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View Full Version : Which Carvin Bass Amp?



Shane
03-22-2011, 11:29 AM
Howdy Fellow Bass Player Type Persons!

I had a bunch of handy links for you all to read, but apparently I'm 4 posts shy of being cool enough to post links. So... here's the text without the links.

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I need a bass amp. I have a bit of experience with guitar amps, but next to none with bass amps. I used to have a Hartke long ago when I tried to pick up the bass - it was pretty but I didn't much like it. I've decided to buy a Carvin (I like their goods), but I'm not sure which one I should get.

Carvin website = carvinguitarsDOTcomSLASHbassamps

Basically I'm looking at the BX500 500W Class D head with a 2x10 cab (or maybe a 4x10?), 4 Ohms.
The same amp also comes in a combo.

The other option is the smaller BX250 250W Class D mini amp with a 2x10 cab.

This amp also comes in three different practice combos

For the most part, this will be a practice amp (meaning I'll be practicing on it a lot), but it absolutely has to make a good showing at band practice and gigs (small venues like bars and very small stages (max 250 people). Most of these amps have an out for the PA so an option is to default to the for the larger venues and just use the amp as a monitor. Is that sort of thing done or am I full of poo?

I'm thinking the BX500 and the 500W combo can do this easily, but if the 250W practice amps can fulfill my needs. Perhaps that's the better deal considering the price difference

As for money, the most I can comfortably afford the 500W with a 4x10 cab and I'd like to get it, but it seems way overkill - I don't want to throw money away. Wrong? Should I splurge for the 4x10 cab?

Are two 4-0hm 2x10 cabs better than 1 4-ohm 4x10 cab?

BTW, I want 4 Ohm cabs so that I can get another one later and run them both at 2 ohm (with the BX500).

Any help greatly appreciated.

70vetteman
03-22-2011, 02:07 PM
I currently own 2 different Carvin bass amps. Neither are current production models, but both are great representatives of Carvin quality and sound.

I have a full blown stack with Carvin R1000 head, BR410 (8 ohm), and BR115N (8 ohm). The R1000 is a 1000 watt head of the older Redline series. It is very similar in features to the current BX1500 head. I got the 8 ohm cabinets to attempt to tame the 1000 watt head a little as the head will not output as much power with higher ohm cabs. I was mistaken....a 1000 watt bass head is VERY loud even with 8 ohm cabs, though it sounds great and can rattle windows at least a block away!! I bought the R1000 from eBay for about $250 and bought the cabs new from Carvin for about $300 each (they were on sale).

I also have a BX120 combo with a 15" speaker. This is a great combo! It is 120 watts, has a ton of great features and sounds really good. The BX120 is just out of production this year I think...being replaced by the micro series. It is a kick-back amp which is cool for projecting the sound a little and has a direct out for a PA.

All in all, the BX120 would do fine for most any small venue, especially with the direct out. It also has another speaker output for an extension speaker. The stack is really overkill. I have used it outside and still had to keep the volume down some. There is a little more versatility in the higer end heads and combos in that they generally have more tone control and crossovers etc.

I was a guitar player prior to now attempting to become a good bass player, and we had a saying back then, "Once you go stack, you never go back!". We had 2 guitar players both using older Marshall full stacks. The other guitar player had a 100W full stack and I had a 50W full stack. Because of my flawed logic from the past that "bigger is better", I bought the bass stack. It just like the Marshall full stack was totally unnecessary...however it does look cool!! LOL!! In hind sight, I would've been better served by getting the combo from the beginning.

I have seen many good deals on used Carvin gear on both eBay and Craigslist. Those may be options for you other than the current production models. I really like the BX500 series combos, and they would be plenty of power for smaller venues, especially if you are using them for stage volume only (using the direct out to the PA). The 250W combos would also be plenty, however they don't have as much EQ control.

Just my thoughts for what they are worth...

Shane
03-24-2011, 01:05 PM
I currently own 2 different Carvin bass amps.

Thanks for the input.

I went with the 500W head and the regular 2x10 cab (4 Ohm). Should be here early next week.

Depending on how things go I may get a second cab, which, it appears, I can run along with other one at 2 Ohms (500W).

JustJazz
06-30-2011, 01:45 PM
Shane,

I know a number of months have passed, but I was wondering how things are going with your rig?

