I'm sorry I listened.....

ShawnStones · #1 03-26-2010, 11:12 PM

To everyones advice and raves about Carvin. I was in the market for a new head and was persuaded that Carvin would be a great head. 2 heads now and I have given up on them. I asked for my money back and will be in the market yet again.

I originally ordered a B1500. Made the order, got an e-mail a few hours later saying it was completely gone. So I went with the BX1200. Got it. Plugged it in, set it up, tweaked knobs for a while, got a really really great sound that I was very happy with. What seemed to be plenty of headroom and a whole bunch o' knobs to do all the tweaking my fingers and ears desired. First full band practice, about 45 minutes in and the head shut off. I walk over and put my hand on it and it is hot as can be. Had to leave it off for about 15 minutes, turned it back on...it came back on, checked all the settings. No ridiculous volume settings, no extreme EQ'ing, in bridge mode, center speaker jack only, into a single 4 ohm cab. No dummy moves here. Continuted practice, shut down again about a half hour later. This was with the drive and master both on about 3 1/2 each.

E-mailed Carvin, they handled it quickly. Sent out a call tag, shipped it out and they sent out a new one a few days later.

Got the new one. Set it all up again, checked and double checked everything. Speakon cable, center jack only, bridge mode, moderate volume level, no major EQ'ing...just small tweaks here and there. Hour into practice. Same thing. Amp was hot as can be and shut down.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you.

Exploiter8 · #2 03-26-2010, 11:18 PM

I know how you feel. This vast cyberspace of knowledge has steered me down the wrong path more than once. Sometimes it's best to go with your gut!

X8

Munjibunga · #3 03-26-2010, 11:19 PM

You didn't hear it from me. My recommendation is always to buy more amp than you can afford. Two months from now you won't miss that extra couple hundred bucks. I've never been impressed with Carvin's sound reinforcement gear, whether it's instrument amps or PA systems. I live a couple miles from the factory (when I'm not at Groom Lake), and have played through much of their gear. The basses and guitars are well-built and sound pretty decent, but their amps and speakers don't do anything for me.

Spend a little more and get something people rave about.

ShawnStones · #4 03-26-2010, 11:22 PM

I had a Mesa 400+ before this. I never skimp on cost, it's all about sound. Which like I said, I really liked the sound I was getting. Just wish I could get through just one full band practice without it shutting down. Too late though, my faith in them is gone. Time to head shop again. I'm thinking GK.

dogbass · #5 03-26-2010, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShawnStones

......Plugged it in, set it up, tweaked knobs for a while, got a really really great sound that I was very happy with. What seemed to be plenty of headroom and a whole bunch o' knobs to do all the tweaking my fingers and ears desired. ......

E-mailed Carvin, they handled it quickly. Sent out a call tag, shipped it out and they sent out a new one a few days later.

Got the new one......

So from your post I read that Carvin has great customer service, and an amp that has great tone...its very unfortunate that you got some duds. But as you noted in your post, there are alot of raves about Carvin. Its frustrating when stuff craps out.

I've owned Carvin basses and speakers that have been flawless. I would venture that the failure rate of their electronic equipment is similar to other equivalently priced equipment. No better, no worse.

johnk_10 · #6 03-26-2010, 11:33 PM

the overheating problem that you were having is probably due to it being in bridge mode and your particular cab's 4 ohms impedance might be on the low side of 4 ohms. and some other amps do have trouble with that too, but to me, that's really no excuse, if they spec it to run at 4 ohms bridged, it should be able to handle it.

no offense to all of those that are happy with theirs, but i have never owned a piece of their gear, (i have repaired a few of their amps though) and Carvins never did anything for me either. i've kinda always thought of it as 'budget' gear, but then again, i'm old school.

JimmyM · #7 03-27-2010, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShawnStones

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you.

um, isn't that the other way around?

and at least you didn't really get fooled. you'll get your money back. i don't think carvin gear is so bad. i wouldn't buy it but i think the b1500's good for the money. but yeah, if two of them go thermal on you, they all will most likely.

with high powered heads, i'm probably more inclined toward the svt 4 pro than the gk stuff, but gk does make nice stuff.

TortillaChip520 · #8 03-27-2010, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

um, isn't that the other way around?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgPY1adc0A

SVT 4 pro is a good suggestion, and they are always all over craigslist at decent prices.

vinxbass · #9 03-27-2010, 12:27 AM

I play exclusively Carvin gear. I'm on the other end of the spectrum in regards to your post. In the last 3 yrs that I've been playing thru Carvin amps i've only experinced 1 occurance with my BX500 shutting down and that was after owning it for 9 months. I got a new one, it works great and sounds great.

