New Guitar: 1988 Carvin DC125 - Pointy Headstock!

This will surprise a lot of people, but growing up I was a really big Bangles fan - even before I played guitar. I enjoyed their musical style, and I appreciated the melodies and guitar riffs, largely played by Vicki Peterson. She was a Carvin endorser during this time and could be seen playing DC125’s and similar models all the time - usually with the “V” headstock but occasionally with the pointy shape too. This band is the same reason I ended up with the Jetglo Rickenbacker 360 too, especially early on in my guitar learning experience.

So I’ve finally gotten a proper, 80s Carvin DC! These are tough to find, and in hindsight looking at the catalogs and pricing I can’t believe these weren’t selling like crazy, especially now that I have one to play. The quality, fit, finish, and hardware is impeccable. Mine is equipped with gold hardware, including an gold original floyd rose (not so common back then!) and Carvin brand tuners which feel very high quality. The pickup is an M22SD, which is a high output mid-heavy pickup perfect for rock and metal, plus a coil tap. Even the mounting screws of the pickup are gold - a nice touch - along with the input jack plate too.

You can also differentiate this 1989 model from 1988 models by looking at the strap buttons, mounted at the tip of the upper horn. 1988 models have the upper horn strap button is mounted on the underside, towards the neck instead of on the tip. It’s also noteworthy that during this time, these could be ordered with flat mount Kahler 2300 tremolos (as used on ‘86 Charvels and plenty of others), tune-o-matic bridges, or Original Floyd Rose bridges.

This one has the “Jackson” style pointy headstock, although this is not exactly a Jackson shape - it has a much thinner profile especially evident on the bottom edge nearer to the nut. This shape was only available for 1988 and 1989, prior to that the either had a more traditional 3x3 headstock, or the “V” headstock I mentioned earlier (check out the Hazy Shade of Winter video for a clear view of that shape, on Vicki’s DC200). From 1990 onwards, Carvin reworked their shape, likely to avoid any copyright conflicts, to a new shape which I also really like. Here is my ‘89 headstock shape below so you can see just how long and thin it is, and held side by side with a Jackson they are actually quite different.

Another interesting thing is the rear of the headstock which has a very large volute, and no screws through the neck for the locking nut. This is also really unique for the time, manufacturers like Hamer and others continued mounting the locking nut screws through the headstock well into the 90s.

Considering the price - this guitar would’ve been under $700 back in 1989 - this is a heck of a guitar and I’m glad to have one in such great shape. Other than the gold hardware, mine looks nearly identical to this one in the 1989 catalog ad - very cool. I’d love to get my hands on another one, especially with some slightly different options (block inlays maybe?).

New Guitar: BC Rich ST-III Ice Blue

After enjoying some time with the natural color ST-III I acquired barely 2 months ago, I really wanted to have another in another color. This one popped up on ebay with the original case, paperwork, and in excellent condition and I had to pick it up.

It arrived in extremely good condition, other than a few small nicks on the top of the body it’s in superb shape for the age. This is another 1987 model, but this time fitted with the factory pickups - two single coils and a humbucker all made by Dimarzio. These pickups do not have model numbers, as Dimarzio provided a lot of OEM specific models that don’t necessarily have a direct comparison to a pickup in their catalog (Dimarzio did this for Ibanez and others). The single coils are very low output, proper vintage sounding, and the humbucker surprised me - medium to low output with a really flat response. I was expecting a higher output, mid-heavy pickup as was the style in this era and especially on a guitar like the ST3 which I assume was aimed more at the shred and rock/metal players.

Of course I have plenty good to say about the Ibanez Edge bridge and the neck, which has a lovely bare feel and a super thick rosewood fretboard. I know it’s tough to do a fair comparison between two guitars that are over 30 years old now, but this one feels very consistent with the other ST-III I have. Both play very similarly, with similar body weights and identical necks. Any tonal differences seem to be just from the different pickups and body finish than anything with the construction of the guitars, which is always a good sign - as a big Kramer collector, I’m not used to very consistent quality control!

