anybody ever play a Carvin V3 amp?

MLC2006

in about 6 months, I am looking for a more versatile tube amp, something good for metal, classic rock, grunge, blues whatever. something a'la Marshall without the Marshall pricetag. so I ran up on this amp. seems loaded, it's got 2 OD channels, 1 clean channel, all with their own EQs, and it's got master controls and boosts. and 2 celestian 30s. and it's $1200. anybody ever play one? all the reviews I"ve seen are good, the only problem is there aren't a ton of reviews because it's more of a factory-direct company.

ianvomsaal

I haven't had the opportunity to really play one for an extended period of time (but I did for a few minutes right after they came out),
however, I know the amp to actually be more of a shredders/metal type amp than anything else. Don't get me wrong, it's an okay
amp (I thought about getting one because it's so cheap (but I'd probably go with the Carvin Legacy over the V3 - I've heard rumor
of a 3-channel Legacy in the works). Do your research - read all the reviews you can find (like on Harmony Central:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Carvin/V3+Head/10/1).
Pay special attention to reliability and customer support (Carvin's notorious for BAD Customer Support) - Funny thing - if you've read
the review where a guy is playing the V3 in a high end amp store, and everyone is just blown away by the sound of the V3 - that guy
was actually part of Carvin's R&D team, & he was playing the amp through a $900 2X12 Bogner Shiva Cab, which really makes a
difference - the same can be said if he played through a 2X12 Port City Cab (great cabs can make even a so/so amp sound decent).
As for the review With Don Lithgow at DML studios - I've worked with Don from DML, and I know the most of the bands in the studio
were wanting to use the KRANK amps he had, not the Carvin (Carvin gave him the V3, so he's gonna say some nice things about it).
Don also rents rehearsal space and a little gear (DML is in an industrial park area), so maybe what he meant is that there's a line of
people signing up to use the Carvin because it's available, and they don't have a loud enough amp for band rehearsal - the V3's LOUD.
REMEMBER, You can always put a spin on words to make things sound a certain way.
Cheers . . .

- Ian

MLC2006

cool, thanks for the info. I already had a 5150, so I was looking for something more than just a metal amp. thanks a lot.

Pacomc79

what's your price range? The Carvin MTS stuff is probably worth a look too but the M3 looks a lot more versatile. Are you looking at Mesa at all?

I'd definately not get a combo, go head and cab if you can swing it.

MLC2006

Pacomc79 wrote:

what's your price range? The Carvin MTS stuff is probably worth a look too but the M3 looks a lot more versatile. Are you looking at Mesa at all?

I'd definately not get a combo, go head and cab if you can swing it.

I definitely won't want to go over $2000. I can certainly save up and get a Marshall or whatever, but I would prefer the lowest price possible if I can get something just as good, name brand doesn't mean the world to me. plus I've been reading a lot of reviews and forums and it seems Marshall's reliability is questionable. I don't want something that expensive that I'm going to be dropping more money into getting repaired in a year or two.

as for Mesa, yeah, I've read a lot of stuff. the biggest problem is that there is nowhere close to me that I know of that sells Mesa and I can't find any online dealers either, other than used on ebay. I've bought used guitars off ebay, but something about buying a used amp site unseen does not appeal to me. I can pretty much troubleshoot and setup a guitar, but I don't have the slightest clue to working with electronics when it comes to an amp.

Pacomc79

ah, good stuff. where are you located? We can look for some dealers of various stuff.

Nailz who used to post on this board ended up having James Peters build him an amp because he was near him in Canada.

Chances are one of us will be able to find you something to work for you well within your budget.

I just say Mesa because I know they have some very flexible models that can cover a lot of ground like the V3 but there are several different companies I think that can get you where you want. The Older Mesa F50 is pretty simple and fairly cheap with plenty of flexibility in the tone.

You can definately shop Soldano; Bogner (Shiva); Old Yamaha T50's and T100's...VHT; Orange.... etc. I definately think you can find a great multi channel amp/cabinet to cover a lot of ground well within that range.

Do you know how much wattage/headroom you need?

ianvomsaal

+1 on the Bogner Shiva (it's a great amp) - also maybe look at Budda.
+1 on the head & cab instead of a combo - head/cab is more flexible.

- Ian

MLC2006

I live in Myrtle Beach, SC. I checked on Mesa's site and there are no dealers close to me. at least, none that are listed on their site.

RD_151

I just picked up a Carvin V3 blem on Ebay for $840 shipped (from Carvin with the full warranty). I wasn’t really expecting much . I’ve always wondered how a Carvin would actually sound. I’ve looked at their catalogs since I was a kid, and read the “poor man’s Mesa” propaganda, but to my surprise, it’s actually an amazing amp. A few weeks ago I also bought the Mesa Roadster. I was about to say that the V3 can do the rectifier sound, but after comparing them again I'd have to reconsider that thought. The Roadster is much deeper, and way more muddy than the V3. The V3 has a more clear cutting type distortion. If I had tried the V3 and the Roadster side by side before I bought either one, I'd probably have still bought the Roadster, but in many respects I prefer the V3 tone. The V3 reminds me of my ADA MP-1. It does a good Metallica ...And Justice tone. Since you mentioned liking the Marshall tone I'd have to say the V3 would be a good fit. Once you scoop out the mids with the master mid cut it does a good metal tone, but if you back it off it has lots of mids like a Marshall. However, it's really nothing like a Marshall in the gain department. I've never heard a Marshall with any real gain until the JVM (which seems to be a different story). My Marshall jmp-1 preamp has some pretty weak gain even at the max, so the V3 definitely does not sound like a Marshall, but it can maybe sound like Marshall on steroids or if you back the gain down about half way. It does do a good ADA MP-1/Mesa MKIV/Mesa MKIII type tone (although I don't have one to play side by side and compare, it sounds pretty close to some of the MKIV type tones I have saved on my Digitech 2120). I'm extremely impressed with the clean channel. That blows away the Roadster. There is absolutely no comparison. I'd say it’s at least versatile as well. However, switching from raw to vintage, etc on the mesa does far more to change the gain structure than the switches on the V3. The voicing seem to shift a lot more, but the tone controls seem to offer a far wider range over all on the V3. I think the two are very similar in some respects, but it's much easier to dial in a good tone on the V3. The Mesa sounds very muddy with most settings, but the V3 never gets that overwhelmingly deep muddy sound that I keep finding on the Mesa.

For the money I'd say you can't beat it. However, if you really want the rectifier tone, it's quite a bit different (but I'd say in a good way). Since you mention wanting the "Marshall tone" I'd say give it a shot. If you said you wanted the rectifier tone, I still think you could give it a listen (but before you buy it), it's not the same. The rectifiers are amazing, but so is the V3. I’d almost say the V3 has more gain, which I really wasn’t expecting after trying some of the other cheap tube heads like the B-52 AT-100, and GC’s Egnater.