Kiesel/ Carvin custom

[Tetsuo]

Pretty much anything that is made in Korea and is priced around $500 - 1000 is going to be made by World instruments. Not sure what your price range is, but there are a bunch of builders that make seven strings these days.

I have a made in India JAckson 7 I got for 100. I am not looking to go crazy on a seven at this point but want something of higher quality and would actually like 27" scale to mess with. I'll spend on a 6 but not a seven for a custom.

[xenophobe]

Yep, I love my AW-7. It's still not as good as my Carvin 7 or 8, but pretty damn good!

My BC Rich is as nice as any USA Select... It feels clinical and not custom, but workmanship is USA quality.

[msaint65]

Anyone own a custom through Kiesel? I've looked at them for years and I'm really thinking about ordering one.

I live about 2 miles from the factory....that's why I couldn't resist stopping by and ordering a Carvin custom. Should be done this week - I'll NGD it when I get it.

[Venomboy]

All the Carvins I've played at NAMM over the years have been very well made and have impeccable setups. I really want one.

They don't offer body binding or neck binding but for an upcharge they can fake the binding by not staining/painting the edges.

You can also get 3 different neck profiles (thin thru thick).

[msaint65]

What I liked is that they had no issue doing things that weren't programed into a CNC machine....they just brought in the "by hand" guy and did what you wanted.

[toejam]

Since you say the car in is better what do you think of this guy? They have it listed for less on eBay so I know they will deal some

https://reverb.com/item/1278503-carv...-w-case-dc-727

That looks pretty nice, good deal to me, especially with the active electronics. I had a DC400 many years ago that was pretty similar, just a ruby red stained flame top.

[toejam]

All the Carvins I've played at NAMM over the years have been very well made and have impeccable setups. I really want one.

They don't offer body binding or neck binding but for an upcharge they can fake the binding by not staining/painting the edges.

You can also get 3 different neck profiles (thin thru thick).

They can also do painted body binding now, black or white. It's still not real binding, but it looks pretty neat.

My first Carvin was an SC90 back in 2002 that I still own. Had a DC400 that I traded for a DC120 12-string, then I sold that. Ordered my DC727 in 2011 and DC800 in 2014. Their setups really are terrific.

[toejam]

My BC Rich is as nice as any USA Select... It feels clinical and not custom, but workmanship is USA quality.

I'd agree with that. My LTD doesn't really feel totally custom, but pretty close to USA quality. It's also a nice touch that it's a neck-thru with a pickguard, as you really don't see many of those around.

I also had an LTD Horizon 8-string that was real nice, had this camo-type binding on the body and neck, just it had a standard 25.5" scale which didn't work all that well for the low F#. The 27" scale of my Carvin definitely helps with that.

[lepard]

Yeah, World Guitar pretty much builds the highest quality imports for the lowest price. They're at least as good as MIJ Charvel/Jackson at it's prime.

Exactly ! The higher end World Guitars Korea models are very close to USA Jackson quality. Actually, from what I've seen of Fender USA Jackson lately, the World Guitars models are just as good........... with better finishes.

As of right now, there really isn't much being made by World Guitars. Most of the manufacturers have moved away from Korea to China and Indonesia. There is a World Guitars Indonesia plant too that puts out fairly decent guitars. If you notice on the Indonesian Jackson guitars, some have a W in the serial number "IW" and some have an S "IS". You will find that the IW guitars (World Musical Instruments) and significantly better built than the "IS" (Samick) guitars.

As far as I know right now, these are the companies still using World Musical Instruments Korea. Dean does NOT use World, they use UnSung.

1. DBZ/Diamond set neck models
2. BC Rich higher end neck-thru models
3. PRS SE's
4. ESP LTD neck-thru "Deluxe" models
5. Schecter higher end neck-thru models
6. Zakk Wylde's guitars(if they ever come to production)

[PowerTube]

Yep! Carvin is as good as it gets.

[Tetsuo]

What is the major difference between carvin and kiesel? They are the same shop right with Kiesel just being the higher end tops and more custom options?

[xenophobe]

Exactly ! The higher end World Guitars Korea models are very close to USA Jackson quality. Actually, from what I've seen of Fender USA Jackson lately, the World Guitars models are just as good........... with better finishes.

The binding on my BCR is nicer than Jackson binding, with absolutely no hint of joints. The paint is excellent. On my guitar there's like a 1mm x 3mm faint overspray on the binding, not even noticeable unless you take macro shots. The neck? It has that glassy cold feel that you really only get with a Jackson... it does that just as well. All of the hardware is top notch, OFR-7, the good EMGs, nice Grover tuners... And I got it for cheap. And it is overall nicer and less flawed than US Custom BCR.

They're like the perfect guitar if you were to tour... you would have an excellent axe with great fretwork, low action and they sound fantastic... and if it drops and breaks or you smash it, it's not a $5k guitar.

[Jackson8090s]

Lepard

Dean does NOT use World, they use UnSung.

I swore I saw something by Dean with a W or E on the back of the headstock, I'll look around for the image. There is no mistaking UnSung for World Korea ... then again US has been mistaken for USA even by Guitar Center

BTW, I know you wanted one of these, not as nice as mine, but here ya go <-- click

[xenophobe]

I dunno who made it.

[Tetsuo]

I have to say that the hanneman I got is built every bit as good as a us soloist. I was impressed.