I will say this about Carvin's new amps and that is they seem have alot of problems right after they hit the market. I guess maybe I'm lucky for I've not had to go thru what you've described.

It will be interesting to hear others who have problems with their Carvin amps, but for now mines working great.

Sorry to hear about your situation, but there are other amp builders.

Calaverasgrande · #10 03-27-2010, 12:32 AM

thats what you get for deserting mesa!

Sorry I had to say it.
I think Carvin makes some decent bang for the buck basses. The BB models are all pretty nice. I kind of take umbrage with their contention that they are a "custom shop" though. I used to get their catalog and a few years ago decided to put a grand or so into a nice bass. I email them and call them about getting a particular 5 string with a slight modification from stock. I just wanted a pickup switch instead of a knob. I hate blend knobs! They came back with, "active circuits can't do that, it has to be a knob".
Um....Musicman Stingray 5 anyone? Many many Jackson Charvel and Ibanez guitars?
Well they lost me on that one.
I have also tried their amps and cabs and found them to sound okay but to be very inefficient.

KsPiNeSh · #11 03-27-2010, 12:48 AM

Once more with feeling - Mesa M9 Carbine.

seedokebass · #12 03-27-2010, 01:02 AM

I've heard and had similar experiences with Carvin. The only product I've heard and really liked was their Legacy guitard amp.

Have you looked into Markbass?

I run a Sansamp RBI into the FX return of a Markbass SD800 with great results. I run the RBI flat with some presence boosted, and cut some lows with the amp. Sounds great through my 4x12 with active basses (Warwick Thumb BO, Fortress 5) or P basses.

Trevorus · #13 03-27-2010, 01:08 AM

I'd go GK and never look back. I've been abusing their amps for years. Had a 1001RB that I broke the knobs off of, dropped numerous times, and the thing still lives elsewhere in someone's rig (after fixing it of course!). I now own a 400RB-III as a practice amp and backup (it IS loud enough for gigging for SURE), and then a 1001RB-II as well. That think is a BEAST of an amp. HUGE tone, and tons of power. Sounds amazing through my Bergantino HT212. Any support I needed for parts for fixing my abused amp was handled quickly and in a friendly manner by GK's support department.

Orco87 · #14 03-27-2010, 01:17 AM

Sucks that you went through that situation... I would start doing testing experiments with not only the speaker you're plugging in to but also maybe the outlet... I bet you probably tried different outlets and the like... If a problem can be replicated on 2 pieces of gear then it could've been an outside source and not the gear's fault... Or maybe the gear just couldn't handle it as well as another piece of gear would be able...
It's too late for all that mess though.... Carvin's been my main gear for years and hasn't done me wrong, great wattage for the money you're getting, and customer service from your experience seems great to me, but either way it sucks to have crap go wrong. Getting gear from ranting and raving on here without being able to try it out yourself is always dicey, sorry your stuff went south for you.

Gearhead43 · #15 03-27-2010, 01:28 AM

Oh, I'm so sorry I listened!!....

Blaming that crap on people here is really, really lame.

rpsands · #16 03-27-2010, 01:48 AM

I'm sorry I read this post

jmseeley · #17 03-27-2010, 02:21 AM

I suggest you check out the reviews on a Fender Bassman 300 the only downsides to them are weight and price of tubes im not here to dis carvin.. but if your looking for a sound.. you can pretty much get it with this head and the right cab

babebambi · #18 03-27-2010, 02:36 AM

I really don't see the OP blaming anyone... but that's just me.

I think the problem is likely that the cab goes lower than 4 ohm. What other amp have you tried with that cab? Is it the RR412? I think the best bet for you next amp would be a big mono-block that is safe down to 2 ohm.

My guess is that other SMPS 4 ohm amp or bridged 4 ohm amp would likely also shutdown or overheat.

nic salsus · #19 03-27-2010, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmseeley

I suggest you check out the reviews on a Fender Bassman 300

I suggest listening to an amp BEFORE you buy it. Am I the only one who thinks it's a tad lame to complain about something you bought without trying?

babebambi · #20 03-27-2010, 02:50 AM

OP is not complaining about the tone, he is complaining about reliability ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by nic salsus

I suggest listening to an amp BEFORE you buy it. Am I the only one who thinks it's a tad lame to complain about something you bought without trying?