First gig with Carvin BX500 - WOW!

[Sparkdog]

Yeah, it's little, and yeah, it's REALLY light. I handed it to my drummer when I came in and he said, "What is this, a stereo component?"

I put it on top of my Carvin BRX210 neo, plugged in the Jazz Bass, dialed in a little Compression, a little Drive, a little Bass, and a little Treble...left the mids flat.

First song and I was in love. This thing is loud, punchy, and sweet.

I had my fingerstyle tone dialed up in the main EQ section, and used the graphic for a pick tone, switching from one to the other took 5 seconds and the flick of a switch.

And when it was over, I broke down the rig in about 5 minutes and wheeled my entire kit (including the bass) out to my van in one load.

I couldn't stop smiling!

Peace...

 

[guardian1233]

Sweet dude, I'm looking at maby getting the 210 combo with this in it. So its nice to see you like it.

 

[Akito]

How's the clean headroom on this amp? I just can't bring myself to trust the wattage rating on a 500w solid state amp.

 

[Sparkdog]

I've only done one rehearsal and one gig with this head, so I can't really say too much about headroom, but here's what I can tell you:

- This gig was with my regular blues/rock/funk outfit and they are loud. The keyboard player gets told by us and the club to turn down at every gig. The BX500 had no problem at all holding it's own.

- I am a clean tone guy...I hate distortion or any fur on the tone at all, so I keep the Drive control on 3. The amp gets radically louder when you crank the Drive to 5 or higher, but still, no issue at all on this gig. I had the master volume between 3 and 4.

- My other amp is a Carvin B1500 that I've been gigging for about a year. That amp is pretty much the king of headroom (1250 watts into the same 210 cab, 1900 into a 2 ohm load!) so that's my point of comparison. I usually run that head at about 2 on the master volume with similar settings and similar situations.

Based on what I've heard so far, I think that metal/hardcore/extreme volume guys probably need or want more horsepower than this amp will provide (although if you crank up the Drive it can go to a level that is painfully loud for me). If you are doing more traditional music in 150-200 person capacity venues there seems to be more than enough power there.

I don't play anywhere except outdoor party gigs where they will LET me come anywhere near the limits of what this head seems capable of, so it's perfect for me.

I love the B1500, but it's 35 pounds and frankly, total overkill for my club dates. That's going to stay in the garage with the 410 neo cab until the aforementioned outdoor gigs come along.

For everything else it's the mini rig. The head and cab together is under 50 pounds, and sounds huge. Can't beat that!