STAR CHILD Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 I'm thinking about getting a new amp pretty soon? I currently have a Peavey Classic 50 2-12. It's an awesome amp, but I need more aggressive tone and more Watts!!! So, what do you all think? Carvin has a 100 Watt all tube half stack for $1,000 right now! The 100 Watt combo of the same amp is around $700. Thanks so much!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Rockso Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 what amp is it? i've got a V3 and thats a fantastic amp for rock or metal, and the legacy series are fine amps as well. depends what sort of stuff you play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Wouldn't have the slightest idea. In fact, most people wouldn't as well. That's the problem when you don't actually sell your products in stores. Carvin may very well have the greatest products in the history of the world... but I'll never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy60 Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 yeah, the only gripe i have with my x-100b is that there aren't separate reverb, presence, volume, 3 band and graphic 5 band eq controls for the rhythm and lead channels. kinda makes the footswitch pointless when you can only dial in a good rhythm or a good lead but not both at the same time. oh well. i just use the rhythm anyways and if i need a boost just hook up an effects processor in front of it. but it's a great amp for any application and built solid like a tank. you can gig or tour with it and it holds up better than most.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverbursted Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 My buddy just got a custom Carvin Guitar, and the quality on it is nothing short of fantastic. I never tried one of their amps, but it looks like they take care in building all of their products, so I'd assume it would be good as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canon_mutant Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Similar to Fender, you'll find Carvin amps to have remarkable clean channels. The dirty channels are highly dependent upon your personal taste for what type of filth you're looking for. The V3 came along way with a much wider array of dirty possibilities. If you Shred, I still think you might be better served elsewhere. The Steve Vai Legacy II is certainly on my shortlist but I'm into Blues and Classic Rock. Great pricing for what you get just like their guitars. If you don't like it, send it back. I wish BlackStar would get that Series One released. After their Artisan series, I'm really anxious to play one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I have a Carvin V3 combo amp. I found it on ebay for $700. It's a really cool amp! You can play so many different styles of music with it. The V3 definitely has it's own unique sound. It doesn't sound like a Mesa, Marshall, or Fender. IT SOUNDS LIKE A V3!! At first I wasn't really satisfied with the tones that I was getting, but now that I've spent alot of time with the amp I really like it!! It's not really a sound that many people are familiar with. For example, I've never owned a Mesa amp before but I really dig that "recto" sound. Unfortunately, not many people have used Carvin gear before. The best thing to do is order the amp your interested in and send it back if your not satisfied. The only problem with this is the V3 is not an amp that most people fall in love with overnight. It seriously takes alot of patience and time tweaking the sounds to your liking. Then there's also the choice of speakers, tubes, and cabinets. Like I said before, I wasn't satisfied with my V3 for a long time. Now I love the tones that I'm getting with my Strat and my Les Paul. I changed the stock EL34's and 12AX7's to JJ's 6L6 retube kit. I prefer the sound of 6L6's. As far as speakers go, I like the Celestion Vintage 30's in my V3 combo. All in all, the V3 offers a whole lotta' amp for a great price. EXCELLENT VALUE!! I would recommend it. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluzhammer Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I am not sure about Carvin amps, their guitars are pretty descent. I am caught up in trying to finish this retro amp I'm building. I have faced a series of setbacks trying to dial it in but I shall persevere. Once I have it finished out I will post some pictures of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chongo Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I'm thinking about getting a new amp pretty soon? I currently havea Peavey Classic 50 2-12. It's an awesome amp' date=' but I need more aggressive tone and more Watts!!! So, what do you all think? [/quote'] I've got half a dozen Carvin guitars and five of their amps, with one of them a solid state amp dating to 1971 (2x15" Altec Lansing 418-8A's and a horn for the high-mids and treble). Obviously they hold up <G>. One is an XV112B from about '89. It's the single-12" combo version of the original series of X100B amps. EL-34 powered, 100 watts and, run through a pair of 4x12's, will blow a similar Marshall off the stage. These amps were probably closest to the same-era Mesa Boogie models, with active tone controls, 5-band EQ, spring reverb tank, etc. There's a 25/50/100 switch that will allow you to run the amp at lower powers (though it's still far too loud, even at the 25 watt setting, for any venue where ear-splitting volume isn't important. Absolutely one of my favorite amps, period. The "reissue" of this amplifier is no longer available in a single 12" version, but there are other differences. The volume on it is lower (due partly to less efficient speakers -- Celestion Rocket 50's -- in the cabinets) and it's a solid state reverb. Truth is, the reverb is probably *better* than the spring tank on the old one, for what that's worth. Still one of the best tube amps ever in terms of tone, whether reissue or original. Cleans are gorgeous, as on most Carvin amps. The Carvin Belair is the 2x12" version of their "vintage" amp series. The Nomad is the single 12" combo version, and they've actually had a head/cab version available at one point. It's a 50 watt EL84 amp that has traditionally come wrapped in fake tweed tolex and oxblood grill cloth (though you can now get it in other colors). Mine came with Celestion Vintage 30's new (they're putting something else in them at the moment), and they're nicely broken in. Mine was also trashed by the previous owner, so it now has *real* lacquered tweed as a covering. All Belairs have great cleans, to the point of being gorgeous that way. They also have a Soak (gain) channel that was designed by Alan Holdsworth, complete with clipping diodes, and some folks love it and some folks think it's a little muddy. A fellow named Richard Hassebrock ("Hasserl" on the Carvin forums) designed some mods for his amp and published them. These have become the de-facto standard mods for this amp, they're that good. I've had his Stage II and Attitude mods done on my Belair (by Richard, since he lives in Fullerton), and they definitely live up to the "like taking a blanket off the amp" comments. The consensus is that it makes the Soak channel sound "like a vintage Marshall, but with more gain than any vintage Marshall ever had..." Really spot on. A further mod allows you to set the amount of negative feedback from a stock setting to none at all, and this allows you to tweak the gain channel further and also affects the clean channel, allowing a bit more touch sensitivity and the ability to get some very bluesy "hair" when you dig in on the clean channel. An enormously favored amp. I really haven't dealt with the Legacy or the V3 all that much; I've had the high-end multi-stack bit covered for years, and most of that mess is in storage these days. I've listened to both and they're both enormously good amps for what they do. I'd have no compunctions about buying those if I had requirements in that area, but tinnitus-inducing 4x12's just don't make all that much sense these days (IMHO, of course). Wouldn't have the slightest idea. In fact, most people wouldn't as well. That's the problem when you don't actually sell your products in stores. Carvin may very well have the greatest products in the history of the world... but I'll never know. This is an unfortunate attitude, I think. You leave a lot on the table this way, simply because there are manufacturers who don't make enough product to fill the aisles at CostCo, Walmart or Guitar Center. As a result, you see mostly the mediocre. I extolled the virtues of Bruce Egnater's amps for a long time, but he sold only to the knowledgeable until he worked a deal with Guitar Center to have an asian manufacturer crank out enough product to fill their shelves. Now, of course, Egnater amps are the current darling, but the versions at Guitar Center aren't half what he can do. He's an amazingly talented designer (at least one amp manufacturer licensed the interchangeable tube amp tone modules from him, but it's his design) that you would never have known otherwise because you only buy from stores. Carvin makes outstanding guitars that are, each one of them, virtually Custom Shop one-offs with stunning woods and amazing build quality, but which are less expensive than comparable Gibson and PRS guitars by lots, simply because they *aren't* sold in stores, but are sold direct from the manufacturer. Same goes for Rondo Music's Agile line; their AL series guitars are easily the equivalent of (and at one point were built in the same Korean plant as) Epiphones costing half again and double Rondo's direct-to-you pricing. I have one custom shop (they have one!) version that easily tracks with Gibson Custom Shop guitars costing four times as much. But they don't sell in a brick-and-mortar store. There are other items that you just aren't going to find in your local store. Flux-Tone speakers are one. If you have a 100-watt smoking-loud amplifier that you want to play full-bore all the time to get a particular tone, you may have a problem when you bring the thing into a club where the owner waves a decibel meter and says, "exceed this level and you're done for the night and permanently for the club." Or when you practice somewhere with neighbors and children who need to sleep, etc. With a flux-tone speaker, you can simply dial down the speaker (it's not an attenuator; it's your favorite Vintage 30 or Jensen, but with a variable electromagnet on the back) efficiency as much as 25 dB. That's like turning your 100 watt amp into a half-watt version. Crank as hard as you want to, play with all the ferocity you can muster and you'll get the same sound. Just less of it. But you won't find it at your local store. Sorry. 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canon_mutant Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 I'm thinking about getting a new amp pretty soon? I currently havea Peavey Classic 50 2-12. It's an awesome amp' date=' but I need more aggressive tone and more Watts!!! So, what do you all think? Carvin has a 100 Watt all tube half stack for $1,000 right now! The 100 Watt combo of the same amp is around $700. Thanks so much!!! [/quote'] You're probably referring to the X100? Though not at all a bad amp, you're not going to get a more aggressive tone from it. It would probably be on par with your Peavey on the dirty channel. The V3 is the most aggressive amp they have and it's pretty reasonably priced. Anxious to hear the Legacy II Vai amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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