Carvin BR615

MADE 2008 I GUESS. IT PLAYS ANYTHING I DO, I PLAY ANYTHING FROM DYLAN, SOUTHERN ROCK,BLUES,COUNTRY BLUES. I USE TO PLAY CHRISTAIN METAL AND IT COULD DO THAT. IT DOES VERY WELL FOR WHAT I DO. IT HAS ONE CHANNEL,EFFECTS LOOP,IT HAS A REG. EQ PLUS AND PERAMETRIC EQ THAT I LIKE REAL WELL. AND YOU CAN USE A FOOT SWITCH TO TURN IT ON ARE OFF AND TO MUTE THE AMP TO TUNE THATS COOL.IAM USING THIS AMP IN CLUBS AROUND AUSTIN TX. BY ITSELF ITS 400 WATTS AT 4 OHMS BUT ADD ANOTHER SPEAKER CAB AND BRING IT DOWN TO 2 OHMS IT WILL PUT OUT 600 WATTS. BUT AT 400 ITS PLENTY FOR ME, IT BLOWS AWAY THE SWR COMBO I WAS USING IT WAS 220 WATTS AND STRAINING TO KEEP UP. PLENTY OF EQ, TO DIAL IN YOUR SOUND ALL MOST TO MUCH EQ FOR ME TO MESS WITH BUT I HAVE A GOOD PA MAN WHO CAN DIAL IN GOOD SOUND.

I USE A FENDER P BASS, AND A COUSTOM MADE P STYLE WITH EMGS BASS, AS I SAID UP ABOVE IT FITS MY STYLE WELL. THE AMP HAS A EAN IN IT BUT ITS VERY VERY QUIET I CAN HEAR NO NOISE AT ALL BUT IVE ONLY USED IT AT ONE GIG SO FAR. LIKE I SAID BEFORE IT HAS A REGULAR EQ. A 9 BAND PERAMETRIC EQ. YOU CAN USE THEM BY THEMSELFS ARE TOGETHER. IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING YOU CAN DIAL IN ABOUT ANY SOUND YOU WANT. IF YOU BUY A CARVIN COMBO FOR SOUND THE BIG THING IS DECIDE IF YOU WANT A 15IN SPEAKER ARE 2 10IN SPEAKERS. I PREFER THE 15INCH. I HAVE PLAYED AT PRETTY HIGH VOLUME AND ITS NOT EVER DISTORTED YET.

IVE NOT OWN THIS AMP BUT A COUPLE OF WEEKS, AND GIG WITH IT ONCE WITH OUT BACKUP AND IT WORK FINE. IAM A GUITAR PLAYER.AND NOW PLAYING BASS BECAUSE ARE BAND NEEDED A BASS PLAYER. AND FOUND I REALLY LIKE IT.BUT I USE CARVIN GUITAR EQUIPMENT FOR ALONG TIME. I USE A CARVIN BOLT GUITAR AND A CARVIN BELAIR 212 TUBE AMP. IVE HAD THEM FOR YEARS AND HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH THEM. THEY ARE GREAT AN AMERICAN MADE PRODUCT THAT RULZ, AND CHEAPER THEN EPIPHONE. CRATE, SQUIRE AND ALL THAT OVER SEA S SWEAT SHOP CRAP AND IS PUTTING AMERICANS TO WORK. REMEMBER WHEN IT SAID MADE IN USA ON IT MENT SOMETHING WELL IT STILL DOES HERE. I DONT HAVE THE MONEY FOR BACKUP STUFF RASIED 2 KIDS BY MYSELF THATS WHY I BUY CARVIN. BE COOL CAUSE GOD RULZ

THIS COMPANY IS VERY OLD SCHOOL AND STIL BELEIVES IN INTEGRITY IF I LIVE IN CAL. I WOULD BEG FOR A JOB THERE. THEY HAVE ALWAYS ANSWER MY QUESTION.AND DEALT WITH ME WITH RESPECT. I HAVE HAD NOTHING REPAIRED BECAUSE IVE NEVER HAD NOTHING GO WRONG WITH ANYTHING IVE PURCHASE.THERE WAS A KNOB LOST ON MY AMP IN SHIPPING THEY WERE VERY QUICK IN GETTING ONE TO ME. IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HELP KEEP COMPANYS LIKE THIS GOING AND SUPPORT THEM.

