NAD: 80's Carvin X100B head. There is a section on recommended settings to use as a baseline to emulate certain tones that you might find helpful for dialing in. The best clean tones from the Carvin are when the EQ settings are nearly dimed. I have a 'transition' (still 6L6) 1988 X100b head.:) I love the.

• Carvin Guitar Amps Reviews

I was watching a video the other day and saw a guitar and said 'wow, i've been gassing for a doublecut- I wonder what that is?' I was watching a video the other day and saw a guitar and said 'wow, i've been gassing for a doublecut- I wonder what that is?'

I've owned two Carvin amps and spent time during the 90's at their Santa Ana, CA outlet while I lived in So. Cal.What follows is a combo of fact and my opinion. I'll let you sort out which is which:1. They do make quality gear in the USA.2. They do have a fairly large following of avid supporters. IMO, they become a little too much 'us against the world' at times. You can't talk to one of these people about any possible shortcomings of a Carvin product without them coming unglued, as if you're a member of the grand conspiracy against Carvin that they are convinced is out there.3.

I owned an XV-112 combo in the 90's and it is a good amp. My description of it is 'a jack of all trades and a master of none'. Yes, it sounds good and you can get a lot of good tones from it. It's got two active eq's on it that enable a wide variety of tones. Yes, Frank Zappa played the X amps. But if you're looking for 'that' tone, I don't think you'll find it in the X amp.

To the above advice, if you're looking for a Marshall tone, buy a Marshall. Buy a Fender. I also owned an MTS 3212 combo amp in the 90's. They no longer make this amp. It was a punchy little powerhouse that in the long run, I never bonded with completely.

Partially because it broke and I didn't want to pay to have it fixed. But it was less warm and more industrial than I really like.5. A signatures of all of the Carvin amps I've played are: A lot of volume for the rated watts, and a very clean, clean channel with lots of headroom. Not a lot of Fender character in the clean channels, but nice and clean none-the less. Also, Carvin amps tend to have a wider frequency range than other amps, like Marshall, which tend to have more of a mid focused over all eq, again, IMO.6. Through the years, they tend to proclaim their 'all tube amps' that actually use clipping diodes in the lead channels. Their Bel Air (classic styled) amps have these diodes, which betrays the tweed covering they give them.

I'll leave it to you as to whether or not this is a big deal, but I've never cared for the lead channel on the Bel Air. It simply was not usable for me even though it is a cool looking little amp.

Carvin Guitar Amps Reviews

I don't think the X amp,V3, or Legacy have these diodes.7. If there is a Carvin sound that you like, buy it and be happy. They tend to be a good value, but only if they sound like what you want.

IMO, they focus more on the Shredder market than is necessary. I don't personally identify with that. As versatile as people claim the V3 is, the only clips I seem to stumble onto are shredder clips. They have a liberal return policy if you're willing to pay for return shipping. So there is no requirement to be stuck with an amp you don't like.I think you're smart to look into Carvin as an option. Good luck with your search.

What follows is a combo of fact and my opinion. I'll let you sort out which is which:1. They do make quality gear in the USA.2. They do have a fairly large following of avid supporters. IMO, they become a little too much 'us against the world' at times. You can't talk to one of these people about any possible shortcomings of a Carvin product without them coming unglued, as if you're a member of the grand conspiracy against Carvin that they are convinced is out there.3. I owned an XV-112 combo in the 90's and it is a good amp.

My description of it is 'a jack of all trades and a master of none'. Yes, it sounds good and you can get a lot of good tones from it. It's got two active eq's on it that enable a wide variety of tones. Yes, Frank Zappa played the X amps.

But if you're looking for 'that' tone, I don't think you'll find it in the X amp. To the above advice, if you're looking for a Marshall tone, buy a Marshall. Buy a Fender. I also owned an MTS 3212 combo amp in the 90's.

They no longer make this amp. It was a punchy little powerhouse that in the long run, I never bonded with completely. Partially because it broke and I didn't want to pay to have it fixed. But it was less warm and more industrial than I really like.5. A signatures of all of the Carvin amps I've played are: A lot of volume for the rated watts, and a very clean, clean channel with lots of headroom.

Not a lot of Fender character in the clean channels, but nice and clean none-the less. Also, Carvin amps tend to have a wider frequency range than other amps, like Marshall, which tend to have more of a mid focused over all eq, again, IMO.6.

Through the years, they tend to proclaim their 'all tube amps' that actually use clipping diodes in the lead channels. Their Bel Air (classic styled) amps have these diodes, which betrays the tweed covering they give them. I'll leave it to you as to whether or not this is a big deal, but I've never cared for the lead channel on the Bel Air. It simply was not usable for me even though it is a cool looking little amp.

I don't think the X amp,V3, or Legacy have these diodes.7. If there is a Carvin sound that you like, buy it and be happy. They tend to be a good value, but only if they sound like what you want. IMO, they focus more on the Shredder market than is necessary. I don't personally identify with that. As versatile as people claim the V3 is, the only clips I seem to stumble onto are shredder clips.

They have a liberal return policy if you're willing to pay for return shipping. So there is no requirement to be stuck with an amp you don't like.I think you're smart to look into Carvin as an option. Good luck with your search. I figured so- they sell cheap 'made in the USA' products.2.

I think the same could be said for many other companies too.3 and 4. I figured that might be so, and as I said, I think that most amps are 'good at everything, master of none' (with like a twin reverb being the master of cleans, Marshall plexi the master of classic rock, etc.).5. My Blues Junior doesn't exactly have the best cleans, and you can say that it is also very loud for the watts too (hear that from anybody who has played it and any other 15 watt amp).

