trying out used carvin bx1500

[137h4lone]

Im going to try out a used Carvin Bx1500 today. The guy says its 6 months old. What are some things i should look out for ?
Ive never played a carvin bass head before.

[Vintage Guy]

Nothing really. The BX series are great heads in my opinion. I have several from the BX 500 up to the BX 1500 and have always found them to be super reliable. Currently gig with a BX 600 and two BX 500's.

[137h4lone]

Awesome ! I've heard they're great amps. What kind of cabs are you running them through ?

[jnewmark]

I have a BX1500, and it is my favorite lightweight bass head. Very versatile EQ section, two seperate power amps, goes down to 2 ohms if necessary, compressor, crossover, tube option , etc. It really opened up my LDS 212/horn cab. No complaints here.

[lomo]

Like any other head-try ALL functions out, and ask for any paperwork, receipt, etc. Great head!

[137h4lone]

Thanks for everyones suggestions and reassuring me that its a great amp! The guy is asking for 400$. Good deal ?? :O

[MysticMichael]

"Look out for"? What are you afraid of?

MM

[rpsands]

If you live near a Carvin store, that's the only way I would consider a used Carvin bass amp. The repair costs would get ridiculous if it broke and you had to ship both ways to Carvin (to the tune of 60 bucks a trip).

Since you're in CA, it'd be worth considering.

[jeff7bass]

Originally Posted by lomo

Like any other head-try ALL functions out, and ask for any paperwork, receipt, etc. Great head!

What he said. It’s a complex head, you’ll want to try it with two cabs in both full range (bridge) mode and bi-amp mode. Turn the crossover knob, try the graphic-eq, all that stuff.
If you have specific questions, come back here as ask them. The manual spells it out for you though. Not a typical plug-and-play amp.

[will33]

Originally Posted by lomo

Like any other head-try ALL functions out, and ask for any paperwork, receipt, etc. Great head!

Originally Posted by jeff7bass

What he said. It’s a complex head, you’ll want to try it with two cabs in both full range (bridge) mode and bi-amp mode. Turn the crossover knob, try the graphic-eq, all that stuff.
If you have specific questions, come back here as ask them. The manual spells it out for you though. Not a typical plug-and-play amp.

+1 to both of you.

Bring your bass(es) and 2 cabs for biamping. Try out every single control and function on the amp, even ones you think you'll never use, just to make sure everything works as it should. It's only 6months old. If it had a real problem, the guy would've had it taken care of under warranty. Probably just not his cup-o-tea. But with any used amp, you just make sure everything works as it should, that's about all. Do this both quietly to listen for any wierd sounds and loudly to make sure some problem doesn't present itself when really having to work that may not have under light use.

When all that checks out, buy it and enjoy.

[BassmanPaul]

Make sure that the tuner out socket works. It's driven via the effects loop circuitry. Mine didn't and by the time i got around to doing something the warranty was over. I had assumed it was a 3 year period like my other Carvin stuff. Left me more than a little disappointed!