Carvin wait and see

[liam_g]

Have you tried the ribbon connectors?

Liam

[lhoward]

Originally Posted by liam_g

Have you tried the ribbon connectors?

Liam

No, but as mentioned, my concern is not voiding the warranty and usually opening the case on any piece of electronic equipment and fiddling around inside voids it. So I'm waiting on Carvin to contact me and I'll go from there. If they say that popping the case cover and checking the ribbon cables doesn't end my warranty, then I'll do that to see if it clears the problem.

Lloyd Howard

[NYCbassist]

My BX500 acted up one time but magically fixed itself about 2 years ago when it was almost new.
Here's what happened: I tried running the head in 4 ohm mode with one cabinet and all was fine. I then switched back to 2 ohm setting and hooked up the 2nd cab again. Then when I turned it back on and started playing it sounded distorted with very low volume. I have since switched back and forth between 1 and 2 cabs/2 and 4 Ohms with no problems. I don't know what it was and it's been great to me but I'll never gig w/o a backup.

[RitchS]

I love when electronics heal themselves.

[MontanaBassDude]

Originally Posted by ::::BASSIST::::

After hearing all these Carvin problems I'm really hesitant to buy another Carvin product. I currently own a power amp by them - the HD1500 and I am hoping that doesn't give me grief.

Comments like this just crack me up. It's like saying, "My friend's Chevy broke down yesterday... I'm really hesitant to buy a Chevy now."

[Kirk Bryant]

Please excuse the momentary derail.

lhoward: If I read you right I think a Master thread referancing relibility issues with amps and speaker cabs that lists the individuly relavent threads would be awesome!!
I have had my own frustrations trying to find the information I seek.

sorry...continue........

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by Kirk Bryant

Please excuse the momentary derail.

lhoward: If I read you right I think a Master thread referancing relibility issues with amps and speaker cabs that lists the individuly relavent threads would be awesome!!
I have had my own frustrations trying to find the information I seek.

sorry...continue........

Sounds like a good idea Kirk - start typin'!

[DwaynieAD]

Originally Posted by Blue_Whistle88

Companies generally don't fix old gear because of the cost involved, both in training new staff in a wider range of products, and (probably more so) the cost of continuing production of older parts. What certain consumers decide is the definition of "old" and "recent enough to reasonably expect continued servicing" is just that, the decision of certain consumers. In actuality, it is business executives who make those decisons, and they do so based on numbers. We'd all like them to service anything they've ever made but the simple truth is that as long as there is a cost, some (maybe most) companies won't do it.

What was mentioned about the fans in Mesa Walkabouts being changed is a brilliant example of this. If it's broken and outside warranty, or it's not broken but has a design flaw with debatably serious consequences, you can either jump up and down until they fix it, which they may not, or you can take care of it yourself at your own expense. I can already hear many of you scoffing with "But I spent good money, I expect service!". Wrong. You paid money for a product, and the service is complementary, unless you specifically paid extra for a warranty extension. You can either use the vendor to fix it or get someone else.

The truth is that, with the current cost-cutting culture that has infected the Western world (well, more so than usual), most big manufacturers are cutting their product servicing department's funding and capitalising more on raw product sales. It's easier but debatably less moral to run a business that way, but companies have always had at lest a small tendency to do that to save money. Like I said, they're ultimately providing product servicing as a courtesy, and if you try to get an out-of-warranty product serviced on such a courtesy... well, don't have high hopes is all I'm sayin. I've seen so many faulty products get replaced repeatedly by more faulty products, to the extent where I no longer give manufacturers more than one, maybe two chances to fix something, if I have a choice.

My advice is to give it a shot, but while you wait have a good look on the internet for a more independent amp technician who could do the work themselves. If you find one, ask them what parts they need and look for them yourself, in addition to them looking for them. Independence will get you further than sucking on corporate teat, every time.

I think a piece of gear should last 1 year for every $100 dollars invested. I think that is reasonable.

[RitchS]

I wanted to update my Carvin BX1500 status. After having it back from Carvin for repairs for a couple months now, I can say that it has worked flawlessly. I've played it at many full volume rehearsals and gigs and I've been very happy with its performance. Thanks to Carvin and their staff for doing right by me. I highly recommend their line of amps and cabs. I am a Carvin fanboi.

[jnewmark]

Glad to hear it. Mine has been working great too !

[mcglyph]

I woulda been a Carvin fanboi even if your story had ended much differently. Carvin rocks..individual instances aside. And I'm very glad everything worked out for you and yours.

