D
DLT
Guest
This review is going to jump around, so bear with me. This review was tested with my Carvin DC-127 guitar with the stock Carvin C22 Hum-B pups that came with the guitar.
When I got the amp and looked it over, everything was impeccable. Excellent cabinetry and excellent job on tolex covering. Rock solid all the way. Very impressive looking. Deeper in dimensions than a Fender amp. Looks like the old Gibson amps I remember as a teenager. The back panel is a 3/4" thick solid piece of wood, not the flimsy stuff that Fender uses. This is ROAD WORTHY built cabinetry! Amp information says it is 3/4" poplar plywood.
I finally got the EVM-12L in the amp yesterday. Here is how that went down.
Okay...I first removed the power tubes.
I had a problem removing one of the stock speaker screws to the GT12 speaker. The bottom panel that is not removable, makes it difficult to get the correct angle on the screw driver to back it out. I stripped the phillips head on the screw and had to take a vise grips to get a hold of the head and slowly back it out. :banghead:
Once I got the Carvin GT12 speaker out, I removed all the 12AX7 tubes. I put the EVM-12L in and it at first did not line up to the mounting holes because of the reverb tank. :banghead: I thought it ain't going to fit!!!! :soapbox:
I took the reverb tank out, put the EV speaker in and screwed it in. Note: I purchased some 1 & 1/2 in. Allen head machine screws with washers. You will need longer screws for the EV speaker if you decide to do what I just did.
Next, I put the reverb tank back in. It JUST makes it around the speaker frame. I mean you are rubbing, it is SO darn close. The reverb unit has to be repositioned to the back of the cabinet. Carvin mounts them forward, so you have to screw it down making new holes in the wood. The screws Carvin uses for the reverb tank mounting are coarse thread type screws and bite into the wood excellent. (I am fussy about cosmetics, so I put dummy screws in the two extra screw holes that were visible inside the cabinet.)
I replaced the tubes and plugged in the reverb tank.
Thank the Lord it worked out! It adds 9 extra lbs. to the amplifier weight but it is worth it!
The GT12 Carvin speaker is a decent speaker. Has a lot of mid-range tone. Definitely a better speaker(s) that came in the Belair that I tried 10 years ago.
The amp breaks up on the clean channel around 5-6 and the overdrive channel sounds very mid-tone. Nice overdrive. Very nice harmonics and the amp is very responsive. Think of the bluesy sounds on the movie Crossroads.
Now the EVM 12L results:
The bottom end has more bass, nice thump and nice highs. It also makes the amp MUCH louder! Sound is incredible! A day and night improvement! My ears are ringing! The clean sustain is over the top! It is like the amp holds on to that note until the string absolutely stops making a sound.
Instead of doing the Hassler mod to the amp, as many people suggest, I highly suggest just putting the EVM - 12L classic or the Black Label in. It gives you better clean in the clean section of the amp. The amp turned up on the clean side around 8 sounds very Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who like rhythm crunch/tone.
Turn the amp down and you have nice clean full warm rhythm sounds. I could not be happier with the rhythm. The reverb is long tailed reverb and sounds very nice. Not like a Fender but more like the older Gibson amps.
The overdrive section of the amp improved a lot. More bottom and highs, but still has the mid range like characteristics to it. Very nice harmonics and you can get controlled feedback on many notes and with A and E chords etc.. It can sound very Marshall like or roll back the soak knob and you get that wonderful tube screamer type overdrive.
This amp is very versatile and can do just about any type of music that you wish for. It is quiet in operating mode and the knobs have a high quality floating feel when I turned them.
I bought the Carvin Nomad amp for $603.00 with the footswitch, cover and paid $50.00 for the EV 12L (which was a very good deal). If I paid the full price of $229.00 for the EV speaker, total would have come to $832.00. I now have a WAY better amp than the Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb (Musician's Friends price $1,200.00) that I just sold to get the Carvin Nomad. Additionally (once again) the Nomad is very quiet, unlike the quirky Fender CVR.
