Bob Kovacs is an engineer and singer/guitarist. He can be reached at pvreditor@yahoo.com.
In 2002, Carvin began importing a low-cost, quality acoustic guitars called the Cobalt Series. These guitars come in a variety of shapes, sizes and woods. We reviewed two dreadnaught models last year, and we were impressed. In fact, the Cobalt cedar top C250S received our 2002 Best Of Award.
The latest Cobalt to get the eye is Carvin Cobalt C780. It is a jumbo acoustic guitar with a cutaway and an electronics package that makes it suitable for all types of performing and recording. At $590 with case, this guitar represents a killer value.
Features
The C780 is a jumbo body acoustic with a solid spruce top, and solid mahogany back (the sides are laminate). It has a modest, but tasteful, amount of details that trim the guitar. In particular, I like the ivory plastic binding that runs completely up the guitarĘs neck, a feature that I associate with more expensive guitars.
Another feature that I associate with more expensive guitars is the beautifully setup neck on the Carvin C780. Although the body of the guitar has a gloss finish, the neck has this "just right" satin finish and low action. Unlike many low cost guitars, the Carvin Cobalts have their necks glued in at the dovetail joint, which makes for a maximum sustain ł just like the big Martins and other expensive guitars.
The headstock of the C780 is adorned with an abalone inlay of the Carvin name and fitted with chrome Grover tuners. The rosewood bridge has a Tusq saddle, which has compensation for the B string. The guitar ships with light-gauge Elixir NanoWeb strings, which are very bright and long-lasting.
The jumbo body has a cutaway for easy access to the upper frets I could easily play bar chords on the 12th fret and simple chords on the 15th fret. The other big feature of the Carvin C780 is its Fishman Matrix pickup and Prefix Plus preamp and equalizer.
The Fishman Matrix pickup is an under-the-saddle piezo device and the Prefix Plus electronics package has a three-band EQ, with notch, contour, volume and phase controls. The electronics assembly flips up easily for quick replacement of the 9V battery. The strap button at the base of the guitar doubles as a 1/4-inch connector.
Considering the modest cost of this guitar, thoughtful details abound. For example, there is a second strap button mounted on the heel of the neck, and the guitar ships with an unattached adhesive-backed tortoise-shell pick guard.
If you want the pick guard on the guitar, all you have to do is stick it on; otherwise, you can enjoy the guitar's beautiful natural spruce top without hiding any of the wood behind the pick guard. I'm a hard strummer, so I attached the pick guard.
The Audition
This is a jumbo acoustic guitar, so it is a bit bigger and heavier than the typical dreadnaught. However, the Carvin C780 is not unusually heavy, nor does it feel unusually large. It balanced pretty well with a strap, and I never got tired holding it for an hour at a time.
The playability of every Carvin Cobalt acoustic guitar I have tried is excellent, and the C780 is no exception. From a standpoint of action, neck setup and playability, this guitar can go toe-to-toe with the best guitars out there.
The shape of the fretboard is just right and the frets are just the height that I like. The action is low enough to make the guitar easy to play, without any noticeable buzzes.
However, like other Carvin acoustic guitars, the C780 with the Elixir strings has an exceptionally bright acoustic sound. Since the C780 is a jumbo, it has a bit more bass to balance the bright, metallic treble. The etched treble is not a tone quality for everybody, but I enjoyed the bright acoustic sound of the C780, particularly since the jumbo size gave this guitar more bass. One simple way to take some of the high-end sizzle off this guitar is to replace the Elixir strings with a set of simple bronze strings.
Plugged into a PA system, the Carvin C780 had a pleasant sound that had somewhat of a piezo edge. The Prefix Plus electronics are flexible enough to make the sound more natural and I was able to notch out feedback that resulted in my particular PA setup. It took a lot of volume to reach the feedback point, so the C780 can handle high, on-stage levels with no problem.
The brightness of the Carvin C780 made it a very good guitar for fingerpicking. There is not the deep, booming bass that you get from a Martin HD-28, but the bass is natural and has sufficient volume. The bass will also increase with the aging of the back and top.
When plugged into the electronics, this guitar maintained its brightness on finger-picked songs without all the squeaks that I often get with other acoustics when changing chords.
Summary
The Carvin Cobalt C780 is a helluva bargain in an acoustic guitar. This thing looks, feels and plays like a much more expensive guitar. This is not a booming bass jumbo, but rather a loud, tight, bright, projecting guitar that gets a bit more treble boost from the Elixirs.
Besides the good soud quality, the reasonable price also gets you a cutaway acoustic with a nice electronics package and the construction quality of a much more expensive guitar.
If you are starting to play out more and getting more frequent gigs, you should consider the Carvin C780. This very good sounding guitar offers a lot of value for the money and is built to survive the rigors of the road. We have already nominated it for a 2003 "Best Of" award.
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