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Carvin BX500: Pt. 3
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
Have a minor issue with mine. Does anyone notice a rattle noise when you hit an A really loud? It sounds as if something is loose inside and only vibrates in the range of G to B flat. I can hit any other note and it does not happen. And it only happens when I get pretty loud with it.
Open it up and reseat (several times) every connector and cable you can find. Don't forget ribbon cables if there are any, as long as they're not soldered in place. Might also want to clean the NC (normally closed) contacts on the effects-return jack, just to knock that possibility off the list; I doubt they'd be dirty on an amp this new, though.
I did the same thing recently. Got out the screw driver and tightened everything up and that reduced some rattling as well.
The tubes in these however only effect output through the speaker. Tube has NO effect on DI and Headphone output.
Which I found out when I was tube-rolling different flavor's through the one I had and couldn't understand why i couldn't hear a difference via DI or Headphone when using vastly different tubes. Called Carvin... result... Tube only effects main outputs and not DI or Headphone.
Which makes absolutely no sense to me. Why have a tube if it's flavor is not sent through the DI or cannot be heard through the Headphone.
(unless they've changed the design since I had one a 1 1/2 years ago)
I think although as bassists we want our sound to go through the PA, at the end of the day, a pure signal works best for clarity out front.
I have found that when running amps post eq through the pa (simple system out front with 2 powered 12's over a single powered 18" sub), what sounds good on stage can become mud for the FOH.
But...it would be nice to say you have an amp that uses the tube in its DI signal chain...just because LOL.
I have found that when running amps post eq through the pa (simple system out front with 2 powered 12's over a single powered 18" sub), what sounds good on stage can become mud for the FOH.
But...it would be nice to say you have an amp that uses the tube in its DI signal chain...just because LOL.
I think you need to get a BX1500 for all that. It's DI can be pre or post. From what I've read the BX500 is pre only. Too bad, that's the only reason I didn't buy it.
I saw a very good local band tonight and the bassplayer was running stereo with a GK800rb into a Schroeder 410 on the bottom and a BX500 driving a 210 on top. A heavy duty rack containing the two heads is what separated the two cabs, so the 210 was about as high in the air as the top two 10's from an 810. His sound was killer.
Tighten up all of the screws on the top of the case. The ones that hold the lid on.
So I don't know if this has been mentioned but I was playing around with the tube preamp section and trying out some tubes.
Some of the tubes I tried (Groove Tubes, JJ, Ruby) did not make that much of a difference. I was about to give up and tried a new Mullard I had sitting around.
DING!
If you like the warm overdriven tube tone I HIGHLY recommend throwing a Mullard 12AX7 in this amp. Before when I engaged and disengaged the tube pre it was subtle differences. I threw in the Mullard and then proceeded to try it with my jazz with rounds and my P with flats. I ran it through a 215 and then with the SVT210AV sealed cabs I have for now.
I could get THE EXACT sound of the Micro VR with this tube in it which of course sounds close to a SVT. With the two 210 cabs I could actually push them pretty good without them farting out like it does with the Micro VR.
Once you hit 10:00 on the gain it breaks up really nice and gets pretty woolly around 12-12:30 with anything above 1:30 going into a VERY overdriven B15 type of sound. Very woolly without being overly mushy.
Gain was on 12:30. Bass was around 1:30. Mids and para all noon, treble backed off to about 11. I had the graphic eq engaged flat with a slight mid hump.
Mullard. Yes.
The only odd thing is that unlike the other tubes it took an additional 5 seconds after the amp powered on AFTER it did it's sequence for the tube pre to kick in (warm up).
Some of the tubes I tried (Groove Tubes, JJ, Ruby) did not make that much of a difference. I was about to give up and tried a new Mullard I had sitting around.
DING!
If you like the warm overdriven tube tone I HIGHLY recommend throwing a Mullard 12AX7 in this amp. Before when I engaged and disengaged the tube pre it was subtle differences. I threw in the Mullard and then proceeded to try it with my jazz with rounds and my P with flats. I ran it through a 215 and then with the SVT210AV sealed cabs I have for now.
I could get THE EXACT sound of the Micro VR with this tube in it which of course sounds close to a SVT. With the two 210 cabs I could actually push them pretty good without them farting out like it does with the Micro VR.
Once you hit 10:00 on the gain it breaks up really nice and gets pretty woolly around 12-12:30 with anything above 1:30 going into a VERY overdriven B15 type of sound. Very woolly without being overly mushy.
Gain was on 12:30. Bass was around 1:30. Mids and para all noon, treble backed off to about 11. I had the graphic eq engaged flat with a slight mid hump.
Mullard. Yes.
The only odd thing is that unlike the other tubes it took an additional 5 seconds after the amp powered on AFTER it did it's sequence for the tube pre to kick in (warm up).
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,942
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Hit my first problem after maybe 50 gigs with it yesterday. It must've been low power. We were playing a backyard party on a 150' extension cord plugged into the garage, which is 150' from the house. The Carvin powered on but sounded weak and farty. I swapped it w/ my new/old Peavey Mark VIII and it sounded great.
Happens to other digital power amp amps as well. It's just the nature of the beast.
