Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: Dr. Stein on August 21, 2010, 11:43:24 PM

Title: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Dr. Stein on August 21, 2010, 11:43:24 PM
http://www.carvinchannel.com/play.php?vid=244

Why would you make a video of that? Why?
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Antag on August 22, 2010, 12:26:00 AM
Yep, me too, that's just a terrible, terrible waste.

As Jonathan told me recently, almost any mistake can be recovered or turned into something good (even if it wasn't quite as originally intended), but to just trash that (presumably) good quality wood and then publicise the fact is dumb.  Potentially bad PR move from Carvin here...
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Denim n Leather on August 22, 2010, 01:30:51 AM
That was brilliant. Definitely my favourite vid of the week.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Denim n Leather on August 22, 2010, 01:31:40 AM
There is also a very real-world reason why they do that, and it's a lesson Hoshino US learned the hard way.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Lew on August 22, 2010, 02:53:56 AM
bet they re-use the neck :-p but what I really want to know is "will it blend?"
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Dmoney on August 22, 2010, 05:04:55 AM
bet they re-use the neck :-p but what I really want to know is "will it blend?"

Carvin smoke... dont breathe this!
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: kevinr on August 22, 2010, 06:29:47 AM
That is just plain waste, how did it make it that far if there was a problem that called for that outcome!
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: MrBump on August 22, 2010, 08:08:06 AM
Yeah, does seem like a waste, but a GREAT vid!  Also good to see the depth that the maple had in the middle of the body...  interesting.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Transcend on August 22, 2010, 09:51:25 AM
That is just plain waste, how did it make it that far if there was a problem that called for that outcome!

from they way they were looking at it they were unhappy with the finish/binding
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Philly Q on August 22, 2010, 10:10:41 AM
I find it deeply upsetting because I hate bandsaws, they frighten the life out of me.....

It does seem a waste - since Carvin is essentially a custom shop selling direct to the public, I don't see anything wrong with just selling it cheap as a "blem" (their word), maybe even without pickups or hardware, so someone could've had themselves a nice project guitar.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: shobet on August 22, 2010, 11:12:29 AM
I had to register to comment on the Carvin page. I find waste like that to purely make it look like they have high standards rather short sighted.

I accept that if indeed the build was indeed buggered, then they might as well recover the neck. However if it's not buggered, then as mentioned above I'd be questioning their QA procedures and it would not give me very much faith in their standards if a duff instrument can make is as far as post finishing before being picked up as not meeting QA. If indeed it is a custom shop then I'd have concerns about the way they work.


Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Lew on August 22, 2010, 02:10:54 PM
To be fair, we constantly criticize Gibson for not doing this and letting them out the door!
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: PhilKing on August 22, 2010, 02:50:56 PM
Gibson used to do that (but always before the guitars went to finishing).   You used to see rejoined bodies on ebay - but Gibson only did the first cut.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: MDV on August 22, 2010, 03:24:38 PM
I can see why they'd do it. Publiscising it is a little, I dunno, crass.

But not letting the guitar 'out there' with some significant flaw when potential users down the line might not know that it was second class stock sold off cheap or whatever, or someone buys it from them cheap or a worker takes it home and it ends up being sold as a full blown carvin; someones going to be dissapointed with it and word will spread based on a guitar/guitars that are unrepresentative of the brand, if the provenance is lost or intentionally concealed.

So, its a smart move to do it. Its bound to drive up prices, but how much depends on how often they make a cr@p guitar.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on August 22, 2010, 06:00:34 PM

I am in two minds over this : one set of feelings based on protecting your name /reputation and the other on a more global issue of diminishing resources and the horrific tragedy of waste.

Shobet has summed up my own feelings about the waste of wood etc

I find waste like that to purely make it look like they have high standards rather short sighted.

I accept that if indeed the build was indeed buggered, then they might as well recover the neck. However if it's not buggered, then as mentioned above I'd be questioning their QA procedures and it would not give me very much faith in their standards if a duff instrument can make is as far as post finishing before being picked up as not meeting QA. If indeed it is a custom shop then I'd have concerns about the way they work.
Quote
Instead of wasting what looked like looked to me a perfectly good guitar, why don't you simply supply them - with a caveat that they can not sell them on - to a music school or even a normal school which would not normally be able to afford an instrument as good as that. It would make better PR that publicly wasting resources like that.

Out of interest what was wrong with the instrument? If it was unplayable then I understand destroying it, however if it was a misalignment or some other flaw I'd have hoped your QA would have picked that up way before the instrument was finished. If however the flaw was purely cosmetic then I believe my suggestion above is a far more positive thing to do.



