Bit the bullet, preordered a Carvin V3M

[Inazone]

I've been trying to streamline my live rig for a while now, starting with buying a Mesa vertical 2x12 cab for out-of-town gigs, usually in conjunction with a Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp (w\ Furman conditioner in a 4U rack case) and a pretty big pedalboard. For local shows, I use a Peavey XXL, a Boss ME-50 (in the loop) and a Jackson 4x12 cab. Well, I decided that the only way I could downsize any further was to find a smaller head, using the ME-50 and 2x12 with it, but there weren't a whole lot of amps on the market that appealed to me.

I haven't bought a *new* amp since the late `90s, but when the Carvin V3M was announced at NAMM, it was pretty obvious that it would meet my requirements: small footprint, separate EQs for each channel, and the right range of tones for what I'm doing. Plus, it's only $599 preordered, and "Made in the USA" to whatever extent that really applies these days. It can be rackmounted too, although I don't know if that'll be necessary.

Now I wait for a week or so . . .

[jgcable]

if it sounds as good as the V3 you will love it. We use a V3 for live and the studio. Its a great sounding amp.

[BenoA]

Keep us posted! I'm curious about that amp too!

[toejam]

Keep us posted! I'm curious about that amp too!

+1. I've got a regular V3 that I love, but I'm also interested in the mini version!

[axmann]

V3 here also. Would love to hear what you think of the M series. Mines been a great, versatile amp.

[Inazone]

Even though I preordered a week or so before the deadline, I waited too long to get in on the first batch. Word over on the Carvin forum is that they were waiting on more headshells, so nothing new to report yet.

[Inazone]

If all goes as planned, I'll finally get my grubby little hands on this tomorrow after work!

[jackson1]

The forum is at a stand still - we're all waiting just for your new amp. Keep us posted

So, this is it? Hmm... nice looking amp.

[jgcable]

I really want to hear about this one!

[petez0r]

$600!!! ...thats pretty crazy, i dont think ive read a bad word about carvin. i too want to hear about this one.

[toejam]

The clips on Carvin's site and Youtube seem great! I may sell my regular V3 and THD Univalve and get one, but I want to hear more opinions about this first!

[axmann]

I'm with the Toejam. I'd probably sell mine for this compact unit.IF it did all the cool stuff I love on my V3. I can't say enough good about mine. Truly a versatile amp and in my opinion nothing even close for the money. I wish I was from Slayerville. Maybe my version of Raining Blood wouldn't be so weak.

[Inazone]

Sorry, it has been a busy couple of days, and the amp is at my drummer's place, so I only had a little bit of time to spend with the V3M so far. We were busy mixing until the middle of the night, so no clips recorded yet, but I was able to put it through its paces. Here are my impressions so far:

- Without opening it up, the build quality looks solid. In order to get everything crammed to an amp this small, jacks and controls are all quite close together. The knobs are small and plastic, and it uses mini-toggles for the EQ and voicing mode selection. These shouldn't need to be used often if you have a footswitch, but I'm already tempted to get the rack kit for this, as having the knobs "out in front" puts them in harm's way a bit. Everything feels sturdy, though.

- The size (or lack of) is just ridiculous. I'm going to use this with a Mesa vertical 2x12 cab, but had it perched on a Peavey XXX cab for the maiden voyage . . . and it literally looks like a lunchbox. It's obviously lighter than a full-sized head, but substantial enough to not feel cheap.

- As advertised, there are three channels, with dedicated EQs and voicing modes. The two overdrive channels can be dialed in identically if you want. The "EQX" control supposedly widens the range of each EQ control, so I'll probably have it engaged on one channel and not the other, but have them otherwise dialed in about the same. Combined with the 7/22/50-watt switching, this reminds me of my Peavey XXL in terms of flexibility. Not including the EQX mode, it works out to be a nine-channel amp. I didn't experiment much with the boost control, except to confirm that it worked.

- All the versatility means this thing is capable of all sorts of tones. I play death metal in standard tuning, almost always with passive pickups, so I need a distortion channel that can get saturated enough for heavy riffs without being muddy or fizzy. A few people on various forums seemed to think that it is fizzy, but that was based on NAMM videos and such. No fizz coming from mine. I do keep the presence control rolled almost all the way back, but with all EQ knobs at 5 and the drive at 6-7, I was in very familiar territory. I only played in 50-watt mode, but with the volume at 2+, it was already very loud in our practice space. Noise was virtually nonexistent, definitely less than what I'm used to from the various Peaveys I've played over the years. I'll have to see how far it needs to be cranked for comfortable jamming with a full band, and if the noise remains minimal.

That's about all I can say at the moment, but I'll hopefully get some more time to kick the tires on Thursday, including experimenting with effects. I'll be bringing it home then, to check it out with my Mesa 2x12. If anyone has specific questions, I'll answer them the best I can. For the moment, I can say that I'm very satisfied.

[BenoA]

Thanks for the nice review.

I'm not familiar with the V3 serie from Carvin, but how would you compare the high gain sound from it? Does is sound similar to a 5150/6505?

As you, I own a XXX cab, would you say this amp is a good match for the cab?

[Inazone]

I'm sure that, if EQ'd the same, the V3M could get close to 5150/6505 tone, but every Peavey amp I've ever played has a certain midrange "snarl" that I just don't notice from other amps. The Carvin has three modes per channel - Intense, Classic and Thick on channels 1 and 2 - and I think that with the EQX enabled, Intense mode would be the closest. I think of the 5150/6505 tone as having a grinding quality that makes it great for metal and not so great for other styles, while the V3M would probably require a fair bit of tweaking to nail that sound. I can try a head-to-head comparison of the V3M and a 6505 sometime, to see how close the two can sound. Time will tell, but my first impression of the Carvin is that because the two overdrive/distortion channels are the same instead of two completely different tones as on most amps, the range of distortion from mild overdrive to high gain is wider, and the three separate modes focus it a bit more. I really like Peavey amps, but I've often felt that if I couldn't find the distorted tone I was looking for between 1 and 6, I wasn't going to find it, as they go beyond the realm of usable gain at 7 and higher; the exception to that would probably be the XXL, but like the V3M, it has three different modes on each channel. I think I'll probably use the Intense mode most of the time, although in a recording situation, Classic would probably be great for solos. I'll have to try my seven-strings through this amp too, and see if the Thick mode is more suitable.

As for the XXX cab, it's actually my drummer's (he owns a recording studio), and he replaced the stock speakers with a couple of different Eminence types, so I couldn't say. Because the different modes vary so much, I think that cab choice would have to depend on what you're going for. My Mesa cab has Celestion V30s, so I expect that the V3M in Intense or Classic mode would sound great with those. On the other hand, I've done almost all of my recording with Peavey 2x12 cabs (Sheffield speakers) in the past, so that's what I would probably continue doing if I switch to the V3M for future recording. I normally use a Peavey Rockmaster preamp into a Carvin T100 power amp in the studio, and don't necessarily expect the V3M to replace that setup. Not that I won't try.