mediumpimpin
New member
Anyone here own/played thru a carvin v3 before? I was checking out some clips on youtube and that amp seems pretty sweet.
Carvin v3
- Thread starter mediumpimpin
- Start date
rashayritto
Off-Topic Lurker
Re: Carvin v3
there's a whole thread somewhere of people sharing horror stories with carvin gear.
however, their pricing and financing are very nice and there are some big fans on this forum
there's a whole thread somewhere of people sharing horror stories with carvin gear.
however, their pricing and financing are very nice and there are some big fans on this forum
TheAbomb12
New member
Re: Carvin v3
I just took a trip to the Carvin Factory and Showroom to try it out. Great features, I loved the expandable EQ. The Clean was nice- I especially liked the "soak" mode. The distortion was good but not great; It took me awhile to get a sound close to what i was looking for - but even then it really wasn't my cup of tea. The only problem with the distortion is that is sounds far too...plain... not bad- just nothing exciting about it; wasn't ballsy enough for me.
Just to clarify, I was looking for a modern metal/hi-gain amp. the V3 can definitely nail stuff from blues to classic rock/metal.
Great amp for the price though- and the EQ options are awesome; just didn't like it for heavier stuff.
I just took a trip to the Carvin Factory and Showroom to try it out. Great features, I loved the expandable EQ. The Clean was nice- I especially liked the "soak" mode. The distortion was good but not great; It took me awhile to get a sound close to what i was looking for - but even then it really wasn't my cup of tea. The only problem with the distortion is that is sounds far too...plain... not bad- just nothing exciting about it; wasn't ballsy enough for me.
Just to clarify, I was looking for a modern metal/hi-gain amp. the V3 can definitely nail stuff from blues to classic rock/metal.
Great amp for the price though- and the EQ options are awesome; just didn't like it for heavier stuff.
Re: Carvin v3
I tell all those interested in carvin gear to go to the disscussion boards www.carvinbbs.com
I tell all those interested in carvin gear to go to the disscussion boards www.carvinbbs.com
jmh151
Active member
Re: Carvin v3
The amp can get VERY heavy just by adjusting the controls. Also, switching the tubes to 6L6 or 5881's, even KT77's, and biasing the amp hot really opens the amp up to heavier tones
The amp can get VERY heavy just by adjusting the controls. Also, switching the tubes to 6L6 or 5881's, even KT77's, and biasing the amp hot really opens the amp up to heavier tones
mediumpimpin
New member
Re: Carvin v3
Have you ever played a carvin or owned anything carvin? If not, I'd refrain from bad mouthing them. There are lots of guys here, including myself, who own and love carvin. I've never once heard of someone having a bad experience with them, in fact I tend to hear the exact opposite.
G&Legacy, thanks for the link, I totally forgot about the carvin board.
Have you ever played a carvin or owned anything carvin? If not, I'd refrain from bad mouthing them. There are lots of guys here, including myself, who own and love carvin. I've never once heard of someone having a bad experience with them, in fact I tend to hear the exact opposite.
G&Legacy, thanks for the link, I totally forgot about the carvin board.
Binnerscot
Well-known member
Re: Carvin v3
I don't think he was bad mouthing anything, just relating a thread.....
I have had some Carvin gear (instruments), but not the V3. If you have never once heard of a bad experience with Carvin, you must not get out too often. Even the "best of the best" out there will have an owner with a bad experience, regardless of brand.
It is also often rumored that Carvin doen't allow a lot of negative stuff on their board, so I don't know what to say about that.
That being said, I like the guitars and basses in general, and the Legacy is cool amp. I have played one of those. Sorry I can't give any insight to the V3.
I don't think he was bad mouthing anything, just relating a thread.....
I have had some Carvin gear (instruments), but not the V3. If you have never once heard of a bad experience with Carvin, you must not get out too often. Even the "best of the best" out there will have an owner with a bad experience, regardless of brand.
It is also often rumored that Carvin doen't allow a lot of negative stuff on their board, so I don't know what to say about that.
That being said, I like the guitars and basses in general, and the Legacy is cool amp. I have played one of those. Sorry I can't give any insight to the V3.
Re: Carvin v3
My impression of the Carvin V3 was that it was Carvin’s take on the now-standard platform of an American 3-channel high-gain amp with maximum tweakage and adjustability (read: Mesa Triple Rec/Roadster). I’ve test driven a few examples in the Santa Ana Carvin store. Although there’s a lot of controls on the amp I found it to be very easy to navigate and very easy to dial in tones that I wanted. The EQ works exceptionally well and the gain and volume levels are very controllable even for a 100W amp. All the tones I dialed in, high-gain or not, were clear, crisp and defined and pretty rich sounding. Lots of integrity to the sound… personally I like the tonal quality more than any Mesa Dual or Triple Rec I’ve tried. I think it’s a really nice amp that’s got lots of good sounds in it.
