HANGAR18 Posted July 4, 2018 Posted July 4, 2018 So, I'm very late to the party on this subject. I just saw PK's post about Carvin amplifiers going away. MANY of you here already know a lot about Carvin but my goal here today will be to recommend some outstanding alternatives to the V3 and the V3m for those of you who like them. But first, I'll talk about the Carvin amps for the benefit of those reading who might not know. I learned a lot about the V3 series of amps and feel like I've become an expert. My learning began with with talking to Millennium Maestro and Mars_hall, as well as talking to people at Carvin directly as well as owning both the V3 and the V3m (micro). So here we go. Carvin made the V3 series of amps as a generic equivalent to Mesa double/triple rectifier amps. The Carvin V3 had a "depth" knob which I absolutely loved! PRS guitars came out with a series of amps they call the Archon. I have the 100w head and guess what it comes with? A Depth knob. I got rid of my V3 for an Archon because they are so incredibly similar. There is a huge price difference but that is largely due to the Archon being hand wired (compononts are hand soldered to a "board") while the V3 relies on a printed circuit board and ribbon cables. The V3m (micro) didn't have a master control panel like the larger V3 or a depth knob but could essentially produce the same tones through some creative knob twisting. I sold that one too as I wanted to get out of the PCB amps. Printed circuit board amps such as Carvin are basically not repairable but the Mesa and PRS amps are repairable by a qualified amp technician. PRS, like some Carvin have external bias lugs where you can perform your own bias adjustments as needed safely. Mesa Boogie amps are manufactured to have a set bias as long as you use their tubes in their amps and they too are repairable if something goes wrong. Mark Tremonti has always used Mesa amplifiers but then became completely fascinated with the PRS Archon amplifiers. He loved them but wanted a small lunchbox amp like the Archon which would be tweaked a little bit to his specs. This is what wound up being Tremonti's first ever signature model amp... the PRS MT15. From what I can tell, it is basically a 15w/7w switchable boutique quality Carvin V3m. The wattage is quite a bit different, 15w MT15 versus 50w V3m, but if you need more power, the Archon is available in 100w, 50w and 25w, each being switchable to half the wattage. I realize that Carvin (amps) basically existed as a company which specialized in making generic knock-offs of the much more expensive versions of the amplifiers they were emulating. However, if you want an alternative to a Carvin V3 or V3m amps, you could obviously go with the Mesa "Rectifier" series (with many sizes to choose from) or you could go with the newer PRS Archon amplifiers. But the newest amp of the block is the PRS MT15. Of all the amps mentioned, the PRS MT15 is the one which most resembles the Carvin V3m. The MT15 costs exactly the same price as did a brand new Carvin V3m and it even comes with those red/blue LED lights (that Millennium Maestro loves so much hahaha) which indicate which channel you are on. http://www.prsguitars.com/amplifiers/mt/mt_15/
Genericmusic Posted July 4, 2018 Posted July 4, 2018 Nice post. Thanks for the information. I think the PCB amps are okay for limited use, i.e. practice and limited gigging. If one is gigging constantly they will burn out. That is from my limited knowledge and experience. It is best to buy quality and repair when necessary than throwing away a piece of equipment every so often. It is more cost effective in the long run.
tbonesullivan Posted July 7, 2018 Posted July 7, 2018 PCB amps are not necessarily any more or less reliable than Turret board or point to point. Mesa Boogie amps are, after all, PCB-based amps. I have never heard of people complaining about reliability. Carvin did though move to Surface Mount components, which definitely does make working on the amp a bit more involved than the through-mounted components you see on Mesa Boogie and JCM2000 Marshall amplifiers. Carvin did make some very good amps over the years. Their guitar amps could be a bit derivative, but their Legacy Series and Vintage series amplifiers were definitely well-regarded. Their bass amplifiers and live sound amplifiers were great. I have 4 carvin bass amps, and they have the features I want, and sound great. Anyway, there are now a whole bunch of amplifier brands that have come into the market in the past few years, so finding amplifiers that are "close" to what carvin offered with the V3 and V3M is not super hard.
HANGAR18 Posted July 7, 2018 Author Posted July 7, 2018 I forgot to mention that I think the Full size Archon is the closest to the full size V3 and both have a Depth knob. But, both are indirectly trying to compete with the Mesa Recto series. I still have my Carvin MB210 combo amp (gotta see if I was smart enough to download a copy of the manual before the site went down) which I have sitting on a Carvin 1x15 vintage extension cabinet. Probably never getting rid of that setup because it is hard to beat.
Gitfiddler Posted July 7, 2018 Posted July 7, 2018 2 hours ago, HANGAR18 said: I forgot to mention that I think the Full size Archon is the closest to the full size V3 and both have a Depth knob. But, both are indirectly trying to compete with the Mesa Recto series. I still have my Carvin MB210 combo amp (gotta see if I was smart enough to download a copy of the manual before the site went down) which I have sitting on a Carvin 1x15 vintage extension cabinet. Probably never getting rid of that setup because it is hard to beat. The Carvin MB210 looks like a great small gig rig. The manual is embedded within this Carvin link. https://carvinaudio.com/pages/archive-carvin-mb210-micro-bass-amplifier-combo-with-2-x-10-inch-woofers I still have my Carvin RL210 combo and 1x15" ext. cab in storage.
PunkKitty Posted July 7, 2018 Posted July 7, 2018 I also have a MB210. It's a great little amp. In addition to that, I have a R600 bass head with a 2x10 and 1x15 cabinet, and a Carvin VT50 guitar head with a 2x12 cabinet. I'm set for amps.
Yooper Posted July 7, 2018 Posted July 7, 2018 I gigged with a Carvin PB 200 bass amp for a while. Even after it got dropped off the back of a truck. All it needed was a new fuse afterwards.
ElNumero Posted July 9, 2018 Posted July 9, 2018 On 7/7/2018 at 7:31 PM, Yooper said: I gigged with a Carvin PB 200 bass amp for a while. Even after it got dropped off the back of a truck. All it needed was a new fuse afterwards. Don't ya know your supposed to close the tailgate before you leave the gig? Too many beers or other substances?
Yooper Posted July 9, 2018 Posted July 9, 2018 11 minutes ago, ElNumero said: Don't ya know your supposed to close the tailgate before you leave the gig? Too many beers or other substances? I was letting someone else unload. And you have to have the tailgate down to unload. After a few beers, I would have done it.
ElNumero Posted July 10, 2018 Posted July 10, 2018 16 hours ago, Yooper said: I was letting someone else unload. And you have to have the tailgate down to unload. After a few beers, I would have done it. gotcha!
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