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I'm looking at amps right now, and I just saw a x100b on craigslist for 400. are the x100b's any good?
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88-89 Fender HM Strat(Dimarzio pickups)
Fender Blacktop Jaguar(JB/Jazz)
Guitar>TU-2>Ernie Ball Volume Pedal>Joyo Octave Fuzz>SD-1>Small Stone Phaser>Amp(Effects loop>DD-7>DD-20>Holy Grail)
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Re: Carvin Amps
If you get it post some recordings, I'd love to hear them. I have a Carvin SX300H for a backup and we had a guitarist come down and audition with a V3 head. I was impressed with the sound he got out of it. I like Carvins stuff, all of our power amps are Carvin as are our 2x18 bottoms.Good trades/deals with Dominus, Rich#6, Lazyfingers, SAVAGE DISTORTION and ErikH. -
Re: Carvin Amps
I had a X100b that I loved. Amazing cleans and killer distortion.
Does the one your looking at have 6L6 tubes or EL-34's?Trainspotter
"...the real key is a good warm delay and lots of lysergic acid diethylamid"
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Re: Carvin Amps
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Carvin amps. Frank Zappa used them, Steve Vai still does (as far as I can tell), they make good amps. The only downside to them that I can see is that they don't resale well, but if you're not planning on getting ride of it, rock on.Comment
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Re: Carvin Amps
I've been seeing vintage 70's carvin tube amps on craigslist all the time for like $300 or so. That is insanely cheap for a 100 watt tube amp. Very suspect though, they must not sound very good if they can't sell for a decent price.
Also, I've been obsessed with the V3M for it's size and insane number of buttons/options. The problem seems to be that there is not much middle ground between cleans and modern metal. The best mid-gain British type tones can be had from the clean channel only, and then you're stuck with two different modern gain channels and one clean channel where you have to choose between clean or mid-gain. I am just repeating what I have read and also how it sounds from the various sound clips and videos. Damn shame because I really wanted that amp, but I'll just keep looking for a small amp that does absolutely everything.Comment
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Re: Carvin Amps
I love the sound of an X100B, but I have been in the room for too many Carvin amplifier failures to ever really want one.Comment
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Re: Carvin Amps
here's a song done with a carvin x100b (an 80s head).
great cleans (although not illustrated here).
distortion is...an acquired taste. sometimes farty, sometimes 70s, sometimes nasally - I sort of had a love/hate relationship with it.
no effects other than a morley wah on the solo.
had to delete the rest of the song due to horrible vocals, hehe. pardon the wrong/bad notes in the solo - I had to improvise on the spot and do everything in one long night!
pardon the old school programmed drums.
(I didn't record this, it was for a guy's school project)
I think I paid $325 for mine and sold it for around that same price. Sucker was huge and heavy (weight-wise).Last edited by DankStar; 08-29-2011, 12:43 PM.Comment
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Re: Carvin Amps
The X100b's have a lot in common with an early Mark series Mesa...except for the Mesa's longevity of service. I've had several of them in over the years and they all have one area of the board that is generally burnt black...or a hole where there once was board. They can be repaired though.Now operating part time: Glassman Tube Amps...repairs, rebuilds, restorations & modifications of tube equipment.
Still building: GlassMan Amplifiers (25 watt, all tube, single channel w/reverb, single 12" combo) and some more designs in the works.
Located in Fort Wayne, IN
Note: I've "parked" my website in case anyone has been looking for it. I moved locations and haven't updated the site to reflect this.Comment
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Re: Carvin Amps
The one I'm looking at has the EL-34's on it.Originally posted by saladin View Post
But yeah, thank for all the help guys. From what I've heard I really liked the tone of it, It's hot which I like but my xl-500 should push it to right around where I want it. Hopefully soon I'll take drive over and actually test the thing out.88-89 Fender HM Strat(Dimarzio pickups)
Fender Blacktop Jaguar(JB/Jazz)
Guitar>TU-2>Ernie Ball Volume Pedal>Joyo Octave Fuzz>SD-1>Small Stone Phaser>Amp(Effects loop>DD-7>DD-20>Holy Grail)
Vox NightTrain 50.
My BandComment
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Re: Carvin Amps
ironic - I used an L-500L in my clip. it pushed it pretty well, and XL-500 should push it even better/more!!Originally posted by dmandude123455 View PostComment
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Re: Carvin Amps
The EL-34 versions sound much better distorted.Trainspotter
"...the real key is a good warm delay and lots of lysergic acid diethylamid"
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Re: Carvin Amps
I have a V3 and found the same problem. The dirty channels do the Mesa Dual Rec sound great, if not better than a Dual Rec since they have more clarity than a Dual Rec. The clean is kinda hard to dial in, the controls are so precise on it. The soak switch on the clean channel gives a good Marshall blues breaker/overdriven Fender tone. But trying to dial in a good Marshall type lead tone on the overdrive channels won't happen, on medium gain settings the amp feels flat and sterile, like it's begging to be let loose on full crunch.Originally posted by Franknfilms View PostComment
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Re: Carvin Amps
For those who mention using Carvin heads, were you using Carvin cabs and speakers as well?
I've got a Carvin VE2x12 cabinet with Carvin "British" 12s in it (their name for them, with Union Jacks on the backs of them). I used it live for years with a Fender RocPro1000 head (both with the head doing everything and then later using only the power section and my rack unit for the preamp stuff). It's a very clean and articulate cabinet, even when running the highest gain I could come up with (saturated to where you get feedback as soon as you stop playing, and you could do the "Spider Riff" in 'Puppets with hammer-ons only).
Just curious if maybe the tonal flaws mentioned were more cabinet/speaker-matching related than the actual head. Like Marshall builds Marshall cabs that sound great with Marshall heads, but you don't get "The Marshall Sound" with other brands of heads/cabs and whatnot.
Granted a birch cabinet should be a birch cabinet and a Celestion V30 should be a Celestion V30....
And I've always wanted to try the X100B, and the V3, but never took the plunge.
I'd also like to have a Marshall Artist 3203 30 watt head, a Roland JC120, a Sholz R&D XP100, etc etc etc....
My BlogOriginally posted by Brown NoteComment
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Re: Carvin Amps
Those olld X100Bs sound pretty good. I played through a few over the years. Nothing amazing, but a good usable tone. Steve Vai used them BITD: Flex-Able has alot of Carvin on it albeit goosed with a DS1 half the time as I understand it.
I wish there were Carvin stores on this side of the country, I'd like to try some of the low wattage stuff they are building. You never see any used Carvin gear in stores around here.I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.
Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster HandbookComment
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Re: Carvin Amps
Funny cause I'm in New Port Richey and saw the same Carvin head on Craig's List. ;o)Originally posted by dmandude123455 View PostAmps: 66 Fender BF Pro Reverb Combo,1973 50 Watt Marshall Head,Marshall 4x12 A/V Cab,Vox ToneLab LE,Vox VTH Valvetronix 120 Head,Vox AD 2x12 Cab,Roland Cube 20X
Guitars: Several Stratocasters,2 Fender Telecasters,Gibson SG Standard,Tokai Love Rock Les Paul,Dean Acoustic.
Pickups: SD SSL2,SSL5,Twangbanger,Antiquity Surfers,59N,Seth Lover N/B,Dimarzio Fred,Dimarzio VPAF N,Fender Fat 50s,Fralin SP43 Bridge,Brobucker,Antiquity Texas Hot.Comment
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