Carvin BX600

I bought this amp about 2 months ago, to provide reliable power as my older (Carvin) Red Line amps began to have some issues. We play classic hard rock & metal, and the amp is more than adequate for these styles of music. The 600 watts it provides (thru 2 - 4 ohm cabs, 2x10 & 1x15) can more than hold their own with a pair of Marshall half-stacks, & a full keyboard layout, including Leslie, & a LOUD double bass drummer. The Bx600 does not have the bi-amp feature of the RL600, but I didn't use the bi-amp feature anyway, preferring the full range setting. I do, however, miss the trio of "pre-shape" buttons, these made it quite convenient to dial in the sound I want, without endless tweaking of knobs.

I use a wide variety of basses, ranging from a stock P-Bass to full active setups (EMG's in a Spector and Bartolini's in a Tobias) and the amp sounds good with any and all of them. It has a "drive" setting, supposedly for a tube-type overdrive. I have always played "clean" so I leave this setting on minimal. It seems to have more than enough "crunch" for anyone desiring this type of sound.

Reliability-wise, the amp had been flawless, thus far. I have gigged with the Bx600, without a backup, and intend to continue doing so.

The Bx 600 has been problem-free; however, I have dealt with Carvin regarding my Red Line amps. They seem to provide adequate support over the phone (although they do not seem to answer emails) As I have never had a Carvin amp that required servicing under warranty, I cannot comment in that regard. Living in the midwest, a Carvin product that required warranty service would be a hassle; however, if it does not break, there is no reason to fix it, and mine has had no issues thus far.

I have been playing 30+ years, mostly using Fender & Peavey amps before switching to Carvin. I switched to Carvin because I prefer the sound their bass amps produce. The Red Line amps, especially, had great sound & versatility, but some reliability issues. The Bx series continues to give great sound at reasonable prices; whether the relibility issues from the RL series (over the long haul) remains to be seen.

At this point, if my Bx600 were to be destroyed or stolen, I would definitely replace it with another Bx amp.

I chose the BX600 because I run an active/passive bass and the stereo input jack was what I was looking for. The BX600 has far more versatility than any other amp head I have owned or used. It will take several hours of fine tuning to get the sound you want because there are so many features on this thing. When using the FS22 footswitch I can effectively get 3 channels at my feet. 1st I have an agressive but still clean sound using just the dial controls (for more agressive metal songs). 2nd I have an ultra clean more acoustic sound using the graphic EQ (for blues and jazz). 3rd I get all my other sounds using the effects loop and effect pedals.

The BX600 has plenty of power to push my 4X12 and 1X18 cabinets. As with all amp heads the sound can get a little distorted at extremely high volumes, but the volumes I'm talking about are just about the ultimate limit of the amp head. You will fear for your kidneys before you run out of head room and get close to sound distortion.
The compressor works very well without modifying your sound negatively. For a bassist this means that when you change your playing style from simple plucking to slapping you don't have to sacrifice your volume by adjusting it in the middle of your set to protect your equipment the compressor does it for you.

I have had this amp for several months now and I have to say that it puts up with my abuse with no problem. I hate to admit that I even dropped it once or twice and it still plays without a hitch. I can honestly say that I would gig without a backup using this amp head because I have on several occasions. To tell the truth my other amphead took a dive 2 months ago so I had no choice but to go without backup. To this day I have had no worries or regrets with this amp heads reliability.

The only customer support I had to deal with was when I ordered it. I ordered the FS22 footswitch at the same time and the footswitch was on backorder and I wanted to ensure that it wouldn't conflict with my trial period time frame.

Overall I love this amp head, I'm even thinking about getting about getting another BX600 as a backup since my old backup is dead. If I don't get the BX600 I'll get the BX1200, its the exact same amp head with a little more power (not that I need it),and an electronic crossover. The only thing I wish the amp head did that it doesn't is let you use the tuning mute on the footswtich. But that is the only thing I have found lacking on this equipment.

I dont even remember the features because i had the amp for such a short period of time. I do recall that it had a compressor and it sounded OK.

The sound was so-so. It sounded decent. Nothing too good, nothing too bad, maybe a bit nasally and sterile perhaps. lacked warmth and low end definition. perhaps a bit boomy also.

It broke on me after 5 minutes, literally. Luckily it was with in the 10 day trial period so i just sent it back for a refund. I wasnt about to mess with sending this thing back and forth to california every time it broke down, and on top of that have to deal with carvins retarded customer service reps...no way.

They were actually decent on this one. They gave me a return authorization # the first time i called, which was shocking because typically you have to try 5 or 6 times to get through to the fools at carvin. I got my refund about 1.5 months after i sent the amp, i was really surprised that they didnt find a way to mess up the refund process, seriously.

But in all honesty, this was my first in about 5 bad transactions in a row with carvin here lately. Never had a prob with them in the 90's. The reps have lied to me about my orders and they have given me the run around: "oh we'll call you back", and then not followed through. A company that behaves like carvin should be truly ashamed of their customer service. I think this attitude comes from the top down...in other words the Kiesels. I will never ever buy another electronic item from them ever again. The only thing they have going for them is their basses and guitars, simply because they are made on CNC machines, they use GREAT wood, and SOME of the people in the assembly department actually care about how they do their job. If it weren't for these fine people in the custom shop who actually do the labor, carvin would be a sinking ship no doubt. They have lost me as a customer though, probably for life sadly.

This amp was like a toy. I cant believe it broke after all i did was play it with the volume at 3 and mess with the EQ for 5 minutes. Thank god i was able to get a refund and not get trapped into shipping it back and forth to carvin over and over again for repairs.....never again, carvin...never ever again.