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Author Topic: Carvin V3m Mini Head  (Read 1965 times)

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Dante

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Carvin V3m Mini Head
« on: Time Format »

I ran across one of these a while back and was blown away. It's a lunchbox sized amp that has the sophistication of a Boogie, with 3 channels and switches that change the voicings, and tons of knobs, and LEDs inside (oooohhhh) yadda yadda. It runs on EL84s (different for me), about 4 12ax7s, and it's switchable from 50w/22w/7w.

So, about a month after buying my Peavey lunchbox head, I bought the Carvin too. I guess I have a rig and a backup rig now  :dunno: 

I read some bad reviews about the Carvin, but hey, tone is subjective. One man's fizz is another man's fuzz. I think it sounds pretty damn nice, especially through a big cab like a 4x12. It was a bit fizzy, so I did a bit of tube rolling and found a high gain JJ inside. I pulled that and ended up using stock tubes for the clean channel and the tonestack of the dirtiest channel. In between, the Classic rock channel got a Chinese National, the Mod Rock channel got a JAN Phillips ECC83. These tubes sounded fairly clean, which lowered the gain just a tad. It gives me more control over where I leave the gain knob though = win.

It's heavier than the Peavey, but the tone is just as brutal. I think the Peavey has a bit more angst, but the Carvin gets a great big sound outta my 1x12 Thiele cab, whereas the Peavey sounds a bit too bright in that cab. The cleans are really exceptional, like the MP-2 cleans. Seriously. That is a big bonus for me, I love a clean sounding amp. I can access all three channels easily with my G-system (aka the world's largest multi effects - lol). It's convenient, small, and mighty. Perfect for gigging. I think I have the smallest amp and the largest multi FX in town.  ;D

Gotta get my rack gear back in shape

herbyguitar

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Re: Carvin V3m Mini Head
« Reply #1 on: Time Format »

I've had one for over 7 years now. Good little amp. It's great for hauling around. I did the same thing with the tubes. Ended up changing all of them and got rid of the fizz and lowered the gain. It's a great platform for a separate preamp also  ;)
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