The Steel Guitar Forum

I bought this little Carvin guitar from Boo Miller:


It's really cool. It has a bakelite nut and bridge that gives it a dull, folksy tone. I have it tuned in C6th, low A to high G.

I sat down this evening and recorded it. The amp is a Fender Princeton with Holy Grail reverb, miked with a Shure SM-57. Accompaniment is Band-In-a-Box imported as MIDI into GarageBand, where I added the steel.

http://soundhost.net/b0b/GenericHawaiianSwing.mp3

I really like the way this little demo came out. Maybe I'll record the tune in earnest someday.

Bob, that little guitar sounds great. I love the tune too.

Nice swingin b0b. I was diggin your licks. Thats a neat little Carvin.

fine B0b. Makes me wish I still had my Carvin I bought in the 50s and like an idiot (again) traded off in the 60s. cc

b0b, that Carvin sounds really nice - it has that authentic Hawaiian sound, and it's bright and clean.
A Princeton has got to be the perfect amp for it, and those Holy Grails are great sounding 'verb pedals - the closest pedal to an actual spring that I've heard.
Cool tune too, tasty licks!

Awesome Hawaiian style licks, b0b! Really enjoyed that tune. Never knew Carvin made lap steels either (or that they've been around that long!!!)

Wow b0b...nice tone and picking ! If I am correct,
CARVIN came along about the same time FENDER ceased making steel guitars....(?)

edit

I don,t know when Fender quit, but Carvin was active before they did. It was known in some circles as the poor mans Fender.cc

Sounds nice, b0b! That guitar has a very clean, Fender-ish tone. I like it!

As far as Carvin history... Carvin is the former Kiesel Company. Kiesels were made from 1946-49, in Los Angeles. In '49 they changed the name to Carvin, and they made steel guitars until 1977. The S-8 that you have, b0b, was made in the 1960s.

Fender made steel guitars from about 1946 to 1980 (not including the current reissue lap steel), and Carvin made steels from 1949 to 1977. They also made, and still make, guitars, basses, and amps.

Carvin was always mail-order only. They sold directly to customers through their catalog. I think they still do that today, and they have a couple of store locations in CA.

I really like the way this little demo came out. Maybe I'll record the tune in earnest someday. Cool

You definitely should and nice score on the Carvin

Ah, bOb, you definitely know how to make a guy wish he'd bought on impulse. That Carvin sounds so friendly. Great sound for it. Thanks

Richard

George Piburn wrote:Dear b0b ---

what devise are you using to get the microphone or line input to the Garage Band ??

MR.Boards

It's a Line6 TonePort UX2. The mike is a Shure SM-57 with a foam windscreen attached, pushed right up to the grill cloth of the Princeton.

That's a "neat" steel b0b and you make it sound
real nice. Love the tone.

Roy

b0b,
That is awsome, nice touch and tone
ya know i think that is the first time i have heard you play, you have a fine touch and feel.
im really glad you like the guitar, im not lapless i still have my Dads old Gibson D-8 consolete
know lets hear an ole country song
thanks again
Boo Miller

Very nice sounding guitar. And it's in MINT CONDITION!! OHSC included?

No case, but I bet it will fit in my luggage for travel.

Not mint condition either, but certainly playable.

bOb,
That tune was really fine. Is that a C6 tuning?
I'm still playing on my mid-50's, double 8, Yellowed MOT Carvin, and I love it. I even rented it once to the film makers shooting I Walk the Line, but it didn't make the final cut. One of my old Silvertone amps did, and one of my daughters.
Anyway, though I'm building myself a new double 8 and even a 10 string, I still love my Carvin. My only concern is its noisiness. Neither the Bakelite bridge or nut appear to be grounded, and I haven't yet thought of a way to easily ground all 16 strings without changing out the bridge. I'm thinking of making an exact copy of the original bridges out of brass, which would simplify things. The noise doesn't bother me so much at home, but in some rooms, especially at a higher volume level, it can be pretty unbearable.
Is yours noisy? Are the strings grounded? If so, how? Maybe I'm missing something.
I sure like the sound of that Carvin in your hands.
Thanks again,
Don

Don, yes it's C6th, low A to high G.

You rented out your daughter to a film crew?

Yes, it's noisy. Lots of hum. I hear it on the track, but not so much in the mixed mp3. Maybe GarageBand filtered it out automagically during mixdown.

Yep, or at least she rented herself out. I think she got paid more than I did for the instrument and amp rentals, but I did alright. A friend of mine was playing the part of the steel player, and I trusted him to take care of the steel for me, though not of my daughter.
She was barely seen in the movie, but was very excited to stand in for Reese Witherspoon in the big Cash family dinner scene, so Joaquin had someone to look at while he was being filmed looking as if Reese was actually there while he did his scenes. She has since run off to Fayetteville, finished college, and married a musician. My daughter, that is. Not Reese Witherspoon.
Anyway, please put some more tunes up. Sooner or later, I'll figure out how to steel some of your licks, and you can be proud of making me look good.
If I manage to get her grounded, (my Carvin, that it, not my daughter) I'll let you know how it turns out.

I think I wrote the song, but Mrs. Lee says that she thinks it's a standard. Does anyone here recognize it? If it's original, it needs a name. "Generic Hawaiian Swing" doesn't cut it.

Name that song!

Name that song!

b0bbin' Along

Hey, I like that!

Hey Bob, I just bought a Carvin single 8 here on the forum and it plays really great, what tunning are you using?, mine has A7th tunning on it, may change it to C6th.

C6th (Am7): A C E G A C E G