Carvin BRX212 212 Combo

Made in San Diego, CA around 2006. Great sounding amp, allows me to dial in any tone I want for whatever style I'm playing. Built in casters and slide-locking handle for easy transport. Effects loop, active/passive switch, mute switch, master volume, drive, 6 band parametric EQ, direct out already built in, 800 watts. Very simple and easy to use.

Great sounding amp. Best bass amp I've ever owned and played through. With 2 twelves and a horn, this thing sound amazing clean and warm. If I need to I can dial in extra highs for more brightness without losing any of the bottom warmth. The only noise I get is from the fan in the head, but it's so quiet I can only hear it when I'm practicing at home on volume 1. Drive feature is nice, but not quite as creamy as I like when I want that beefier sound, but I prefer to run secondary effects instead of on-board effects anyways. With 800 watts of RMS power I'm never lacking in headroom.

This thing hasn't let me down yet. If it does, I can always take it to Carvin and they'll repair it, even if it's not in production anymore. I wouldn't take a back up amp with me to a gig because none of my Carvin gear has ever failed me.

Haven't had it repaired but I have had other Carvin serviced with them, and they are great about it. The guys at Carvin actually listen to what you tell them, unlike the guys at Samash or Guitar Center. Repairs through Carvin usually take about 1-2 weeks from the time you drop it off to when it's ready. So if you need it faster than that, you may need to take it somewhere else.

Been playing for 5-6 years. This is the best bass amp I've ever heard. I don't think I'll be playing anything else ever again, unless I find I need about 2 8x10's for an arena.

Amp was built in June 2006. It has a lot of really great features such as mute switch, tuner out, XLR out with level control, tweeter with level control, and best of all built in wheels with a suitcase like retractable handle. I wish all amp manufacturers would catch on to this idea. It really does make loading in and out really easy and the amp still sits flat on the floor so you can feels the vibration on the floor. Casters seems to take away from that. The amp seems to be very well built. It has Duratex covering similar to the spray on bedliners found in trucks. NEO speakers with six tone controls, sub bass, bass, low mid, mid, hi mid, and treble.

Here is where I have a problem with this amp. This amp does not put out the kind of sound that hits you in the chest. It is very loud and tight and cuts through the mix, but it leaves you wanting more lows. I just could not get the low end that I wanted. I tried various settings by cranking the sub bass and bass however that produced more a boomy sound in the room I was in. I grew tired of the sound very quickly.
With that being said, if you like a sound that has more of a mid range growling sound this amp may be just what you're looking for. I have used Carvin's R1000 and their 4x10 cabinet and really found that sound to be more pleasing than this amp. I play a Carvin LB75 five string and it seemed to handle the low B pretty good. There was no breaking up that I could tell. As you can tell I have been a Carvin fan.
My suggestion to Carvin would be to develop a BRX 15" combo. Maybe that would produce more round fuller lows and still have all of the great features found in this combo.

Here is another area of concern. Maybe I got a bad apple, but as soon as I plugged in and started playing I noticed a rattling or buzzing sound in the down firing speaker. I played a gig with it the weekend after receiving it. It seemed to be fine the first night, however the second night the amp completely stopped producing sound in the middle of a song. I had to play the rest of the gig going directly through the PA. Fortunately, I had my $30 Whirlwind DI to save the day.

Carvin's support seems to be pretty decent. I called the Monday after the gig and told them what happened to the amp and they did not hesitate to send UPS out to pick it up and send another amp at their expense. They could expand the hours that tech support is available. Not there on Saturdays and after 2:00 pm PST on the weekdays.

I've been playing bass for 20 years and I have used Carvin gear and have really found most of their products to be a good value for the money. I think that if you like a mid range and not too deep of a bass tone then this may be the amp for you. If I liked that tone I would keep this amp. I have returned the amp to Carvin for a refund, however I had to pay $60 to have it returned. So I'm out $100 bucks to try this product. $40 to have it shipped and $60 to send it back. That should be a consideration before buying.
For me, I have decided to move on from Carvin's bass gear and try something else. I'm thinking of trying Avatar or Basson with just a power amp and pre-amp.

Very portable, the built in handle and casters make it a breeze to haul. I love the direct out, speakon connections, mute switch and cool blue lamp light.

I play a Fender P-Bass with active EMG's. This was my first sealed amp and will probably be my last. The amp is incredibly loud and can produce some good sounds but I was very dissapointed with the sound overall. The amp lacks the chest thumping power I crave. I cannot feel the bass even when I crank it up. My ears will be bleeding but I still cannot feel the bass. I emailed Carvin regarding this and there reply was that it is a medium throw cabinet and the maximum sound potential cannot be heard unless you are 20+ feet in front of the amp. I like to stand about 6-10 feet in front. Many stages I play on are less than 20 feet deep. Please play it before you buy it. If you like to feel the bass do not buy this amp.

reliable amp.

good customer service

Been playing 13 years and have owned Fender, Peavey, Ampeg and Carvin. I would not buy this amp again. As stated above I want to feel the bass and that doesn't happen with this amp.

The amp was made May 2006 at the carvin factory.
This is a very versatile amp from Rock to Blues to Funk to Jazz.
Easy to dial in any sound. Featues include 2 12 inch Neodymium speakers. One of them is pointed down which really fills the room.
The combo operates at 500 watts for 4 ohms and add an extension cab
at get 800 watts at 2ohms. Has effects loop, tuner out, xlr line out
with pre and post switch with ground lift and volume level control.
Footswitch control. Has speakon and standard speaker ouputs for separte cab. Switchs to cut effects loop, mute the amp & active passive. Dial include Sub Bass, Bass, LowMID, MID, HiMid, Treble, drive and Master Volume. See more at www.carvin.com. Has built in wheels and very strong retractable handle along with ressesed steel handles on both sides. Easy to move and lift. 69lbs. Has all the features and more that I look for in an amp.