I guess pretty much anything that is as loud as or quiter than it are on my list of possible amps, but nothing louder (unless it is slight enough to be tamed by using a different speaker, which I hope to buy someday).6. Alright, I will look out for that.7. Yeah, I still have to look into that too. I haven't decided on a specific sound yet, but I would like the amp to have a bit more gain than my Blues Junior and have clearer and maybe a bit more modern drive. I do use my amps for everything, so having a more modern sounding one could help me keep my blues junior for other sounds.Anyways, thanks for all the help- I am looking into every little possibility.

The V3M has been getting very positive reviews, and the X100B and BelAir are popular long time 'standards' among the 'faithful'. The SX300 seems to be an 'either you love it or hate it' thing.

I myself have an old discontinued model (in my sig). The Carvins are very good at cleans. For crunch, it depends on what sort of crunch you want, that will determine what model to get.

Me, I generally get my 'dirt' from a pedal, but many of the amps have a 'master' or crunch channel. Are their crunch channels good or bad? It seems to be a matter of taste. To be honest, for my particular needs that go from great cleans (reggae and funk etc) to crunch to all kinds of rock - indie, prog, shred-type, fusion, 7 string or drop D the Carvin made it into my final 3 after a 3-year (yes 3-year) trial of a myriad of amps.

I thought it was down to the V3M and Marshall JVM 410H. Then from nowhere I fell in love with a Rockerverb MkII 100 watt head but still haven't had band time with it. I question if I made the right choice - because I'm like that.but I'm pretty sure, with the UK prices available that the V3M would have been the logical choice. Why?Portability - I get sick of lugging heavy gear across muddy festival sites (and now I have an Orange closed back 2 x 12!!)Flexibility - really great clean, crunch and drive sounds, lots of useful tonal options with the different switchable options - plus 3 channels and a great footswitch for reverb and boost as well I believe.Volume - I couldn't believe such a tiny amp packed such a punch.I may still end up with one of these beasts. In fact it was just the drive sound of the Rockerverb that did it for me.but it wasn't a fair test, I never got the chance to put the V3M through the Orange 2 x 12 cab - it might have sounded as good or better!Finding all the gear in one shop to do these kinds of comparisons is basically impossible in the UK.Good luck.but I would encourage you to give it a go.Hope that helps.Cheers,AndyPS - I've just seen this is an old post but hopefully it may still be of use to the OP or someone else!

I had in the early 2000's a Carvin Belair 212, it was a nice amp. I used it at church for along time and never had any trouble with it. It is a all tube amp, I gig with it a few times. The reason I got rid of it I got a good deal on a Mesa Boogie Mark III. But I bought a Carvin Bass amp 600 watt combo about 4yrs ago.

I had it a month and it quit on me, Iwas playing in a band at the time and didnt have time to send it back to California to get it fix. So I took it to a place up by Austin, and found some of the solder joints were loose. I got it fix and got rid of it as soon as I could. I have an x100b reissue and i think its a very good 2-channel amp.I am running it with 6L6's.The clean channel is very Fender-like, great cleans that don't break up.Takes pedals very well and the effects loop is great too. The cleans area bit warmer than the iconic BF Fender cleans, and have slightly less depth.

WhatI like about the cleans is the warmth of it. Some of the best clean tones i haveheard from any amp.The overdrive channel is something of a darker sounding Marshallly amp,you can get good scooped 80-90's metal, classic rock and hard rockout of it all day long. Again, the tone is a little dark for the OD channel whichsome may say is 'muddy'. I like it best for lead playing, sounds great boosted.Rhythm dirty tones can be a bit dark/muddy IMO so judge you needs accordingly.For the price, the x100b is great value and a very good amp all around by any standard.B.

New Amp Day:Early Carvin XV112E combo. Basically a X100 (not X100B) but in an oak cab with an EV originally. Lower gain with true cascaded channels (basically 3 gain controls and a master volume).

All tube signal path with solid state driven EQ and Reverb.Oversized solid oak cabinet, upgraded original cone Altec 417-8H, Mesa Boogie Mark I type tone, switchable 5 band, and reverb. 110 watts, switchable to 60, from a quad of 6L6's. Schumacher transformers.Sounds like a beefier King Snake.$400 out the door at Sam Ash.

Original cover too. I had one of those back in the '80's. I was ampless after selling a Twin Reverb to finance a move. I found one used and thought it was a good solid amp that it got me through a few years of playing. Mine had the EV which I think I kept when I sold the amp to a friend in Wyoming.

Somehow I ended up with several EV speakers and I think one came from the Carvin. I never got on with the overdrive, but as a pedal platform it was excellent. Yes, it was a heavy beast with that oak cabinet, but it sure looked good!I came upon a '66 Super Reverb at a price I couldn't refuse and the Carvin became my backup, or the other guitarist in the band I was in used it.Happy NAD! Click to expand.Paired up with a $35 TC electronics Cinders Overdrive, and an old Danelectro Wasabi Overdrive, it's possible to get any sort of drive tone I could ever imagine out of this think besides tight and chunky heavy metal grind.The EQ is incredibly powerful and sounds fantastic. Very easy to find good settings, and go from mid focused to scooped tones. Easily a jack of all trades.Does Santana boogie, Keith Richard's ampeg, and Hendrix at Monterey tones with ease with a little overdriven boost. Very very versatile.My new favorite combo amp, which I bet is largely in part due to this speaker.