FTR, I do own a Legacy and it's a pretty satisfying amp as amps go. If I had the $$$ I'd drop for a CAA/Suhr OD-50 head but for now this will do just fine.
My impression of the Carvin V3 was that it was Carvin’s take on the now-standard platform of an American 3-channel high-gain amp with maximum tweakage and adjustability (read: Mesa Triple Rec/Roadster). I’ve test driven a few examples in the Santa Ana Carvin store. Although there’s a lot of controls on the amp I found it to be very easy to navigate and very easy to dial in tones that I wanted. The EQ works exceptionally well and the gain and volume levels are very controllable even for a 100W amp. All the tones I dialed in, high-gain or not, were clear, crisp and defined and pretty rich sounding. Lots of integrity to the sound… personally I like the tonal quality more than any Mesa Dual or Triple Rec I’ve tried. I think it’s a really nice amp that’s got lots of good sounds in it.
FTR, I do own a Legacy and it's a pretty satisfying amp as amps go. If I had the $$$ I'd drop for a CAA/Suhr OD-50 head but for now this will do just fine.
jmh151
Active member
Re: Carvin v3
Carvin users have their fair share of bad experiences. You get what you pay for. I think their amps are generally more reliable than Marshall, but less than Mesa. They sound better than Peavey (IMO).
I had my V-3 go out on my during the warranty period. I sent the amp to Carvin. They put "new tubes" in the amp. I got the amp back, and within 3 weeks one of the power tubes went out. I replaced them with the JJ tubes KT'77's that I bought, and haven't had a problem since.
Carvin users have their fair share of bad experiences. You get what you pay for. I think their amps are generally more reliable than Marshall, but less than Mesa. They sound better than Peavey (IMO).
I had my V-3 go out on my during the warranty period. I sent the amp to Carvin. They put "new tubes" in the amp. I got the amp back, and within 3 weeks one of the power tubes went out. I replaced them with the JJ tubes KT'77's that I bought, and haven't had a problem since.
rashayritto
Off-Topic Lurker
Re: Carvin v3
i wasnt bad mouthing Carvin. I actually like their gear. Just relaying something i observed
i wasnt bad mouthing Carvin. I actually like their gear. Just relaying something i observed
Re: Carvin v3
IMHO...
People looooove to give me shizz for playing a Carvin. I think the thing is that their guitar amps USED to suck a whole lot (just ask Gearjoneser) and as they improved the bad stigma surrounding their amps refused to go away. Now whenever anyone has a problem with a Carvin a lot of people immediately tell me I need to switch to a better amp with a better reputation and such.
As far as Carvin's current line of amps are concerned, I don't think they're any better or worse in the quality or reliability than the standard tube amps of any other "mainline" manufacturer that mass-produces amps, i.e. Marshall, Peavey, Fender's non-RI amps, etc.
I rehearse with mine 3x a week and gig with it pretty regularly... other than the amp blowing an output resistor due to an output tube failure (whole other thread entirely, do a search for it if you like) It's been a good amp over the past 2 years.
IMHO...
People looooove to give me shizz for playing a Carvin. I think the thing is that their guitar amps USED to suck a whole lot (just ask Gearjoneser) and as they improved the bad stigma surrounding their amps refused to go away. Now whenever anyone has a problem with a Carvin a lot of people immediately tell me I need to switch to a better amp with a better reputation and such.
As far as Carvin's current line of amps are concerned, I don't think they're any better or worse in the quality or reliability than the standard tube amps of any other "mainline" manufacturer that mass-produces amps, i.e. Marshall, Peavey, Fender's non-RI amps, etc.
I rehearse with mine 3x a week and gig with it pretty regularly... other than the amp blowing an output resistor due to an output tube failure (whole other thread entirely, do a search for it if you like) It's been a good amp over the past 2 years.
mediumpimpin
New member
Re: Carvin v3
Well, I can't comment on Carvins older models of amps, but it seems that the consensus is that they're pretty good, esp for the money. I'd love to try one out, but obviously there's no dealers around here, and I've never seen a used one in the shop.
As far as the problems with carvin go, I've never met anyone who had bad things to say. In fact, a regular at my bar that talks gear with me owns several Carvin axes, amps, and P.A. equipment, he can't seem to get enough of Carvins stuff. I only own one Carvin guitar, but wouldn't hesistate to order another one, mine came flawless, it was still in tune when I pulled it out of its packaging.
Well, I can't comment on Carvins older models of amps, but it seems that the consensus is that they're pretty good, esp for the money. I'd love to try one out, but obviously there's no dealers around here, and I've never seen a used one in the shop.
As far as the problems with carvin go, I've never met anyone who had bad things to say. In fact, a regular at my bar that talks gear with me owns several Carvin axes, amps, and P.A. equipment, he can't seem to get enough of Carvins stuff. I only own one Carvin guitar, but wouldn't hesistate to order another one, mine came flawless, it was still in tune when I pulled it out of its packaging.
