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Carvin BX500: Part II

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#421
I've had this amp for about three months. Play it mostly through a Schroeder 12x10L, sometimes a Bag End 15 and Bag End 12. Bass is mostly my Mustang short scale with Dark Star Pickup. Have liked the amp. Good versatility, great weight, good sound, great price. However felt like I wanted a little bigger, fuller sound so got a sansamp BDDI, as of course that is what they are suppose to do. Man it worked. Used it last night for the first time, wedding gig. First set low volume ballads while guests smoozed and got ready for dinner. Even at a very low volume I had a big full sound, much more that with the BDDI off. For the later sets where we were louder the sound also really filled out. So if like me you like this amp but what to beef it up this might be something to try.
 
#422
Just feel I want to chime in after using this thing extensively now. This is the first time since I've been playing bass that I'm completely happy with my setup. Been using the head with a Berg NV610 on most gigs, and a GK Neo 2X12 on smaller ones. I use lots of different basses (from MM, to Warwick, to a Dano), and when I'm bored like to experiment with different tones. I've gotten everything I've wanted out of this head. It sounds great set flat and there are seeming endless options for tone sculpting. I generally (w my Stingray) keep the drive at 7 or 8, contour at around 2, add a wee bit compression, +1 to 3 on the bass and treble and then add just a touch of boost on the parametric at 125. It does precisely what I want it to, and if the room I'm in throws it a bit, I can tweak till it hits the mark.

Add to the above that I can literally carry this thing with one finger (in a laptop bag) when my hands are full... and well, I love this amp. :)

I wish there was more I could say, but I think that about says it.
 
#426
eli said:
Can you run it through two SVT 810's and see if it's 12 dB louder than a 2-ohm 110?

:hiding: :confused: :D
Click to expand...

Nope. ;)

I think I did post that I had tried to use WinISD using Crossover on my Mac, but that I hadn't been able to make it work in order to make the plots for you. But really, think about it ... 10db is twice the volume, and 12db is arguably not perceptibly louder than 10db. Do you really think that 2 810 cabs won't be at least a tiny bit more than twice as loud as a 110?

Sorry I can't come up with the plots to prove it to you, though!

Cheers,
Liam
 
#427
I just bought a BX500 off of a fellow TB'r and I have to say Im really happy with it. So far no problems with it ...its very quiet...and it has plenty of juice! I dont notice much tonal variation with the tube engaged, but thats ok....I wasnt buying it for the tube pre anyway. Will get to gig with it next weekend and really check it out. I do like it better than the Genz Benz Neo Pak I had previously though.
 
#428
vinxbass said:
I here where your coming from, but here's the deal. I was the first person on this board to get the BX500 and it's worked absolutely flawless for me as did Carvin's BX1200 for 2 yrs before I bought the BX500. It's been mentioned here so many times, I'll say once more, you get a 10 day free trial period if for any reason you don't like the head return it, the most it should cost you is 20 bucks if that.

You here about all the heads that got returned, but your not hearing about all the heads that haven't been returned. Sure it had some gliches early on, but Carvin has worked those out. Give their product a shot and you make the call whether or not you want it or not - your in charge for 10 days.:smug:
Click to expand...

I got one of the first BX500 also and had no problems at all.
Play all my basses thur this little monter. Great amp.
 
#430
optikhog said:
Maybe this has come up before (and this exposes a level of electronics ignorance on my part) but I'm not grasping the need for the 2ohm switch on this head - what do I gain by switching back to the 4ohm setting when using a single 4ohm cab?
Click to expand...

The 2/4 ohm switch lowers the power supply voltage to the power amp to keep the dissipation of the output transistors in check when running into a 2 ohm load. Pretty slick solution to allow 2 ohm operation (no more power than at 4 ohms but it's safe and you still get benefit by running 2 4 ohm speakers even though the power remains the same). To get 500 watts into 2 ohms you need less voltage (but more current) than for 4 ohms. The latter requires more voltage but less current. If you leave the switch at 2 ohms and have one 4 ohm cabinet connected, I would expect that you'll get less than the full 500 watts (probably between 250 and 300 watts).
 
#431
So I got mine the other day and it's pretty awesome! I love the amount control I have, plenty of power, and it sounds really good.

I think it might have a bit of a problem though. If I have the drive control ALL the way up and the mute switch is engaged, I can hear a really distorted version of what I'm playing coming through. It's only when I kind of dig in and the drive has to be totally cranked, but it seems like if the thing is muted I shouldn't hear anything, right? Anyone else experience this?

