Carvin MB12

[lowendblues]

I've searched extensivly for detailed reviews on Carvins MB12 3-way combo, but I find mostly MB10 and MB15 information.

Any users want to chime in and toss out some insight? Right now I have a GK MB115 which isnt bad, but after years of playing through 10's, Im having a tough time adjusting to a 15.

I'm either thinking of the Carvin MB12 or a GK MB210. Any reviews regarding power, punch, reliability, features would sure be appeciated.

[4-string]

What exactly is the issue with the MB115? MB210 owners seem to be more unhappy with boominess than MB115 owners, fwiw.

Don't get hung up on speaker size.

[lowendblues]

I've been reading this as well. As with every GK amp I've had, I think the EQ section of these combo's are notched a little bass heavy. I've been running my MB115 flat using my VT as the pre, I get a nice sound out of it running this way. By itself I find myself rolling back the bass to about 9:00 oclock, and boosting the highs to about 3:00 oclock, about 1:00 on the high mids just to brighten it up.

As far as speaker size, I used 15's back in the day and went to 10's more recently. I think the tonal character of 10's tend to be brighter and punchier, very tight sounding, no flab at all.

Just my opinion.

[craig.p]

I don't think you can come to any defensible conclusions about tone and tightness being attributable solely to speaker diameter without taking the entire system(s) into account. I can show you a 1x15" cab that's bright and quick-sounding. I can show you a 2x12" cab that's dark and full-sounding. And, I could take an identical quad of tens and give you either type of tone simply by installing them in two different cabs.

A side note on "flab": That term often turns out to be a slung bit -- a backhanded (and unintended) acknowledgement of fidelity. A properly-designed cab with good low-end extension can serve as a rude and very humbling awakening that one has some homework to do regarding one's playing style/technique. Gating and/or compression and/or cabs with steep roll-offs can serve as cover, though. It's done all the time in the studio. You can hear it on some of the biggest acts' bass tracks. Some of the absolute worst-controlled bass playing -- even with hard compression -- can be found on one of the (formerly) biggest female country/western act's CDs. I was shocked when I first heard it. I figured the bass player had some rude pics from a New Year's Eve party stashed up on a server somewhere, and that's what kept the band's producers from ever quite hitting the eject button on him, even though their thumbs must've come justifiably close on occasion.

Anyway, I'd say don't concern yourself with speaker size. Instead, listen to the entire system. You want bright and punchy? You'll get a truckload of it with the MB15, counter-intuitive as that may be in light if of its 15" driver.

[lowendblues]

I'm not a speaker expert by any means. But I have been playing for well over 30 years. I've never until recently been able to afford any real "boutique" equipment, but rather have had to settle for "middle of the road" gigging equipment. I've had some great sounding 15" cabs in the past, but when I switched to an Ampeg 410 HLF, I liked what I heard. I just attributed the difference to the 10" speakers not so much the cab design.

Anyway,,,,about that Carvin MB12. Anyone using one of these????

[lowendblues]

Bump. Still looking for reviews.??

[JxBass]

Originally Posted by craig.p

I don't think you can come to any defensible conclusions about tone and tightness being attributable solely to speaker diameter without taking the entire system(s) into account. I can show you a 1x15" cab that's bright and quick-sounding. I can show you a 2x12" cab that's dark and full-sounding. And, I could take an identical quad of tens and give you either type of tone simply by installing them in two different cabs.

Anyway, I'd say don't concern yourself with speaker size. Instead, listen to the entire system. You want bright and punchy? You'll get a truckload of it with the MB15, counter-intuitive as that may be in light if of its 15" driver.

Agreed. I have a 15" cab that is extremely even across the entire frequency range. It was designed that way. I also have 12" cab that is extremely low and deep sounding, much more so than my 15". It was designed that way.

The cab design, crossover circuitry, and tuning have everything to do with the overall sound. It can be achieved using 10", 12", 15" speakers.

[BayStateBass]

I have the Carvin MB-210, just got it recently.

If you want to check out my thread "got a better amp", there's some info in there.

In short, like it quite a bit.....

[Lo-E]

Posted by kirk62 last year:

"I have one and have been very pleased. I particularly like it with my fretless. The added mid-range cone seems to help the "singing" quality I like. Played the fretless and MB12 with a soft handed jazz drummer, keys, and a vocal trio and the Carvin was a great fit. It's really not enough amp for a rock or guitar band without an extension cab. I have used a Schroeder 15L under it, but I almost always switch to my Streamliner and bigger cabinets if I need more oomph. To my ears, the MB12 lives on the modern side of the sound fence and is more clean than coloring. It has more mid-bottom punch than I expected, and stays pretty "b-string" solid at reasonable volumes. For small or acoustic gigs, or when I need a very small rig, the Carvin's really wide tone shaping ability, ample connections, decent compression, and quality workmanship have been well worth the very reasonable price (IMHO...of course )"

There was some other info I found using the Google search, but there's not much out there.

[iiipopes]

I have a review of the MB12 out there somewhere in the threads on both the EB and DB sides of the forum. I really, really, like mine. It does double duty on DB as well as EB. My only observation is that being a small sealed cab, it's a little shy on that lowest 1/2 octave, so when I need that I have a small 1X15 ported cab, again with a Carvin driver. I've had it less than a year, and it's already almost paid for itself in gigs.

I prefer it to the "boutique" amplifiers for price/value, tone, ease of use, well, everything.

[Grateful]

Have you checked out the videos with Chris Buck on the Carvin Channel?

[BayStateBass]

Originally Posted by Lo-E

Posted by kirk62 last year:

"I have one and have been very pleased. I particularly like it with my fretless. The added mid-range cone seems to help the "singing" quality I like. Played the fretless and MB12 with a soft handed jazz drummer, keys, and a vocal trio and the Carvin was a great fit. It's really not enough amp for a rock or guitar band without an extension cab. I have used a Schroeder 15L under it, but I almost always switch to my Streamliner and bigger cabinets if I need more oomph. To my ears, the MB12 lives on the modern side of the sound fence and is more clean than coloring. It has more mid-bottom punch than I expected, and stays pretty "b-string" solid at reasonable volumes. For small or acoustic gigs, or when I need a very small rig, the Carvin's really wide tone shaping ability, ample connections, decent compression, and quality workmanship have been well worth the very reasonable price (IMHO...of course )"

There was some other info I found using the Google search, but there's not much out there.

That review is pretty much in line with what I wrote.....

They use the same amp (I believe) in all the MB series.

In short, great, clean tones, not a ton of power.

[Grateful]

Originally Posted by BayStateBass

That review is pretty much in line with what I wrote.....

They use the same amp (I believe) in all the MB series.

In short, great, clean tones, not a ton of power.

Yep. It's a modified BX250 with all the in and outs moved to the front panel for obvious reasons..

[lowendblues]

Thanks for the help.