The CARVIN MB (MICRO BASS) Combo Club!

[Jhengsman]

The order just went in on a MB 15. I had been playing direct to the PA at church with an independent monitor and a 25 watt amp at home

[jazz41]

Just got a MB15 today. Absolutely love it!!! Amazing punch and tightness. I can finally retire my 15 year old Peavey Basic 60.

[ATK Geoph]

Originally Posted by Jhengsman

The order just went in on a MB 15. I had been playing direct to the PA at church with an independent monitor and a 25 watt amp at home

Let us know what you Think when it shows.

[ATK Geoph]

Originally Posted by jazz41

Just got a MB15 today. Absolutely love it!!! Amazing punch and tightness. I can finally retire my 15 year old Peavey Basic 60.

Congrats! Give us a Review when you can.

[jazz41]

Originally Posted by ATK Geoph

Congrats! Give us a Review when you can.

Loving it.

I really like how light and portable it is. Weighs a lot less than my old Peavey Basic 60. Really like the controls on it too. Pretty good EQ.

Not necessarily a "boomy" bass response. Really tight. I have eq'd it be more low mid with a nasty growl (Carvin B40 walnut body with J99s). Haven't explored the slap tone as much yet, but can get a decent slap sound out of the way I've got it set up now. My favorite thing is how clear the sound is, how articulate the reproduction is. You can really get a bunch of different sounds just by changing your playing style (more than normal is what I mean).

In short, it's awesome. Wanting the extension cab now.

[Kevin aka Kebo]

I have to say Im mixed on this amp. I have the MB210 and wih a band it sounds thin and lifeless UNLESS you have the 1x15 matching cab. Then the amp is great and woke up nicely. Reliability - Honestly, the amp is turning out to be junk. I have maybe 40 hours of use on it, stationary in my rehearsal studio. The amp was popping, I send it to Carvin, they cant find anything wrong... 30 minutes after getting it back the amp blew... Now im using an old 220 head on the 1x15 and it sounds great.. This amp has been a headache..

[Jhengsman]

Originally Posted by ATK Geoph

Let us know what you Think when it shows.

I gave the MB15 a try this morning Overall an upgrade over the Peavey Prosys 115 monitor I have been playing through. Paired with a relatively light bass I was able to unload with two trips, and it only took that many because I had two thick fake books, if I had a larger accessory bag or backpack I could have carried it all together. Since it was my first time with a real amp I don't know exactly how to rate it besides so far so good, I did not play through my Zoom B2's amp simulator setting but just set it on tuner and pluged it on the tune/headphone jack instead of in the chain.. The mute toggle switch is a nice feature.

We have a new to the game soundman so I went with everything set from 11 to 1 O'Clock with the treble relatively low and the bass high. With a Squier MB4 I was surprised at the punch while on the bridge Jazz pickup. And like the thump on the neck Precision on. The master volume was set at 6 and it was much clearer even if set lower then the previous monitor. We will work out the next few weeks whether I will add more volume on stage and set the tone. I want more bass the soundman less, he even wants to tame the kick drum. Unlike most weeks our drummer and pianist were not asking for more of me in their monitors even though I am pretty sure I was putting less noise overall.

If I ever get an outside band I think I will like the ease of transportation, and it doesn't take up much room in the house.

[nicopiano]

I get a bad headphone sound from my MB15. Anybody got the same problem? (I tried 3 differents headphone sets)

[Grateful]

Originally Posted by Kevin aka Kebo

I have to say Im mixed on this amp. I have the MB210 and wih a band it sounds thin and lifeless UNLESS you have the 1x15 matching cab. Then the amp is great and woke up nicely. Reliability - Honestly, the amp is turning out to be junk. I have maybe 40 hours of use on it, stationary in my rehearsal studio. The amp was popping, I send it to Carvin, they cant find anything wrong... 30 minutes after getting it back the amp blew... Now im using an old 220 head on the 1x15 and it sounds great.. This amp has been a headache..

Bummer. If it's still under warranty (which is should be if you bought it new) they should send you another one.

re: being thin: When I demoed all the combos all of them sounded better with extension cabs (which makes sense) but 'thin' is the last thing I would have called the MB210. Maybe the thinness and the burning up are related? What does Carvin say?

[christw]

Guys! I called Carvin about a 110 extension cab for my MB10 and they suggested this little beauty: http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/810. It's the Stagemate PA extension cab and it looks like it may use the same drivers.

