Carvin Belair???

[mammo300]

So I'm looking to by a new amp and I've narrowed it down to two possible candidates the Carvin Belair or a Fender Blues Deluxe (but I am open to other suggestions) I've tested a blues deluxe and i liked it, but the problem is that i can't test these amps side by side like I want to. So does anybody have any experience with the Belair?

[jmh151]

Re: Carvin Belair???

I don't think anyone on here has one, but youtube has alot of videos. I've seen Joe Walsh endorsing them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK-CPSN4LHo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opbjQPK0CZg

[Ascension]

Re: Carvin Belair???

Owned several and a Fender Blues Deluxe. What do you want to Know?
I will say this the Carvin is a MUCH MUCH better built amp!!
An old buddy of mine does some mods on the Carvins that are flipping amazing!!
Check THIS out Carvin Nomad vs Fender Deluxe Video from Rick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP5DbI75oKg&feature=related

And Rick with a Nomad Chassis he modded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjupdE_nujI&feature=related

[MetalManiac]

Re: Carvin Belair???

I had a Carvin tube amp- 2x12 with thoase horrible carvin Speakers. Probably a Balair or something similar. I did all the Hasserel mods and that dang thing was still an icepick. I Plain couldnt dial the obscene high end spike out. I swtched speakers and did 200 dollars worth of hasserel mods and everything I could do.
I never ever tried to buy another Carvin a

After that...not sure about their High gain amps.
Basically, IMO Carvin amps suck.

YMMV..

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Carvin Belair???

I'd find a used Fender Supersonic or Traynor YCV40. Maybe a bit more money, but way better sounding than either of those.

[Ascension]

Re: Carvin Belair???

I had a Carvin tube amp- 2x12 with thoase horrible carvin Speakers. Probably a Balair or something similar. I did all the Hasserel mods and that dang thing was still an icepick. I Plain couldnt dial the obscene high end spike out. I swtched speakers and did 200 dollars worth of hasserel mods and everything I could do.
I never ever tried to buy another Carvin a

After that...not sure about their High gain amps.
Basically, IMO Carvin amps suck.

YMMV..

If you were trying to play Metal with a Vintage series Carvin you flat had the wrong amp. It just was never designed for that style music. One thing I find ?? about what you experienced however is a high end spike. If anything I found the Vintage series Carvins I have owned to be really muddy at super high gain and certainly NOT overly bright!! They however absolutely excel at lower gain settings and cleans.
Now I have owned several Carvins that were high gain monsters. One in particular was an early Series III X100B with the Hot Rod Mod sounded like the best modded Marshall you ever heard and broke into the most glorious harmonic feedback at will of anything that I have ever played. I had some one hear it on stage at my Church and make me an offer that I thought was too good to be true and stupidly took. It was only later that I found out Carvin had re-voiced the later amps and only the very first few built with the Hot Rod Mod sounded like that one. It was the same amp series that Vai recorded Blue Powder on.
Here are a couple a live clips with the old ugly carpet covered beast from my old Church.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=4453782

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=5049360

[guitarkid]

Re: Carvin Belair???

My buddy has a Carvin Belair that he is barrowing right now and he's thinking about buying it. The cleans... are great! Very crisp and sparkly or could get very smooth and warm. The gain channel had more of a vox tone to my ears, it was good but I liked the clean channel the best.

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: Carvin Belair???

in that instance my vote would go to the Carvin Belair. You will definitely want to invest in a speaker swap. I'd suggest Eminence Texas Heats, Cannibis Rex, or Private Jacks. The stock tubes are pretty junky I'd suggest swapping for at the least a set of JJ's from Eurotubes.

I wasn't overwhelmed by the "soak" channel but the clean channel is one of the best I've used and I have a lot of dirt pedals that I usually prefer to amp distortion anyway.

Without mods the soak channel is useable but to me only in moderation/low settings.

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Carvin Belair???

in that instance my vote would go to the Carvin Belair. You will definitely want to invest in a speaker swap. I'd suggest Eminence Texas Heats, Cannibis Rex, or Private Jacks. The stock tubes are pretty junky I'd suggest swapping for at the least a set of JJ's from Eurotubes.

I wasn't overwhelmed by the "soak" channel but the clean channel is one of the best I've used and I have a lot of dirt pedals that I usually prefer to amp distortion anyway.

Without mods the soak channel is useable but to me only in moderation/low settings.

+1, I'm a former Belair and Blues Deluxe owner.

[d1dsj]

Re: Carvin Belair???

My bandmate has one and I agree with the above, cleans are beautiful but gain channel only with low gain. He hasn't done any amp mods but has got a V30 and a GT75 in there. It seems to be a solid amp.

[kaudio]

Re: Carvin Belair???

I know this an older forum discussion, but I couldn't help but throw my two cent out there...
I've played through a Belair for the last 16 years. Prior to that I was a metal guy with a Marshall JCM900, and matching metal axe-style guitar. I was wanting to get out of that world and get into more of a tone based sound. The big beef I had was that both my guitar and my amp lacked low end. And the clean channel on my marshall was meh. So (low end in mind!) bought a custom Don Grosh guitar with a mahojany body and a Carvin 212 Belair amp. Holy cow I was in low end heaven! I was never a pedal guy before (who needed a distortion pedal with a JCM900!?) so now it was a must. so I got a tube screamer and a bunch of other stuff.
The other big reason I went with the Belair, was the clean channel. It was Sooooo clean. Even cranked up all the way, it still never broke up. I did change out the stock Carvin tubes. They weren't terrible, but I threw a set of Groove Tubes (back in the day) & it sounded great. The Soak channel isn't really usable, but I hear that Eurotubes has a cool tube lineup mod that lowers the gain and makes it nice.
At times I do miss the distortion from my JCM900, but it was a whole 'nother world. I still use my Carvin every week and it's been great. Due for a retube, but overall, I've been really happy with it.

[BloodRose]

Re: Carvin Belair???

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the input!

If this thread wasnt ancient, Id throw in to look at a Peavey classic series amp. I was going to buy a Fender blues Jr years ago and tried one in the store ( I think they had bad grounding) but that thing hummed like a cheap hooker in an alleyway. I tried the Peavey and found it quieter, reverb more lush and cheaper..