Carvin amps

[straycat]

Bought a Carvin X100-B 100 watt head today Man she has some killer cleans.
Any one here have one?Opinions are welcome good or bad.I had to have a head to match my Carvin 4X12 cab right?

[jgcable]

I have owned several of them. Is it the tolex or the carpet covered one?
Excellent clean channel. Takes pedals really well. Distortion is Mark II like without the pull boost engaged. With the pull boost engaged I found it way too fuzzy and fizzy.
Throw some good pedals in front of it and in the loop and you are good to go for any style of music.

[straycat]

Its black tolex with white piping.This must be a newer one it has the EL34s.
I agree fizzy at low volume I'll try it with the powerbrake and all cranked up. It may get worse who knows.The cleans are so nice at 25 watt and 50 watt settings I'm going to keep this one.
Pretty sensitive controls I've noticed. The reverb is really sweet and smooth.
Clean as a pin too.

[slayer]

I have one also. The cleans are very clean. Good rock amp but neads distortion pedals for metal. Mine also has Tolex and EL34`s. We have a rare bird as Carvin only made them 1 year with tolex and EL34`s, before that, they were tolex and 6L6`s and after they were furry and EL34`s. Maybe some were modded for EL34`s from 6L6`s but not sure. The only year they made them with tolex and EL34`s was 1988 in which mine is. Did yours come with the Footswitch, very important to have that. Mine is in very good condition, but lately it is loosing volume and having rise and fall volume issues. It could be the power coming into the house or the amp itself, not sure. All of the tubes are new and look fine. Either way, they are very versitile amps for sure. The latter furry ones had a Hot Rod mod from the factory. I am going to have mine looked over shortly and see what is up. As a side, I have a Carvin MTS 100 head on the way
Here is a pic with the knobs changed, but I still have the original knobs and the footswitch. These heads are also very big compared to some, way bigger than the MTS and much heavier.I forgot to add that the controls are active thus the sensitivity, but these amps don`t have clipping diodes in the pre-amp like the MTS does be it good or bad. Congrats-Jack.

[straycat]

I noticed the sales tag said with foot switch I'll contact them and go get it should be no problem.
Mine looks just like that.Yeah very sensitive I see why now.What distortion pedals work well with these amps in your experinces.

[dannyr]

I have one of the older tolex ones with the 6L6's. Excellent amp IMO. Like was already said: takes pedals well, great clean channel, great reverb, very versatile amp. I use a tube screamer 808 in front. Sounds great!

[straycat]

OK 1 vote for an 808.Anyone else?

[dannyr]

I also think the SD-1, MT-2, and MXR Dist. + sound good in front also. Just gotta see what works best for you and your style of playing.

[slayer]

I use a stock MT-2, but it has a little too much fuzz and missing something. I may try the DS-1 or the Metal Muff next or the AMT Extreme III or something different. I wish I could find a good amp tech here in Pittsburgh, but they are hard to find I am currently running Svetlanas accross the board, but that is only because it came with those. I think I will dick with the tubes after it is looked at. Jack.

[straycat]

I have a dealer close to me that carrys JJs I may use them in the future.Its got the svetlanas in there now.

[fr0sty]

I have one of the older tolex ones with the 6L6's. Excellent amp IMO. Like was already said: takes pedals well, great clean channel, great reverb, very versatile amp. I use a tube screamer 808 in front. Sounds great!

I had one of these as well. I think it was around '88. I had a bbe pedal called the stinger that this amp loved. I would expect the various bbe maximzer pedals woudl do well with yours.

[jgcable]

Its black tolex with white piping.This must be a newer one it has the EL34s.
I agree fizzy at low volume I'll try it with the powerbrake and all cranked up. It may get worse who knows.The cleans are so nice at 25 watt and 50 watt settings I'm going to keep this one.
Pretty sensitive controls I've noticed. The reverb is really sweet and smooth.
Clean as a pin too.

Its one of the older ones. The newer ones had the carpet covering.

[straycat]

I cruised the Carvin forum and found a little info.It seems mine is an 88 just like Jack stated.Thanks guys you all have been a great help.Now off to find a great OD pedal.

[shreddermon]

I've had a Bel Air for a few years now, love it. Carvin makes very good stuff.

[straycat]

It sounds good thru the Carvin 4X12/ 100 watt Carvin speakers, not sure who makes them for Carvin but the cleans are to die for.
I did hook up the power brake and crank it to 8 and on the 25 watt setting it sounded pretty good 50 watt sounded even better.I dialed in the dirt and it sounded damn good pushed thru the brake.Impressive.Not a death metal crunch but very smooth 80s tone.