Carvin BX500: Part II

[Kirk Bryant]

" It's just Unclekebm has that Wile E. Coyote kind of luck"

Ouch unklekebm I really feel for ya

I got my 3rd one and it finally is one that seems to be fine.
Although I am still "holding my breath" I am fairly happy so far. Oh and my 3rd one was a much later serial # .
Last fri. I played a medium sized room w/ a guitar trio playing basic rockin blues at a fairly loud volume. First I brought in a Bergantino 1x12 (no tweet) cab + a Aggie GS112. I thought it sounded pretty good. Bright and punchy but i just wasnt getting the lowend I wanted.
Set 2 I went to the truck and got my Schroeder 4x10 non neo and played through that on the 2nd set. Sounded very good. Set 3 realizing that I still had the 2 12ers sitting there I hit the 2 ohm swich and hooked up all 3! Wow that was a can of whup a**. I did get told to turn down but what the heck that was expected.
On the down side I spent the whole nite trying to get it to sound close to my Glock Soul head...never found the sound (yet).
Sat rolls around and I had 2 gigs with the same band one in a big ringy hall so I used the 12's again. and the same on the club gig in the eve.
I again spent the entire time trying to find "my" sound with no success, close but no cigar. I think it's probably in there somewhere so I will keep trying.
I do finally think this a good head and I will keep it but I will not get rid of the Glock. Also since going through the first 2 amps with probs I am a little leary of the 3rds dependability.
In the end I guess I am glad I stuck with the trades untill I got a good one.
But I still have my fingers crossed till it has a little more time on the clock.
Also "FLAT" on this amp is nothing like "flat" on the Glock.

just my 2 cents worth.

peace..........Capt Kirk

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Slightly off topic ....I hear a lot of you guys raving about the Carvin B1500. Can someone who has or have had both the B1500 AND the new B500 compare and contrast the voicing of these two amps. I would really like to know any input is appreciated.

Thanks....peace....Capt Kirk

 

[unclekebm]

Vinx...I'm sure they play thru them all before shipping. It's just Unclekebm has that Wile E. Coyote kind of luck. Or Schleprock....am I carbon dating myself?

LOL

I'm right there with you on the "Schleprock" thing...we are some old Mo-Fo's

Bart told me they played through it before they shipped it
and everything seemed fine, I don't know...
maybe it's all the neon lights of Vegas

through it all, I will never bad mouth Carvin CS again
Bart has been very good to me...

cheers

 

[NorCal Dog]

LOL



Bart told me they played through it before they shipped it
and everything seemed fine, I don't know...
maybe it's all the neon lights of Vegas

through it all, I will never bad mouth Carvin CS again
Bart has been very good to me...

cheers

it seems to me like carvin would send out their latest production run, especially under the circumstances, ( two strikes ) instead of sending out a refurbed unit with a lower serial #.

i think i would have made that a demand, if it were me

 

[unclekebm]

it seems to me like carvin would send out their latest production run, especially under the circumstances, ( two strikes ) instead of sending out a refurbed unit with a lower serial #.

i think i would have made that a demand, if it were me

that did make me go
I ASSumed they would send me a "latest production" amp
It was the worse of the three, and it did look a little used,
but i didn't really care, I just wanted a functioning amp...

 

[King David]

Did someone ask if they would come out with a BX1000 with a bi-amping capability? That would be really cool. Carvin, if you are watching...look into this!

 

[lindseyp]

I feel bad believe me..
it's the "third" head i've tried, not fourth, and i don't believe many have gone this far with defective heads, I think most returned either the first or second ones, otherwise I don't think I would be alone here...

yes, I've tried different cabs, speaker cables, basses, audio cables, power outlets,
AC cables and houses...

I just think Carvin released this amp to early...
and I find it weird that they sent me an earlier returned amp, I don't think they're fixing the right issue
it seems there is an interference from the fan motor to the tube circuitry...

cheers

I went through two before i gave up. The first one was sent in for the " hiss " mod. When I got it back, I noticed it was'nt the same head I sent in, but a different one, so, no mod. I plugged that one in and got distortion and a decrease in volume for about 10 seconds, then the distortion went away, but the amp did'nt sound the same after that. ...

