Carr Rambler in the house

[pegleg32]

UPS guy delivered my Carr Rambler today and I am blown away. It is so much better than my other amps. The guy I bought it from has put in a couple of cheap Fender Jensen special design speakers (he probably had Tone Tubbys or something in it) and it still sounds really great.

 

HOWEVER, I'm a little sorry this one didn't come up earlier, I would bet you could own this one for $1,200 and it has the 15" speaker that I love so much:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Carr-Rambler-Guitar-Co...=item4aa16ad30c

[111518]

UPS guy delivered my Carr Rambler today and I am blown away. It is so much better than my other amps. The guy I bought it from has put in a couple of cheap Fender Jensen special design speakers (he probably had Tone Tubbys or something in it) and it still sounds really great.

 

HOWEVER, I'm a little sorry this one didn't come up earlier, I would bet you could own this one for $1,200 and it has the 15" speaker that I love so much:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Carr-Rambler-Guitar-Co...=item4aa16ad30c

 

... congrats on the Rambler, Pegleg32. Opinion seems divided on the reissue Jensens, but there are so many speakers available today you can play it a while and then decide if you want to replace, and if so, with what.

 

As for the one on ebay with the 15 --you would have lost your bet. I saw it on ebay yesterday afternoon, tried to resist, but all the recent buzz on HOC about Ramblers, combined with my long term jones for one, finally got the best of me. (Owner wanted 15 + shipping, after swapping counter offers I ended up getting it at 1400 + split shipping and insurance. Not great, but I figured someone might give him the 15, since it was a little out of the ordinary and the new ones have really jumped in price.) Not only did it have a fifteen, which I also really like, it was also brown. I have black amps, I have blond amps, I even have shower-curtain blue ampeg amps ... but I didn't have a brown amp. So ... I've become a two Carr family.

 

I think Carr is for exiled North Carolinians a little like Heritage is for the Michigan guys ... a pride in the 'hood thing.

 

So congrats again, and rest assured that you couldn't have gotten the one with the 15 for 1200. For what I paid more you could probably have a 15 combo cab built for yours. Ramble on...

[golferwave]

Way to go both of you! Everybody here has me really wanting one of these and I haven't even played through one. I've got the Hammerhead model and need a Rambler. I have a 1x15" Tweed Peavey Delta Blues with a Weber speaker and really like it but this elusive Rambler must be mine at some point.

[pegleg32]

Hey, good job 6 digit!!! I think you will really enjoye that. Maybe after a couple of years, we could swap!!!! That is a greeeeaaat amp.

 

I'm thinking of putting an Eminence Ragin Cagin and an Eminience Copper Head in mine. Open to other ideas. But you are right, the Jensens sound very good and maybe I'm just spending money for nothing.

 

Golferwave, better get you one!!

[JeffB]

Awesome. New amp day is a great day.

Have fun with that.

I like how one guys gear lust and excitement sparks a chain reaction around here

[rjsanders]

congrats, Don, i love Carrs (in fact a great-grandfather was one). here's a thought: Peter Mather (my fave cabmaker) does Carr cabs. he could make you a 1x15 ext. cab to match & you could go either-or...

[pegleg32]

Good tip Jeff, I will look into that when I start gassing for something different (that won't be long)!!

[pegleg32]

Just been browsing the website http://mathercab.com/index.html Those are nice cabinets!!

[fxdx99]

Must resist searching for Carr Rambler... must resist.... must must ... um, what was I saying?

 

You guys are giving me way too much AAS! But congrats on your new toys!

[golferwave]

Must resist searching for Carr Rambler... must resist.... must must ... um, what was I saying?

 

You guys are giving me way too much AAS! But congrats on your new toys!

 

 

Resistance is futile Earthlings....I'm sure we'll both have one at some point in the near future Randy.

[111518]

Must resist searching for Carr Rambler... must resist.... must must ... um, what was I saying?

 

You guys are giving me way too much AAS! But congrats on your new toys!

 

Yup. We have an interesting 12-step GAS/AAS program going here. It gives you a clear, straight path to follow ...the only problem is that it starts eleven steps from the cliff.

[rjsanders]

Just been browsing the website http://mathercab.com/index.html Those are nice cabinets!!

