Carvin V3 Half Stack - Who has one?

[jgcable]

I still say its not true that an Attenuator necessarily sounds like a blanket got thrown over the amp. I still say if you get something like an Alex Attenuator for example, it sounds fine and turns an extremely loud amp into an actually gig able one I've used it many times on my Marshall Randy Rhoads amp and it works great. Some amps like the Randy Rhoads are so loud they're too much even in bigger venues. I've seen Paul Gilbert using a THD Hot Plate with his Rhoads amp. The tone was fine.
On the JCM 800 amps. They do sound good live. They don't have a ton of gain on their own but when slammed up front with a good pedal they respond well and have that legendary cut through the mix type of tone. If you're messing with it by yourself or at bedroom volumes its hard to appreciate this. But live they work out fine. I think that's why when we hear others playing one we think they sound killer, yet when we plug into them its harder to see what all the fuss is about. The other thing about JCM 800's is that they are a favorite for modders to hop up. So they're a good platform to start from for those who want to get a hot rodded Marshall sound.
Sorry for the detour, we now return you back to the Carvin V3

Buying a high power high gain tube amp and then adding an attenuator for it so that you can play it at super low volumes at home is the same thing as buying a 700HP Mustang and pulling 6 plugs out of it and leaving the emergency brake on so that you can ride around the neighborhood doing 20. In regards to tone.. its POINTLESS. In regards to coolness.. well.. that's another story. Nothing is cooler than a 1/2 stack in your bedroom unless of course you have a full stack.

[jgcable]

Now back to the V3 thing..

V3 = Good sounding amp

Splawn Anything = Great sounding amp

BTW... 40 watts at half power (which if I use my calculator would be about 20 watts I believe), is loud enough for the cops to come to your house.

Regarding the Carvin X100B. Super loud super powerful amp. On a volume of 1 it was too loud for home use. Same thing with the Legacy. You need to put a pedal in front of it to tame it down. Both fine sounding amps with a pedal out in front. Then you need a noise gate because when you throw a pedal out in front they are noisy. I know. I owned several X100B's and a few Legacy's. My Mesa Single Rectifier on the other hand is dead quite at the highest gain settings. Sometimes I don't even know its on. No pedals required. Just pure high gain tone and a clean channel that is just stunning. I get compliments constantly on my guitar tone. The only amp I have ever heard live that has better tone than mine is the Splawn Quickrod and the Bogner Ecstasy 101B.

[lefty]

[QUOTE=PowerTube;1606890]All good points and I agree. This is another reason why I'm also very interested in the Street Rod, preferably in the head version. It's 40 watts and has a half-power switch. Personally, I've always found that most amps get better tone when left on full power, even though they don't open up as much. There's something about that headroom......

But bear in mind that the 40-watt Street Rod will still tear your head off and likely be way too loud
for home use. There is no easy answer to your dilemma!

[markD]

I know john will come in and say it is a pussy amp, but this is what the egnater tweaker, the orange tiny amps, and the marshall DSL15 are for. if you are playing at home, and want a little more to your tone than mosquito-esque preamp distortion, then one of the above amps is better than the 40 watt quickrod. now, 15 watts of tube power cranked all the way to 10 s still LOUD, but you can get it about half way and not kill small animals.

my at-home rig is either a tweaker 15 or 40 (depending on if I need channel switching) plugged into a 2X10 cabinet with EV speakers. my tone is nice. the volume is reasonable - meaning loud enough to be disruptive in an apartment, but fine for playing in a house. now, having said that, I am NOT a metal player using gobs of gain. my tone is more classic metal, ala 80s scorpions, or 81-83 iron maiden, mixed in with some skynyrd type sounds. I am mostly playing fender guitars lately - strats, teles, jazzmasters....

I would not discount those types of amps for you needs. now your desires seem to lean toward having something BIG. if that's the case, just get a boogie MKIV. it is, literally, the BEST low volume, high-gain bedroom amp I have EVER owned. it sounded WAY better at a low volume than it did cranked, IMHO.

