New amp day!

[Sancho]

My Carvin V3M combo arrived today.
I gave it a run through, and I must say, I'm impressed.
It's very compact, has three totally independent channels and a footswitchable boost that's perfect for leads.
The two dirt channels are very flexible, and very similar but not identical. They can both cover everything from rock to metal.
Not sure if it will be loud enough to hang with a band, but I am already thinking about getting its big brother for that application :mrgreen:

You'll have to make do with a stock photo for now, I'll take some pics later.

[Philly Q]

Looks groovy, but it seems to have 17 or 18 too many knobs, I must say.  :P

[dave_mc]

nice

heard good things about these from more US-centric forums, but i thought they were hard to get here (and expensive when you could get them)?

[Telerocker]

Congrats! What's the character of this amp? More metal then rock or can you get plexi-style tones too?

[Sancho]

Looks groovy, but it seems to have 17 or 18 too many knobs, I must say.  :P

The layout is dead simple. Knobs are grouped per channel. Gain, presence, volume, bass mid treble for each channel, plus master volume and reverb.

i thought they were hard to get here (and expensive when you could get them)?

Carvin has European dealers nowadays. Expensive? Not really. Very reasonable for the quality on offer, both the amps and guitars.

Congrats! What's the character of this amp? More metal then rock or can you get plexi-style tones too?

You don't get the traditional clean/crunch/lead choices, but rather clean/lead/lead. Channels 1 and 2 are the drive channels.
They are very similar but, like I said not identical. I have channel 2 dialed in for a more British sound and channel 1 for a more modern metal tone. With the lead boost, it covers a lot of ground.
Channel 3 is a clean channel, and it stays clean with humbuckers even when you turn the gain up past the first quarter of its sweep.

[dave_mc]

where'd you get it, out of interest?

i meant compared to the price they go for in the US. I think the UK dealer here was quoting £750, and that was supposedly an introductory special offer! In the US they're like $700 or something like that.

[Philly Q]

Congrats! What's the character of this amp? More metal then rock or can you get plexi-style tones too?

You don't get the traditional clean/crunch/lead choices, but rather clean/lead/lead. Channels 1 and 2 are the drive channels.
They are very similar but, like I said not identical. I have channel 2 dialed in for a more British sound and channel 1 for a more modern metal tone. With the lead boost, it covers a lot of ground.
Channel 3 is a clean channel, and it stays clean with humbuckers even when you turn the gain up past the first quarter of its sweep.

I like the idea of different channels rather than just clean/dirty/dirtier.  I used to have a Rivera amp which was more like a "Fender" channel and a "Marshall" channel.  Seemed like a good approach to me.

[Crunch]

I was checking these out, earlier. They sound monstrous.
How is the low end on this one?

[Telerocker]

Congrats! What's the character of this amp? More metal then rock or can you get plexi-style tones too?

You don't get the traditional clean/crunch/lead choices, but rather clean/lead/lead. Channels 1 and 2 are the drive channels.
They are very similar but, like I said not identical. I have channel 2 dialed in for a more British sound and channel 1 for a more modern metal tone. With the lead boost, it covers a lot of ground.
Channel 3 is a clean channel, and it stays clean with humbuckers even when you turn the gain up past the first quarter of its sweep.

I like the idea of different channels rather than just clean/dirty/dirtier.  I used to have a Rivera amp which was more like a "Fender" channel and a "Marshall" channel.  Seemed like a good approach to me.

I had the R55. Good tones, a bit stiff though, compared to other good tubeamps. And the speaker could not handle the low end. Sold it, but good amp anyway, with a different speaker. Sold it to buy an Orange Rockerverb 50 6V6 head. Only two channels, but versatile as the drivechannel has four gainstages, so from light crunch/SRV to heavy rock/metal. Easy to tailor, foolproof. That's what I like, but perhaps I'm just very lazy.  :) I want immediate a good tone out of an amp, not tweaking an hour to find a sweet spot. Sorry for the sidestep. That Carvin looks nevertheless interesting and is quite affordable.

[Sancho]

where'd you get it, out of interest?

Station Music in Germany.

i meant compared to the price they go for in the US. I think the UK dealer here was quoting £750, and that was supposedly an introductory special offer! In the US they're like $700 or something like that.

Yeah, but it makes sense they cost more over here, doesn't it? It's not factory direct anymore... When you calculate the middle man and shipping, it's still very reasonably priced. Mesa Boogie, for instance, is ridiculously expensive over here. And apparently Marshall is quite costly in the States.

I was checking these out, earlier. They sound monstrous.
How is the low end on this one?

It's a very small enclosure, so the low end thump obviously isn't comparable to a 4x12. But it doesn't sound small in any way. I'll run it through a 4x12 cab to see if it will hold up for band work, and how much bass it can deliver.

I want immediate a good tone out of an amp, not tweaking an hour to find a sweet spot. Sorry for the sidestep. That Carvin looks nevertheless interesting and is quite affordable.

Same here. Part of the reason why I love Marshall amps is they sound good with everything at the halfway mark
But the Carvin, thanks to its very clear layout, is quite easy to dial in as well. Took me all of ten minutes to set up my three basic sounds.

[dave_mc]

thanks

and yeah, i mean i don't expect them to cost the exact same over here, but I don't expect them to cost double either (ditto mesa). :)

[Crunch]

It's a very small enclosure, so the low end thump obviously isn't comparable to a 4x12. But it doesn't sound small in any way. I'll run it through a 4x12 cab to see if it will hold up for band work, and how much bass it can deliver.

Good to know. I'd like to see an update regarding that.

[Sancho]

Good to know. I'd like to see an update regarding that.

It's quite possible I'll have an update about that next weekend when I'll be off to rehearsal with it.