Carvin BX500: Pt. 3

[prokfrog]

Generally speaking, you ALWAYS hear about the bad, and when everything is fine, there's silence. Through all the posts since this item came out, we see pretty much the same names throughout. It the 6 days it took to return my first unit, to receipt of the new one, the serial number span was in the several thousands. They are pumping lots of these out the door..

 

[jzucker]

Generally speaking, you ALWAYS hear about the bad, and when everything is fine, there's silence. Through all the posts since this item came out, we see pretty much the same names throughout. It the 6 days it took to return my first unit, to receipt of the new one, the serial number span was in the several thousands. They are pumping lots of these out the door..

i'm working with the support guy right now. I'm pretty impressed with the interaction so far. I'm going to open it up and look for a loose ribbon cable or cold solder joint and possibly send it back for replacement if I don't see anything.

 

[prokfrog]

Cool. If you like the features, and you like what you are hearing, i think they deserve another shot.

 

[fourstringbliss]

The Carvin folks have got to get their acts together on this because this is a great little amp - when it works. Mine seems to work fine, but I'm tempted to sell it off before something goes wrong!

 

[Blues Cat]

I contacted them online. I'll give them a day to respond and then call tonight or tomorrow if I don't hear back. I'll probably get a refund and get a genz shuttle though. Don't recall reading about any issues with those.

You need to call. You probably won't hear back with an online contact attempt.

Talk to Bart or Joe in CS.

 

[jzucker]

You need to call. You probably won't hear back with an online contact attempt.

Talk to Bart or Joe in CS.

i already heard back through email several times. I was instructed to open it and look for a loose ribbon cable or cold solder joint.

 

[Blues Cat]

i already heard back through email several times. I was instructed to open it and look for a loose ribbon cable or cold solder joint.

Did you find one?

 

[jzucker]

Did you find one?

nothing looked loose. I guess I'll return it.

 

[johnnyz]

received my BX500 back from Carvin. it's a very early model. they replaced the circuitry with the upgrades they have made since I've bought it. they did not charge me and it was out of warranty. can't say enough about their customer service. put it through the paces last night, no more going into protect mode.

 

[jzucker]

Got the replacement for mine last week. In the meantime, I bought a genz benz shuttle 6. The replacement BX500 works great and I think it's more clear and versatile than the shuttle. They are both great though.

 

[tombowlus]

Got the replacement for mine last week. In the meantime, I bought a genz benz shuttle 6. The replacement BX500 works great and I think it's more clear and versatile than the shuttle. They are both great though.

I hear ya, there. Those are both great heads, and they do have a general similarity of tonal palate. The Shuttle is the prettier of the two, but the BX500 definitely has that versatility (and 2-ohm option) going for it. Tom.

 

[jzucker]

I hear ya, there. Those are both great heads, and they do have a general similarity of tonal palate. The Shuttle is the prettier of the two, but the BX500 definitely has that versatility (and 2-ohm option) going for it. Tom.

To me, the difference is that the carvin has a bit less of a tube vibe to it. It sounds a bit more SS in its voice. However, the Genz has a lot more bottom and low mids which can't be dialed out. I can dial in a very benz-like tone with the carvin but I can't dial out the bottom and low mids on the benz to the same extent.

I See the Carvin as 180 degrees from the markbass and the genz is about 90 degrees from the markbass. Folks playing a rock and metal bands will probably like the genz better but I find for fingerstyle funk, slapping and for playing fusiony solos the carvin just has more clarity.

 

[basss]

received my BX500 back from Carvin. it's a very early model. they replaced the circuitry with the upgrades they have made since I've bought it. they did not charge me and it was out of warranty. can't say enough about their customer service. put it through the paces last night, no more going into protect mode.

I had the same thing done and mines on it's way back to me now. The tube in mine was buzzing slightly - I lived with it for over a year - didn't bother on the gig. I finally got around to sending it in 3 weeks after the warranty expired. They updated it to the current revision no charge! Great CS.

 

[BlacksHole]

I played a gig yesterday afternoon with good PA support so I started off with my BX500 set only to 2 running through a 4 ohm 2x12. We played a single 90 minute set and at a little over 1/2 way through, the amp dropped volume considerably. Unfortunately, I was using a fretless at this point which made it very difficult for me to be sure of what I was playing. The PA gurus said that the FOH sound (I used the DI of the amp) was unaffected. If I recall, others have had sudden volume drops with this amp on occasion. What was the end result? Did you have to send it to Carvin, or was there a simple fix? I did call Carvin and they suggested that perhaps I should clean the contacts on the 2 ribbon cables and/or check the tube. But I also wanted to ask here to see if others who have experienced a similar issue have any advice.

 

[jzucker]

in my case it was a cold solder joint on the mid control of the front mounted board

 

[BlacksHole]

jzucker - was this a condition that manifested itself immediately, and once it did this, did it stay down in volume or did it come back up? When I've had cold solder joints in other amps I usually would get crackling noises.

 

[Blues Cat]

Man it would be great to pick one of these up but the failure rate seems to be prevalent.

Has anyone definitively figured out if it's a parts supply problem or a manufacturing problem?

 

[jzucker]

jzucker - was this a condition that manifested itself immediately, and once it did this, did it stay down in volume or did it come back up? When I've had cold solder joints in other amps I usually would get crackling noises.

It manifested itself almost immediately. I finally took the cover off and using a chopstick started pressing things in with the power on. Carvin thought it might be a ribbon connector since I had told them that pressing down on the top of the unit "fixed" the problem. What I discovered was that pushing on the front board behind the low mid pot "fixed" the problem. The new one has been problem free.

 

[21niko21]

Well, it seems like my BX500 is starting to have some problems. Sometimes when I turn it on I get nothing. If I turn it off and then back on it might be fine. Sometimes when I turn it on the volume is very low or very low and distorted. Today it won't work for more than about a half hour before the volume starts to decrease to a very low or low and distorted level. There's also some crackling. Could this be the cab? I've changed basses and cords.

Thanks for the kind remarks about my avatar pic Chef. Just saw that the other day...I have a 30 sec. video of that too, it's awesome!

 

[Lync]

Check your speaker cables. Twice it happened to me (but both times I could still hear it from the FOH). Turns out that a cable plug was sketchy.