IVE BEEN PLAYING 40 PLUS YEARS 20 PLUS YEARS WORSHIP, CHRISTAIN ROCK , METAL , COUNTRY, BLUES SOUTHERN ROCK. I JUST LIKE PLAYING. IVE HAD MESA BOOGIE, MARSHALL, VOX,PEAVEY,HIWATT, GUITARS, LES PAUL STANDARD. JACKSON SOLOIST,HAMER,FENDER,CROOPER CLASSIC,ES-335,ZION. IVE USED EMG PICKUPS WHEN I PLAYED METAL SA/SA/81 NOW I HAVE A CARVIN BELAIR 212, PEAVEY DELTA BLUES 210, BOOGIE MK3,CARVIN BR615. GUITARS I NOW HAVE CARVIN BOLT,FENDER P BASS WINNER CUSTOM MADE BASS WHICH IS TO HEAVY TO WEAR ALL NIGHT, ES-335, FENDER TELE. WHEN I PLAY GUITAT ITS 99 PERCENT MY CARVIN BELAIR 212 AND CARVIN BOLT GUITAR. I DONT USE EFFECTS ANYMORE THANK GOD.IVE PLAYED AND BEEN WITH GUITAR PLAYERS AND SEEN AND HEARD THEIR RIGS ITS YOUR EAR YOU HAVE TO PLEASE. BUT CARVIN MAKES VERY VARY GOOD QUALITY EQUIPMENT. ERIC CLAPTON CAN MAKE ANYTHING SOUND GOOD. BUT CARVIN CAN SOUND AS GOOD ARE BETTER AS ANYTHING OUT THERE IAM TO OLD AND DONT CARE WHOS NAMES ON IT GIBSON FENDER ARE WHAT IMPRESS WITH YOUR TALENT CARVIN CAN HELP YOU DO THAT ITS GOOD STUFF JUST AS GOOD AS ANYTHING THIS OLD ROAD WEARY DUDE HAS PLAYED,,AND IT LAST THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE.

This amp is brand new and made in Jan 23, 2008. This is an extremely versatile amp that will suit all players. The variations of possible tones are nearly endless. This Solid State amp will suit modern styles like slapping and popping, jazz, and hard or pop rock very easily. It is a one channel amp, and has an effects loop, headphone jack, tuner jack, XLR Direct out jack, and speaker out jack so you can add a second cabinet. There is also a switch to turn the EQ on or off, a switch for active or passive basses, and a mute button that allows you to tune silently. The amp is rated at 400 watts RMS with the 4 ohm 15 inch speaker and horn on board. If you add a second 4 ohm extension cabinet it will pump out 600 Watts @ 2 ohms. The amp is very compact and relatively light at 61 lbs. Fits nicely into most vehicle trunks. There are two handles on the side that are very heavy duty and make it so you can pick it up easy enough. THe tilt back design of the cabinet is to die for! I love to be able to tilt it back to better hear myself and not blow away the audience in their face. The amp has an onboard Compressor that is very high quality. If you have never used a compressor, it can really help your sound if used correctly. For those that slap it is essential. It has a full tonal compliment of Parametric and Graphic EQ (that you can turn on or off) options for endless tone shaping. An extremely versatile Combo amp.

I use this combo with a Ibanez Soundgear SR905 5-string bass. This bass has a Neck-thru-body construction with 2 Bartolini Active Pick-ups. These pick-ups are very loud and tend to punch mid-range and high-end tones. I play mostly driving Hard Rock and use a lot of weird drop D and Low B flat tunings, but also need an amp to getstandard warmer tones for worship at my church on Sunday. This amp handles both with equal clarity. My pick-ups tend to get noisy if the treble is turned all the way up so I do not need to boost treble at all to get a bright tone. The amp itself is very quiet, no loud fan noise or distortion, the only noise I notice is from my own pick-ups. This amp will broadcast your tones and pick-ups very accurately. So if you have noisy pick-ups you will hear the noise or hiss - this is not the amp I can assure you. If you do not have noisey pick-ups, it will be nice and quiet. It is amazing how clean and punchy my bass sounds with all knobs set in the center position. Carvin reccomends that when you first try the amp to do this and then tweak as needed to change tones. I believe this is good to do when you try any amp, you will be amazed at how many sound terrible - the Carvin BR615 sounds great with every knob right in the middle. I am glad that they allow you to turn the graphic EQ off or on. In my opinion the graphic EQ is redundant as you can get all the tones you need without it, but I think it is good to use if you have the optional footswitch so you can use it almost like a second channel for let's say when you need to boost your sound for a solo. For me this is really not necessary, but I am glad to have it if I ever need it. Do not let all the knobs intimidate you, if you put everything straight up and then move then boost or cut tones a little at a time, you will find your best sound. It just takes a little messing around with it...I enjoy that! The Drive (or Gain) Knob is really awesome on this amp as you can get a nice clear aggressive growl without distortion to the speaker. To protect the speaker and the amp, I turn the compressor on to about 3 just so it gives me a little extra sustain and takes the pops or volume peaks down - kind of smoothes the sound out so it is more even without degrading the dynamics of your playing. The overall quality is very "Transparent" and is of studio high fidelity. In other words you will be able to get the full natural sound of your bass/pickups, and your playing. The amp tone shaping does not cover-over or color the sound they simply shape. Some people might say this amp lacks personality, but really the tones are pure and natural to your bass. The cool thing about that is if you use different basses for different sounds, the personality of the bass and the player come through very accurately and clear. Some boutique amps may sound a little better, but why spend three to four times more, unless you just do not care because your rich. To me the sound is very similar to an SWR rig. Very punchy and clean.