This amp cuts through and can be very bright or boomy or anywhere in between. I have received major complements from other musicians on how great the amp sounds. I love it. It is the best sounding combo amp I have ever owned. I play rock pop blues and funk and I also teach bass I need a versatile amp. I also own a Carvin Cyclops which I love but this amp even kicks it's "tail end". By the way this amp
is loud!!!!!. First time in my 30+ years of playing, the drummer told me to turn down. It can be a very clean amp and if you fiddle with the drive you can get any type of edge you need.

Carvin stuff is built to last. This amp is solid. No plastic at all. Steel and Baltic Birch Plywood Cabinet with a Duratex finish. You can't scuff of scratch this thing. Just wipe it with a damp cloth and the scuffs are gone. The wheels are heavy duty rubber so no vibration on rough floors. The grill is very strong and does not dent. I would gig with no backup. Carvins quality control is tops
IMO.

The demand for the amplifier is very high and my amp was in production when I ordered. The communication was great. Every email was answered within 24 hours. Never had to have anything repaired.

Buy this amp you will not be dissapointed!!!.
If it were stolen I would get another one in a minute.
I'm thinking about getting a second one. I tried out combos by Ampeg, Peavey, GK, Fender, Ashdown and Eden. They were great amps but did not compare in versitility and sound. Go to www.carvin.com and go to the message boards and read what others say about this amp. Carvin is the most underated music equipment manufacture but IMO they are one of the best.

This is a 2005 Carvin BRX212 bass combo amp. It is powered by a B800 compact head (derived from Carvin's B-Series rackmount bass heads) mounted in a 30-inch tall tilt-and-roll cabinet with a telescoping handle. It houses two 8U neodymium woofers, with the top one facing forward and the bottom one angled 45? toward the floor. The B800 puts out 500w as configured, and a full 800w when connecting a 4U extension cabinet of your choice. A seperate 50w amp powers a 1" Titanium tweeter through the same speaker cable as the woofers, using the +2/-2 pins in the included 4-conductor Speakon cable (similar to Gallien-Krueger's high-end RB heads). The whole thing weighs about 70lbs, and can easily fit in the hatch of my Volkswagen.

The preamp section is pretty straight-forward. The 6 EQ knobs (SUB BASS, BASS, LOW MID, MID, HIGH MID, and TREBLE) are a bit odd because they are scaled 0-10 with 5 being flat, with a range of +/- 12dB. Center detents would have been nice. Other controls are a DRIVE knob - adds harmonics and some growl, MASTER volume knob, EFFECTS LOOP switch, ACTIVE INPUT switch, MUTE switch, and POWER. A seperate level knob on the back controls the 50w high-frequency amp. The owners manual is downloadable from carvin.com if you want more info, although Carvin's manuals aren't the most detailed.

If you must have built-in compression, noise-gates, enhancers, or graphic EQ's, this is not the amp for you.

I play a Stingray-5, a Carvin B5, and a '92 Carvin LB76 fretless in an indie rock trio. I use minimal effects - light compression, occasional distortion, and a tuner.

Overall, I'd say the tone of this combo is neutral, with a slightly scooped sound when compared to rigs with 10" drivers. It's somewhere between Ampeg and Hartke in character. Where this amp surprisingly shines is in the sub-bass category. The low-B fundamental is not quite there, but close enough. The sealed cabinet produces round and tight lows that beat the 50-65Hz tuned-port bass cabinets I've used in the past. Of course, if you're competing against two guys with triple-rectifier stacks turned up to 10, you would probably have to roll-off the SUB BASS and BASS frequencies to keep from clipping the amp at concert volume. I occasionally blink the amp clip light if I really dig-in hard, but not enough to be concerned about it. I have yet to clip the input side.

The amp is quiet with minimal fan noise, and faithfully reproduces the sounds coming from my bass. Normally I hate tweeters, but the one in this combo is smooth and musical - not harsh even when turned up to 10. So far I like the sound, but a bit more upper-midrange would make it even better.

The build quality seems very solid. The knobs, shafts, and switches are all metal. I do wish the knobs were set back a bit further from the cabinet face for protection, but I'm used to having a rack case with covers anyway. The telescoping handle is rigid, and locks into place tightly, and the side handles and spray-on finish should take abuse well. No more fuzzy carpet... woohoo!

On the other hand, the two rubber feet on the bottom could be beefier. They have to be a bit taller than normal to match the wheels in back. I've already knocked one off while loading the amp into the van.

Speaking of the rubber feet, Carvin is already sending a replacement, along with a few spares just in case.

I have no reason not to expect good service from them. The only downside with Carvin is having to ship stuff back if you need major work done.

A 1-year warranty was included. Carvin does sell extended warranties as well.

I've been playing bass for 17 years. Recent amps and cabs I've owned include two Hartke HA3500's, a Carvin R600, GK 2001RB, Carvin V118, Ampeg SVT Classic 8x10, Avatar B210 Delta, and an Avatar B115 Delta LF.

It's safe to say that this combo has the best weight to thunder ratio of any rig I've used. If it were lost or stolen, I would fire my roadie - if I had one.

Suggestions? How about staged power switching to prevent speaker pops when shutting down... that is a classy feature on my 2001RB. A protective cover would be good (tilt-back + rain = wet speaker cones). Carvin should also make a matching 4U extension cab. Their BRX12 cab is 8U and weighs 83 pounds - no thanks.

Best overall feature? You can hear the bass well no matter where in the room you stand. The sound seems to spread out equally in all directions. My bandmates can hear me on stage much better than before, so our playing has become tighter.

If you want boom without breaking your back or the bank, this combo is definitely worth trying out.