In 1946, Lowell Kiesel founded Kiesel Electronics in Los Angeles, California. Three years later, the Kiesel family settled in Covina, California, and began the original catalog business of manufacturing and distributing lap steel guitars, small tube amps, and pickups. The Carvin trademark was derived from Kiesel´s two oldest sons, Carson and Gavin. Guitars were originally offered in kit form, or by parts since 1949; Carvin began building complete guitars in 1956. By 1978, the glued set-neck design replaced the bolt-on necks. The majority of the current guitar and bass models currently feature a neck-through design.
Carvin has always been a mail-order-only company, and offers players a wide range of options on the individual models. Even though they can´t be tried out before they´re bought, Carvin offers a ten-day money-back guarantee. Because Carvin sells factory direct, these guitars are not stocked in music stores. It is suggested that a current copy of their catalog be requested (free of charge) to find out more about the company´s current models and pricing. Carvin also used to have a factory store in Sherman Oaks.
Carvin offers a full range of guitar and bass replacement parts in their full line catalog. The Carvin company also offers mixing boards, power amplifiers, power mixers, P.A. speakers, monitor speakers, guitar combo amps/heads/cabinets, and bass amps/cabinets. Lowell Kiesel passed away on December 28, 2009.
Instruments currently produced in Escondido, CA since 1969. Previous production was located in Covina, CA from 1949 to 1969. Carvin instruments are sold through direct catalog sales, as well as through five factory stores in CA: Covina, Hollywood, Sacramento, San Diego, and Santa Ana.