 

 

yeahman. Peter has great pricing, too, even on the custom stuff...

[slider313]

yeahman. Peter has great pricing, too, even on the custom stuff...

 

Peter made me a custom 1x15 combo cab for my Deluxe Reverb chassis. Being the DR, Bandmaster and Showman chassis are all the same size, I may pick up a Bandmaster or Showman head down the road.

 

[gopeteygo]

Pegleg, I'm thinking you might have a 15" Big Ben in a cab laying around you could plug that into.

[pegleg32]

Pegleg, I'm thinking you might have a 15" Big Ben in a cab laying around you could plug that into.

 

Hey Pete!! hmmm, you could be exactly right. I've been thinking along the same lines. By the way, I love that speaker and cabinet you sold me, I'm still very happy with that transaction!!!

[111518]

My Rambler arrived today. Making a nice segue from the previous couple of posts, it had a 15" Big Ben installed by the previous owner. (which, whether I end up sticking with that speaker or not, was a selling point, because I have an eminence 15" legend, which was the original speaker in the amp, kicking around somewhere.)

 

Not the greatest packing job --box was sort of cobbled together-- and the first thing that caught my eye was the fact that, although the amp overall is a gorgeous brown, the seams on the tolex on the top are not as smooth and neat as they should be on a high-dollar amp --edges a little loose, and seams open. So, a bit concerned ... but then I plugged in and played. Yup. This is the sound I imagined from descriptions I've read of this amp: rich, three dimensional, clean with character. There's a little thing I learned this year that I now use to test amps ...it's an intro that Joe Pass played on a recording of "Satin Doll," but it descends from the g on the 15th fret of the first string though a series of chords and runs and ends by walking down to the open low e and then hangs an A7+5+9 chord over it as the E fades --in other words, a very low note with a lot of tension on top. Pretty good test of the clean sound of an amp: nothing else I've played it through came close to the Rambler.

 

So, over time I'll figure out how to fix the tolex, and what I want to do about a speaker, and it also came with Ruby 6l6's, which I'm sure I'll swap out --I have a pair of "Winged C's" kicking around, I think, which should make it sound even more rich. So, room for some tinkering, but the sound I was looking for is there ... so I'm happy.

[fxdx99]

Excellent - congratulations, Larry. Excellent when a net buy unseen/heard works out. Sounds like a great amp... still on my lust list.

[RJLII]

I've had mine since December and haven't found a bad tone yet, although it does break up earlier than I expected.

 

[golferwave]

Hey Larry...I'd pay $1400.00 for that amp with no speaker in it at all...so, uh, you know, uh, if you'd like to dump it, well I just might be interested.

[pegleg32]

Hey 6 digit, isn't that just the best sounds you ever heard out of an amp?!! Too bad about the covering, but that's not really what we buy them for is it. Many years of good tones coming up I would bet.

[111518]

Thanks guys. Fun to be able to share the thrill of new stuff with appreciative friends, or HOC mates, or fellow gear hounds, or whatever it is that we collectively are. I'll try to get some pics up soon --I really like the color of the tolex and grill. And, what can you say about a couple of tolex seams... It's like the song says: "she's got pimples on her butt she is nice."

[tsp17]

Either of you (or anybody else) play P90s through the Rambler? If so: Impressions?

[pegleg32]

TSP, I was playing my 150 gold top w/P90s thru the rambler at the wed night jam and was very happy. I suck at describing tone so I'm not much help at telling you what I like about it other than I like it.

 

Lately I have been playing my G&L Invader XL thru the Throbak 18 watt amp, and I'm kind of on a high there. It really cuts thru the mix (we play too dang loud in my opinion) and delivers some lovely high gain lead tones and I haven't had any thoughts about changing that.

 

One of these days though, I do want to try my Eric Johnson Strat thru my new Princton Reverb II. I suspect that will be a winner.

[tsp17]

TSP, I was playing my 150 gold top w/P90s thru the rambler at the wed night jam and was very happy. I suck at describing tone so I'm not much help at telling you what I like about it other than I like it.

.

Thanks.

 

"I was very happy" and "I like it" are excellent tone descriptions! I wish all my amp/guitar combinations qualified for "I like it" and "I was very happy."