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Carvin

#21
The amplification I use the most when playing electric bass is a Carvin B1500. I have been very satisfied with its sound, power, headroom, tone controls, and appearance. Our band has recently been recording, and the DI has provided a very clean bass signal.

When I compared its cost and performance against the competition, and read the reviews here on Talk Bass, it seemed like a no-brainer to me, and I haven't had any regrets.

Good luck with your decision!
 
#22
VEGANBASS said:
If you stick with the brx series you're okay. The old redline series had some problems and carvin gained a bad rep because of that.
Click to expand...

Well if my memory serves me correctly (it's prone to take frequent vacations) I do remember seeing a redline series amp under repair in his shop once so maybe that's where he got his opinion. Thanks everyone you've all been very helpful. I'll probably get it but I also need to save up for a cabinet too so it will probably be a little while. Thanks again.
 
#24
I would have to agree, the not so high opinion is because that store owner would like to sell you something.....ok now that that's over with.....

I have owned the PB100 (10" speaker) as well as the R600 and I currently play through a R-1000. These are the Redline series and though I haven't played the new series of bass heads, I'm here to tell you they sound good and are very reliable. I toured Iraq,Kuwait, Pakistan, UAE with AFE and played through sandstorms. The Carvin was a workhorse and I would recommend them to anyone. I think they lack a little in the preamp section, but I run a SansAmp RBI rackmount through the effect loop and bypass the amps preamp section. As far as the power section goes it will work for a long time.

Sorry so long, I just have a lot of faith in their products and wanted to share with ya. Best wishes with your search!
 
#27
I own 2x DCM1000, 2x DCM1204, 1x DCM150, 2x 2/3 Octave Eqs 3x Carvin mics, 6x AC120 power line filters. There's more but that will do. I have had no trouble what so ever with the above - none! I also own 3x Six string basses and a B5 five string. My LB76F developed a small split in the back, They took it back and built me a new one. I paid return shipping that's all. My LB76WP lost it's B string piezo saddle - they sent me a complete new bridge - my cost zero. Same instrument the mid control became stiff - they sent me a complete new module - my cost zero. I have nothing but good words to say about Carvin's customer service. I have never had to argue with them about anything. What's more we were born the same year!!! :(

Paul
 
#29
This is the long frustrating story of my BRX212. The final outcome is yet to be seen, pending on how Carvin takes care of me, and how the amp continues to perform on gigs.

First about me, 30+ year veteran bassist. This summer I gigged 5-6 nights a week, currently the day gig has caused me to cut back to 3 nights now. Everything from loud Rock, Jazz, Blues, Weddings etc... I have 20+ basses and several rigs.

Now the BRX212. Carvin got it right in the design dept! This is a remarkable design. Small, light, powerful, clean punchy sound! But what they got right in design, they got wrong in manufacturing.

I ordered my BRX212 on the website. Got no notice of shipping, so I checked on it and they said that amp had been discontinued (even though it was on the website, and they had accepted my payment). I said they had 4 listed on ebay, and 2 of those said NEW, so send me one of those. A day or so later I got a notice that it was shipping.

Amp arrives. I take it to the gig, love it, but notice that the tweeter is not working. Call Carvin next day. They say its OK for me to open her up and see if the tweeter is dead. If it was just a blown tweeter, they'd send me a new one. I did a thorough diagnosis, much worse than a blown tweeter, the thing was wired wrong at the factory which blew the tweeter and the 50W amp that powers it. SEE LETTER AT BOTTOM.

I sent the amp back, with my letter enclosed, and all the Carvin documents it came with. A couple weeks later, I get it back.
Documents missing, and a boxcutter knife left in the box...no big thing, I can live with that. I'm just glad the tweeter is working, and the amp sounds good on the gig! But, I notice a clinking sound whenever I move the amp. At first I thought it was just something loose in the handle. I listened closer and decided it was in definitely in the head. I removed the head to have a look. I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I FOUND! SEE LINK Link Removed

Who ever bolted the coil into the amp wrenched it down so hard they bent the screw and and ripped through the metal on the clamp (large disc-like a washer). Had to be using a power driver on this and held the trigger down too long! This disc clamp was just floating around loose inside the amp. The only thing holding the coil was the sticky tape under it.

