After trying out many of the 5 lb, 500 watt bass heads, this amp was always in the back of my mind as something I would love to try. I've been pretty much of a pre/power rig guy for the better part of 20 years, and the BX1500 is pretty close to being just that : a dual mono power amp with a very versatile preamp.
First off, a couple of caveats. You must rack this amp as it comes with built in rack ears, and it does'nt weigh in at 5 lbs, but closer to 11 lbs. Eventually, if I like the amp, I will get a shallow rack for it, but for now, it fits in a Gator small keyboard bag.
I won't go into all the bells and whistles; suffice it to say it has just about everything you could want on a bass amp, including the ability to go to 2 ohms and bi-amp. I set it up for bridge mode into a GB Neox 212T, para eq off, graphic eq on. I turned the 50 hz slider off, but gave a slight bump to all the frequencies, getting more of a bump as you go up. Compressor off, Drive at about noon, Master at noon, and Amp 1 volume at about 9 o'clock. Passive , 4 string MIA , '96 Jazz.
Wow ! Absolutely, clean, powerful sound, not muddy or bottom heavy, with a very nice crisp, but not ear splitting top end. My Jazz bass sounded wonderful, clear, ringing notes from E string all the way up to the octave on the G string. I like the graphic eq on this amp better than the para, which seems to need more knob twiddling, and experimenting with to my tastes. The on board compressor is very sensitive, only a tweak is necessary to get the red light to come on. I left the Bass, Treble controls at zero. The only other amp that sounded good right out of the box, was the MB F1 which I liked, but wanted more power. Of course, the proof is on the gig, which, unfortunetly, won't be for awhile yet because the next two gigs have backline provided, but, if it is anything at all like what I am hearing in my music room, it will definitely be a keeper.
First off, a couple of caveats. You must rack this amp as it comes with built in rack ears, and it does'nt weigh in at 5 lbs, but closer to 11 lbs. Eventually, if I like the amp, I will get a shallow rack for it, but for now, it fits in a Gator small keyboard bag.
I won't go into all the bells and whistles; suffice it to say it has just about everything you could want on a bass amp, including the ability to go to 2 ohms and bi-amp. I set it up for bridge mode into a GB Neox 212T, para eq off, graphic eq on. I turned the 50 hz slider off, but gave a slight bump to all the frequencies, getting more of a bump as you go up. Compressor off, Drive at about noon, Master at noon, and Amp 1 volume at about 9 o'clock. Passive , 4 string MIA , '96 Jazz.
Wow ! Absolutely, clean, powerful sound, not muddy or bottom heavy, with a very nice crisp, but not ear splitting top end. My Jazz bass sounded wonderful, clear, ringing notes from E string all the way up to the octave on the G string. I like the graphic eq on this amp better than the para, which seems to need more knob twiddling, and experimenting with to my tastes. The on board compressor is very sensitive, only a tweak is necessary to get the red light to come on. I left the Bass, Treble controls at zero. The only other amp that sounded good right out of the box, was the MB F1 which I liked, but wanted more power. Of course, the proof is on the gig, which, unfortunetly, won't be for awhile yet because the next two gigs have backline provided, but, if it is anything at all like what I am hearing in my music room, it will definitely be a keeper.
). The only issue I have found so far is a noisy DI. Since I use a Radial J48 anyway, it's not really an issue, and imho, not worth the bother to send back to Carvin. I will soon be A/B'ing it with a MarkBass SD1200, which are going for ridiculous prices at GC and Music123, ( around $600 ). Just could'nt turn that deal down ! Other than that, The BX1500 is definitely a keeper, and , unless the SD1200 really blows me away ( I'm hoping for a louder F1 ), it will be my main amp for years to come, hopefully !
