yngzaklynch
New member
Yeah I know this gets asked every so often. They seem really nice but not sure if they can hang with the Suhr’s and PRS’s of the world. Anyone have experience with Kiesels?
mystixboi
Well-known member
I’ve heard horror stories about their CS but my experiences have been great. The build quality has always been great and the Guitars sound fantastic but at the end of the day, I’d rather invest my money other companies.
Also, Jeff seems like a pompous ass hat
Also, Jeff seems like a pompous ass hat
yngzaklynch
New member
Good to know. Thanks.
rbasaria
Well-known member
I bought 2 in 2015, I think...an SCB6 and a DC600. The guitars played and looked ridiculously great! The sound, though...they lacked sustain, almost at all, and I ended up finding that my LTD H400, which cost me $350, sounded and resonated a million times better than my 2 $1500 guitars. It was very disappointing.
Ended up trading the SCB6 for a Gibson Gothic V shortly after getting the DC600 because it kept sliding off of my leg because the lower horn was a little on the short side. I have this problem with most single cut guitars.
I traded the DC600 to a buddy of mine for a 300 blackout AR pistol build. While the tone on both guitars was somewhat lacking, the tipping point for me on the DC600 was when I went to swap the Kiesel pickups with Dimarzio Dominions. Turns out, they used different length pickup mounting screws for the bridge and neck pickups. Ended up screwing right through the back of the guitar when adjusting the neck pickup height. Ended up having to repair that. Carvin did say they would fix it for me for $100, but when I initially emailed them, they said they do not use different sized screws. Then I sent them this picture, and they never addressed the screw size issue after that, just offered the repair.
Anyway. Sort of done with that company. The way the guitars sound and respond just make them not worth it to me anymore, no matter how much I wanted these guitars for YEARS before I was actually able to buy them. I will not purchase another.
Ended up trading the SCB6 for a Gibson Gothic V shortly after getting the DC600 because it kept sliding off of my leg because the lower horn was a little on the short side. I have this problem with most single cut guitars.
I traded the DC600 to a buddy of mine for a 300 blackout AR pistol build. While the tone on both guitars was somewhat lacking, the tipping point for me on the DC600 was when I went to swap the Kiesel pickups with Dimarzio Dominions. Turns out, they used different length pickup mounting screws for the bridge and neck pickups. Ended up screwing right through the back of the guitar when adjusting the neck pickup height. Ended up having to repair that. Carvin did say they would fix it for me for $100, but when I initially emailed them, they said they do not use different sized screws. Then I sent them this picture, and they never addressed the screw size issue after that, just offered the repair.
Anyway. Sort of done with that company. The way the guitars sound and respond just make them not worth it to me anymore, no matter how much I wanted these guitars for YEARS before I was actually able to buy them. I will not purchase another.
Zado
Well-known member
Spectacular if your plan is to show off in forums and internet communities.
moltenmetalburn
Active member
It seems they are offshore guitars with hardware added in the USA. Hard to tell but sometging has always been off about this brand and the customer horror stories abound. Too many great guitars iut there to gamble.
rbasaria
Well-known member
moltenmetalburn":3t3u0nk2 said:
They are CNCd in their shop in San Diego. None of them are hand made, and that is one of Jeff's biggest douche bag points...You want CNC guitars, not hand made because of inconsistency blah blah.
Shask
Well-known member
rbasaria":376rrf9d said:
I have Raf's old SCB6 (the one on the left). I have had it a few years now. I actually really like the guitar. It is one of the smoothest playing guitars I have. The 25" scale combined with a round C profile just fits in my hand well. It is Alder / Neckthrough Maple, so it is not very chunky. It is not going to give you a huge chug like a Mahogany guitar, but I like it for stuff that needs a clear, cutting tone, like Death, or Necrophagist, or something like that. I have a set of Duncan Black Winters in it.
B
baron55
Active member
moltenmetalburn":pgjj8r59 said:
No they are made here in the states all on CNC machines which is what everyone else does now as well.
The issue most have is gook looks don't translate to good tone. I think to many get caught up with fancy looking wood and aesthetics and that means many tone conflicting woods are used, thus the guitars sound dead. I own 3, a Carvin and 2 Kiesel's and the sound great, but I didn't go crazy on wood options, just stayed with basic alder or mahogany bodies without all the extra's. Also I did replace the pickups from the stock Carvin/Kiesel pickups.
I am pretty sure the reason Jeff won't offer other pickup options is because his grandfather, Grandpa Kiesel, started out as a pickup maker in the late 1940's and Carvin was started originally as a Pickup manufacture for slide /pedal steel guitars. So I think Jeff would basically feel he was tarnishing his Grandpa's legacy. Funny though that now all Kiesel guitars have larger pickup routes and the Jason Becker Model comes stock with Duncan's. One of Jeff's Facebook video casts he opened the door of possibly offering Seymour Duncan's.
