Tag: bicycle line

That last trade for the Carvin was a bit of a risk, but a calculated one, and it paid off this weekend.

As I’ve learned during this project, there are a few guitar brands that have real draw. The combination of name recognition and often fierce brand loyalty means that they have both widespread appeal and a dedicated and fervent fan base. Fender and Gibson are the two that I’ve seen with that kind of power. Epiphone and Ibanez are respectable brands, too, but don’t have the gravitas of those big names. Paul Reed Smith guitars seem to be right between a Carvin and a Gibson, with a little more name recognition, but still kind of a guitarist’s guitar, and a following that absolutely swears by them. I’m sure there are others.

Carvin, though, who are they? They seemed to be a somewhat small, boutique outfit who had been around for a while, with a reputation for good quality guitars that weren’t all that widely available. This made it risky with real potential payoff, though; it’s a lesser-known brand, but with potentially a lot of interest among those who have heard of it.

That ended up being the case with Greg (not his real name). Greg wrote and offered me a beautiful Gibson Les Paul guitar, with a near-immaculate satin gold finish, no dings, dents, or scratches, and only the slightest wear. Looking into it, I found that that guitar had sold in the past for anywhere between $800 and $1,800, and I’d valued the Carvin at $1,550. But I wasn’t finding many of this Gibson model available, and with its high quality and excellent condition, scarcity is my friend.

“I have tomorrow off,” Greg told me on Thursday. “I’m coming from Sonora, so, bit of a drive.”

He must mean Sonoma, I thought. And he’s right, forty-five minutes is a bit of a drive for a trade but hey, I’ve done it (shoutout to that Stockton Denny’s!) But no, he meant Sonora, in the Yosemite foothills.

That’s a 2 1/2 hour drive. One way.

I really didn’t want to make this guy drive that far if I wasn’t sure. So I thought on it, did some more research, thought about how long I’ve wanted to have a Gibson guitar to trade, and decided to go for it. If his guitar was in worse shape than he’d let on, that wasn’t on me.

And of course it wasn’t. It was just as he’d described and just as beautiful as I’d expected. And he was so happy with his get. “I have like seven Les Pauls at home, and I’ve always wanted a Carvin.” It always feels really good to make trades where the other party is getting something they really want.

And, the guy made the drive worth it. On the way out he stopped in Tracy to see his daughter. Was gonna head to Elk Grove outside of Sacramento on his way back to stop and see his brother. He made a day of it. That made me feel better.

As for me, I was able to meet him outside the Guitar Center in Emeryville, make the trade, and get back home without having to eat into much of my Friday workday.

One weird story from our exchange: We were both in masks, and there were some paramedics taking a break outside their ambulance nearby. Greg motioned to his mask (we were both wearing masks) and he said to me, “This stuff drives me crazy. You look at the EMTs and they’re not wearing masks, and it just…” He shook his head.

And I was like, “Yeah man I hear you.” But immediately I thought, wait I’m actually not sure which thing this guy is complaining about. Is it that he’s frustrated that even EMTs aren’t following the basic public health advice? Or is he suggesting that EMTs don’t wear the masks, so this all feels like a big hoax? It honestly was unclear to me.

Anyway as I usually do, I said at the end, “Well, normally I would shake your hand, but…” And he was like, “Nope, I’m good with that,” as he turned away with his new guitar.

So maybe that gives me my answer.

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1984 Mercier Le Velo line:
Original item value: $200
Number of trades to date: 6
Latest trade: 1996 Carvin DC400M electric guitar ($1550) for 2017 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Tribute ($1750)
Total line value dollar increase: $1550
Total line value percent increase: 775%

I’ll admit to having been a little concerned about the stratocaster.

It was a gorgeous guitar, and Walker made it sound beautiful in the demo video they made. But, as Walker knew from the very first play, and I learned when they told me, the pickups were a little weird. A little off. Maybe it was the wiring? They just sounded a little grating. (“Tell them it’s ‘set up for a lo-fi sound,” Walker advised.) The pickups, they could be fixed, but I’m not trying to put a whole lot of time (and no money, if I can manage) into fixing up the things I get in this project.

Still, the strat was beautiful, and somewhat popular. I had almost traded for a gorgeous Gibson Les Paul in TV Yellow, with robotic tuners (!!), much like this one. But I hemmed and hawwed and just as I’d agreed to the deal, the trader had gotten word that someone had purchased it on Reverb. Sad trombone. (Sidenote: Sometime I may put together a “The Trades That Weren’t” post to talk about some of the near misses. There are stories there, too.)

So this guitar got a lot of views and a decent amount of interest, but nothing quite worked. Then on Friday night, just as I’d reposted the Craigslist ad, Manny (not his real name) got in touch.

Hi there.
Nice looking Strat.
I’d be willing to trade my gorgeous 
’96 Carvin DC400 w/tweed case. 
Gold hardware, locking tuners, 
block abalone inlays, all original.  
If this sounds interesting, give  me a call. 
(xxx)xxx-xxxx.

Interesting indeed, Manny, tell me more. And the photos he sent were super promising. I was very interested in a guitar that looked like this (these photos are my own):

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He sent me a couple videos, too. “I like the guitar a lot,” he told me, “but I’m mostly doing jazz any more and the pickups are just too hot. I took it to a shop to have the pickups swapped out for some EMG’s, but the active electronics didn’t allow for it. A good axe.”

A good axe. He was in Santa Rosa but happy to make a drive. Where did I want to meet? I suggested something not far past the bridge. How about that Starbucks in Hercules? Just off the highway?

“Sounds good,” he wrote. And then, “It’s a tradition.  This Carvin came to me in a Starbucks parking lot in Fairfield, six years ago.”

And this morning, we brought it full circle.

As per usual, Walker was very happy to oblige in testing it out and making a video for me to share with prospective traders. And, wow. Every video gets better.

Walker also discovered just what a dope guitar this is. Not only is it gorgeous, with its gold hardware and solid body, but it’s got locking tuners, and coil splitters for each pickup! That means you can use the knobs to adjust just how active each of the four pickups are at any given time. Not a super common design, and very cool.

Now if you’ll excuse me, someone in a Facebook chat just offered me a motorcycle for the guitar. (Def gonna say no lol, it’s a project bike, but it’s a Harley! And looks super cool! I wonder what else he’s got!)

**UPDATE: Awwww 🙂 Got an email this morning from Manny:

Strat’s found a good home.
Here she is with her predecessor.
Super playable. Thanks.

This warms my heart. I’m so glad he’s happy with it ❤️

1984 Mercier Le Velo line:
Original item value: $200
Number of trades to date: 5
Latest trade: Upgraded 2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster ($1250) for 1996 Carvin DC400M electric guitar ($1550)
Total line value dollar increase: $1350
Total line value percent increase: 675%