I'm also looking into one of these babies, based on one real question: does the drive knob do anything? and if so, is it pleasant? looking for some warmth, but not SVT grind.
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Carvin BX500: Pt. 3
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
That makes sense. I just hit the mute switch during breaks and left it on all night so the fan was always running.
Yes the drive knob does add some warmth. Not a huge amount but a subtle difference.
The Drive knob works fine for me - others here have experimented with different tubes and claimed to get a more useful drive tone but I have not felt the need to do so. As far as strength of bass, mids, and treble - all are driven quite well with my set-up and I do not feel the need to do much tone knob tweaking.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
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- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Tom Lees gave a fairly detailed explanation of what the Drive control does in his technical review of the B1500 back in Invalid Link Removed.
Tom.
I dont mean to bash Carvin but unless you really need the okay compressor and the 2 ohm capability why would you take a chance with such a high failure rate?
I did own a BX500 for a short time but much prefered my shuttle 6.0 for sound and quality.
I have also owned 3 R1000 amps and 2 Pro Bass 500 and at some point in time most of them either failed or came up with a glitch that I had to stress on.
On the other hand I do own 3 DCM Slave amps and have only had 1 small issue with one (DCM2000L) and Carvin sent me a new one.
my .02
I did own a BX500 for a short time but much prefered my shuttle 6.0 for sound and quality.
I have also owned 3 R1000 amps and 2 Pro Bass 500 and at some point in time most of them either failed or came up with a glitch that I had to stress on.
On the other hand I do own 3 DCM Slave amps and have only had 1 small issue with one (DCM2000L) and Carvin sent me a new one.
my .02
Went into protect mode, again.
2nd time for the unit. At the time I was connected to the PA and they were experiencing problems. Reset that sucka and on with the gig
2nd time for the unit. At the time I was connected to the PA and they were experiencing problems. Reset that sucka and on with the gig
My first unit did the same thing. You could run it for hours upon hours straight, but as soon as you turned it off, then back on again, it would protect until cooled. I spoke to an engineering person at carvin and stated that this is NOT normal, it should turn right back on. My guess is your amp was like this right out of the box, however this was the first time you had the "right" condtions..
the more I read, the more I think that Carvin rushed this into production and is now paying the price. I too work for a company that rushes products through the QA system for trade shows & other silly deadlines... Sad. This should be a really good product, but until they get their QA ducks in a row, I'd say thumbs down.
+1. I didn't hear about this and checked it out, and the more I looked into it, the more I hear of these random shutoff issues. I wonder if the cost of pulling them off the market for a while is more than the cost of continually selling them until they run out. A few years I got excited when Frank Gambale got involved with their slimline 1U digitally controlled gtr preamp and called them direct from overseas, the chap who answered was to say the least, uninterested. That product didn't last too long in their line up. But perhaps that's the Carvin way, keep plugging new products and then discontinue them. God knows how many bass designs and headstock changes they have gone through - you'd think their market share and trading volume was like Ibanez or Yamaha to do that.
Carvin BX500 Noob Question of the day: How do these amps compare to other micro amps? I ask because the micro amps I've played (and the one I own) lack a good bit in the treble and mids department. Is this amp as powerful with mids and treble ranges as "normal sized" amp heads? I'm considering this or a Hartke Ha2500 to pair with my Acoustic B410. Which would be better overall?
I own an older Hartke that now sees little use because I prefer the BX500. If anything, some users have stated that it is too strong in the treble and mids rather than too weak. But at the same time I can certainly drive enough bass with this amp as well.
The general consensus here (and my experience too) is that if anything, set flat, these amps lack a little low end. Theree's a lot of tweakability to boost the bottom, though. That having been said, quite a few users here like it straight up.
I play Gospel and the BX500 been my main amp for show, The low end is sweet and the overall mids and treble is just right. I had my since Feb 09 without any problem and I don't carry a backup. I been using two Genz-benz NEO 112 with it and now that I got a SB5000 I been in heaven. Really a nice amp if you get a good one.
I just got my BX 500 back from Carvin. It was humming and buzzing, but now it's perfect! Does anyone know what was wrong with them? It seemed to big a mass problem.
fwiw, I've had mine for a week. It seems perfect so far. I know it's still early, but so far so good.
I really like this amp.
I really like this amp.
