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Carvin BX500: Pt. 3

#1,103
I'm about to receive a BX500. From what I gathered from this thread the amp stay's relatively "clean" even with the drive boosted a bit with the tube engaged. So the question is.... Do you use a dirt pedal in front to warm it up or just run it "clean?"

input appreciated,
thanks
 
#1,106
Myself, and I and I think a few other TB'ers use a VT pedal to add a little stank to the tone. The problem with the tube is that it runs at a B+ voltage of only 60v. That's less than a quarter of typical tube preamp B+ volts. That being said, I think it's a fine amp with plenty of power and features such as two ohm capability, Ok compressor and EQ up the yingyang. Oh yeah, and automatic voltage switching on the power supply (100 to 240 volts).
I did try some limited tube rolling and wound up using a JJ 12AU7. Very small change on tone.
I have also patched in an ART Tube MP in the effects loop with a little better grit available.
 
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#1,107
I've noticed you can get some overdrive if you turn the drive way up, but it's not real pleasing. Carvin says it's more to compensate for differences in pickup output, which I thought was odd.
 
#1,108
spankdaplank said:
Myself, and I and I think a few other TB'ers use a VT pedal to add a little stank to the tone. The problem with the tube is that it runs at a B+ voltage of only 60v. That's less than a quarter of typical tube preamp B+ volts.
Click to expand...

It's used as a paralleled cathode follower and doesn't make any gain anyway. Link Removed
 
#1,109
Thought my BX500 went goofy on me a few months back but it turned out to be a bad cable. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and when I powered it up it sounded like what you'd hear if you were listening through a long piece of pipe. I flipped it off and back on and it worked fine the rest of the day. A couple weekends ago I turn it on and it works fine for about a minute then it just fades down to almost nothing like I'm turning down the master volume. Again, I flip it off and back on, and again it works fine the rest of the day. The following monday I went and snagged up a TH500 and have been fooling with that and liking it pretty good. I really like the Carvin so my plan was to just box it up and send it back to Carvin for a look see, then I just about crapped when I went to their web site and saw the repair fee $225. That being the case I opened it back up today and put in a fresh tube and redid all the ribbon cable cleaning and then followed up with a good flushing of all the pots by removing the knobs and spraying deoxit around the shafts while working them through their throw, flipped all the toggles while flooding them, then did the EQ sliders the same, ran them up and down while flooding them with deoxit. I then gave the entire interior a good wash down with deoxit and got a strong light and took an up close and personal look at the components and didn't find any bulged, cracked, burnt, or otherwise looking anything but normal. I'll fiddle with it as much as possible this week and if it does OK I'll use it this weekend and see how it goes, now that I have a reliable back up.
 
#1,110
GIG REPORT:

Received my new used BX500 Thursday evening (7/9) and took it out to its first gig (1st with me) Friday afternoon (7/10) Beautiful outdoor venue where a river meets the Gulf of Mexico. Start time was 5pm. Typical central Florida summer weather, temp in the high 90's and humidity up the you know what.

Over all the amp performed great, no issues to speak of. Using tips from this thread, the guy who sold me the amp (thanks tornadobass) and passinwind it only took a few moments to dial up a tone that I liked. Once dialed up I only used the EQ on my bass for on the fly changes for different tunes. The amp came loaded with a JJ ECC83 instead of the stock 12AX7. Cab used is a GB NeoX 212T and they played very well together. Clear and loud would be the sentiment here.

Obviously there is a plethora of tonal options to be explored and I'm sure I'll spend countless hours playing with all that down the road. Over all the amp lives up to it's rep, plenty of power and great tone. A few pet peeves came to light quickly however.

The fan seems to pull air in instead of pulling heat out. Have never really cared for that design but I'll just have to roll with it and trust the engineer. Not digging the compressor. It goes from all off to way on at the slightest touch. I'm guessing it's the taper on the knob and I will probably ignore this feature for now as I don't slap. Also the taper on the master volume seems to have the same issue of all off to way on. Not a smooth transition from nothing to something. These few items are mere nitpicks and nothing more.

First gig the amp has lived up to expectations and overall it is doing what I need it to do. It's giving me good tone and power in a portable package that lets me leave the lead sled at home. Even my band mates were digging it so it's all good form my perspective.
 
Last edited:
#1,112
fhm555 said:
Thought my BX500 went goofy on me a few months back but it turned out to be a bad cable. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and when I powered it up it sounded like what you'd hear if you were listening through a long piece of pipe. I flipped it off and back on and it worked fine the rest of the day. A couple weekends ago I turn it on and it works fine for about a minute then it just fades down to almost nothing like I'm turning down the master volume. Again, I flip it off and back on, and again it works fine the rest of the day. The following monday I went and snagged up a TH500 and have been fooling with that and liking it pretty good. I really like the Carvin so my plan was to just box it up and send it back to Carvin for a look see, then I just about crapped when I went to their web site and saw the repair fee $225. That being the case I opened it back up today and put in a fresh tube and redid all the ribbon cable cleaning and then followed up with a good flushing of all the pots by removing the knobs and spraying deoxit around the shafts while working them through their throw, flipped all the toggles while flooding them, then did the EQ sliders the same, ran them up and down while flooding them with deoxit. I then gave the entire interior a good wash down with deoxit and got a strong light and took an up close and personal look at the components and didn't find any bulged, cracked, burnt, or otherwise looking anything but normal. I'll fiddle with it as much as possible this week and if it does OK I'll use it this weekend and see how it goes, now that I have a reliable back up.
Click to expand...

