RJLII Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 I just picked up my new (to me) Carr Rambler. It's a 2009 version that's only been out of the factory for about three months according to the seller/original owner. So far I'm favorably impressed but need to spend a few quality hours at play before rendering final judgement. And just so the posting is not worthless:
pegleg32 Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 I like the looks, but we need to HEAR that sucker!!! When you get time of course!!
slider313 Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 Congratulations on your new amp! I'm sure you'll need time to "dial it in". What kind of tubes did it come with?
Kuz Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 Congratulations on your new amp! I'm sure you'll need time to "dial it in". What kind of tubes did it come with? Yep with an amp like that you need some quality preamp tubes. I believe they come from the factory with Groove tubes with the Carr logo.
RJLII Posted December 13, 2009 Author Posted December 13, 2009 The power tubes are "Winged C" (formerly Svetlana as I understand it) and the preamp tubes are all Electro Harmonics except for the reverb return which is a Sovtek. Accurate tube diagram here: http://www.carramps.com/faq_ram.html. It matches what is in my amp. So far I love this thing. I've played around for about an hour so far with my R8 and ES-335. The H-550 comes out a little later. The harmonic content from the Carr is pretty impressive. The Carr makes it sound like both guitars have fresh strings when you compare it with the sounds coming out of the DRRI using the same guitars. The Rambler tone is very clear and chimey but not in a sterile way. The notes have real warmth and sound almost polished. String to string articulation is very clear too. I am a little surprised how early I start to get tube grind with all the talk from Carr about headroom. Breakup starts at about 10:00 on the volume knob with humbuckers wide open. That's not a bad thing as I like some edge, and to their credit it is pretty loud at that point. My OCD pedal sounds great through it too (gain switch at low peak, volume at parity, gain all the way down, tone at midpoint). The Triode mode (1/2 power) works pretty well, but I get some hum. Steve Carr reports this is due to a minor power tube mismatch and it will go away with perfectly matched tubes. It's masked when you are playing but I'll use my stomp box more often than Triode so I'm not real concerned. A spare set of matched tubes came with the amp and I'll pop those in and see if it makes a difference. Pentode mode is real quiet. All indications are that my DRRI will be on the block soon. More to follow as I get this thing figured out. Many thanks to Kuz and Slider313 for the recommendations. I drove down near Indy to pick this up today with out being able to play it (the seller met me halfway, real nice guy). Anytime you do that you roll the dice but in this case it worked out well.
gopeteygo Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 Congrats on the new amp. I really like the Winged =C= tubes and had them in a Fender Showman. Whatcha got in there...an Emi Wizard?
slider313 Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 Yep with an amp like that you need some quality preamp tubes. Agreed! Get yourself some GE,RCA,Sylvania,Westinghouse,etc. preamp tubes. The difference in clarity is worth every penny. The Winged C's are good power tubes. If you want a bit more clean headroom and a little extra "chime", the JJ 6L6G will get you there. If you go for the JJ's get Bob at Eurotubes.com to set you up. Tell him which amp your using them in and that you want good headroom.
RJLII Posted December 13, 2009 Author Posted December 13, 2009 Congrats on the new amp. I really like the Winged =C= tubes and had them in a Fender Showman. Whatcha got in there...an Emi Wizard? Yup. A Redcoat Wizard.
RJLII Posted December 13, 2009 Author Posted December 13, 2009 Agreed! Get yourself some GE,RCA,Sylvania,Westinghouse,etc. preamp tubes. The difference in clarity is worth every penny.The Winged C's are good power tubes. If you want a bit more clean headroom and a little extra "chime", the JJ 6L6G will get you there. If you go for the JJ's get Bob at Eurotubes.com to set you up. Tell him which amp your using them in and that you want good headroom. Thanks for the tip. I think I'll keep my wallet in my pocket for now. I got a good deal on this but she wasn't cheap. After I've bonded with the amp for a while I'll think about preamp tubes.
Spectrum13 Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 The H-550 comes out a little later. Midnight ....... Rambler Nice score!
tulk1 Posted December 13, 2009 Posted December 13, 2009 It's an amp week!! Wow, what a nice Carr. I've always liked those amps. Nice score.
RJLII Posted December 13, 2009 Author Posted December 13, 2009 It's an amp week!! Wow, what a nice Carr. I've always liked those amps. Nice score. Thanks! I'll bring it to PSPIII next summer and see how it measures up to your Tweed Super (if you can make it up again). That amp rocks!
rjsanders Posted December 14, 2009 Posted December 14, 2009 played one @ a jam & loved it. i'll betcha that's a Mather cab, too - the best! (IMHO)
tulk1 Posted December 14, 2009 Posted December 14, 2009 Thanks! I'll bring it to PSPIII next summer and see how it measures up to your Tweed Super (if you can make it up again). That amp rocks! Oh yeah!! It's on the planner. Should be a cool shootout!
brentrocks Posted December 15, 2009 Posted December 15, 2009 Congrat on the new juice! looks to be kick ass lil amp!!!
RJLII Posted December 15, 2009 Author Posted December 15, 2009 Congrat on the new juice! looks to be kick ass lil amp!!! Three days into ownership it is working out to be just that. I love lower watt non master volume amps. Just turn up the gas and start cooking! I sold off my Tweed DeVille and a buyer is coming for my DRRI this morning. No need for the extra gear with the Rambler in the house. It covers all the tones the others did, plus many, many more.
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