Serial# 74700

The “Fat Lady” is a wonderful product of the Carvin factory in San Diego. She’s a Holdsworth “fatboy” model, which means a hollow body – you can tap it and hear a hollow “bok” sound.

You get to specify your options when you order from Carvin, and I had a very clear idea in mind for this guitar:

  • Flamed maple 1/8″ top
  • Ruby stain, gloss finish
  • matched headstock
  • Birdseye maple fretboard
  • No inlays on fretboard, side dots only
  • Clear satin finish on neck
  • Black chrome hardware
  • 2 coil taps
  • Engraved truss rod cover: “Fat Lady”

Even though I’d specified gloss on the body and clear satin finish on the neck, they managed to do it. I relocated the strap post from the back of the neck joint to the top “horn”. I think it hangs better this way. Others disagree.

Hear the fat lady sing:

This little multitracked demo shows off some of the sounds I can get from this guitar, using the Line6 POD 2.0 and Digitech GSP21 effect units. The timing is a little wonky in places.

Here’s another piece featuring the Fat Lady: Greener Pastures:

This solo composition is going for the warm jazz tone but the HF2 doesn’t quite want to go there. I’m perfectly happy to go where it wants to, however.

Update: In recent years I installed a Graphtec GHOST piezo bridge in this guitar. Details available on the Carvin Forum: Haunting the Fat Lady.