Jeph Jacques's Blog, page 18

I drew a Joyce while playing with watercolor brushes

I drew a Joyce while playing with watercolor brushes

Hanners is basically farting hearts

Hanners is basically farting hearts

A Love Letter to Carvin Guitars

So, I’m a huge guitar nerd. I own and have owned a lot of very, very fancy guitars- it’s basically the only thing I spend my disposable income on. And I’ve been playing for half my life. I like to think I know a thing or two about the instrument!

I’m not normally one to evangelize a particular brand, though- there are tons of amazing options for any kind of guitar at any price range, enough that I could probably do a whole series of reviews if I wanted to. This post is about one specific brand and guitar- Carvin’s DC800 8-string.

I’ve always been wary of Carvins for some reason, even though I had only ever heard good things about them. But when they announced that they would be offering A) 8-string extended-scale instruments and B) black limba (a gorgeous relative of mahogany and my favorite wood ever, cosmetically speaking) as a wood option, my will finally broke. I had to try one out. So I specced out a guitar and put in my order. Black limba neck and body, bird’s eye maple fretboard, natural finish. It came to around $1200 all said and done. 8 weeks later, it arrived at my door.

I’m not given to hyperbole, and it’s been long enough that I’m out of the “honeymoon period” you often get with the a new instrument. And I feel confident saying that this is the best guitar I have ever owned for what I paid. It’s as good, if not better, than $3500 instruments I’ve tried, owned, and recorded with in the past. The build quality is literally immaculate- I can’t find a flaw on it, and I’m a HUGE stickler for that sort of thing. The wood is gorgeous, the fret work is flawless, and nothing on the guitar feels “cheap” or flimsy. Playability is incredible- I’ve never found another 8-string that can handle such low action without undue buzzing on the lowest strings. The neck isn’t as thin as, say, an Ibanez, but it’s very comfortable.

My only complaint is that Carvin’s stock active pickups sound awful. Way too bassy and way too much output, even for a metal player like me. Thankfully, they’re easy to swap out- I chose an EMG 57/66 8-string set, and they sound delightful. Along with the pickups, my total cost came to less than $1600, less than half of what the guitar would cost from any other builder.

And how does it sound? Here’s a song I wrote on it.

In closing, thank you Carvin for making such an amazing instrument. Although I wish you’d offer better pickups ;)

Specs:

Black limba body and neck

Birdseye maple fretboard

jumbo stainless steel frets

black hardware

SIGNED QC VOL 4 ON SALE THIS WEDNESDAY

SIGNED VERSIONS of QC4 will be available on Wednesday! Anyone who ordered a single copy who wants a signed version whose order hasn’t ALREADY BEEN SHIPPED can contact Topatoco for instructions here http://topatoco.com/help/. If your order has already been shipped I’m sorry but there’s nothing we can do. ANYWAY KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED

QC VOLUME 4 IS ON SALE NOW

QC VOLUME 4 IS ON SALE NOW

TopatoCo at TCAF this weekend!

TopatoCo at TCAF this weekend!:

topatoco:

THIS WEEKEND in Toronto, Ontario! The Toronto Comics and Arts Festival! TopatoCo will be there, on the second floor, kings of all we survey, and we’ll have the following artists with us:

Christopher Baldwin

Anthony Clark

Joey Comeau & Emily Horne, with their new A Softer World…

this dude is waiting behind a tree to mug that lady, what the...

this dude is waiting behind a tree to mug that lady, what the hell ebay why are you promoting crime

Permanence Is On Sale For Everyone

Pretty happy with that bass tone

Pretty happy with that bass tone

beatonna:Here is a sketch comic I made called Ducks, in five...

beatonna:

Here is a sketch comic I made called Ducks, in five parts.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Ducks is about part of my time working at a mining site in Fort McMurray, the events are from 2008.  It is a complicated place, it is not the same for all, and these are only my own experiences there.  It is a sketch because I want to test how I would tell these stories, and how I feel about sharing them.  A larger work gets talked about from time to time.  It is not a place I could describe in one or two stories.  Ducks is about a lot of things, and among these, it is about environmental destruction in an environment that includes humans.  Thank you for taking the time to read it.

-Kate

Kate’s best work IMO, read it read it read it