Carvin Corporation is a family-owned

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, manufacturer of

guitar amplifier A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic amplifier, electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a Pickup (music technology), pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce so ...

s and

audio equipment Audio equipment refers to devices that reproduce, record, or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units, headphones, and speakers. Audio equip ...

. The company is known for its early work using plastics in the 1940s, making electric guitars from Resinox.

History

Founded by Lowel C Kiesel as the ''L.C. Kiesel Company,'' in 1946 in

''.'' The company's first self-manufactured items were

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

pickups, which were wound using an old sewing machine. Manufacturing then shifted to producing entire steel guitars. By 1947, operations briefly moved to Kiesel's home town of Gothenburg, Nebraska and back to Southern California in 1949, where Kiesel named the company ''Carvin'', a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

derived from the first names of his two eldest sons, ''Car''son and Ga''vin''. From 1950 to 1970, Carvin manufactured and assembled several types of guitars and amplifiers. They were an authorized manufacturer and reseller for Fender and

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guitars, DeArmond pickups, and Sonola accordions. In the 1960s and early 1970s, they used Höfner necks on guitars they made. Starting in the 1970s, Carvin developed a niche in the musical instrument world by selling directly to the public via mail order. In the late 1970s, Carvin began the production of their own instrument parts and expanded their product lines to include professional audio gear, amps, recording equipment, lighting, and other stage and studio equipment. Later on, Carvin switched to manufacturing through-neck guitars, attracting metal players such as Jason Becker and

Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...

. In the 1980s, they began to offer customized guitars and basses, based on available body shapes, woods, colors, electronics, and other features. On December 28, 2009, it was announced that the founder of Carvin Guitars/Kiesel Guitar, Lowell C. Kiesel, had died. In 2015, Carvin Corporation split off the guitar business to a new company, Kiesel Guitars, which continues to build electric and acoustic guitars, MIDI synth guitars, bass guitars and other instruments under the Carvin Guitars brand as well as new, Kiesel branded instruments. Carvin Corporation continued to operate the brands Carvin Amplifiers and Carvin Audio, which manufactured guitar and bass amplifiers as well as other professional audio gear. In October 2017, Carvin Audio announced that their California factory would be closing its doors after over 70 years. On January 23, 2018, Carvin Amps and Audio announced the relaunch of their website. On June 14, 2018 Carvin announced the warehouse has been moved to a centralized USA location to offer customers faster shipping countrywide.(archived)

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.carvinaudio.com/
Lowell Kiesel Interview
at NAMM Oral History Library (2003)
Carson Kiesel Interview
at NAMM Oral History Library (2003)
Carvin DN640K
review, Willie G. Moseley, ''Vintage Guitar'', March 2005, accessed on line March 9, 2007.
Carvin Cobalt C780 Jumbo Acoustic-Electric
review, ''proaudioreview.com'', accessed on line March 9, 2007. 1946 establishments in California Audio amplifier manufacturers Electronics companies established in 1946 Guitar amplifier manufacturers Loudspeaker manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in San Diego Music equipment manufacturers Privately held companies based in California Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States Family-owned companies of the United States