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Craig Wiper's
Collection
Carvin BBS ID: Mesadude
WWW:
http://www.tungngruve.net
Craig has been
playing for over 40 years, and has been playing and collecting Carvin guitars
for half that time. In addition to the models above, Craig has also had
several vintage models come and go over the years (included at the bottom of the
page).
Above is
Craig's collection as of September '05. From left to right: '02
Cherryburst TL60; '98 Vintage Yellow Bolt; '84 Black V220T; mid-80's quilted
DC160; '02 Ruby Red quilted AE185; '01 sunburst DC127; and '93 Pearl White TL60.
All of these are detailed below, except the AE185, which Craig just acquired
from Lizzy Daymont.
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 On the
left is Craig's 2002 TL60, finished in Cherryburst on swamp ash with
maple neck and ebony fingerboard.
 On the
right is Craig's 1993 TL60, finished in Pearl White. Other
features include a black painted headstock, ebony fingerboard, and gold
hardware.
Next is
Craig's 2001 DC127 (below left). This has a mahogany neck and
body, and is finished in sunburst. It has an ebony fingerboard,
black hardware, and C22 pickups with coil splitters.
Below
center is Craig's 1998 Bolt, finished in vintage yellow on alder, with
black chrome hardware and AP11 pickups.
On the
left below is Craig's vintage V220T, from 1984 (which was the first year
of production). It has a maple body and maple set-neck, ebony
fingerboard, Kahler Pro tremolo, chrome plated hardware, and M22
pickups. |
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Here is Craig's 2002 AE185, which he recently acquired from
Lizzy Daymont. It's features include
a mahogany neck and back,
quilted maple top finished in Ruby Red stain with matching headstock
and tortoiseshell body binding, ebony fingerboard with abalone dot inlays
and black chrome hardware. Electronics consist of C22 humbucking pickups with coil splitters and phase switch,
a piezo pickup, and dual output jacks for piezo and magnetic pickups. |
Below is Craig's
latest addition, scored on eBay in February of 2005. This is probably one
of the most unique DC160's out there - for starters, not many DC160's made, as
this was Carvin's most expensive model during it's run. In the mid 80's,
these sold for about $700, which was several hundred dollars more than the koa
DC200K; the next highest-priced model. This one, obviously, is a
one-of-a-kind model. The most obvious feature is the 3-humbucker
arrangement, which was never a standard feature or even an option on a Carvin in
the 80's. Craig opened it up, and it appears to be a factory job, which is
another example of Carvin's willingness to accommodate unusual customer
requests. Additionally, this one has dot inlays, even though abalone block
inlays were standard at no additional charge on a DC160. Evidently, the
original owner preferred the dots over the blocks. Also notable is the
stunning curly maple body, which was solid, as opposed to a top as in modern
Carvin guitars.
If the original
owner is out there somewhere, Craig and I would both be interested in hearing
more specific details about this guitar. Please get in touch with one of
us!
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Here's
Craig playing his '84 V220. |
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On the
left is Craig's collection, as it was several years ago, and as it
appeared on the original
Carvin Museum of Guitar History. The Pearl White TL60 and
Vintage Yellow Bolt are still in the collection, but the others have
since moved on to new owners. However, they're worth mentioning,
since they are interesting and unusual models. |
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The first
of Craig's former guitars is this 1977 DC150 (above). This is a
great example of what Carvin was doing during the late 1970's, as the
company transitioned from using Höfner components to their own parts.
This is a particularly nice example, with maple fingerboard, maple body
and neck, chrome hardware, and Bigsby vibrato (this was the last year a
Bigsby was available on a Carvin). Also of note on this example
are the chrome pickup covers (the only year this was offered), and
pearloid control cavity cover, which was standard at the time. |
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Also no
longer part of Craig's collection is this V220T and Ultra V. The
V220 is from '86 or '87, and has black chrome hardware and a Kahler Pro
tremolo.
The Ultra
V is a '93 model. In addition to the jet black finish, it has gold
hardware and a Floyd Rose tremolo. |
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And here's another shot of
Craig's collection as of September '05.
And below are Craig's
pointy guitars - the '84 V220, 2004 Hamer Korina Vector & 1984 Gibson
Explorer.
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