Decision on Carvin amps.

[shook494]

It's been a long time since my last post. I'm having trouble deciding between the Nomad 50 watt and the Vintage 16 watt From the Carvin vintage series line. I understand people either love or hate Carvin products, but like them.

 

I know the differences between the two and I've studied them well. I'm trying to get into more blues kind of tones as opposed to my metal/hard rock stuff. My main guitar is my Heritage 157.

 

Just wondering what your thoughts were on single channel vs two channel amps along with wattage. I know there a lot of you here that are well versed on the topic of amps and playing them live. Thanks a million.

[Millennium Maestro]

You can come by a try the Vintage 16 in person if you like, just bring the 157 for me to google on!

[shook494]

That sounds like a good idea. I'll PM you later.

[DetroitBlues]

Problem solved!

[HANGAR18]

I am a new owner of a 100W Carvin V3 and I think it is fantastic!

 

mars_hall wrote a review of the Carvin Legacy here...

http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/topic/19140-found-the-heritage-looking-for-a-legacy/?hl=%2Blegacy+%2Bcarvin&do=findComment&comment=253889

and continued here...

http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/topic/19140-found-the-heritage-looking-for-a-legacy/page-2?hl=+legacy%20+carvin

[Guest HRB853370]

It's been a long time since my last post. I'm having trouble deciding between the Nomad 50 watt and the Vintage 16 watt From the Carvin vintage series line. I understand people either love or hate Carvin products, but like them.

 

I know the differences between the two and I've studied them well. I'm trying to get into more blues kind of tones as opposed to my metal/hard rock stuff. My main guitar is my Heritage 157.

 

Just wondering what your thoughts were on single channel vs two channel amps along with wattage. I know there a lot of you here that are well versed on the topic of amps and playing them live. Thanks a million.

I neither love or hate them but like them quite well!! Good products!

[AamerKhan]

I haven't tried the Nomad or Vintage 16 but I have owned three different Carvin amps over the years and all (X100B, MTS3200, Legacy) had a nice sound.

I have been wondering about the Nomad, too. Can anyone tell me if the clean channel on a Nomad 50 watt can stay clean when playing smaller gigs without miking the cab ?

[MrB]

shook,

 

I had a 50W Nomad for a few years.

It was a pretty good amp for the money, they are very reasonably priced.

The sound was a lot 'thicker' than the typical Fenders I like, but I was able to

get a pretty good tone out of it. Once I got used to the hypersensitivity of the

tone controls.

The biggest problem was their quality control. The reverb tank came wired

backwards, and the chassis ground came loose within 6 months. The low

quality tubes they use didn't last very long.

 

Luckily, the tech support, over the phone, was good.

 

Mr B

[AamerKhan]

The reverb tank came wired backwards

 

That was the case with my Legacy combo, too.

[Dell18]

I'm ok with Carvin products. Used their monitors for years, like the guitars I've played and for the money I've been thinking about the Legacy or V3 heads. It is worth noting though that my only experience with one of their amps was in the early 90's a friend I shared practice space got a 100w half stack. That thing sounded good but the head got shipped back to Carvin twice in the first few months he owned it. After reading the other posts QC has me a touch worried about that. Knowing a guy with Hanger18 as his name likes his V3 is good though. That Rust In Peace tone is what I want for about half my usual set but I need versatility.

[Cajun]

^{I use a Belair that has the Hasselr mods and upgrade WGS speakers. I love it - and recommend the Hasselr mods. It has incredible clean and gain. It is a VERY loud 50 watts (at 1 it is too loud for my house).}

[rockabilly69]

I've had problems with QC on their amps, but never their guitar parts.

 

The bass player in one of my bands hand two different QC problems with his Carvin Bass amp.

 

I just recently bought a second hand Carvin 844 mixer and it sounds great, was built in the USA,

and is running with no glitches!

[Gitfiddler]

 

I've had problems with QC on their amps, but never their guitar parts.

 

The bass player in one of my bands hand two different QC problems with his Carvin Bass amp.

 

I just recently bought a second hand Carvin 844 mixer and it sounds great, was built in the USA,

and is running with no glitches!

 

 

Maybe I got a good one, but my trusty old RL210 amp and 1x15 cab bass rig has never given me a problem since 1996.

 

I played through a few Carvin guitar amps at their San Diego showroom and was impressed with the tone. Never owned one however.

[Yooper]

I inherited a Carvin three channel AG100 acoustic/bass/ vocal-keys combo. Ten years of good performance so far. It's turning into a nice amp for my Eagle. Built-in chorus, reverb, echo and flange make it a complete package.

 

On the other hand a PB-200 bass amp fell apart and popped a fuse due to poor screws and QC. Goes to show, it's best to give gear a good once over for simple maintenance and fastenings.

