Basses 

Carvin's solid-body and semi-hollow body basses for 1971 remained the same as 1970, all the way down to the photographs used in the catalog.  Click here to see the inside cover of the '71 catalog, which featured a sales letter, customer comments, and endorsers.

Click each picture to see the entire catalog page.

First up is the hollow-body AB-45 (left).  This bass was available in sunburst finish, and was equipped with the standard 22-fret Höfner-made neck that would be a mainstay of Carvin basses until they began producing their own necks in the late 70's.  The catalog referred to the body as "German made", but did not specifically mention if this was also made by Hofner.  Other features of the AB-45 were Kluson tuners, rosewood fingerboard, pearl inlays, and APB-4 pickups with dual volume and tone controls, and a 3-way selector switch. 

Direct price on the AB-45 was $154.95 and the AC-21 softshell case was an additional $15.95.

Carvin's other bass model for 1971 was the SB-40 (right).   Like the AB-45, the SB-40 featured a "German made body", as well as a Hofner neck with Kluson tuners, rosewood fingerboard, pearl dot inlays and sunburst finish.  Electronics also consisted of fully-adjustable APB-4 pickups with dual volume and tone controls and 3-way selector switch.

Direct price on the SB-40 was $149.95, and the SC-21 hardshell case was $29.95.

The ABS95 was marketed as a "Thin Acoustic Doubleneck Bass and Spanish Guitar".  Both necks were made by Höfner (as on other Carvins of the era), and the bass was 30" scale, while the guitar was 25¼".  The body was maple, and finished in sunburst.  The guitar neck featured the same AP-6 pickups as the SS-70B guitar, while the bass neck used the APB-4 pickups, all of which had adjustable pole-pieces.  Each pickup had it's own on/off switch, allowing any combination of pickups to be on simultaneously.  A single volume and tone control rounded out the electronics. 

Direct price on the ABS95 was $249.95, and the Bigsby vibrato/tailpiece was an additional $29.95.  The SC-61 hardshell case sold for $34.95.