Thanks,
Tommy
 
#432
gerryjazzman said:
The 2/4 ohm switch lowers the power supply voltage to the power amp to keep the dissipation of the output transistors in check when running into a 2 ohm load. Pretty slick solution to allow 2 ohm operation (no more power than at 4 ohms but it's safe and you still get benefit by running 2 4 ohm speakers even though the power remains the same). To get 500 watts into 2 ohms you need less voltage (but more current) than for 4 ohms. The latter requires more voltage but less current. If you leave the switch at 2 ohms and have one 4 ohm cabinet connected, I would expect that you'll get less than the full 500 watts (probably between 250 and 300 watts).
Click to expand...

Ahh, that makes sense. Thanks!
 
#433
gerryjazzman said:
The 2/4 ohm switch lowers the power supply voltage to the power amp to keep the dissipation of the output transistors in check when running into a 2 ohm load. Pretty slick solution to allow 2 ohm operation (no more power than at 4 ohms but it's safe and you still get benefit by running 2 4 ohm speakers even though the power remains the same). To get 500 watts into 2 ohms you need less voltage (but more current) than for 4 ohms. The latter requires more voltage but less current. If you leave the switch at 2 ohms and have one 4 ohm cabinet connected, I would expect that you'll get less than the full 500 watts (probably between 250 and 300 watts).
Click to expand...

While that all seems logical, I believe that there is a post above discussing a known issue (acknowledged by Carvin) that running a 4 ohm load with the amp in the 2 ohm mode can cause the amp to shut down. I don't know if it's a thermal issue (which logically it shouldn't be) or what.
 
#434
I did a search but this thread is 100 pages long and I'm just too lazy to read it all. WHY WHY WHY does the direct out not include the tube or eq? I love the look of this amp but I want my sound (tone) going to FOH. If I wanted a dry sound out front, why bother buying an amp at all, just plug your guitar into the board and ask the sound guy to put you in the monitors!

Yes this is a pet-peve of mine and sometimes I feel like I'm in my own little world but I really wanted this head till I discovered the DI was dry. Why o why?
 
#435
gregoire1 said:
I did a search but this thread is 100 pages long and I'm just too lazy to read it all. WHY WHY WHY does the direct out not include the tube or eq? I love the look of this amp but I want my sound (tone) going to FOH. If I wanted a dry sound out front, why bother buying an amp at all, just plug your guitar into the board and ask the sound guy to put you in the monitors!

Yes this is a pet-peve of mine and sometimes I feel like I'm in my own little world but I really wanted this head till I discovered the DI was dry. Why o why?
Click to expand...

I agree that a pre/post option would be great, but the way Carvin does it (pre only) is not as weird as you might think. The reason is that the EQ you need to get your tone on stage does not always translate to the EQ you need to get a good tone out in the house. Sometimes it can be, but often it's not. So it can help the FOH engoineer if he/she gets a more basic signal, so there isn't a lot to undo.

Anyway, all that said, you could probably still get what you want out of this amp by just sticking a direct box in the FX loop instead of using the built-in DI. This would definitely get the signal at a later stage.

That's an easy enough solution, right? If this is the only thing holding you back from this amp, I wouldn't let the need for a $39 DI get in the way.;)
 
#438
Honestly, the tube in the BX500 seems to make such a tiny difference in tone that I'm not sure it really matters with this amp. The tone is, to my ears, a tiny fraction richer with the tube engaged, but nothing that makes me scream "There's a tube in there!!"

So to me, this means two things: 1) It's probably not a huge issue that the direct signal bypasses the tube; and 2) people who *really* want a significant contribution to the tone from a preamp tube should probably look elsewhere.

All of this is very much imho ... others may disagree of course!

Cheers,
Liam
 
#439
Thundar said:
I just bought a BX500 off of a fellow TB'r and I have to say Im really happy with it. So far no problems with it ...its very quiet...and it has plenty of juice! I dont notice much tonal variation with the tube engaged, but thats ok....I wasnt buying it for the tube pre anyway. Will get to gig with it next weekend and really check it out. I do like it better than the Genz Benz Neo Pak I had previously though.
Click to expand...

What about the BX500 do you prefer to the NeoPak? How is the inherent low end compared to the NeoPak?
 
#440
kaiser_sosea said:
What about the BX500 do you prefer to the NeoPak? How is the inherent low end compared to the NeoPak?
Click to expand...

Sorry for hijacking but I've had the same experience. They're quite different from each other, IHMO - the Carvin is very focused and punchy in the lows while the Genz Benz is rounder (and richer?). Very different vibe. To use some loose terms, the Carvin has more of a hi-fi feel to it in a GK kind of way. The Neo Pak was very organic in nature and excelled at a warmer, almost vintage feel.
 
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