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Conference napalm::guitar

Title:	GUITARnotes - Where Every Note has Emotion
Notice:	Discussion of the finer stringed instruments
Moderator:	KDX200::COOPER

Created:	Thu Aug 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	3280
Total number of notes:	61432

1915.0. "CARVIN Twin Neck " by MAMIE::FRASER (Hypnotist: 10 cents a trance.) Wed Jul 25 1990 14:36

        I've  currently   got  a  Carvin  twin-neck  on  approval,  but
        unfortunately, it hasn't  got  the  manual.  There are two jack
        sockets fitted - one  gives  6  or  12  output,  but  the other
        doesn't - it seems to  give  a  muted  output regardless of the
        selector position, with the 6 predominating.    Any ideas as to
        what should appear at each jack?
        
        The next question has to do with pickup selection and coil taps
        etc.  There are two humbuckers per neck.  Each neck has three x
        two  position  switches  (ignoring the neck/bridge selector and
        the neck changeover switch).  Why three?  Is  it  possible that
        two of the switches are series/parallel and the third is pickup
        phase?  If so, would it be  reasonable to assume that the phase
        is switching coils within a selected pickup or would it be more
        likely to be phase switching neck versus bridge pickups?
        
        General: the guitar feels good, sounds good and looks good.  It
        has a  Koa  body  and necks, Kahler trem with flip-up locks and
        gold hardware.   The necks seem identical, which makes the 12 a
        _little_ narrow, and the scale is 24.5", which gives a slightly
        cramped feeling after Fendering for  so  long.    It's used but
        unmarked - seems like a great deal at $450.
        
        Andy

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1915.1	Your wired for stereo!	POGO::HENDERSON	Fun with Flesh!	`Thu Jul 26 1990 00:21`	11
	Some of the Carvin guitar models are wired for stereo. The output jack toward the neck or the inside jack is only used when running stereo. Use the outside jack for "normal" playing, ie. both pickups, one cord. Hope this helps, DonH
1915.2		MAMIE::FRASER	Hypnotist: 10 cents a trance.	`Thu Jul 26 1990 17:21`	10
	Thanks Don. I got curious last night and pulled the two rear covers to make a wiring diagram. Turns out it's wired not for stereo, but to put the 6 on one jack and the 12 on the other, OR, if you connect only to the rear jack, you get both, selected by the neck selector switch. The problem was that the dual jack switch was not making good contact, which was why the output was distorted. Andy
1915.3	The Standard Carvin configuration	DREGS::BLICKSTEIN	This is your brain on Unix	`Tue Aug 28 1990 14:49`	44
	re:.0 > Each neck has three x two position switches (ignoring the > neck/bridge selector and the neck changeover switch). Why three? Is > it possible that two of the switches are series/parallel and the third > is pickup phase? That's pretty much it. It's a standard Carvin configuration. Two of the switches are coil taps for the pickups (single coil vs. double coil). The third switch determines whether the two pickups are in phase WITH EACH OTHER or out of phase with each other. Thus, for the most part (I'll explain the exception later) it only works when both pickups are selected. This configuration was one of the main reasons I bought my Carvin. It's very simple and intuitive (unlike my other guitar: Steve Morse model) and I can get a very wide variety of sounds including good approximations of all the standards (strat, LP, Tele and to a lesser extent, 335). The wiring is pretty clever too although I can't really type in a complete description. But one aspect of it is that when the bridge pickup is in single-coil mode, the phase selector switch determines WHICH of the two coils is used (basically one is wired in phase with the other pickup, one is wired out of phase). But what that means is the phase switch has an effect not only when both pickups are selected, it also has an effect when only the bridge pickup is selected: it determines which of the two coils is used. The bridge pickup is mounted very close to the bridge, and thus you DO get a different tone based on which coil is used because there are distinctive differences in tone between SMALL distances from the bridge, but as you go further and further away from the bridge, small differences in distances aren't as distinctive. I really think this is a VERY nice configuration and I'm so used to it that I flick these switches around and get what I want almost without being conscious of doing it. db