Carvin provide a wide range of products and yet I would say it’s their amps that stand out more than their guitars but maybe I am wrong about that. So lets take a peek at what type of amplifiers they are producing, see if their are any tube models.
If you have ever used a Carvin amp or if you have one currently do us a favour would you and leave us a comment letting me know what one you have and what you like or dislike about it.
Artists Using them
They honestly have some well known players such as Steve Vai, Tim Schmit from the Eagles, Mark Wills, Craig Chaquico, Bunny Brunel, Joe walsh and many others.
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They provide amps for both guitars, keyboards and basses. Here is a breakdown of the different categories.
Acoustic Series
Vintage Series
Sx Series
Master Tube Series
Steve Vai Legacy Series
V3 Series
BRX Series for Bass
BR Series for Bass
Keyboard Amps
Over the coming months we will visit each of these and check out what they have to offer
Video Demo - I just had to post this, the guy does a great job of taking us through one of Carvins Vintage amps, I love his guitar. The sound of his guitar is beautiful! For blues the tele through a Carvin vintage that only costs $400 you cant go wrong
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As I Have been playing guitar for some 20 years now I think I can safely say that of all the amps I’ve played through (and it’s been quite a few at that!) The Carvins always leave me with a sense of fullfillment that I don’t seem to find in most others, granted they’re not the “Marshalls” of the “Fenders” type of amp, but these amps are more built for the “Working Class Hero” who on saturday nights just wants to rock out with a solid, roadworthy, flexible, and good sounding amp. I currently own a Carvin SX300H 100 watt head, and I’ve paired it up to an Avatar Speaker cabinet, with Eminence speakers in it (Swamp Thing & Texas Heat 12″s) to my ears this amp sounds sweet, it’s first of all a Solid State head, (no TUBES!!??) yet it has all the nuance, attack, bite, “sag” and what I like to call “wallow” of a tube amp, minus the mandatory biasing thing, also this amp is a lot tougher than a tube amp is, it can be beaten up and it still performs like it was bought yesterday. Running a fuzz through it, along with other pedals, (it does come with some fx, but I’m so used to the floor!) can make it go from “Route 66″ blues, to surf, to straight ahead rock, to jazz, and blues, this amp can literally do it all. If you’re still skeptical about these amps go check ‘em out at Carvin’s webpage, ypu’ll be glad you did!!!
I also want to talk about my Carvin, it’s the SX300H head only version, (I use an Avatar 2×12 cabinet outfitted with Eminence speakers (Swamp Thing & Texas Heat) To start with this amp is all Solid State, and has no tubes in it. But for the money this amp is great! I can get a smooth, creamy, blues-drive sound, and I still have 3 2 other channels for both hi-gain lead work along with crunchy rhythms, along with a clean channel so pristine, so glassy, clear, precise, that it’s amazing! And it also has great headroom allowing you to get maximum gain without coloration. This amp is just what the doctor ordered for those on a seriously tight budget. Plus you get Carvin’s money back guarantee, along with support from the techs who know the equipment best, since they built it! I’ve also had the pleasure to play through Carvin’s 2×12 BelAir combo amp, and you know that feeling you get when you’ve FINALLY found THAT sound?…well this amp has those sounds in there! I’ve played through the “British stacks” before, and the “tweeds” from yesteryear, and while no one will ever do it better than the originators companies like Carvin are proving that it doesn’t hurt to take a good idea, and build on it to make something not so much “better” as “different” I just read about the new x100-B amp coming back and have decided that I’m going to get one, plus if you go to the Carvin website you’ll see that you can now order these amps & cabinets in different colors! Check out this company…..you’ll be glad you did!!
first of all, the carvin sx amps do have tubes, they have a tube preamp with four 12ax7 tubes and they have a solid state power amp with el-34 tube compression its simply the best solid state amp out there, its better than most tube amps ive played through
and if you use a master volume or drive control to get distortion
all your clipping is your preamp tubes anyway, and like a tube amp the louder i turn it up the better it seems to sound , im impressed