LOL, that's the same thing that happened to me with the GK! The third one is a version earlier than the other two and is now my main amp, since the Carvin is going back to be replaced for -- -- hissing problems!

 

[rgee27]

I've had a BR515N for a week now and it sounds awesome. Had a Markbass Mini for a second and for the same money, I found this bigger sounding and fuller.....now I'm waiting for my used Lakland DJ4 that is on 30 day hold at GC....

 

[Joe Nerve]

Feel it's time to give an update since I've gotten to know this head quite a bit now. After years of searching for amplification that would both fit in my car and give me all the sound and volume I need, I believe I have arrived.

I've been using the Carvin with a Bergantino 6X10 (and GK neo 2X12 for smaller gigs), and while the cab isn't exactly a featherweight - it does fit in the trunk of my tiny Tiburon and I CAN handle it without anyone's help.

I played a couple of really loud gigs with heavy guitars, marshall stacks, the whole deal. Was able to dial in exactly the tone I wanted and cut through nicely without feeling like the amp was sweating at all. What's more is I got to push the amp with my Bongo and a Warwick, both of which which I've found can tear up an amplifier if it doesn't have enough headroom and spearkers to handle what they put out.

Soo..... I've been leaving the mid controls flat, pumping the bass and treble to about 1 o'clock, adding a touch of compression and a touch of contour, and pushing the drive btwn noon and 3. My favorite parametrics are the 80, 125 and 2.4k. I use them and my bass conrols to tweak the rest, and I've been getting some incredible sounds. The drive adds a sweet natural sounding overdrive. I've been using the tube which I notice acts a little differently with the drive cranked. I feel I'm getting every sonic morsel out of the basses I plug into this rig, and once again - never feel like the amp is struggling. I've pushed the master to almost 6 and the thing still sings. I find the volume hanging around 3 most of the time.

In the past 2 years I've owned peaveys, gks, behringers, hartkes, fenders and a few I'm sure i'm forgetting. I've had lots of different speaker configurations and wattages up to 700+. I finally feel my search has ended, and this is where it has. I honestly can't see me ever wanting anything more versatile or louder. Any sound I ever wanted from any of the basses I've used this with can be found within that 5 pound piece of metal. And then some.

 

[seamonkey]

I do appreciate the early adopters posting their findings both good and bad. The real life tried at the rehearsal and gig reports I find the most helpful. Carvin has been around a long time and I'm sure they'll work out the bad.

It still amazes me to see an old time shop like Carvin address the high tech amp like this and their other high tech gear like their speaker management system. And at a great value.

 

[cheezewiz]

Slightly off topic ....I hear a lot of you guys raving about the Carvin B1500. Can someone who has or have had both the B1500 AND the new B500 compare and contrast the voicing of these two amps. I would really like to know any input is appreciated.

Thanks....peace....Capt Kirk

Kirk, I have both. To me, the 1500 has more girth (obviously) and a heavier and punchier bottom end. The B500 is a bit more modern sounding to my ears, even with the preamp tube engaged. I think the B500 "cuts through" a mix, and a B1500 pummels the mix into submission. Both great amps.

 

[Lia_G]

Did someone ask if they would come out with a BX1000 with a bi-amping capability? That would be really cool. Carvin, if you are watching...look into this!

I talked about it in part 1 of this thread:

However: a Carvin guy told me they're about to release a bx1000 ... Two bx500 power sections, bridgeable like the bx1200. So, given the way the power sections works at 2 and 4 ohms, bridges should be the same 1000 watts into 4 or 8 ohms.

Here's a link into the original thread at that post. A few people commented after that:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6998235&highlight=bx1000#post6998235

The BX1000 has been mentioned elsewhere by others who heard about it from Carvin staff as well, I believe.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

My update...

After an morning practice session, the guitar player (my brother) couldn't believe the sound coming from "that little thing." He was quite impressed with my BR515N combo...it punched thru the mix like Ali's jabs.

