I got my New Rig!!!

Hello To all.
Just paging everybody to let you all know that I just recieved my Carvin RL1018.

My first Impresions:

Contruction: 4.9 Out of 5. Just Excellent. I would have liked a little acoustical bating inside the cabs.

Althought the controls are very intuitive for me, the first sound I dialed out of it sounded like CRAP.
I was very upset by this, because I expected a really great sound from starters, also, I had a lot of distortion coming out of the amp.

Suddenly, I remembered that the R1000 head has a mid cut by default in the low midrange section.

I adjusted the gain controls until the clipping light dissapeared conpletely.
I hit the Low Switch and Midrange Shift, put it at full range, bot amps at 5 and the Master Volume at 3...
then.. BOOOM!!!
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Very good sound. Happy with it.
The highs were harsh, so I turned off the tweeter. Not good, not my sound. So I put it at -3dB. Perfect.
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UPDATE: It wasnt the tweeter, it was the frequency points of the AMP, It shoudl have EQ at 8Khz and 10KHz, I like that frequencies for a crisp Sound.
I use the tweeter now at FULL ON. and boost the highs on my bass (10Khz) to get the crisp sound I crave.
Carvin should use a higher powered tweeter and a Higher crosover point, so the tweeter doesnt get any high/mids but only real highs.

I think I will buy a couple of Piezo Tweeters to compensate or posibly put an Eden Crossover and Tweeter instead.

Then I started checking the Biamp settings. Usable definetly, at 200 at least and maximum at around 600/700

Tube sound? Yes, it can be dialed.
It is no SVT, but sounds very nice.
I added more "Tube" blend on the preamp, I lost some lows but gained a very barky pick sound (I dont use a pick but had to try it)

Efficiency:
the RL410T is good on the efficiency deparment, lacks a little lows that were compensated when I put the cab on the floor and bridged the amp to boost 700Watts to only that cab.

The RL118 however,is not as efficient as expected. But sounds very good WHEN mated with the RL410T.

Does it sound very good? Yes.
Does it compare to Eden? No..
Would I use Carvin instead of Ampeg ? I am.
I would have paid double for the Ampeg rig I wanted, but the Carvin surpasses it for less money, and of course has more power.

Has the lows? Some, the RL410T lacks some authority.
Also bass projection is not very focused.
Has the Mids? Yes. Fingerstyle Kind!
Has the Highs? Moreless. I think the crossover point in the RL410T should be higher, and that the horn should handle more power, it gets harsh too easily.

Am I happy? Yes.
But I still have to try it with my band this sunday, so there is more to come.
I will continue experiencing with it, and read some of the manual before I continue.

Would I recommend it?
Yes, for the money, it is indeed the best amp you can get.

Of couse, If you have the "extra" money, get Eden Cabs. The R1000 Head is just beutiful, and I dont think there is a match in terms of Value and Sound together.

 

I forgot to say why im writing this instead of playing..

hehe
because I broke a STRING!!!
Grrr. what a Nice timing for that huh?

Thankfully I had ordered 6 sets for my Cort Curbow, so Im replacing the strings right now.

 

Hey man, I encourage you to get a Carvin DCM1000 Power Amo to couple it with your SVP-PRO, you will spend less money, and actually its the same as using the power section of the R1000.

I also had a Hartke2000 and I clipped the hell out of it.

 

I set Up my compression at :
Threshold at 10 O´Clock
Ratio at 10 O´Clock.

I really have found that the RL410T is simply not designed for a 5 String and doesnt handle it well.

To me, it seems that the RL1018 is definitely a Must-run-biamped-to-get-a-pure-sound.

EDIT/UPDATE: THe Farting was because of a Signal Clipping on the Amp2 Insert Jack caused by a Zoom506II


I set the crossover at about 600Hz, where the RL410T no longer farts at high volumes when I hit strongly the B String on my C. Curbow.

However I send a lot of lows to the 18 and push the Amp control a little more to hear that clean lows.

I think Carvin should focus on making each part of this set perform excelent by themselves and not only as a set.

Man, I dig that head.
I ought to try it with a Goliath SR. soon.

 

Thanks Rick, Cassanova, and Count Funkula.

Rick, I would like some input on how your Noise Gate works..
Do you have the Series II , Series III?
I think my Series III has a different gate comapared to the Series II, just checking.

Do you play a 5 String? Use it Bi-Amp of Full range?
I can really get to fart the 410 when Full range when I hit the B-String in the lowest notes and when tapping the hell out of it. Im not sure if its the amp clippin or the cab farting. I will check this again bridging the amp only to that cab.

UPDATE: I just checked the cab alone and it farted, then I checked my signal chain and removed the Zoom506 from the Insert Jack: "VOILA" , that was it. The cab is fine an running clean even at high volumes, it was the Zoom506 II that was clipping the signal before reaching the power amp.
Sorry Carvin!! It is a good cab.

 

I cant resist...
Just a little pic:

 

Yeah man, thats the first thing I love from my rig.

Well, I have to tell you.. the Series III doesnt work that way, in fact I believe it is completely opposite, as the Gate doesnt engage until I really stop playing, and also it comes back without any delay when I start playing again.
They have truly redesigned it.

 

heh, well man, my problem is actually happening even in Bypass Mode!!
I think I will have to buy a couple of good pedals.
Maybe a Danelectro Dady-O and a Cool Cat for chorus, I dont think I will need anything else.

 

UPDATE:
I just took out the RL118, and put the RL410T into the Bridge output.
Bridged the amp...
The tone is great this way.
It surpases my former Hartke/Ampeg combination by far, and If I would have bought this as that (R1000+RL410T) I woul have to add almost no money.

Im beggining to dig the R1000 Head, it is appears to be inmensely versatile.

Got to get to a gig soon!!

BTW: The manual is wron in the Pre-Shape MID Button.
It ways that in the IN position there is a -12dB@250Hz and in the Out Position -12dB@475Hz . At least to my ears It is backwards. When I push the button I hear a big increase in apparent Low End/Punch/LowMids.
In my opinion, there should be 2 positions that would be: OFF and -12dB@475.

 

Urgent!!
I had to do it...
I just ran my RL1018 in Full-range Bridged mode to Both cabs!!
2.67 Ohms of Impedance and the Amp didnt shutdown and sounded great.

!!!!!
Has anyone of you done this in the past?

PS: Dont tell Carvin!!