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New Carvin Bass Preamp

#2
Carvin just buys generic Chinese stuff and rebrands it, so that same unit is likely availalbe elewhere for much less.

And interestingly, they also have an Acoustic Preamp that's the exact same thing with a different paint job. I can't imagine either of these units being ideal for what they are meant for. Acoustic preamps usually have a notch filter and reverb built in at the minimum.

KOA Acoustic Guitar Preamp
 
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#3
I love Carvin-branded stuff and used to play a lot of their gear before 'the change'. But when I look at this pedal, and it's $239 "on sale" price tag, I gotta wonder where the value for my dollar is. For $20 more, I could grab a 2 channel Le Bass preamp with a tube in it. For quite a lot less, I can get similar functionality with a multitude of pedals.

What is interesting on that site is the 100W pedalboard power amplifier at $169...
MACH100 100W (50W/50W) Stereo Pedal Amplifier
 
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#7
G On Bass said:
Even better!
Click to expand...

Harley Benton is re-branded stuff, too. Their JJ and JP basses is re-branded Aria Pro II RSB and 313 "Detroit" series basses, just with different headstock configurations and tuners.

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313mk2_opsb_hotrod_bass_product_1800x1800-600x600.jpg
 
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#8
mmbongo said:
Carvin just buys generic Chinese stuff and rebrands it, so that same unit is likely availalbe elewhere for much less.

And interestingly, they also have an Acoustic Preamp that's the exact same thing with a different paint job. I can't imagine either of these units being ideal for what they are meant for. Acoustic preamps usually have a notch filter and reverb built in at the minimum.

KOA Acoustic Guitar Preamp
Click to expand...

Close, but not quite. I read the manuals, and it appears the Bass and Treble controls are voiced differently. The KOA's Treble and Bass center frequencies appear to be 4kHz and 140Hz, where the same controls on the BX1 are 3kHz and 25Hz, respectively.

To your point, though, that was the only difference I could find.

As for the unit itself, it looks useful as a "general purpose" preamp, and is pretty loaded for the price point!
 
#13
Lync said:
If it sounds like the BX500 DI, it is probably really good. The DI on that amp is one of my favorites ever. Just enough magic.
Click to expand...

I like BX1 a lot but it's not so good and quite different then BX250. I strongly agree BX250 and BX500 were magic. It's a pity Carvin never used their amazing preamp section (also considering BX1 is very similar to BX250 controls and features).

 
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