So far, no problems at all...I'm not a big fan of graphic eq or semi parametrics, but this thing will do anything for me. It is great to have this much flexability and portability. I wonder what it would sound like with an Eminence Kappalite 3015LF speaker installed. According to Anthony Lucas of Eminence, he thinks that speaker will be good consideration for an upgrade.

 

[eli]

My update...

After an morning practice session, the guitar player (my brother) couldn't believe the sound coming from "that little thing." He was quite impressed with my BR515N combo...it punched thru the mix like Ali's jabs.

So far, no problems at all...I'm not a big fan of graphic eq or semi parametrics, but this thing will do anything for me. It is great to have this much flexability and portability. I wonder what it would sound like with an Eminence Kappalite 3015LF speaker installed. According to Anthony Lucas of Eminence, he thinks that speaker will be good consideration for an upgrade.

Good if you can get one in 4ohm -- an 8ohm would limit the power to 300W and that might soften those Ali jabs a bit...

 

[gjbassist]

Good if you can get one in 4ohm -- an 8ohm would limit the power to 300W and that might soften those Ali jabs a bit...

Doubtful. I checked my new Carvin combo with a meter and it is 8 ohms. I have never had to turn it up past 3 to be heard in the mix of my band. I can't imagine how it's gonna sound when I get an extension cabinet hooked up to it!

 

[eli]

Doubtful. I checked my new Carvin combo with a meter and it is 8 ohms. I have never had to turn it up past 3 to be heard in the mix of my band. I can't imagine how it's gonna sound when I get an extension cabinet hooked up to it!

Well, I stand corrected! I guess I though Carvin would have put a 4ohm spk in there, but I guess I'm not surprised they used an 8ohm.

 

[TRob1293]

Great that they used the 4ohm - allows versitility.
I have the BR510N and get a ton of punch at a volume of 3.
I plan on the BR115N (8ohm) extension cab in a few months - the classic 210 + 115 combo...
...that should allow for a nice combination of punch and low-end thump (at 500 watts).

I do find myself spending a ton of time (time I should be spending practicing ) trying to dial-in a tone I really, really like. Between my simple pedal chain (bass-tuner-SansAmp BDDI-PD7-suppressor-amp), the built-in EQ, semi-parametrics, contour, and compression... there's a lot to mess with! Having fun though - big time.

Any pedal recommendations to add? Anything people have found that really helps or accentuates this amp?

 

[blmeier7]

Kirk, I have both. To me, the 1500 has more girth (obviously) and a heavier and punchier bottom end. The B500 is a bit more modern sounding to my ears, even with the preamp tube engaged. I think the B500 "cuts through" a mix, and a B1500 pummels the mix into submission. Both great amps.

+1

I was going to respond to Kirk's question but you hit the nail on the head.

The BX500 is a great little head when you get one that works right. But the B1500 just fits the sound I'm after in a better way. I love the slightly thicker sound from the B1500 over the BX500, but then again you pay for that sound with a head that weighs about 6 times more.

 

[rasthedoctor]

Just pulled the trigger (my R600 Series III pooped out too badly on my last gig - can't do it any more!) on one of these little guys - wish me luck!

 

[eli]

Just ran mine through its first real-world test, a medium-volume open mic night with a drum set and a couple of electric guitars at a local bar. As you may remember, mine is in an old PB-200 cab with a new Neo NE15-4.

After cutting 350 Hz pretty much to oblivion and boosting bass to maybe 3 0'clock or so, the doggone thing kicked some sonic butt set at maybe 10:00 on the pre-gain and straight up on the master. One nice thing it did that I hadn't noticed from my trusty EliRig (Carvin R600 and a 15" Eminence KappaLite 3015 in a Sonic Micromini cab) was to "bubble" nicely on the higher notes -- they aren't thin and bright, but delightfully rounded and firm, so a light touch yielded some nice burpy lines. All this just with the knobs, leaving the graphic free to use as a solo boost (which I didn't because I hadn't brought along my footswitch).

AND, it made it through maybe 2 hours of this treatment with a couple of different players and several different basses.

It's a keeper!