ANYONE KNOW ABOUT CARVIN X100B REISSUE?

[Zombiwoof]

Re: ANYONE KNOW ABOUT CARVIN X100B REISSUE?

Zappa only used his for his clean sound, Steve Vai also used one for the same reason when he played with Frank (which is where he first hooked up with Carvin). For lead sounds, Zappa used various Marshalls, Orange, or whatever British sound amps. I played through the combo version for a while, and the lead channel is a bit dark and smooth, not bad but "different".
Al

Zappa always sounded great through his.

 

[BigEasyD]

Re: ANYONE KNOW ABOUT CARVIN X100B REISSUE?

I have an '86 combo version, the XV-212 and I love it.

I had the 1985 XV-212 and still regret selling it. Back then you had to order by phone (of course) and I went with the Celestion option. I just can't recall which ones. But the decal looked a lot like a G12-65. The clean channel was one of the best I've ever heard - only a few high end Fenders produced better clean tones IMO. It had this sparkle but never thin, brittle, or cold. For this reason a lot of guys loved to drop a TS in front of it - mine seemed to respond pretty well to most pedals. Now, my amp could not pull off bluesy edge of breakup tone on its own - that was a bit disappointing. But most amps were rather "one trick pony" outfits anyway. Back then even high gain was no more than what we call "crunch" or "dirt" today. With that in mind the XV-212 had a nice singing lead or solo tone but power chords seemed just a little flabby. But keep in mind aftermarket pickups (SD and a few others) were just becoming widely available. During the mid '80s I got my 1st SD pickups (59 PAF/Jazz) wow what an improvement! I thought my tone could not be improved for a long time afterward.

 

[jackson111]

Re: ANYONE KNOW ABOUT CARVIN X100B REISSUE?

ok guys an update, I got the X100B and man I am idiot for not getting one before now. it has enough gain to do iron maiden, and with the 5 band EQ I can get any sound I want, but the big surprise was once I kicked the high gain switch off I expected it to sound weak and neutered but it still sounded great, gain was smooth, just what I wanted for BB King and Joe bonamassa. and the clean channel is full of character, and as rich as any fender I have ever heard. the amp is freaking killer

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: ANYONE KNOW ABOUT CARVIN X100B REISSUE?

ok guys an update, I got the X100B and man I am idiot for not getting one before now. it has enough gain to do iron maiden, and with the 5 band EQ I can get any sound I want, but the big surprise was once I kicked the high gain switch off I expected it to sound weak and neutered but it still sounded great, gain was smooth, just what I wanted for BB King and Joe bonamassa. and the clean channel is full of character, and as rich as any fender I have ever heard. the amp is freaking killer

good on ya, man. Someday when I have some money I'm going to have a few Carvins hanging around here and it's good to hear that they'll actually sound good too.