Kiesel's are good US made and you can't by another US made guitar in the same price point range, but they are not for everyone. Their re-sale value is low because they don't pay any top endorsers to play them.
Nobody really cared about Carvin amps until the Vai came out with the Legacy, and nobody cared about Peavey until EVH came out with the 5150, which now is considered the standard of heavy music.
I have never had an issue with Carvin/Kiesel but doesn't mean others haven't. And Jeff does come off like a douche. But remember he is in his early thirties which means he is a Southern California Millennial........LOL Where all the other guitar companies that guys like here are owned/run by men who are in there 50's - 70's.
sleewell2
New member
why do so many people say they sound dead? you don't hear that with many other similarly priced brands.
scottosan
Well-known member
great looks, great playability, but kind on bland in tone
cardinal
Well-known member
IMHO they make a nice -$1200ish guitar that you can tailor to your specs. But they cost less than a basic Suhr etc because they just don't have that build quality.
And while you can add $1000+ in options for fancy tops or this or that, all you've done is dumped $1000 of maple into a $1200 guitar. It doesn't mean that Kiesel has built that guitar to a higher standard.
And while you can add $1000+ in options for fancy tops or this or that, all you've done is dumped $1000 of maple into a $1200 guitar. It doesn't mean that Kiesel has built that guitar to a higher standard.
cardinal
Well-known member
sleewell2":2lkeba9r said:
I wonder if it's the double-action rod and graphite reinforcements in the neck. Supposedly that focuses more on the fundamental of the note rather than overtones. Another theory is that unless the graphite rod is very well fitted, there's a lot of glue used to gap fill in the channel, and the glue isn't the greatest for resonance.
Shawn Lutz
New member
Carvin Guitars. decent bang for the buck but there is just something slightly off and unappealing in the visual department that kept me from ever buying one
rbasaria
Well-known member
sleewell2":1adfixac said:
Eric has a few theories on this, but he has said the same thing.
Also, mine were both maple neck through, ebony board...SCB had alder body wings, DC600 had mahogany body wings. No fancy laminate neck or anything like that. Compared to my Gutierrez Juggernaut, which is also maple neck through, mahogany wings, maple top, and the difference is astounding. This guitar has a TON of sustain and liveliness to it that my Kiesels never had.
JimmyBlind
Active member
scottosan":219kjx80 said:
That's what i've heard also. Shame if so, as Jeff Kiesel seems like a really top guy. I love the Becker numbers guitar.
On the subject of looks vs sound, I found the same with a Mayones Regius I had earlier in the year. Amazing build quality, but pretty sterile in sound really. I think there are quite a few companies out there who are building some amazing looking guitars with revolutionary methods & exotic woods, but I think something is being sacrificed while trying to reinvent the wheel. I've got a tele now that sounds & plays better than most of the guitars i've owned.
RaceU4her
Well-known member
sleewell2":1sd7xrc4 said:
this seems to be more a new thing? people used to bitch about the pickups but most would switch them out anyway and be happy. people used to not be able to deal with the headstocks more than anything
technomancer
Well-known member
I've seen way too many CS horror stories... and Jeff Kiesel is just way too much into cult marketing trying to turn everything into an us vs them battle when really nobody in the "them" camp cares. The whole releasing a Holdsworth 7 days after he passed away and claiming he had signed off on it when he had been opposed to 7 and 8 string guitars his whole career also struck me as fishy and really turned me off.
They're usually solidly built guitars, and I think the "dead" guitars lately are probably because of wood that hasn't been dried properly / for long enough. Their volume has gone up and I think that has impacted this.
They're usually solidly built guitars, and I think the "dead" guitars lately are probably because of wood that hasn't been dried properly / for long enough. Their volume has gone up and I think that has impacted this.
rbasaria
Well-known member
technomancer":110kb0nk said:
Pretty much my thoughts, as well.
crankyrayhanky
Well-known member
rbasaria":3931ob6s said:
It's been about a year and I love my KM7. Interestingly, I had a Gutierrez Juggernaut- which is an astounding instrument in resonance, tone, playability- and the KM7 was right there with it. I needed cash and I winded up selling the Juggernaut (though I do miss that axe).
I have Mahogany Neck and Body with a maple top bolt-on. I love the chunky sustained tone it delivered on this demo I'm working on (mellow verses/hi gain chorus
https://soundcloud.com/before-it-was-wr ... ll-my-name
and yes, it looks amazing (to me
