The Carvin V220 electric guitar was introduced in 1984 and remained in production until 1990, when it was replaced by a sharper-edged version called the "X220". During this six-year period, the body shape remained the same, but there were some subtle changes. For example, the 1984 version had the numbered control knobs as seen above on the black guitar. A year later, these were replaced with knurled metal knobs similar to those found on the Fender Telecaster guitar. The most significant change came in 1988. Up to that point, the necks on these, and all Carvin guitar models, were glued into the solid maple bodies. But starting in 1988, the maple neck extended past the fretboard, and ran the length of the guitar's body. Then two maple side "wings" were attached, giving the guitar the same shape, but with different sustain qualities, since now the bridge and nut were attached to the same piece of wood.
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This was my first V220, "Thing One". It's a 1985 model. I spotted it in a pawn shop in 1994. They were asking $200 for it, but my wife negotiated a price of half that, based on the poor condition of the instrument. The finish was badly scratched and gouged. The headstock had been broken, and improperly repaired. All the dot markers on the fretboard had been taken out, and the holes filled with white glue. All mounting screws for hardware were rusted (was it left out in the rain?). The Allen wrench holes for the original locking clamp were stripped. The bridge pickup has "scalloped" wear along the leading edge, as if it had been tilted way back, and the strings gouged into it. How it could be playable like this is a mystery. All of the control knobs were missing, as was the whammy bar. The controls were also dirty, which again could not be the case if the instrument had been properly cared for. The case was thoroughly thrashed, with broken latches and the rivets the hinges had been torn out and replaced with screws. |
So far, I've removed all the hardware and sanded off all of the finish. Attempts to replace the original nut with a Floyd Rose type locking nut have failed. I have decided to retain the original brass nut, and place the locking nut directly behind it. My original plan was to eventually refinish the guitar in the same black finish it started out with, but now that I have acquired Thing Two, I am considering doing something else. Thing One is currently playable, although the locking nut/clamp has not yet been permanently secured. I've wired both pickups through the selector switch and out to the jack with no volume or tone controls to mess with the sound. I swapped out the guitar's stock bridge pickup, an M22 "Super Distortion", which is too hot for my vintage amp (below), in favor of an older M22 that came from my brother's original Carvin Bass.
Thing Two is a 1984 model, and was actually in fairly decent shape, except that the eleventh fret had been broken out, with some damage to the fretboard. I had the damaged fretboard repaired with epoxy resin, and a new fret installed and the fretboard dressed by a professional luthier. The coil tap switch for the bridge pickup doesn't seem to be working right, and actually, it probably wouldn't hurt to replace all of the controls. The plush case alone was worth the $60 price my wife negotiated for the guitar, and so long as I don't ever leave the house with both instruments, I can properly protect either on the road. |
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Thing One was not my first Carvin guitar. I bought a DC150 new from the factory in 1980. As you can see by the picture at left, the construction of this guitar was very similar. The 24-fret ebony fretboards are essentially the same, based on the 24 ¾" scale length found on most Gibson models. The DC150 offered some additional features; a separate output was available from each pickup, and in addition to the coil-tap switches also found on the V220, the DC150 had a switch to reverse the "phase" relationship of the two pickups. I sold my DC150 in 1983. |
Here's a view of the headstock on Thing One. The black areas along the side are spots where the paint was dented in, when a crack was repaired and the whole thing was squished together using "C"-clamps. When I got this guitar, the truss rod cover was missing, so when I ordered a new one from Carvin, I had them engrave it with "V220". You can also see how I have the Floyd-type locking nut snuggled up next to the original brass nut. I would have preferred to abandon the original nut completely, but the radius of the locking nut doesn't follow the contour of the fretboard, and the string-spacing isn't right. In any case, the Kahler tremolo differed from the original Floyd Rose, in that the strings are only locked at one end, behind the nut, and not at the bridge. Hence, it is not truly a "double-locking" tremolo system. In 1985, the patents on the Floyd system had not yet expired, so the designs of competing systems had to be careful to avoid infringement. I don't know if I can ever expect to get the best whammy performance out of this system. This model tremolo is no longer being made, which suggests to me that the market liked the Floyd Rose system better. Carvin themselves began offering Floyd Rose trems on their guitars in 1988.
After I sanded the finish off of Thing One, I found that I liked the feel of the raw wood on the back of the neck better than a finished neck. Gibson has this feature on their "Zakk Wylde" Les Paul model, and Carvin has also been offering unfinished necks with a Tung oil coating for many years now. So before I sent Thing Two off to the luthier, I sanded the back of its neck too. If I ever do get around to re-finishing Thing One, I plan on leaving its neck raw, or giving it a Tung oil treatment.
Thank you for allowing me to share my guitars with you. Be sure to check out the Gallery section of the Carvin Guitar Museum to see lots of other great Carvin guitars. You can also find out more about me by visiting my home page.
© 1996 - 2000 by Almighty Todd (Action figures sold separately)
Last update: December 2000