I lusted after Carvin basses for years. Finally bought a Carvin B4, loved it but made a dumb decision to sell it. Immediately regretted it. Buyer sold it, I tried to get it back, but couldn’t because he was a tool. Later his buyer sold it, I bought it back before anyone else could buy it. It was a happy day for me, my Carvin returned home.
During that process, I also acquired a Fender Player Jazz which I have come to love. Surprising, because I’d never been a “Fender guy” and until this year actively avoided Fender-style basses.
Here’s the ironic part: I still love the B4 and will never sell it, but I greatly prefer playing the Jazz. The Jazz both feels better (that satin maple neck with the gloss maple freboard is amazing) and sounds better to me. Like, I’ll be playing my Jazz, and then I’ll get this pang of “I really should be playing the Carvin… I love that thing and put so much money and effort into getting it back”. Then I’m playing the Carvin and can’t help but think, “wow, man, I’d much rather be playing the Jazz, it’s such a better player.”
Seems weird to me that I’d rather play a bass I traded for on a lark than one I actually pursued and wound up buying twice.
The Jazz is the player, for all the apparently right reasons. The Carvin is the one-that-got-away, prodigal bass. The former has practical value; the latter has sentimental value.
Doesn’t sound weird to me, what I’ve done is I rotate basses every week so that the whole family gets attention. Just like my kids, I still like one better than the other, but they all need attention
This is why I am hanging onto The Beast even if I think about selling it as I’m “just not a 6-string player.” It was my first Carvin/Kiesel bass after a long time of fandom, and it is a great instrument. If I do sell it, it will be the last thing of all the things I want to move…
I use maroon and/or green 3M pads.
Heavy on the maroon, light on the green, but I alway start with maroon, finer grit.
@Barney’s link to steel wool works fine too, but I generally don’t take my necks off to sand them (lazy) and don’t want the steel wool fibers anywhere near my pickups, so I like the 3M pads better.
Just remember you are refinishing the finish, not the wood underneath.
No need to pull off the neck. A luthier turned me on to #0000 steel wool.
All I do is tape off my pup(s) with painters tape and hold the instrument upside down. A quick wipe with a clean cloth and the operation is done and over in a few minutes.
I’ve used scour pads, too, but I still tape off any part of the bass that might collect dust where I can’t easily clean it.
Either way, it’s doable and fast with proper prep and technique.
The ur-bass.