Ouch, well now that everything is covered in DeOxit, it's probably no longer repairable and should be covered with dust now stuck to the surfaces in short order.

In general a very bad thing to do to an amp.
 
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#1,113
agedhorse said:
Ouch, well now that everything is covered in DeOxit, it's probably no longer repairable and should be covered with dust now stuck to the surfaces in short order.

In general a very bad thing to do to an amp.
Click to expand...

Yep. This business of "cleaning" pots by spraying through the shaft bushing is really bad ju-ju, but flushing everything indiscriminately is much worse. Back in the old days when DeoxIT's predecessor was called Cramolin it came in little bitty non-aerosol containers and you had work hard to get a single drop out. There was a good reason for that.
 
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#1,114
Passinwind said:
Back in the old days when DeoxIT's predecessor was called Cramolin it came in little bitty non-aerosol containers and you had work hard to get a single drop out. There was a good reason for that.
Click to expand...
Agreed, Charlie. The original
R5 was revolutionary and the tiny drop applicator probably contributed to its initial success.
 
#1,115
smogg said:
GIG REPORT:

Received my new used BX500 Thursday evening (7/9) and took it out to its first gig (1st with me) Friday afternoon (7/10) Beautiful outdoor venue where a river meets the Gulf of Mexico. Start time was 5pm. Typical central Florida summer weather, temp in the high 90's and humidity up the you know what.

Over all the amp performed great, no issues to speak of. Using tips from this thread, the guy who sold me the amp (thanks tornadobass) and passinwind it only took a few moments to dial up a tone that I liked. Once dialed up I only used the EQ on my bass for on the fly changes for different tunes. The amp came loaded with a JJ ECC83 instead of the stock 12AX7. Cab used is a GB NeoX 212T and they played very well together. Clear and loud would be the sentiment here.

Obviously there is a plethora of tonal options to be explored and I'm sure I'll spend countless hours playing with all that down the road. Over all the amp lives up to it's rep, plenty of power and great tone. A few pet peeves came to light quickly however.

The fan seems to pull air in instead of pulling heat out. Have never really cared for that design but I'll just have to roll with it and trust the engineer. Not digging the compressor. It goes from all off to way on at the slightest touch. I'm guessing it's the taper on the knob and I will probably ignore this feature for now as I don't slap. Also the taper on the master volume seems to have the same issue of all off to way on. Not a smooth transition from nothing to something. These few items are mere nitpicks and nothing more.

First gig the amp has lived up to expectations and overall it is doing what I need it to do. It's giving me good tone and power in a portable package that lets me leave the lead sled at home. Even my band mates were digging it so it's all good form my perspective.
Click to expand...

Great!
Yes, I do not use the compressor either.
If you want a little more travel on the master knob, just keep the gain knob all the way to the left (O).
Also, you could engage the Active switch that will also give you more control with the master knob...
 
#1,116
georgiagoodie said:
Great!
Yes, I do not use the compressor either.
If you want a little more travel on the master knob, just keep the gain knob all the way to the left (O).
Also, you could engage the Active switch that will also give you more control with the master knob...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Def lots of options to explore and I have no problem turning knobs & moving sliders.
"Blame it on the Boom Boom"
 
#1,117
agedhorse said:
Ouch, well now that everything is covered in DeOxit, it's probably no longer repairable and should be covered with dust now stuck to the surfaces in short order.

In general a very bad thing to do to an amp.
Click to expand...

Apparently this is the bad news. Can I save it with a good flush of denatured alcohol?

The good news is, it's working fine now and has had no more hiccups or acting funny. Just working like it's supposed to.
 
#1,119
fhm555 said:
Apparently this is the bad news. Can I save it with a good flush of denatured alcohol?

The good news is, it's working fine now and has had no more hiccups or acting funny. Just working like it's supposed to.
Click to expand...

At this point, you are probably better just leaving it alone.
 
#1,120
agedhorse said:
Ouch, well now that everything is covered in DeOxit, it's probably no longer repairable and should be covered with dust now stuck to the surfaces in short order.

In general a very bad thing to do to an amp.
Click to expand...

fhm555 said:
...Can I save it with a good flush of denatured alcohol?...
Click to expand...

agedhorse said:
At this point, you are probably better just leaving it alone.
Click to expand...

What would make it no longer repairable and why would I want to leave the deoxit on it if it's such a problem? If using denatured alcohol to remove the deoxit is the problem, what about electric motor spray? Can I flush out the deoxit and redo the ribbon cable connectors with deoxit?

Have I ruined this amp with deoxit?

Not trying to be contentious, just trying to undo my screwup if at all possible.
 

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