My Carvin BK4A kit build

[wmsheep]

[attachment=7747:IMG_0789rs.jpg]Roughly an hour ago there was an expected knock at the door, and I nearly wet myself with excitement!!

OK, as you read this I am now in possession of a Carvin BK4A bass kit, all the way from the good ol` US of A.

Yee Haw and all that stuff.

So, for my money, what did I get?

Well, I got a beautiful alder body, a maple neck (both unfinished), black hardware and all the pickups/wiring/electronics etc; all for the sum of...lets just say ABOUT £320. I could have dropped the price to around the £300 mark if I`d just gone for passive electronics

I have to say here and now, that the Carvin dealership that I went through, [url="http://www.rockstarguitar.co.uk/"] Rock-Star Guitars [/url] have been nothing short of brilliant throughout the whole process, giving me a very good price that included carriage costs, import duty, VAT etc, and keeping me informed of any updates as and when they happened. As it happened, I was quoted a delivery time of about 8 weeks (give or take a week or so), and that`s what time it`s taken from original order to delivery. The kit I ordered was not actually advertised on their website, but they were more than willing to help and sort out a price/deal for me. I would really recommend them to anyone here.

Of course, the Carvin was not the only kit that was available to me; I could have gone for a Thomann kit or “Musicman” kit (about £100), or I could have gone for something from WDMusic (about 450), or even done a “component” build from Warmoth (the sky is the limit price-wise there); however, after a couple of weeks lurking on various forums, I generally found that the Carvin forums were flame free (well, mostly flame free!!), and just a great place to hang out and swap build tips etc (Carvin do guitar kits as well, and there are some great builds/finishes there despite the flimsy strings they use).

Oh, I imagine you would like to see the as yet un-named beauty, wouldnt you.

Here you are.

[attachment=7746:IMG_0785rs.jpg]

[attachment=7748:IMG_0794rs.jpg]

[attachment=7749:IMG_0795rs.jpg]


As for the packaging that it came in; brilliant - the wooden components were in paper bags, which were then wrapped in bubble wrap, and then individually boxed before being all boxed together, and all the other hardware is in nice individual placcy bags.


Even as it arrived from the factory, there`s a bloody good finish on it; I could probably get away with giving it a quick rub down with some 400 grit sandpaper and slapping a couple of coats of paint on it and away I could go. But, that wouldnt do the kit any justice at all. So, what I`m thinking of doing is roughly as follows;

I) Enhancing the grain patterning with a black stain
II) A couple of coats of a dyed tung oil .
III) Giving the body & headstock a finish of a water based polyeurathane varnish (wipe on) that`s been dyed either red or blue (cant make up my mind yet – may even cover all bases and go for a purple finish)
IV) Polish like f**k

Of course, I`ve missed out a couple of steps there, but that`s the general idea. I think I`ll be documenting EVERY step during the build.

In an ideal world, the finish I would get is somewhat like this one



Of course, I dont have the flaming in the wood, but the colour is close enough.


Now, of course, comes the fun part of trying to make a dust/crap free place to do the work.

Join me soon for the next exciting episode in a couple of weeks or so, kiddywinks.



Mark

Edited April 16, 2008 by wmsheep

[Dubs]

That kit looks like an ideal first build experience...I'm almost tempted. Looks like you're going to have some fun finishing off the body.

Hope it goes as planned.

[Jono Bolton]

Did customs sting you for this wmsheep?

[wmsheep]

[quote name='jono b' post='179170' date='Apr 17 2008, 07:02 PM']Did customs sting you for this wmsheep?[/quote]

Well, there was no extra to pay on top of the original cost, if that`s what you mean.

The price I paid was an "All inclusive" price.

[Jono Bolton]

Er, yeah, basically. You got it from the USA right? I assumed that customs would charge you their usual bit on the top.

[wmsheep]

Jono; the price I paid was all inclusive. ie it covered

The price of the Bass
Shipping
Import duty
and VAT



I didnt ask for a full breakdown of things, and I`m not about to.


Mark

Edited April 18, 2008 by wmsheep

[paul, the]

I assume Jono is double checking because there are normally additional costs to pay once the gear is in the UK.

Well done to Carvin if they've sorted this out themselves.


Your Carvin kit is cool. Looking forward to seeing how this goes, Mark. Any plans for the headstock (decal)? I've had a custom one made in the past.

[wmsheep]

paul, I think it`s more down to Carvin AND Rock-star guitars (OK, and maybe Fed-Ex) for sorting it out; I`ve heard tales of stuff being stuck at airports for a week or so at a time.


Not sure about a headstock decal yet.

[bassmandan]

[quote name='wmsheep' post='177773' date='Apr 16 2008, 12:24 PM'][attachment=7747:IMG_0789rs.jpg]Of course, I dont have the flaming in the wood, but the colour is close enough.[/quote]

Just whack it through a planer, take a few mm off, stick a quilt cap on it and then re-radius it..... easy!