Hi all -
So I picked up a used BX500 a few weeks ago for two bills.
I've been gigging every weekend with a B1500 and an ACME B4 cab. It's a killer combo (particularly with the VT Deluxe in front), but it's killer heavy, and I was never tapping all that power. I always have PA support with the new project.
So, my new workhorse rig:
It's paired with an Acme B2 that I picked up for $100. Best 3 bills I ever spent!
It didn't take much tweaking to dial in what (in the house) sounded exactly like my b1500/B4 tone. These Acme cabs are very scaleable - and the bx500 is extremely tweakable, without being unwieldy.
So, the gig report:
We had 2 nights at a biker roadhouse outside of Phoenix, followed by a Sunday afternoon poolside at the Pointe Hilton resort in Scottsdale. Both were outside settings.
Gig 1 & 2: Outdoor raised, permanent covered stage. Temps still in the 90's. Outdoors at volume, I had plenty of stage monitor volume set on Active with drive at 10 and volume at noon. Our guitarist is opposite-stage from me, and likes to hear lots of bass- and he was happy.
Only issue happened during gig 1 - the sound cut out on me. I flipped the "Active" switch off and back on, and it was fine.
Gig 3: 112 degrees, outdoors under shade by the resort pool. The amp ran hot, but not hotter than my b1500 has there. Raised temporary stage, and it was boomy - I dialed out lows, and turned up a bit. The amp handled the 3 hour gig like a champ, no issues at all. I suspect that turning it off may have been a problem, so I left it on to keep the fan running. But - the fan doesn't seem to do much.
The only notable difference is this: At volume, there's a heft to the b1500 - a sledgehammer with sharp edges... The bx500 provided plenty of hammer, but it was a bit rounder on the edges. Don't know if that makes sense, but I can feel the b1500's monoblock massive headroom, and it's subtly absent with the bx500. Not that it's bad - if I didn't have the incredible b1500 tight dropped D to compare to, I'd never know it wasn't there.
The setup felt more like a good 15" speaker than a good 10" speaker setup - a little rounder, but still every bit as solid. The "sharp edge" tightness difference was most evident when detuned to D.
It's a difference that only we bassists would pick out. The rest of the band said the bx500/b2 combo sounded great. Our lead singer (sick and running sound) actually turned my PA support down for the pool gig, because I turned the amp up a bit and it was carrying the space.
I'm thrilled - an easy to pack in/out, Mini-Rig-0f-Doom, that can throw down a huge tight solid clean bass tone suitable for modern country.
I can't imagine ANY situation with PA support where this wouldn't be enough amp.
So I picked up a used BX500 a few weeks ago for two bills.
I've been gigging every weekend with a B1500 and an ACME B4 cab. It's a killer combo (particularly with the VT Deluxe in front), but it's killer heavy, and I was never tapping all that power. I always have PA support with the new project.
So, my new workhorse rig:
It's paired with an Acme B2 that I picked up for $100. Best 3 bills I ever spent!
It didn't take much tweaking to dial in what (in the house) sounded exactly like my b1500/B4 tone. These Acme cabs are very scaleable - and the bx500 is extremely tweakable, without being unwieldy.
So, the gig report:
We had 2 nights at a biker roadhouse outside of Phoenix, followed by a Sunday afternoon poolside at the Pointe Hilton resort in Scottsdale. Both were outside settings.
Gig 1 & 2: Outdoor raised, permanent covered stage. Temps still in the 90's. Outdoors at volume, I had plenty of stage monitor volume set on Active with drive at 10 and volume at noon. Our guitarist is opposite-stage from me, and likes to hear lots of bass- and he was happy.
Only issue happened during gig 1 - the sound cut out on me. I flipped the "Active" switch off and back on, and it was fine.
Gig 3: 112 degrees, outdoors under shade by the resort pool. The amp ran hot, but not hotter than my b1500 has there. Raised temporary stage, and it was boomy - I dialed out lows, and turned up a bit. The amp handled the 3 hour gig like a champ, no issues at all. I suspect that turning it off may have been a problem, so I left it on to keep the fan running. But - the fan doesn't seem to do much.
The only notable difference is this: At volume, there's a heft to the b1500 - a sledgehammer with sharp edges... The bx500 provided plenty of hammer, but it was a bit rounder on the edges. Don't know if that makes sense, but I can feel the b1500's monoblock massive headroom, and it's subtly absent with the bx500. Not that it's bad - if I didn't have the incredible b1500 tight dropped D to compare to, I'd never know it wasn't there.
The setup felt more like a good 15" speaker than a good 10" speaker setup - a little rounder, but still every bit as solid. The "sharp edge" tightness difference was most evident when detuned to D.
It's a difference that only we bassists would pick out. The rest of the band said the bx500/b2 combo sounded great. Our lead singer (sick and running sound) actually turned my PA support down for the pool gig, because I turned the amp up a bit and it was carrying the space.
I'm thrilled - an easy to pack in/out, Mini-Rig-0f-Doom, that can throw down a huge tight solid clean bass tone suitable for modern country.
I can't imagine ANY situation with PA support where this wouldn't be enough amp.
