NAD: Vintage Carvin X100B

[HANGAR18]

Here is a Vintage Carvin X100B 100W head that I bought last week from a Guitar Center in Seattle Washington. I think they strapped it to a slow moving pack mule to get it here. I just got it last night and haven't had a chance to plug it in yet. Four big EL34's and three little tubes of some sort. Not very expensive at all, even with the Pro coverage I bought to go with it. I decided to go with the Pro coverage after reading about some of the difficulties some of you had with your own vintage amps.

 

I wanted to have some variety and I was kinda leaning toward a Marshall head. My thinking was to have two half stacks instead of one full stack. Now I will have the Carvin V3 on the Marshall 1960a cabinet and this Carvin X100B head on the Marshall 1960b cabinet.

 

What follows are the key selling points I read online. The first quote is from the Carvin web site and the other is from some random forum I ran across.

 

 

"...the original X100B that was used by artists such as Steve Vai, Frank Zappa & Craig Chaquico in the 1980's. It has two channels (clean & lead) and is equipped with 4 EL34 & 3 12AX7A tubes, with bias control for EL34, 5881 or 6L6GC tubes."

 

 

"I've owned an "X" amp from Carvin since the early 80's. (yeah I'm

old...I know.) I've gotten different ones, and sold what I had, but
always end up getting another.

The x-amps were direct competition to Marshalls of the 80's to early
90's. There are two basic types.

The 6l6 versions were made from the early 80's (my guess is 1982ish) to
the late 80's. (again, guessing, but I think about 88-89.) These amps
tended to have less gain and somewhat better headroom. Due to the 6l6's,
I felt they had a bigger low end too.

When they first came into production, they were much better amps than a
Marshall IMO. They had a graphic EQ, power reduction switch, imped
switch, lineout, effects loops. All things we take for granted now, but
were rare to be all included in an amp for the time. They also were less
expensive and quite durable. These were the amps that put Carvin on the map.

The next sort of class of "X" amps are the el34s. The late 80's early
90's were a time of an acoustic guitar boom. Sales of electric equipment
tanked. It also became the fashion for people to have rack equipment. On
top of this, higher gain amps were the rage also. (think Soldano, Mesa
recto series) To try and match some of this Carvin went to el34s. These
amps tend to have more gain and a bit less headroom on the cleans.

I've owned both, but have stayed with the el34 version. I like the extra
gain. They aren't as high a gain amp as Mesa rectos, sort of a mid range
type.

All in all, I think they are one of the best kept secrets in the world
of amplifiers, and some of the most versitile amps ever made. (To me,
the only real competition for an x-amp was/is the Mesa mark IV.) They're
dependable, sound good and are cheap, .....what else could you want?

In the end I think you'll find the Carvin can sound like the Marshall,
and do alot of other sounds well also."

 

 

[Cajun]

Enjoy Danny. Carvins are one of the most underrated amps IMHO. I have a Belair which is wonderful when clean but great when I use my Tim Pedal to put into overdrive. Joe Walsh has used them for years.

[HANGAR18]

I now have three Carvin amps and one VOX. The third is my Carvin MB250 with 1x18 extension cabinet for my bass guitar.

[t0aj15]

I also have an X100B (series IV) that I bought new five+ years ago. They are indeed a well kept secret. Mines loaded with 6L6's. Very dependable good sounding amp, not as good as my Fender Super Sonic 100 but for the price I don't think they can be beat. I changed the knobs on mine though to make it easier to see the settings at a glance, other than that it's stock.

 

[HANGAR18]

I also have an X100B (series IV) that I bought new five+ years ago. They are indeed a well kept secret. Mines loaded with 6L6's. Very dependable good sounding amp, not as good as my Fender Super Sonic 100 but for the price I don't think they can be beat. I changed the knobs on mine though to make it easier to see the settings at a glance, other than that it's stock.

 

 

The next thing I need to do is download a manual so that I can learn what the three push/pull pots all the way to the far right do. I can read what they say but it doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it will after I see how it affects the sound.

[RJLII]

Not wanting to poop on your parade, but I used to have an X60B Combo that I bought factory direct in the late 1980's. It had two EL34s. I wish I could say it was a good purchase. It suffered from terrible tube rattle, pre-amp hiss from the active tone controls, and had a spring reverb that managed to sound like a plate reverb. It also had a gain channel that made a Mesa/Boogie sound anemic . The cabinet was covered with spiffy gray indoor/outdoor carpeting too. It crapped out after a few years and I wound up selling it on Craigslist for cheap.

 

Here's hoping mine was the exception.

[t0aj15]

 

The next thing I need to do is download a manual so that I can learn what the three push/pull pots all the way to the far right do. I can read what they say but it doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it will after I see how it affects the sound.

Sorry can't help you there, the push/pull pots are gone on the most recent version replaced with mini toggles. But of course what they control may be entirely different than the earlier model.

[Genericmusic]

Carvin makes good

[tbonesullivan]

The knobs do the following, from right to left.

 

Clean volume has a "pull bright" control, so pulling it out makes the clean channel brighter.

Lead Drive has a "pull on" control, so that is the channel switching. Pull that out for the lead channel if you do not have the footswitch

Master Volume has a "Pull Hi Lead" control that changes the gain configuration of the lead channel so you get a bit more gain/depth.

 

The effects loop has a level control, that basically controls the send/receive level, so you can use line level OR instrument level pedals.

 

I would definitely recomment putting a Sovtek 12AX7 LPS tube in the V1 slot. The X-100Bs from that era have AC heater filaments, which can lead to noise from the AC hum. Spiral filaments in the LPS eliminate this. Modern carvin amplifiers have DC heaters for V1 and V2, or all of the tubes.

[HANGAR18]

The knobs do the following, from right to left.

 

 

Thanks TBone, but the amp went back to the GC for a full refund. It was fun while I played it but it appears that being almost 30 years old was a bit too much for it. The input jack with the best sound crackled so violently that the amp was virtually unplayable. Any movement of the cable, real or imagined would set off the crackling noise. That input jack needed to be replaced. Also, one of the channels had a lot of hum when the amp was just sitting there doing nothing.Almost two different hums at the same time. Kinda scary. I'll just have to buy a new amp I guess.