Carvin MTS 212

[mjtripper]

No, I left them off on purpose Seriously though I thought he said only tube but I think that was a different thread I was thinking of, I should have mentioned them. The sx series are solid amps and I like the cleans but I didn't care much for the distortion. I think it was the sx100 model I last played. Good jazz amp though and light to carry around, if I still played out with a jazz group I would probably try one. My jazz amps have all been solid state 1x12s, they are a lot easier to carry around.

[jgcable]

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I should get mine tomorrow (provided UPS's tracking is accurate ... it usually is). I'll post a review on Sunday or thereabouts. I'm excited. One thing I didn't like about my Rectoverb is that I could never get a sweet lead tone out of it. I've heard lots of good things about the lead tone. Plus, I'm really not looking for the most high gain sound ... just something comparable to what I've played before. Prior to the Rectoverb, I used a Peavey Transtube 212 and really liked that, so I'm pretty sure I'll like the MTS. I'm not much of a tube-snob and am not that picky about sound. So long as it gives me a few good sounds, I'm happy.

My guess is that if you liked the Transtube 212 (I like that amp too), you will probably like the MTS. Its super simple to dial in a great clean and high gain tone.
It also sounds really good plugged into a closed back 4 x 12 cab!!

[thetruthguy]

Got it in today and I'm happy. I'm not through playing with the knobs, but I was able to find a few really good sounds in a few minutes. I played around with the amp for about 3 hours and feel it's a keeper.

Couple of points:

1) It's loud as hell. Barely on 1 and it's vibrating the floor (on gain and clean). And I've got it set on 50 watts. Can't wait 'til I get some time to really crank this thing. Distortion sounds very nice at low volume. I turned it up to 2 and was afraid I was going to get the cops called on me, but it did sound a bit warmer, so I can see it'll sound better in a live setting, not that it doesn't sound good at a bedroom setting ...

2) It took me a little longer to dial in a good solo sound. It was thin at first, but after figuring out the presence and eq knobs, I found a very thick solo tone. Not too saturated, though, but a little bit better than what I was able to get out of the Rectoverb. Overall, I think the distortion was better on the Rectoverb, but I can get mighty close with the MTS.

3) The clean tone is very warm but I can get bright tones out of it as well. The EQ is so responsive, just a few millimeters of adjustment makes for a whole different sound. I've never seen that kind of response in an amp.

4) I played mostly through a Fender strat, and the amp was very responsive to the single coils, 5-way, volume, and tone knobs. Just by adjusting the guitars electronics, I could come up with half a dozen sounds on the fly. I could not do that with any solid state amp I played ... the difference in tone from the neck to the bridge pickup was even negligable in most cases.

5) Oh, and it's got bottom end thump, even though it's an open-back design. Like I said, the floor was vibrating.

So, thanks for all the comments.

[lerxstcat]

Congrats man! I think it'll only get better the more you play with it. The tone controls are very reactive on Carvin amps as you now know! Enjoy that killer amp!

[thetruthguy]

Another thing I like is there is no volume change in channel switching. On my Rectoverb (version 1), when I would switch to the lead channel, there would be a quick but noticable volume swell. And the reverb "boinged" when it came on. On the Carvin, no swell, and no boing.

[slayer]

I might have to try one of these to compare to my Peavey Ultra 60 1x12, but I would get the 100 watt head. The Peavey Ultras have the active EQ also and small changes are actually big changes. Congrats-Jack.