I also have the BX 500 but elected to go the extra $$ and bought the BRX10.2 cab (2 tens) I have a pair of Carvin neo 12's in RSA cube Cabs that I plan to replace someday with the BR115 or even the BR118, but I think the 118 is more about my ego (LOL)

Rick

Shane
06-30-2011, 06:43 PM
I'm not too happy with Carvin. The amp is fine, it sounds great. It's the cabs I had issues with. First, the 2x10 was busted so I had to send it back. I ordered a 4x10 instead and when it arrived, guess what, it was broken too. So I sent it back and went out and bought an Ampeq 4x10. I really wanted the Carvin cabs, but after two chances I was hesitant to give them another one.

77 StingRay Bass
07-26-2011, 01:47 PM
Órale y'all!
Just wondering if anyone here on the forum has or used the BX500. Like to get a player's review on it. I need to downsize my current rig (Eden Metro), 88lbs gets heavy @ about 1:00 AM...:(

77 StingRay Bass
07-26-2011, 01:50 PM
And, how about those Carvin 2X10 and 4X10 Cab's? Pros/cons?

Shane
07-26-2011, 03:55 PM
I've been using since about last Feb. I don't have anything to compare it to, and my two basses sound a bit different, but I've been enjoying it. I run it through an Ampeq 4x10 because Carvin couldn't get their poop in a group and send me a working cab.

The B500 has two EQ sections. One is all knobs and sports a spiffy mid freq parametric EQ (knobs) that can produce a wide range of tones. There's also a knob called Contour which scoops the mids, but it's nothing compared to the parametric section - you can fine tune your scoop with those. The other EQ section is a 9-band EQ with sliders. I use that one the most just because it's so easy to get a tone I like.

The tone I get is a little boomy, but I think it's just because I haven't mastered all the EQ in the chain: bass > reverb/chorus > amp > ported cab. That's a bunch of variables, y'know? I think I have to get a better handle on my bass' controls before really digging in to the amp.

At any rate, I'm pretty happy with the B500 especially considering that anything with similar features is quite a bit more expensive.

Oh yeah, and the direct out is a handy feature, although you can't use the effects loop with it (I just put the effects before the amp and it sounds pretty good to me).

Ditto
07-26-2011, 04:32 PM
I think if you watch a lot of videos, you will see AMPEG in a lot of the top bass players. I think that players without an endorsement deal will play AMPEG.

I was going with AMPEG or MESA when I was getting a new amp. I only ended up with MESA because the guy who owned the music store and I have know eachother for 30 years, and he talked me into it :D It was not a hard sale though as the amp speaks for itself.

Too bad about the broken cabs. That sucks when you order something and you are waiting for it and when it comes in you are all excited only to find it useless. Bummer

77 StingRay Bass
07-26-2011, 06:02 PM
I've been using since about last Feb. I don't have anything to compare it to, and my two basses sound a bit different, but I've been enjoying it. I run it through an Ampeq 4x10 because Carvin couldn't get their poop in a group and send me a working cab.

The B500 has two EQ sections. One is all knobs and sports a spiffy mid freq parametric EQ (knobs) that can produce a wide range of tones. There's also a knob called Contour which scoops the mids, but it's nothing compared to the parametric section - you can fine tune your scoop with those. The other EQ section is a 9-band EQ with sliders. I use that one the most just because it's so easy to get a tone I like.

The tone I get is a little boomy, but I think it's just because I haven't mastered all the EQ in the chain: bass > reverb/chorus > amp > ported cab. That's a bunch of variables, y'know? I think I have to get a better handle on my bass' controls before really digging in to the amp.

At any rate, I'm pretty happy with the B500 especially considering that anything with similar features is quite a bit more expensive.

Oh yeah, and the direct out is a handy feature, although you can't use the effects loop with it (I just put the effects before the amp and it sounds pretty good to me).

Yo' shane!
Thank's for the info and great review! I'm thinking very seriously, because of size, weight, and price, to take the plunge.

aksteve
12-06-2011, 09:15 PM
i just purchased an MB10 to upgrade from my peavey max 115. i liked the fact that its a combo, but that you could add a cab later on if you needed something more. so far i am pleased with it!