WhammyBar Allstar
New member
Re: Carvin v3
Carvin is good for the money. Build quality compared to a Mesa or Marshall is nowhere in the same ball park. Let's say I had a lot to do with Carvin from a paid tech point of view. I wouldn't bash them if cost was the issue, but if build quality and reliability was a high concern, I WOULD BE CONCERNED.
Not alot of amp junkies like PCB's. I understand why cause I work on PCB's all day long. Most amp manufacturers including boutique builders use PCB's these days cause it's just better for them, and I wouldn't knock PCB amps at all... it really depends on how the builder utilizes the PCB. As far as people *****ing about how hard it is to mod a PCB amp, well I can understand that too, but since I do this all day, it has no negative affect on how I view them.
Good reputable amp companies that use PCB's utilize them very well. Very nice robust boards, clean layout, silk screened, and most importantly... flying leads to chassis mounted components such as tube sockets, transformers, volume and eq pots.. etc.
Carvin builds good sounding amps, I really like the tone of the Bel Air, Nomad Vintage 16, Legacy, X100B, but not so much as impressed with the tone of the MTS 3200 or the V3 compared to their features.
If you ask me from a tech's point of view about their build quality, I really wouldn't have many great things to say. These amps are built in America... San Bernardo San Diego, CA, but if it didn't say that on the chassis, and I have never been to the factory, I would have said that they were some really good sounding Taiwanese amps.
Carvin is good for the money. Build quality compared to a Mesa or Marshall is nowhere in the same ball park. Let's say I had a lot to do with Carvin from a paid tech point of view. I wouldn't bash them if cost was the issue, but if build quality and reliability was a high concern, I WOULD BE CONCERNED.
Not alot of amp junkies like PCB's. I understand why cause I work on PCB's all day long. Most amp manufacturers including boutique builders use PCB's these days cause it's just better for them, and I wouldn't knock PCB amps at all... it really depends on how the builder utilizes the PCB. As far as people *****ing about how hard it is to mod a PCB amp, well I can understand that too, but since I do this all day, it has no negative affect on how I view them.
Good reputable amp companies that use PCB's utilize them very well. Very nice robust boards, clean layout, silk screened, and most importantly... flying leads to chassis mounted components such as tube sockets, transformers, volume and eq pots.. etc.
Carvin builds good sounding amps, I really like the tone of the Bel Air, Nomad Vintage 16, Legacy, X100B, but not so much as impressed with the tone of the MTS 3200 or the V3 compared to their features.
If you ask me from a tech's point of view about their build quality, I really wouldn't have many great things to say. These amps are built in America... San Bernardo San Diego, CA, but if it didn't say that on the chassis, and I have never been to the factory, I would have said that they were some really good sounding Taiwanese amps.
J Moose
New member
Re: Carvin v3
OOf.
Truth hurts.
I've had pretty BAD luck whenever I've encountered their PA gear, mostly power amps flaming...
Guitars & amps are 'ok' ... pretty bland/toneless overall. I used to have an X100B... it was "ok" at best. Cleans were really good... "Fenderish".
I haven't tried or even heard a Legacy in the flesh yet, a used one just came into the local shop... have to plug in next time I'm there & see what it's all about.
OOf.
Truth hurts.
I've had pretty BAD luck whenever I've encountered their PA gear, mostly power amps flaming...
Guitars & amps are 'ok' ... pretty bland/toneless overall. I used to have an X100B... it was "ok" at best. Cleans were really good... "Fenderish".
I haven't tried or even heard a Legacy in the flesh yet, a used one just came into the local shop... have to plug in next time I'm there & see what it's all about.
WhammyBar Allstar
New member
Re: Carvin v3
Just a note: My post wasn't to bash Carvin at all, like I said, they sound good for the money, and to be honest, I do own a few Carvin guitar tube amps that cost me almost next to nothing to beef up the quality of the build. Just desoldered some PCB mounted tube sockets and mounted them to the chassis, made flying leads to the PCB for many components, and re-mounted Some PCB's for better impact/ shock resistance, replaced some 1/4" input/outputs for beefier ones, just little stuff that I know will go a much longer way. As far as improving their tone, there's several things you can do, from good tubes to better trannies, etc.
Just a note: My post wasn't to bash Carvin at all, like I said, they sound good for the money, and to be honest, I do own a few Carvin guitar tube amps that cost me almost next to nothing to beef up the quality of the build. Just desoldered some PCB mounted tube sockets and mounted them to the chassis, made flying leads to the PCB for many components, and re-mounted Some PCB's for better impact/ shock resistance, replaced some 1/4" input/outputs for beefier ones, just little stuff that I know will go a much longer way. As far as improving their tone, there's several things you can do, from good tubes to better trannies, etc.
