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Carvin X-100B
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nickname009 nickname009
Published on 08/31/11 at 03:46
controls:

Lead/Rhythm EQ selector switch;
five band graphic with shelving frequencies for 75, 150, 500, 1.5 and 3K bands with a range of plus or minus 18 db.
Reverb,
Presence
Treble
Middle
Bass
Master volume with a Footswitch Boost mini toggle switch.
Lead master volume with another mini toggle for gain boost
Lead Drive and a mini toggle for channel selection
Rhythm volume with a bright mini switch

12ax7s and EL34 powered.

UTILIZATION

This is a very interesting amp from the late 80s I believe. The EQs are all shared, and you can assign the EQ to either the lead or rhythm channel.

The rhythm is the clean channel, or you can crank the gain on it to have 2 distortion channels between the lead and rhythm, and then assign the EQ to one of them to differ the sound all together.

This might take some getting used to as it's really just one channel since everything's shared but you gotta make sure you know what you're doing with the 5 band EQ to get things to sound good.

Lots of tweakability actually with just the shared EQs and the 5 band. It's the 5 band that allows you to have such versatility in the channels and it's a great idea. One thing though is that this amp doesn't sound good at low volumes, it's old school so you gotta crank it to get it to start sounding good and non fizzy.



SOUNDS

I just want to say this has got to be one of the most unknown sleeper amps in the world. This sounds ABSOLUTELY AMAZING for both cleans and dirty!!!

Cleans are super bright and shimmery, with plenty of headroom. You can get that fender twang no problem and you can get all that spank you've ever wanted in a clean amp if you've got a single coil equipped guitar! I've noticed almost all of carvin's amps have amazing clean sounds, not sure what they do to it but it's always great!!!

Dirt. Think hot rodded marshall sounds. Very tight, crisp, and clear. Plenty of gain on tap to do anything you want. What's also great about it is that the amp cleans up with the volume rolled down.

I ran this head through a few different cabs, avatars, Gflex, marshall cabs. It sounded good through absolutely everything. Very awesome amp!

OVERALL OPINION

Super ugly. But Super awesome sound!! Clean tones are to die for, dirt is a very nice hot rodded vintage sound. Plenty of gain on tap, yet dynamic enough to clean up with the volume rolled down. What more can anybody ask?

There have been many different versions of this amp, though most of them should sound quite similar so I don't think anybody can go wrong with an amp like this. Just try to get past the look of it and you're golden!