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.
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