[jgcable]

I know john will come in and say it is a pussy amp, but this is what the egnater tweaker, the orange tiny amps, and the marshall DSL15 are for. if you are playing at home, and want a little more to your tone than mosquito-esque preamp distortion, then one of the above amps is better than the 40 watt quickrod. now, 15 watts of tube power cranked all the way to 10 s still LOUD, but you can get it about half way and not kill small animals.

my at-home rig is either a tweaker 15 or 40 (depending on if I need channel switching) plugged into a 2X10 cabinet with EV speakers. my tone is nice. the volume is reasonable - meaning loud enough to be disruptive in an apartment, but fine for playing in a house. now, having said that, I am NOT a metal player using gobs of gain. my tone is more classic metal, ala 80s scorpions, or 81-83 iron maiden, mixed in with some skynyrd type sounds. I am mostly playing fender guitars lately - strats, teles, jazzmasters....

I would not discount those types of amps for you needs. now your desires seem to lean toward having something BIG. if that's the case, just get a boogie MKIV. it is, literally, the BEST low volume, high-gain bedroom amp I have EVER owned. it sounded WAY better at a low volume than it did cranked, IMHO.

Mark, I changed my tune when it comes to those tiny amps. I think they are perfect for home use. I played the tweaker and a few orange tiny amps. They sound great to me but.. to my ears... they don't sound any better than a good modeling amp and the benefit of the modeling amp is you get effects, multiple amp tones and you aren't cooking tubes. I have never been a fan of cooking tubes at quiet home volumes.
The amp I play at home is a crappy little Fender G-Dec 3. Its a 15w amp with a 10" speaker in it I believe. Its perfect for home practice and jamming to songs.

[PowerTube]

As I said above, I know exactly how to have the best of both worlds. I can tame ANY amp by using pedals for low-volume playing. I had both my JCM 800 and X100B sounding awesome at bedroom levels. But, I never liked the higher-volume sounds of either of those amps. I suspect that I would indeed like the Quick Rod at higher volumes.

So I think that's the best of both worlds. I can have my sound quietly or louder, but by different methods.

As for it being overkill, I don't agree. Volume-wise, of course it is. By far. But I'm not talking about potential volume. I'm talking about tone. I got a great low-volume tone out of both of those amps.

[roodyrocker]

Buying a high power high gain tube amp and then adding an attenuator for it so that you can play it at super low volumes at home is the same thing as buying a 700HP Mustang and pulling 6 plugs out of it and leaving the emergency brake on so that you can ride around the neighborhood doing 20. In regards to tone.. its POINTLESS. In regards to coolness.. well.. that's another story. Nothing is cooler than a 1/2 stack in your bedroom unless of course you have a full stack.

It's not quite the same analogy to the Mustang. I have such a Mustang btw, it gets driven on the street. Thing is its not constantly under 17 psi of boost full throttle all the time. Anyway, there is a bit of difference between trying to make a loud amp gig able vs. bedroom volume. If you're trying to bring these amps down to normal talking/bedroom volumes that's a bit extreme. It does always depend on the Attenuator used though. Some suffer much more from this than others. Even my band's stage volume is not as loud as you'd think. Lately I've been using my 50w JCM 2000 which has a master volume. At most, my master volume ends up turned up to 1 and 1/2, no more. If you get the right Attenuator you can use these louder amps at low gig volumes and even at home and they will sound good!

[PowerTube]

It's not quite the same analogy to the Mustang. I have such a Mustang btw, it gets driven on the street. Thing is its not constantly under 17 psi of boost full throttle all the time. Anyway, there is a bit of difference between trying to make a loud amp gig able vs. bedroom volume. If you're trying to bring these amps down to normal talking/bedroom volumes that's a bit extreme. It does always depend on the Attenuator used though. Some suffer much more from this than others. Even my band's stage volume is not as loud as you'd think. Lately I've been using my 50w JCM 2000 which has a master volume. At most, my master volume ends up turned up to 1 and 1/2, no more. If you get the right Attenuator you can use these louder amps at low gig volumes and even at home and they will sound good!