Now I have a little 50W power house amp that is oh so sweeeeeeet!!! :fing2:
If you have any questions PM me or post.
When I got the amp and looked it over, everything was impeccable. Excellent cabinetry and excellent job on tolex covering. Rock solid all the way. Very impressive looking. Deeper in dimensions than a Fender amp. Looks like the old Gibson amps I remember as a teenager. The back panel is a 3/4" thick solid piece of wood, not the flimsy stuff that Fender uses. This is ROAD WORTHY built cabinetry! Amp information says it is 3/4" poplar plywood.
I finally got the EVM-12L in the amp yesterday. Here is how that went down.
Okay...I first removed the power tubes.
I had a problem removing one of the stock speaker screws to the GT12 speaker. The bottom panel that is not removable, makes it difficult to get the correct angle on the screw driver to back it out. I stripped the phillips head on the screw and had to take a vise grips to get a hold of the head and slowly back it out. :banghead:
Once I got the Carvin GT12 speaker out, I removed all the 12AX7 tubes. I put the EVM-12L in and it at first did not line up to the mounting holes because of the reverb tank. :banghead: I thought it ain't going to fit!!!! :soapbox:
I took the reverb tank out, put the EV speaker in and screwed it in. Note: I purchased some 1 & 1/2 in. Allen head machine screws with washers. You will need longer screws for the EV speaker if you decide to do what I just did.
Next, I put the reverb tank back in. It JUST makes it around the speaker frame. I mean you are rubbing, it is SO darn close. The reverb unit has to be repositioned to the back of the cabinet. Carvin mounts them forward, so you have to screw it down making new holes in the wood. The screws Carvin uses for the reverb tank mounting are coarse thread type screws and bite into the wood excellent. (I am fussy about cosmetics, so I put dummy screws in the two extra screw holes that were visible inside the cabinet.)
I replaced the tubes and plugged in the reverb tank.
Thank the Lord it worked out! It adds 9 extra lbs. to the amplifier weight but it is worth it!
The GT12 Carvin speaker is a decent speaker. Has a lot of mid-range tone. Definitely a better speaker(s) that came in the Belair that I tried 10 years ago.
The amp breaks up on the clean channel around 5-6 and the overdrive channel sounds very mid-tone. Nice overdrive. Very nice harmonics and the amp is very responsive. Think of the bluesy sounds on the movie Crossroads.
Now the EVM 12L results:
The bottom end has more bass, nice thump and nice highs. It also makes the amp MUCH louder! Sound is incredible! A day and night improvement! My ears are ringing! The clean sustain is over the top! It is like the amp holds on to that note until the string absolutely stops making a sound.
Instead of doing the Hassler mod to the amp, as many people suggest, I highly suggest just putting the EVM - 12L classic or the Black Label in. It gives you better clean in the clean section of the amp. The amp turned up on the clean side around 8 sounds very Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who like rhythm crunch/tone.
Turn the amp down and you have nice clean full warm rhythm sounds. I could not be happier with the rhythm. The reverb is long tailed reverb and sounds very nice. Not like a Fender but more like the older Gibson amps.
The overdrive section of the amp improved a lot. More bottom and highs, but still has the mid range like characteristics to it. Very nice harmonics and you can get controlled feedback on many notes and with A and E chords etc.. It can sound very Marshall like or roll back the soak knob and you get that wonderful tube screamer type overdrive.
This amp is very versatile and can do just about any type of music that you wish for. It is quiet in operating mode and the knobs have a high quality floating feel when I turned them.
I bought the Carvin Nomad amp for $603.00 with the footswitch, cover and paid $50.00 for the EV 12L (which was a very good deal). If I paid the full price of $229.00 for the EV speaker, total would have come to $832.00. I now have a WAY better amp than the Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb (Musician's Friends price $1,200.00) that I just sold to get the Carvin Nomad. Additionally (once again) the Nomad is very quiet, unlike the quirky Fender CVR.
Now I have a little 50W power house amp that is oh so sweeeeeeet!!! :fing2:
If you have any questions PM me or post.
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