In the 1960s and early 1970s, they used Höfner necks on guitars they made. They were an authorized manufacturer and reseller for Fender and Martin guitars, DeArmond pickups, and Sonola accordions. įrom 1950 to 1970, Carvin manufactured and assembled several types of guitars and amplifiers. Manufacturing then shifted to producing entire steel guitars.īy 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 derived from the first names of his two eldest sons, Carson and Ga vin. The company's first self-manufactured items were guitar pickups, which were wound using an old sewing machine. Kiesel Company, in 1946 in San Diego, California. Only time will tell if the Zeus is a keeper, but so far it’s been a joy to play.įor players searching for a custom headless guitar in the $1100 and up range, the Kiesel Zeus is an excellent option worth considering.Founded by Lowel C Kiesel as the L.C.
By further refining the height of the pole pieces on each coil, I was able to dial-in usable split coil sounds with negligible loss of gain. From the factory, the pickups produced a honky tone, but by adjusting the pole pieces to match the neck radius, the bridge pickup opened up to provide a rich full-bodied tone with a slight raspy edge and the neck pickup provided a balanced jazz-like tone with a touch of chime. The installed Kiesel Holdsworth Passive humbucker pickups have proven to be a versatile choice and offer a variety of tones thanks to the 5-way Strat-style selector switch. Even with the added mass of the tuners at the rear of the tremolo assembly, the tremolo flutters nicely for those seeking to emulate David Torn or Steve Vai.
Thankfully, the Hipshot/Kiesel tremolo does not exhibit the pitch wavering/oscillation that plagues other floating tremolos. It is unfortunate Kiesel no longer offers the JCustom tremolo (a Steinberger clone) as this design was impervious to palm pressure and could be locked in place for easy tuning. Tuning is definitely fidgety, with a fair amount of back and forth balancing, but not insurmountable. Keep in mind this is a floating tremolo, so if you are accustomed to resting your palm on the bridge, you may have to adjust your technique to keep the tremolo in its neutral position. The Hipshot/Kiesel tremolo operates smoothly, returns to pitch well, and has excellent sustain. Thanks to traditionally placed strap buttons, the Zeus hangs perfectly balanced on a strap. Some may find the top bevel on the guitar too extreme, but in person, it is visually appealing and yields an extremely comfortable playing guitar. The standard neck profile felt good in my hand for both chording and leads and seemed similar to a Warmoth “Standard Thin” or modern Fender American Standard Strat neck. As such, raising the action was necessary before the guitar was enjoyable to play. Intonation was spot on, but I found the action to be too low for my playing style. The tung oil neck was satin smooth, the royal ebony fretboard was stunning, and the stainless steel frets were dressed expertly. Try as I may, I could not find a single blemish on the ultra shiny British Racing Green finish. My Zeus arrived in flawless condition and I was immediately impressed with the top-notch build quality. The headpiece accepts standard single ball guitar strings only - double ball (Steinberger style) strings will not work. The bolt-on neck has a minimal, sculpted neck heel which allows easy access to the higher frets. All Zeus models feature a beveled body and, unlike most headless designs, has the bridge mounted tuners recessed in the body giving the guitar a modern, yet familiar shape. The Zeus is custom built to order with multiple options to choose from, including 6, 7 and 8 string standard scale and multi-scale models, 14 or 20-inch neck radius, various neck and body woods, numerous finishes, frets and pickups.
The Zeus, as reviewed here, was introduced in January of this year. Kiesel Guitars (formerly Carvin Guitars) has been producing the headless Allan Holdsworth Signature guitar for many years, but only recently started expanding their headless offerings - first with the Vader in 2015 and now with three additional models in 2018.
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