I have mixed feelings in this area. Here is the story, I just got this combo and so far it is working beautifully. It does not get hot, it is quiet, fan is quiet, swithches and knobs and cabinet construction seem real solid and strong. However, back in 2000 I had a Carvin R600 that was fantastic too, but I started having troubles with after a year or so of playing it. It would sometimes intermittantly cut-off as one of the two amps seem to have a problem. Took it in to a local shop (as it was out of warranty) and they could not seem to fix it...Never really got fixed and was frustrating. I had another one back in the 90's that had no issues with it. I am not worried, I have faith that it will be fine.

The warranty on this is one year. Here is the catch with Carvin...they do not have any "Authorized" service centers, so really, if it needs servicing while it is under warranty you will have to ship it to Carvin. I heard they are pretty quick and will pick-up the shipping cost - but I do not know, never used them. THe only time I have had interaction with the service department was to track my order, because for some reason if you order online they do not email you the tracking number when it ships, so I had to call to get that info. The two times I spoke with them they were professional and friendly.

I have been playing off and on for about 25 years (I am 43). I have used a lot of different gear. I will say that you cannot go wrong with Carvin bass amps, speakers, PA's, or Bass guitars. The only down-side is they do not have good resale value if you decide to get rid of your equipment in the future. Carvin's new stuff is less expensive than most of their competition's used prices. I like SWR, but it is just too bloody expensive in my opinion. If I ever get to be a rock star and get a CD deal, I will get it for my tour maybe...the medium range GK, Ampeg, Crate, Peavey (all the stuff Guitar Center and Musician's Friend sells) is okay to boring, but to me it is not worth it compared to Carvin. I can get an awesome Carvin stack for what many of these brands charge just for the head! After searching high and low, I really believe that the Carvin stuff is worth the investment in quality, sound, made in America, you just can't beat it.

This beautiful combo amp has tons of features - many more than you would find in your average combo or feature laden head! Very nice and compact design - 65 lbs - 1 x 15" cast frame 600 watt Carvin Speaker at 4ohms - Head output is 600 watts @ 2 ohms but pushing just the speaker in the combo it only puts out 400 watts (plenty for any bar gig) - Parametric EQ and shelving EQ with center contours on each -> I dare you say you can't a particular tone cause you'll be lying. Built in adjustable compressor - external speaker jacks - Line out - Tuner out - XLR balanced line out with level control - l-pad for the bult in tweeter. Gain and volume - 1 single channel - by the way it also has a mute switch. Active and passive switch.

Wow what can I say - For such a small combo, you would expect it to have a small sound to it but holy crap.... This amp can get extremely loud and mind you, it does not fart out either! Another funny thing about this amp is that it handles the B string like nothing.. and on all of my other amps the B always sounded boomy... not this one, a solid B with definition and presence. I could keep from asking myself if my ears were fooling me cause of the small room I was intially using this in....

About 4 days later was a rehearsal for my band... This little combo was drowning out my guitarist that uses a Marshall Mode 4 mated to a Marshall 1960-a Cabinet and a loud Drummer!

I left rehearsal with a smile on my face!

Saaturday we had a gig - the auditorium sized pub was about 6000 sq feet - I barely ran this on 4 without going into the PA and was told that my bass in the mix never sounded so good, clear and balanced.

Also - The gain on this actually acts like a gain should * all the way off the amp is purely clean the more you twist the knob clockwise.. the better the harmonic richness and presence you'll have * I've been running mine between 6 - 7 on the gain.

Even with the gain at full 10 - you get just a hint of dirt but it's more akin to a very very light overdrive that really sounds sweet on just about anything.

Tone control galore with parametric and graphic EQ' both switchable.

Compressor is very sensitive - anything past 4 and you'll notice a very nice slap tone - I play classic and hard rock so my compressor settings are between 2 -4 not too much.

Most amps I have used in the past.. I never really liked active / passive switching - I use an active Yamaha and an active Fender and I rarely ever used active switching on my amps in the past but this carvin... I like the tone that the active switching give me and I have been using it.

After about a month and 5 live shows, the head stopped working on me - I called Carvin and spoke to Bart on Nov 20, 2007 - Carvin decided to have the amp picked up by UPS free of cost and will ship me a brand new replacement! Thanks Bart & Carvin.

So here is the deal... I own a carvin 810 cabinet and some Carvin PA gear - and I wanting stay with the Carvin line so in saying this, I have NOT lost any consumer satisfaction so far..I know how electronics work...Sometimes they go out.. So long as Carvin holds up it's end of the deal and takes care of me, we will be good.

I will post a follow up to this keep everyone informed but so far Carvin's Customer support has been exempliary!

Iv'e been playing since 1987 - Started out with hair metal and classic rock... went through a few heavier rock stages and have wound back up playing hair metal and classic rock in a local cover band today.. I have owned countless pieces of equipment from low line Dean products to the popular brands such as Fender and Gibson to Carvin so I know my gear fairly well.

Carvin has always been an integral part of my sound in one way or another evr since the late 90's - Would I buy this amp again? you damn sure can bet on that - I compared it to everything that Hartke, Fender and Ashdown had to offer in the price range of this one ang there was no comparison, Carvin beat every time.