Carvin Double-neck electric Bass/Mandolin

[Petrus]

I don't post much these days because I don't play much anymore for various reasons, but I occasionally run across unusual instruments on the interwebs and like to share them

I've never heard of a mandolin/bass double-necker before and the brand is not familiar to me either, interesting bit of history in there possibly

Already sold unfortunately, no idea how old the listing is

https://reverb.com/item/33276630-vin...ge-jane-jetson

[azb]

John Paul Jones had something similar back in the 70s.



Not real common, that's for sure.

[Richard500]

Quick web search indicates Carvin as a well-established mostly guitar company with tons of distinctive designs, many double-neck combos. This particular one (the listing on Reverb won’t come up, but it has appeared other places - described as “George and Jane Jetson ‘60s.”
Even compared with the other Carver combos, this one has the look of a a gov’t contract model; the layout just says junior engineer with a spec. doing the layout. Not Jetsons so much as ‘control panel prototype, Rev. 001’.

[EdHanrahan]

Not sure about Carver, but Carvin was a small but well established electric guitar and amp company that mostly sold direct to players. With lots of options, that meant that each guitar was almost a custom design. Not a lot of advertising, largely word-of-mouth, but agressive mail & catalogue advertising to their existing customers. May have had a storefront around LA.

Among others, Timoty B. Schmidt of The Eagles mostly played a pearl-white Carvin bass. FWIW, I have a 100w 15" bass amp that's been a powerhouse for the past 20+ years; it was probably 10 years old when I bought it. Don't recall them doing double-necks, but anything's possible.

Last I was aware 6-10 years ago, the family-owned company had split the amp business from the guitars, one of them changing to a different name altogether, and I haven't heard much since.

Sorry if this seems harsh but: Carvins were nicely, professionally put together, whereas the subject bass+mando shows a degree of elegance that, uhmm, I might have conjured in my basement?

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm looking for the pictures but I don't know if I still have them. In a previous lifetime back in the late 1900's to the early 2000's I was buying and selling a whole lot of instruments on eBay. I bought a double neck mandolin/guitar that was very similar to this in construction. It had to be made by the same person. Amateurish but adventurous. It wasn't branded but came out of central Oregon and I got it cheap and still took a bath on it.

[acinva]

For a comprehensive look at Carvin instruments, including doublenecks, check out the Carvin Museum:

http://www.carvinmuseum.com/

Alan

[John Rosett]

In 1982, A friend took me to see a band outside Eugene, OR. The guitar player had a Carvin guitar/mando double neck. I talked to him on break, and they let me sit in and play it for a few songs. It was really fun, and because the body was so small(Made to fit into a regular, rectangular guitar case?), it wasn't too heavy. I've always wanted one, but never found one when I had money.

[pops1]

Carvin also made respectable amps and PA gear. Mics too. Since they were direct to customer they were quite affordable for decent gear. A 12 channel stereo PA with twin graphic eq's and 3 power amps so mains and monitor. Pretty nice stuff setup well to gig with at affordable prices. I still have some Carvin mic a small PA.

[Jeff Mando]

...back in the late 1900's to the early 2000's I was buying and selling a whole lot of instruments on eBay. I bought a double neck mandolin.....I got it cheap and still took a bath on it.

I had similar experiences on eBay, mostly it was great with guitars, basses, banjos, mandolins , but once in a while I took a chance on something like a sitar or clarinet -- and I always took a bath. Yep, we always remember the "stinkers!"

[mrmando]

I have an old Carvin emando sitting here, I forget what year it is. I've seen Carvin doublenecks before but not the mando/bass version. The Reverb price was pretty decent for such an unusual instrument.

The Gibson custom shop made a mando/bass doubleneck for the late Allen Woody of Govt. Mule.

[jefflester]

Not sure about Carver, but Carvin was a small but well established electric guitar and amp company that mostly sold direct to players. With lots of options, that meant that each guitar was almost a custom design. Not a lot of advertising, largely word-of-mouth, but agressive mail & catalogue advertising to their existing customers. May have had a storefront around LA.

Yeah, they had a store on "Guitar Row" on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, just down the street from the original Guitar Center and across from the current one and the Sunset Grill that Don Henley sang about. Practically next door to Mesa/Boogie, which I think is still there.

[Petrus]

Wild that you all had that much info about them ... I'd honestly never heard of that brand before for some reason. Surprised that they have a store right on Sunset that I must've passed by many times but then I wouldn't have been looking for them in particular.

I'm seen many double and triple neckers but never a mando/bass combo though iirc the tunings are similar (or are basses in 4ths?) It seems like something that would be made for a band that already had a strong guitarist (or two) but needed someone to handle both the top and bottom end on their own!

[azb]

Bass is tuned in 4ths. EADG. The same as the 4 lowest strings of the guitar.

[Ray(T)]

https://reverb.com/item/33276630-vin...ge-jane-jetson

Don’t know what others think but it looks to be either a very short scale bass or a very long scale mandolin.

[jefflester]

Based on the strings, the Carvin lower neck is pretty clearly a bass. This Gibson has a 4-string lower neck but is a tenor guitar. Scale length probably not a whole lot different.

[allenhopkins]

I don't post much these days because I don't play much anymore for various reasons...

We've missed ya.

[mrmando]

Yeah, the bass scale on the Carvin is roughly twice the mandolin scale. A single-neck Carvin mandolin is pretty close to standard scale, and there's no reason to believe this one is longer. That would put the bass scale around 28 inches, which is pretty short.

[John Rosett]

I've never understood the double neck with a bass. Who's playing bass when you switch to mandolin?

[mrmando]

I've never understood the double neck with a bass. Who's playing bass when you switch to mandolin?

Uh... Ray Manzarek?

Seriously, though, when JPJ played mandolin in Led Zeppelin's live shows, I'm guessing they just got along without a bass for that portion of the song. Or did they have some kind of backup plan?

[jefflester]

Seriously, though, when JPJ played mandolin in Led Zeppelin's live shows, I'm guessing they just got along without a bass for that portion of the song. Or did they have some kind of backup plan?

JPJ played bass pedals when needed.

[jefflester]

I've never understood the double neck with a bass. Who's playing bass when you switch to mandolin?

I can picture someone like Dave Pegg playing a mandolin intro for a song and then having to switch to bass. Not that this is a mando/bass combo, but... (courtesy of emando.com)

[mrmando]

Here is the aforementioned Allen Woody.

[Petrus]

Yeah, the bass scale on the Carvin is roughly twice the mandolin scale. A single-neck Carvin mandolin is pretty close to standard scale, and there's no reason to believe this one is longer. That would put the bass scale around 28 inches, which is pretty short.

Could be, or that in combination with an inadvertently misattributed mandola (17"/14" = about 21% longer than a mandolin) would bring the two closer together in size (a design feature that might've aided w/playing comfort.) Just speculating

- - - Updated - - -

We've missed ya.

Just when I think I get out they drag me back in again !

[mrmando]

Could be, or that in combination with an inadvertently misattributed mandola

Unlikely, since Carvin never produced a mandola.