Carvin guitars ares really good. I have 13 of them. Very high quality. The pickups are good. Carvin is not on the same level as peavey when it comes to guitar making. Amps is one thing, but there guitars are just as good as all of the machine cut PRS's outthere that cost 2 grand.
I was hesitent at first too, but I bought one from the instock and loved them. I sold soon after My JEM, EBMM JP model, ESP Eclipse, Washburn Pilsen, and a couple of others to finance more carvins. The only non Carvin I own is a Fender telecaster.
I still say their best guitar is the DC127M