band practiced in a warehouse in Florida. The humidity got to the guitar within just a couple months. The springs in the back, as well as all three pickups and numerous other pieces, were already rusting (Yes, I wiped it down religiously after each use).
This sucked, but I wasn’t trying to pass the blame on to anyone. I e-​mailed Carvin, told them what had happened and asked them what the cost would be for me to ship them back the guitar, replace the necessary parts with ones better suited to my situation, and then return it to me. Mind you, I just asked what the cost would be… I was not asking for any kind of pity or handout or trying to blame them.
The first reply I got was «This happens when humidity gets to the guitar». No kidding… I’d even said that in my own e-​mail to them.
I replied asking again what the cost would be for the work that I needed done. A few days later, the reply came back…“We can’t offer you anything for free, maybe up to 10% off at most, maybe.“
That was it. I sold it on Ebay and trashed their customer service in the description. While the auction ran, I received two e-​mails with pretty similar stories.
Carvin stuff is real pretty in the catalog. The sound from the guitars is not worth the price, and my experience with them now has me avoiding the brand for life.

Carvin PA equipment is freekin solid! Not really down with their guits or amps but the pro audio gear is tasty. If you go to this location make sure to give Moshe (manager/​shredder) a hi-​five for me!

Ah Carvin, the poor red-​headed stepchild of gear. I’ve had many experiences with them over the years and while their tone is lacking when it comes to guitar amps and guitars in general, their bass gear and PA stuff is consistently great for the money and their service and support is excellent.
Any time I’ve ever had a problem with anything I’ve bought there they painlessly and instantly swap it out, just grabbing a replacement off the shelf or the backroom and handing it to me, no questions asked.
When you’re playing a ton of gigs that peace of mind is priceless.