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Carvin B1500 club

#61
Count me in!
CarvinRig.jpg


I hold this head in very high regard, and I'll put it up against competitors costing several times its asking price. :bassist: :bassist: :bassist::cool:
 
#62
Jazzdogg said:
According to the BassGear review, increasing the Drive control from fully counterclockwise to the noon position increases gain while introducing subtle harmonic content; from noon to fully clockwise, harmonic content becomes more gritty and conspicuous. I don't recall any mention of the drive control changing frequency response, just increasing gain and distortion. When I play an active bass with my B1500's active/passive switch in the passive position, and dime the drive control, I can create clearly audible distortion when I dig into the strings; when I pluck lightly, however, distortion is too subtle to hear with the rest of the band playing.
Click to expand...

You got it right!

What I would like to know, and didn't see in the article, is the effect of the drive control on SPL, i.e., with all of the other controls left alone, how much SPL attenuation should one expect with the drive control at minimum relative to SPL with the drive control at maximum? To my ears, the change in SPL is significant, but I haven't attempted to measure the difference.
Click to expand...

We did not measure this, but the Drive control absolutely increases gain and, ultimately, the SPL.

Tom.
 
#69
Thermo said:
I just bought a b1500 yesterday (my first non-practice amp). I can't wait to test it out. Pity I have to wait 2 months before I can even see it :bawl:
Click to expand...

IdealWay said:
why do you have to wait 2 months :hmm:?
Click to expand...

I live in Australia at the moment, but I'm moving back to NZ in a couple of months. I decided to buy the B1500 online in NZ, so it'll be there waiting for me when I get back.

Mo'Phat said:
New Zealand is a lottle backwards, y'see.
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Yeah, it can be a little backwards in some ways, try getting any of the top quality amps and cabs there...
 
#70
Does the BX1200 do as clean a sound as the B1500?
The B1500 did clean real well when i had mine.. very nice amp

Sundogue said:
The BX1200 is a monoblock as well. Dual monoblock at that, with the ability to bridge into one 1200 watt amp into 4 ohms.

So yeah, I still think they are both big brutes of the same family. Both are some big ass trucks, but the BX1200 is the one with more options.

For what it's worth, though the BX1200 has a Graphic EQ I don't typically use it (as it has a switch to engage it or leave it off). I have it set up to use depending if I use fingers or a pick, or my wireless or a cable (each sounding decidedly different). And interestingly enough the sound I get with my fingers and wireless together is identical to using a pick with a cable, so the settings on my EQ can be applied to either of the 4 combinations. And it did come in handy at my last gig where the batteries in my onboard wireless died and it was easier to switch to a cable mid song at the beginning of a set. Plugged the cable in, engaged the EQ and it sounded just like it does with my wireless.

So, while the BX1200 has a lot of features and is very versatile, none of the features are just bells and whistles...it's all very well thought out and simple...and one can choose to just run it straight up without using any of them.

Still the B1500 is one damn fine head and would have bought it if the price were identical (though I am very happy with my BX1200).

Sorry for the B1500 hijack. Carvin makes some damn fine amps and all of them are a steal!!!
Click to expand...
 
#78
got my B1500 and I tried it for the first time last night. set everything flat... and for some reason my mb2-500 going through my 210212 sounded louder set at flat..


however as a disclaimer. My bass could have a dead battery....

A) Its the first time I went to practice in about 2 weeks(took a short but much needed break)

B) I didn't A/B them the same time, so I'm running off my memory.


I set my mb2500's volume a little over 1/3 of the way and I can just about destroy the guitars... The B1500 I had it set at noon and seemed to get buried..


I'm gonna do some knob tweaking and double check my bass to eliminate potential problems..

It also could be the input gain control on the mb2500 helps a lot more then I noticed..

Amp sounds great BTW... I just need to figure out this volume issue..


[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#80
mrpackerguy said:
Can someone tell me if those rack ears are removeable?
Click to expand...

No, they're not.

As for diechris's volume issue, "Drive" control makes a *huge* difference--it's essentially a second gain level, among other things. I tend to have Drive set at about 1 o'clock.

Also, the active/passive input switch cuts the level quite a bit. I use it to compensate between my two basses which have very different outputs, but if you only have one bass there's probably no reason to set it to "Active" unless you're getting distortion.

Mike
 

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