Just ordered one of these - Carvin Vintage 16

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=VINTAGE16

I have yet to be disappointed with Carvin.  This little thing fits the bill with price and minimal, useable features.  Made in the USA, can't wait to see those Chinese tubes!

 

[swarfrat]

It won't get you girls or respect of your peers, but they're fabulous workhorses that are pretty much collector-proof unless the next youthful rock idol makes them so before offing himself  (That's a good thing)

I love my 84 X60C.

 

[Mor Paul]

unless the next youthful rock idol makes them so before offing himself  (That's a good thing)

Where do I get one?

 

[Cagey]

Carvin builds some nice stuff; much nicer than you'd expect for what they charge. You should be very happy with that amp. I watched a few videos of the thing on YouTube, and it sounds good.

 

[Jusatele]

I have a friend who has one. Nice little amp, the Carvin Factory is about 90 minutes from my house, we go down and play their guitars a lot really nice stuff they make

 

[JamesL]

I love Carvin.. Always have since first time I messed with any of their stuff.

I love them as an entirety too, Guitars, basses, amps, cabs, PICKUPS (LOVE their pickups) 

Although I'm not so keen on some of their ugly ass headstocks, every product I've owned or used from them is top notch.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The lack of wattage doesn't bother me, as I'm not a gigging guitarist, just a gigging bass player.  At the house it might never leave 5 watt mode.  Besides, 16 tube watts ain't exactly like headphones.  I'm not of the 4x12, 100 watt school, as there are so few venues that you even get the benefit of a 100 tube watts.  I've heard very loud 25 watt amps.  If they need to go louder, throw a mic in front of them.  So what would sound better, 100 watts of tubes backed way off, or a cranked 16 watt?

Lurking on the Carvin forum, owners have said the thing really wakes up playing it through a 2x12 cab.

 

[Jusatele]

that nails it
16 watts cranked and turn the gain up is going carry so much more tone, and you will be able to control your distortion so much more than a 100 watt amp set at 10 watts where you will need a distortion pedal because you will never get any useful gain on it.

I have a Vox Stereo 120 watt valvetronics head and cabinet which gets used about 4 times a year when playing outside at parties. Rest of the time I play through a 30 watt bass amp with a couple pf pedals, I am miked and need nothing else. I am shopping for a 15 watt amp as of now to replace the old tired bass amp because it is all I need to play out. The lead player I usually am with no longer has a monitor speaker, he turns his am toward him and mikes it that way, facing to the band onstage, PA technology has revolutionized what you need for an amp. It is not the Hair Metal days anymore, that was 20 years ago.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I've got a happy Carvin customer service story to relay.

The Vintage 16 now comes with a free Vinyl cover.  When I ordered mine, they weren't doing this.  I called today and asked if they'd send me one.  At first they said no because I didn't order one in the last 30 days.  Then I explained that I was a return customer having purchased 1 guitar amp, 2 bass amps, 2 power amps, a rack case, and rackmounting plate.  A pattern is established of me buying Carvin stuff and being happy with their customer service.  This one action or inaction could blemish a perfect track record over a cheap vinyl cover that they're giving away anyway.  Done!  Item sent!

 

[jackthehack]

16 tube watts + GT12 speaker = 110-111 dB dimed out; this is 15-20 dB ABOVE "Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss" and just a bit below "threshold of pain".

 

[Jusatele]

I once put a 1700 watt amp into the stereo system in a Jeep, that was threshold of pain to anyone near that thing

here is a fun exercise, the question is...is a hundred watt amp twice as loud as a 50 watt amp?

how many watts do you need to add to double the volume of a 15 watt amp?

 

[AutoBat]

if that were true, a 30,000 watt system would be 600 times louder than a 50 watt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzP6UA9b7W0

 

[Superlizard]

:icon_thumright:

Now all ya gotta do is those mods you mentioned in the other thread (hasserl) for great tone.

 

[jackthehack]

I once put a 1700 watt amp into the stereo system in a Jeep, that was threshold of pain to anyone near that thing

here is a fun exercise, the question is...is a hundred watt amp twice as loud as a 50 watt amp?

how many watts do you need to add to double the volume of a 15 watt amp?

Every time you double the watts, you get a 3dB increase in volume. .

See this chart: http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html

It lists a 3 dB increase as " Barely Perceptible Change". At lower dB levels/volume I'd say it can be reasonably perceptible. If you're up over 85-90 dB, those increments do seem less obvious.

 

[Jusatele]

which means a 50 watt amp is just 3 DB less than a hundred watt amp

I find this interesting as it seems that the 100 watt amp is the backbone of the big amp industry, and that a 50 watt amp is almost as loud then why do you not see more of them for sale?
A 30 wat amp would be around 6 db less, that is not much difference
Oh well

 

[Damon]

Wattage isn't so much about volume as headroom. A 100W amp doesn't break up in the power section as easily as a 50W amp. That's why bass amps are generally higher wattage than guitar amps designed for similar usage (i.e. practice amp vs small venue amp vs arena amp...). Most bassists want their amp loud and clean, and more power allows for that. Is a 300W bass amp pushing significantly more air than a 100W guitar amp? Not really. Is it cleaner tone at that volume? Yep.

 

[Jusatele]

So now we are back to the 15, 30, 50, 100 watt selection
and mods we do to these little amps

It is funny some of us agonize over the selection of a little amp more than a big one. If you were to ask me what I wanted in a gig amp I will point to a Vox everytime, but these small ones I actually shopped for 4 months till I got the one I did,

this however was on my short list, it is an excellent little amp and a very good choice for anyone to consider.

USA Built to, thats a PLUS one for a lot of us watching our jobs be out sourced to off shore companies faster each day

 

[grabby]

That things looks pretty sweet, and the videos do sound good. I try to buy what I can 'Made in USA' - so Carvin stuff is on my short list.

This might make the shorter list.