[kreider204]

Originally Posted by mcglyph

I woulda been a Carvin fanboi even if your story had ended much differently. Carvin rocks..individual instances aside.

Holy heck, that's gorgeous. What wood is the top?

[mcglyph]

Flame Koa. Love this bass!!!

[Petebass]

I just read through this while thread because my B2000 has developed a weird problem. The amp clip light flickers on with the volume at only 3.5 or 4 out of 10. The input signal is fine, or at least that clip light isn't coming on at all. It sounds fine, and doesn't shut down at all. But you'd expect a 2kw amp to never clip at he amp section at modest SPL levels. My B1500 gets insanely loud without clipping the amp an it's has slightly less watts. I can only conclude the B2000 isn't well.

Perhaps I should look at the ribbon connector? What do I do exactly? Do I just open the amp, unplug the ribbon connector(s) and spray them with contant cleaner?

[RitchS]

What I thought was weird the first time I contacted Carvin was that they told me to spray the ribbon cable with non-lubricated contact cleaner. I asked them, you mean spray the ribbon cables at the connection point? He said no, just spray the cable. That didn't seem right, but I followed instructions. Needless to say it did not help.
You can try spraying the connection points and see if it works. Just pull the cables off their termination clips, spray them down and plug it back in.
In my situation it turned out to be the amp section that went all squirrelly and needed to be replaced. In the end Carvin took care of me. Make sure you give them the opportunity to make it right. Good luck amigo.

[jeff7bass]

Originally Posted by Petebass

I just read through this while thread because my B2000 has developed a weird problem. The amp clip light flickers on with the volume at only 3.5 or 4 out of 10. The input signal is fine, or at least that clip light isn't coming on at all. It sounds fine, and doesn't shut down at all. But you'd expect a 2kw amp to never clip at he amp section at modest SPL levels. My B1500 gets insanely loud without clipping the amp an it's has slightly less watts. I can only conclude the B2000 isn't well.

Perhaps I should look at the ribbon connector? What do I do exactly? Do I just open the amp, unplug the ribbon connector(s) and spray them with contant cleaner?

Need more info. How many cabs do you run? What kind of cab(s)? How many ohms are each cab rated at? Where do you set your DRIVE and Master at? Do you have an ACTIVE bass? Have you adjusted the volume on the bass or flipped on the ACTIVE switch?

[Petebass]

Jeff the cabs are two and sometimes three 1x12 cabs made by me with Beyma drivers (8 ohms each), or sometimes two 1x12 cabs loaded with Eminence drivers (8ohms each). The 4 ohm load Vs 2.67 ohm load doesn't seem to make a difference. Drive is usually set low at 2/10 (or 9 o'clock), Master for most gigs is on either 3.5/10 or 4/10 (say 10.30 or 11 o'clock). Eq is flat except for a slight cut in treble and high mids. Yes it's an active bass but reducing the input signal meant I had to turn up the master and as soon as I got back to the same SPL, the amp clip light came on again. The result was the same when I used the active switch.

For reference I can do this gig with my smallest amp, an Ashdown Superfly, with less than a quarter the number of watts without clipping. The B1500 with similar settings feels like it hasn't even broken a sweat.

[CDweller]

Originally Posted by RitchS

What I thought was weird the first time I contacted Carvin was that they told me to spray the ribbon cable with non-lubricated contact cleaner. I asked them, you mean spray the ribbon cables at the connection point? He said no, just spray the cable. That didn't seem right, but I followed instructions. Needless to say it did not help.
You can try spraying the connection points and see if it works. Just pull the cables off their termination clips, spray them down and plug it back in.
In my situation it turned out to be the amp section that went all squirrelly and needed to be replaced. In the end Carvin took care of me. Make sure you give them the opportunity to make it right. Good luck amigo.

I've only had good experiences with Carvin. I'm curious about how you're liking that BX1500 with the 1212/6/1 fEarful- I'm thinking about that amp to pair with my 1212/6/1....

[RitchS]

Originally Posted by CDweller

I've only had good experiences with Carvin. I'm curious about how you're liking that BX1500 with the 1212/6/1 fEarful- I'm thinking about that amp to pair with my 1212/6/1....

So far I love it. However, I feel like I'm under utilizing the BX1500. I'm only using one amp in it (not bridging) because it's plenty loud with one amp and I still have lots of headroom. The fella who built my cab set it up to be bi-ampable but I haven't really needed it. The BX1500 is still so easy to EQ to any room and dial in any tone you want though. Best bang for the buck.

[jlepre]

I think your experience deserves a NEW thread to shout the praises of Carvin. They really came through for you.