I keep reading that the newer Quick Rods with the loop master work very well, and that the tone is still killer at bedroom volumes.

I can't attest to this personally yet because I haven't found the right Quick Rod deal, but I can't wait to try it out.

By the way, I bought a Splawn 4x12 today and it should be in next week.

[roodyrocker]

I keep reading that the newer Quick Rods with the loop master work very well, and that the tone is still killer at bedroom volumes.

I can't attest to this personally yet because I haven't found the right Quick Rod deal, but I can't wait to try it out.

By the way, I bought a Splawn 4x12 today and it should be in next week.

It's true, the loop knob does work well on the Quick Rod. What color cab and what speakers did you get in that Splawn cab? Post some pix

[PowerTube]

It's true, the loop knob does work well on the Quick Rod. What color cab and what speakers did you get in that Splawn cab? Post some pix

Thanks. I'm getting more excited about it by the minute. Now to actually find a Quick Rod head.....

The cab is a slant with Small Block 55's in white. Not vintage white, but pure white. It has a black grille cloth. Honestly, I would have preferred a white or "salt and pepper" cloth but I'm not complaining.

EDIT: I forgot this part. I bought it used online, so I can post pics once it arrives.

[roodyrocker]

Thanks. I'm getting more excited about it by the minute. Now to actually find a Quick Rod head.....

The cab is a slant with Small Block 55's in white. Not vintage white, but pure white. It has a black grille cloth. Honestly, I would have preferred a white or "salt and pepper" cloth but I'm not complaining.

EDIT: I forgot this part. I bought it used online, so I can post pics once it arrives.

Damn! I knew you were going to say white. That's what I need to match my Quick Rod. Mine is white with black alligator front and back

[PowerTube]

Damn! I knew you were going to say white. That's what I need to match my Quick Rod. Mine is white with black alligator front and back

I don't know what it is about the white ones that I like so much. I generally don't like anything in white, but a Splawn half stack......

[roodyrocker]

I don't know what it is about the white ones that I like so much. I generally don't like anything in white, but a Splawn half stack......

I'm a fan of white amps. My Marshall Rhoads, Bad Cat, JCM 2000, Splawn Quick Rod, and Bogner Uberschall as well as Carvin V3 are white Some of the others are Snakeskin and Purple, they break up the monotony of the usual black amps

[PowerTube]

Update: The Splawn 4x12 arrived today so I went over to check it out. Someone had apparently wired it in stereo because one jack only ran the top two speakers and the other jack only ran the bottom two. So, I declined to take it and got a full refund. They were very good about it and even refunded shipping. I also mentioned that since the speakers are 16-ohm, this means that each set, the top and bottom, was running at 8 ohms if wired in parallel or 32 ohms if wired in series. Ouch! Plus, the top didn't look "brand new" like I had been told on the phone, and the missing serial number kept bugging me.

But there's good news: I ordered a brand new Splawn 4x12 with Small Blocks! Bright White with gold piping, baby! And why did I order this color scheme? Because I also just got a great deal on a Quick Rod head in those colors.

[roodyrocker]

Update: The Splawn 4x12 arrived today so I went over to check it out. Someone had apparently wired it in stereo because one jack only ran the top two speakers and the other jack only ran the bottom two. So, I declined to take it and got a full refund. They were very good about it and even refunded shipping. I also mentioned that since the speakers are 16-ohm, this means that each set, the top and bottom, was running at 8 ohms if wired in parallel or 32 ohms if wired in series. Ouch! Plus, the top didn't look "brand new" like I had been told on the phone, and the missing serial number kept bugging me.

But there's good news: I ordered a brand new Splawn 4x12 with Small Blocks! Bright White with gold piping, baby! And why did I order this color scheme? Because I also just got a great deal on a Quick Rod head in those colors.

Awesome! Waiting to see pix of this one when it arrives