Justin Goodrich is the customer service rep who has been dealing with me. He's a good guy. He has been great at keeping me informed in a timely and professional manner. But, he isn't the tech who built/repaired/screwed up the amp. He's the guy stuck cleaning up their mess. Right now I'm waiting for him to send me the replacement parts so I can fix the amp myself. My hope is they will overnight the stuff to me, and (lets shoot for the moon) maybe they'll pay for the hours I'm putting in...(lets really shoot for the moon) maybe they'll send me a replacement head to bolt into this cab!!! I'll post again and let everyone know how Carvin takes care of this.

Below is the letter I sent to Carvin, when I first returned the amp.


To Carvin Technicians,

BRX212 Tweeter dead, and 50W tweeter amp not working.
I believe the cause of the problem lay in the cabinet
wiring. Possibly the Speakon jacks were not wired for
a bi-amp configuration.

I took my new amp to the gig. Sounded great, but I
noted that the tweeter was not functioning (turned
treble up all the way, turned up the gain, turned up
the attenuator on the back of the amp, but no output
from tweeter).

Called Carvin, spoke to Geovani. He said it would not
void my warranty if I wanted to try and diagnose the
problem. If it was just a blown tweeter, then he’d
send me a new one. Pulled the tweeter and tested it
with another amp, it had no output. But then just to
be sure the amp was functioning properly, I connected
another speaker to the tweeter leads, it just made a
very loud hum! The loud hum remained constant
regardless of the amp settings (master volume off and
tweeter volume off). I put a voltmeter on the tweeter
leads. It registered negligible AC Voltage, but showed
a steady 27 Volts DC. Really struck me as odd!

I then decided to test exactly which Speakon leads
were feeding the tweeters. I turned off the amp, and
set my multimeter to test continuity. I put one lead
on the positive tweeter wire and touched the other
lead to the speakon pins. I found continuity from the + tweeter and one of the inner pins (I’ll guess pin 1+). I then switched my meter to the negative tweeter wire. Again tested for continuity at the speakon jack, expecting to find continuity to pin 1-. To my surprise I got a beep at all 3 other pins! The negative tweeter wire was connected to all the speakon pins, except for the one that the positive wire was connected to! To my knowledge, it would seem that only pins 1+ and 1-
should go to the tweeters, and only pins 2+ and 2-
should go to the woofers (They should not be bridged).

I believe this to be what caused the failure of the
tweeter and the 50 Watt side of the amp.

I really liked this amp on the gig, even without the
tweeter. I hope my Replacement amp is as good as this
one (but with working tweeter).

Sincerely,
 
#30
Jo6Pak said:
If anything, Customer Service is Carvin's downfall, NOT their gear...
Click to expand...

True. Yet so ironic, because I can recall a time when the situation was just the reverse: the gear was hit or miss, but the service was superb...

Why, oh why can't Carvin see that their chronic CS problem is like a hole in the pocket? For all the new customers that their fine products continue to bring in, a certain number get burned so badly that they will never do business with Carvin again. And they tell their friends. And they post on TalkBass...

Such unnecessary damage to their reputation over such silly, preventable stuff. What a waste! :rolleyes:

MM
 
#32
Last week I sent my BRX12 speakers in for "evaluation" to carvin. They were squeaking pretty bad so I was looking for a possible replacement of both but they were out of warranty. It cost $18 to ship to them.

Justin says, yeah the guy in repair says they're blown. So what can ya'll do? He says we can sell you replacements @ $30 more than they're being sold for on the Ebay store. Huh?

So I say, can you just send them back to me? He says no, the repair guy ripped them open to evaluate them.

Carvin left me no options.
 
#33
Justin is taking care of me on this. He got back to me today and said the needed parts are on their way. He is also crediting my account $100. This shows me that Carvin does care about my inconvenience, time and labor. I recently spent close to $2000 with them, and I believe that they were truly concerned about my satisfaction as a customer.

The BRX212 is an outstanding design, a really great bass amp, and I'm hoping this is the last issue I'll have with it. If not, I have confidence that Carvin will correct anything else that would arise.

2 things Carvin could do:
1. Improve quality control in manufacturing and repairs.
2. Hire more customer service reps like Justin Goodrich.

As things stand now,
I'll buy from them again.
 

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