And the other opinion expressed by MDV

I can see why they'd do it. Publiscising it is a little, I dunno, crass.

But not letting the guitar 'out there' with some significant flaw when potential users down the line might not know that it was second class stock sold off cheap or whatever, or someone buys it from them cheap or a worker takes it home and it ends up being sold as a full blown carvin; someones going to be dissapointed with it and word will spread based on a guitar/guitars that are unrepresentative of the brand, if the provenance is lost or intentionally concealed.

So, its a smart move to do it. Its bound to drive up prices, but how much depends on how often they make a cr@p guitar.

I also object to cheapo Chinese/Korean companies using up top notch woods in below par guitars as well as other "goods" that get thrown away after a single use - like exotic wood chopsticks
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Dr. Stein on August 22, 2010, 06:59:24 PM

I am in two minds over this : one set of feelings based on protecting your name /reputation and the other on a more global issue of diminishing resources and the horrific tragedy of waste.


That's the thing, isn't it? I don't understand why they can't make it obviously a factory second and sell it at a reduced price - use "Factory Seconds" as a headstock logo and serial number if nothing else!

It's possible that this video was just a one off PR move, to show off the depth of maple (which only a couple of us noticed, so maybe not a *good* PR move) and their commitment to quality. Still, such a waste.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: FELINEGUITARS on August 23, 2010, 12:07:33 PM

I am in two minds over this : one set of feelings based on protecting your name /reputation and the other on a more global issue of diminishing resources and the horrific tragedy of waste.


That's the thing, isn't it? I don't understand why they can't make it obviously a factory second and sell it at a reduced price - use "Factory Seconds" as a headstock logo and serial number if nothing else!

It's possible that this video was just a one off PR move, to show off the depth of maple (which only a couple of us noticed, so maybe not a *good* PR move) and their commitment to quality. Still, such a waste.

Gibson used to do just that - they stamped a 2 on the back of the headstock to indicate a second

Musicman also have a bonfire of seconds - to prevent those parts getting reused and damaging company reputation

I would say: cut the headstock off and give the remaining bits to a luthiery college where the body could be stripped and the rest of the neck dug out and a new neck made perhaps

The wood does look exquisite - which is why it's all the more criminal to cut it up and burn it
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Antag on August 23, 2010, 12:12:30 PM
That is just plain waste, how did it make it that far if there was a problem that called for that outcome!

from they way they were looking at it they were unhappy with the finish/binding
Which just makes chopping it up all the worse.  They could have stripped the finish, even if it was a stain on that top they could have sanded it down a bit, & surely binding isn't all that difficult to remove & redo?

I could only imagine the guitar being totally unrecoverable if there was something really fundamental like the neck being misaligned by several degrees - in which case, why did it get as far as the paint room?

The only scenario I can imagine where you decide that a guitar which is so far towards completion is beyond help is if a big crack suddenly opened up in the wood or someone dropped it in the workshop...
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Dr. Stein on August 23, 2010, 03:23:43 PM
^It is possible for necks to warp beyond repair sometimes, which may explain why it got that far, but they did seem to be looking at the finish.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Dmoney on August 23, 2010, 03:45:56 PM
Carvin by name, carvin' by nature
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: shobet on August 23, 2010, 07:12:38 PM
Carvin by name, carvin' by nature

That actually made me laugh out loud!

Someone replied to my comment on the Carvin page, but didn't really address the points I made. I can't be arsed to debate with them as it's their toy and I'm very unlikely to ever buy a Carvin anyway.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Stevepage on August 24, 2010, 05:23:46 PM
Carvin have been a bunch of idiots recently so this doesn't surprise me.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Philly Q on August 24, 2010, 06:05:39 PM
Carvin have been a bunch of idiots recently so this doesn't surprise me.

I've always liked the look of their stuff - over 30 years of ads in Guitar Player! - but  never enough to seriously consider buying one, especially since they're so difficult to get hold of.
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: Dr. Stein on August 24, 2010, 08:34:47 PM
Carvin have been a bunch of idiots recently so this doesn't surprise me.

I've always liked the look of their stuff - over 30 years of ads in Guitar Player! - but  never enough to seriously consider buying one, especially since they're so difficult to get hold of.

At US prices I probably would have bought several by now but over here they're just silly money. You can easily spend £2500 on one of their carved tops, which puts them well into the bespoke custom bracket price wise. (by the way Feline, did you notice they've recently ripped off your Lion's neck joint on their new LP model?  :lol: )
Title: Re: Anyone else find this deeply upsetting?
Post by: HairyChris on August 29, 2010, 10:52:38 PM
Hm, PRS do exactly the same thing...