I’ve also done some digging and found some details on these guitars from the catalog. It appears these two are both relatively mundane models, but they could be ordered with maple or ebony fingerboards, binding, graphic paint jobs, or even neck-through configurations. I’d love to see an ST-III with a bound maple board, what a cool guitar that would be - and based on some of the other custom configurations I’ve seen around the web I’m sure there’s probably one out there.

New Amp: Mesa Triple Rectifier 3 Channel

I got a local trade offer on my 2009 Splawn Quickrod for this lovely Mesa Triple Rectifier. I’ve wanted a rectifier on and off since I first got into guitars, and spent tons of time in my college town’s music shop demoing the Dual Rectifiers they had there. I’d never really considered the Triples, thinking they’d be way overkill and too much wattage to handle in my studio. I’m surprised that the volume can be kept pretty reasonable, especially with the loop output control combined with each channel’s volume controls.

The clean channel is really great sounding, if lacking much character with the gain turned lower. I find the gain maxed out in clean mode is my favorite setting, it does not get distorted like this but does add a little more chime and sparkle to it.

I use channel 2 in vintage mode, which is thicker in the mids than modern and can get pretty close, especially boosted, to classic metal sounds though since I have a few Marshalls and the Mesa Mark my standards are pretty high here and I think the best use for channel 2 vintage is actually as a more mid-heavy lead tone to use over channel 3 modern’s rhythm tone.

Channel 3 is the perfect modern metal tone machine, especially boosted with a tubescreamer, although I like it plenty without the boost. It has plenty of gain and gets very thick, especially tuned down a few steps for heavier modern styles. The sizzle can be dialed up or down with the presence control, which really affects the voicing of the entire channel - turned up reduces the bass as well and tightens the attack, but turned down it can get a bit more full sounding if a little more muddy in complex chords. It’s a great rhythm channel though I find it a little piercing for leads, unless that’s the desired outcome.

More Details Here

New Amp: Egnater Renegade

This was another amp I remember testing out and enjoying around 2009 or 2010 when I was new to guitar. The idea of being able to blend power tube types was genius at the time - and still sounds appetizing today. These are very inexpensive online, and I spotted this one at a very low price on Reverb and grabbed it.

The clean channel is extremely full and thick sounding, I’d wager it’s one of the best clean channels I’ve ever heard really. The digital reverb is also fantastic sounding and can get really over the top. I found this channel best with the gain maxed out (don’t worry, it still stays clean) and the tweakable bright/deep switches can add some nice variation to the tone. I preferred this one turned all the way to 6L6 mode.

The drive channel is a bit underwhelming. Obviously my ear for tone has improved greatly over the years. I prefer it turned all the way to EL34, and with the gain around half it does a very good Marshall low-mid gain impression with good grit. However, keep turning the gain up and the amp becomes very flubby even to the point where when hitting an E chord for example, the upper strings cancel completely out and you can’t hear them at all because the bass takes over the whole sound. In hindsight, I understand this has to do with the voicing of the amp itself, so perhaps a few modifications to the circuit could open this up more to be more useful. The problem is even worse with high output pickups.

So it’s not what I dreamed of - an amp that would do the classic 6L6 high gain sound as well as the EL34 modded Marshall tones - but those expectations were probably unreasonable to begin with. What it does do is a pretty killer clean tone, maybe even a Twin Reverb impression, couple with a nice mid gain rock tone that allows the character of both tube types to come through.

New Guitar: BC Rich ST-III with Roland GK setup

I’ve always liked the look of these and they have a pretty unique history, coming out in the late 80s during a time when BC Rich was struggling financially and eventually ended up selling their brand name to Class Axe. This guitar is from before the sale, in 1987 - USA made and a very fine quality instrument. These also used top mounted Ibanez Edge tremolos, which were very new at the time and are close to OFR quality - some even prefer these trems to OFR’s and I can see why.