[smurph1]

I can't speak to their amps, but a friend has a Koa 4 string bass with active pickups that is the finest bass I've ever played!!

[HANGAR18]

I'm ok with Carvin products. Used their monitors for years, like the guitars I've played and for the money I've been thinking about the Legacy or V3 heads. It is worth noting though that my only experience with one of their amps was in the early 90's a friend I shared practice space got a 100w half stack. That thing sounded good but the head got shipped back to Carvin twice in the first few months he owned it. After reading the other posts QC has me a touch worried about that. Knowing a guy with Hanger18 as his name likes his V3 is good though. That Rust In Peace tone is what I want for about half my usual set but I need versatility.

Versatile is an understatement. Modern, face melting metal, buttery vintage toobieness, vintage crunch, clean tones, attack sensitive. Whatever sounds you want and able to switch to each right in the middle of a song using the channel switching foot pedal. There are a few decent Carvin V3 video demos available online.

[Genericmusic]

I've been jonesin' for a V3m to bi-amp with my ss set up. Heard one last summer that blew me away.

[shook494]

Thanks guys. I've been looking at the V3M as well. I dig the 3 channel thing. It sounds cool on the demos. I think I'm leaning towards a Nomad or Bel Air. I've also been checking out the Haserl mods and they seem cool. I'll be getting one in the next month or so and I'll keep you posted. Nice to be back around.

[Dell18]

Yeah, thanks Hangar18. I've been thinking about trading away my Genz Benz El Diablo 100 for something different. It had a ton of features when I got it but, now most 100w heads in the $1-2k range have those. It's versatile and pulls off a lot of tones ok but nothing that is just "oh my god that sounds amazing". It's better than the reviews it gets but it's no Soldano or Metropolous. I love Slayer, Steely Dan, Voivod, Talking Heads, and WAY more so versatility is big for my stage rig. It never leaves 50w mode, last show I had master on like 3 and half with my drummer mic'ed. So used prices on the V3m are very tempting. All tube US made head? I'm gonna post a link to my band here soon but the 2 tracks we have up right now I'm not playing a Heritage so I'm waiting. Sorry about playing a role in completely jacking the original thread.

[mtpatty]

I have 3 Carvin Guitars (all stellar) and 2 PA spkr cabs from Carvin (wonderful)!

[Dell18]

Yeah, it seems like no matter who I'm playing with over the last 20 or so years someone always has some Carvin PA gear (speakers, pwr amps, mixers ect.) being used. There may be higher end stuff out there but their sound reinforcement gear always got the job done and never let me down. If you try to buy US made like I do they can be hard to beat price wise at times.

[HANGAR18]

Yeah, thanks Hangar18. I've been thinking about trading away my Genz Benz El Diablo 100 for something different. It had a ton of features when I got it but, now most 100w heads in the $1-2k range have those. It's versatile and pulls off a lot of tones ok but nothing that is just "oh my god that sounds amazing". It's better than the reviews it gets but it's no Soldano or Metropolous. I love Slayer, Steely Dan, Voivod, Talking Heads, and WAY more so versatility is big for my stage rig. It never leaves 50w mode, last show I had master on like 3 and half with my drummer mic'ed. So used prices on the V3m are very tempting. All tube US made head? I'm gonna post a link to my band here soon but the 2 tracks we have up right now I'm not playing a Heritage so I'm waiting. Sorry about playing a role in completely jacking the original thread.

Half the price of "the other guys", I keep mine at the 50W position because I'm too scared to try the full 100W. hahahaha

I don't know what tubes came from the factory but it has Groove Tubes in it now. All tube, and LOTS of tubes which you will need in order to get face melting distortion. I don't have the tube details committed to memory yet but I can go look if you like.

[HANGAR18]

[Dell18]

Man, that thing just looks mean as hell too. I got my eye out for sure now. Stay at home Dad/retired 38 yo and just got a bonus in my allowance. The list is now G&L Tele, upgrade the bands mic pre or V3/V3m I'm being patient trying to find really good deals so I can check two off the list hopefully.

[Dell18]

Oh, and with my Genz Benz the difference from 50w to 100w doesn't seem to be huge. That being said it's only been to like 6 on gain 7 on master volume and I've played a few decent size venues with it. It is louder than the Laney 100w, JCM900, KMD 100w or the 3 Line6's (ugh) we had around when I got it by quite a bit. I always read you gotta crank a tube amp to get the most out of it. A few months ago I told my bass player/engineer "hey let me try something, prepare the mic pre for more SPL's" turned up to 7 with a SM57 like 6 inches away and he flipped out. Clipped like crazy. He said there was no way his gear could handle that and he's got halfway decent stuff. Going to 100w I notice a small volume increase and a barely perceptible tone difference. On my amp anyways.