[Grateful]

Originally Posted by christw

Guys! I called Carvin about a 110 extension cab for my MB10 and they suggested this little beauty: http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/810. It's the Stagemate PA extension cab and it looks like it may use the same drivers.

Interesting. IMHO, it is worth an extra $40 and 3 pounds for the 210 extension: http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/210MBE

[christw]

I honestly don't need the 210 and prefer matching cabinets for aesthetic reasons. I would even add a matching handle to the stagemate cab if I bought one. Had I bought the 210 combo, I'd agree with you. The smaller size of the 110 is a major selling point for me. I know that may sound absurd seeing as these things are already tiny but I'm fighting for that extra half inch in my trunk some days. That's why I sold my Goliath III. It was half an inch too thick for the trunk and couldn't always ride in the back seat.

FWIW, the S2010 loaded DIY coffeehouse 110 that Duke "designed" (suggested?) did not play well with this amp. It's a great cab but they just aren't made for one another.

[Jhengsman]

2nd week after working with our soundman and the tone controls and stacking the amp, but not plugging into an extension we dropped the master setting down and the reports were even better then last week.

Originally Posted by Jhengsman

I gave the MB15 a try this morning Overall an upgrade over the Peavey Prosys 115 monitor I have been playing through. Paired with a relatively light bass I was able to unload with two trips, and it only took that many because I had two thick fake books, if I had a larger accessory bag or backpack I could have carried it all together. Since it was my first time with a real amp I don't know exactly how to rate it besides so far so good, I did not play through my Zoom B2's amp simulator setting but just set it on tuner and plugged it on the tune/headphone jack instead of in the chain.. The mute toggle switch is a nice feature.

We have a new to the game soundman so I went with everything set from 11 to 1 O'Clock with the treble relatively low and the bass high. With a Squier MB4 I was surprised at the punch while on the bridge Jazz pickup. And like the thump on the neck Precision on. The master volume was set at 6 and it was much clearer even if set lower then the previous monitor. We will work out the next few weeks whether I will add more volume on stage and set the tone. I want more bass the soundman less, he even wants to tame the kick drum. Unlike most weeks our drummer and pianist were not asking for more of me in their monitors even though I am pretty sure I was putting less noise overall.

If I ever get an outside band I think I will like the ease of transportation, and it doesn't take up much room in the house.

[1stnamebassist]

If you check Carvin site they have specials going on. The mb210
ext cab has been discounted a bit.

[ATK Geoph]

Some great info coming out here, y'all.
So, my MB10 has been seeing some more recording time and I am learning the curve a bit more with it. Enjoying the Poo out of it.

Weird Question, but has anyone had their MB Combo seem to Break In suddenly? I don't know how to put it other than my MB10 has seemed to suddenly Break In (the Speaker itself) and now it is handling my B String at Volumes it wouldn't in the 1st month of using it....

[sratas]

wow...looking for a portable affordable amp for little to medium acoustic gigs and I was thinking about the mb line so this thread is becoming so precious.
I'm a bit surpised to see the vast majority of contributes regarding the single or 2 x 10, almost no mb 12 and some 15...
the 3-way design was very tempting until I red a few posts with "negative" beliefs about the tonal qualities...maybe I was developing a bad idea...
since I like a deep clear tone, the mb15 should be a better choice, but I may be wrong...still worried by the possibility that the tiny volume of the cab can produce that sort of a boxy midrange that I really hate...
I will keep up following this thread for more info...

[nicopiano]

I don't find the MB-15 really boxy in the mids. Sound good for the size compared to many others.

[sratas]

Originally Posted by nicopiano

I don't find the MB-15 really boxy in the mids. Sound good for the size compared to many others.

nice to hear....my interest is becoming more focused...

[christw]

After purchasing some nice Sony headphones I decided to use the headphone out on my MB10. Unfortunately, it sounds a bit like distorted garbage. There's a pretty offense amount of clipping that you get at all sound levels. Same bass, cable, and headphones through the EDB-1 was gorgeous and clean. Anyone else have this experience?

FWIW, I still like my BATT and USB interface better, including footprint, but I wish I could practice through the Carvin and get a good clean sound.

[1stnamebassist]

I just ordered the MB15 with the 15 extension cab. I'll let you all know how it works out for me after I try it for a bit.