I picked this one up for a great price from Guitar Center, and it came equipped with a Roland GK-2A pickup. I doubt the natural finish is original, but if the original color was stripped they did a very clean job and the light satin finish is very well done. I’ve never had a Roland GK before either, so I look forward to trying it out - my initial look at Youtube videos makes this system look extremely cool and I’d love to be able to play some synthesizer or saxophone parts on my guitar!

In addition to the satin finished body, the neck is also a very bare wood feeling on the back, with an extremely thick slab of rosewood for the fretboard. When it arrived, this guitar had a Parallel Axis PATB-3 pickup in the bridge position, which is a sweet sounding pickup if a little lower output than I usually prefer in the bridge position, and a Quarter Pounder in the neck which is a highlight - I’m surprised just how much I like this high output, bassy single coil pickup.

New Amp: Splawn Quickrod (2009)

Picked this amp up for a great deal and couldn’t resist, despite owning another QR head already. This one is from 2009 and shares the same darker, mid heavy circuit of my 2008 model. One added bonus though, this one has the loop master volume, making it far more usable at lower volume levels and at home.

The flames “hot rod” head shell is not really my style, but it is a trademark Splawn amp look. Tones are exactly as I expected - thick and full sounding and a killer modded Marshall tone with a nice usable clean channel.

New Guitar: Charvel Model 2 Electric Blue

Another guitar center find, this one popped up online for a very reasonable price that I could not refuse. It arrived and is in surprisingly great condition besides a small light colored mark on the top edge of the body - it looks a little bit like paint, like you would use on the walls of your house. It also came equipped with a Seymour Duncan SH-12 Screamin’ Demon, one of my favorite humbuckers for its thick tone and with a single pickup, a versatile one like this helps make it more practical when rolling off the volume than other high output pickups.

New Guitar: Charvel Model 3A '86

I picked this up as a bit of a change in pace compared to my other Charvels - this one is equipped with a Kahler, USA made, fulcrum tremolo called the “2520.” This trem is similar in design to a modern strat trem, with two anchor points instead of the traditional six, and the addition of fine tuners to pair with the locking nut at the headstock. While it’s not a true double locking, floating tremolo like a Floyd Rose, it’s actually a very good bridge - and quite forward thinking for the time. It gets a pretty bad rap around the web, but I was impressed with it, although my expectations were low which helps. The biggest detractor is that the spacing of the studs is too close for a direct swap with just about any other bridge - anyone who had an ‘86 Model 2 or Model 3 with this bridge would have to plug and re-drill holes in order to upgrade the bridge to something else.

I personally would never modify an original like this one, which happens to be in fantastic shape. The factory J80C pickups are meaty and thick sounding, similar to Duncan Customs, and I think this pickup sounds incredible in the neck position even if a bit high output. As long as the heights are adjusted, the volume difference isn’t too bad, and a 3-way blade switch makes it easy to switch between them. Later 3A’s had the 5-way blade switch, which gives split coil sounds in positions 2 and 4 but this particular one is too early for that feature.

New Amp: Splawn Streetrod 1x12 Combo (2018)

Picked up this beauty using Guitar Center’s online used section. It was marked down in price and the idea of a miniature Splawn like my 2008 Quickrod, coupled with a Creamback speaker, sounded great to me.

This amp is much larger than I expected it to be - nearly 2x12 sized, despite housing a single speaker. The production date is from 2018 so it is the most recent circuit, although lacks the B+ voltage switch some of the newest ones are optioned with. The Blue tolex is gorgeous and contrasts nicely with the Marshall-like gold front panel and knobs.

This amp is both brighter and more scooped than my Quickrod head. The bass is much stronger and full sounding, and is definitely not as much of a “classic” sounding amp as the QR. The 2008 QR is an older circuit design, so I’m not surprised they are so different. I do find this Streetrod can get lost in the mix a little and when turning up the volume to compensate a little, it starts to sound a little thinner because the attack is concentrated in the upper upper mids, accentuating some of its flaws. Played alone however, it sounds fantastic - maybe the right mixing would bring this amp to life. The clean channel is extremely similar to my 2008 QR and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is identical in circuit, although the SR lacks the gain control of the QR heads here.