Carvin PB-100-15 Pro Bass

Has a gazillion features, knobs and buttons. Specs as in other reviews. If this is 100 watts, it must be on a good day with a huge power surge behind it...I'd rather see less gingerbread and more honest power.
Very cheesy knobs.

Not a lot of variation, but it does sound pretty good. Will clip if pushed hard. Just barely loud enough for band practice, definitely not loud enough for gigging. I have played thru two of these, one was better/louder than the other. Both were reliable.

No complaints here.

No idea, never broke it.

Nice amp, but there are much better alternatives. However, if you factor in how inexpensive these are, they look to be a much better deal. I would never again gig with one of these, as they are not loud enough and will distort/clip if you try to push them. I traded up to an Ampeg--night and day difference (but of course, I paid a lot more for the Ampeg). If you are on a tight budget or just getting started, this might just be your amp. If you need outstanding tone, look for something else.

From vendor:
Power amp: 100 watts @ 8 ohms, min. imp. 8 ohms, typical THD less than 1%, Freq. Response: 20 to 20k Hz
? Tuned bass reflex enclosure response: 41Hz to 2.5k Hz
? 3 pre EQ FILTERS; +6dB @ 100 Hz, -7 dB @ 400 Hz or -12 dB @ 125 dB and + 6dB @ 6k Hz
? shelving tone controls with BASS ?12dB @ 80 Hz, MID ?12dB sweepable from 300 to 3k Hz and TREBLE ?12 dB at 8k
? Variable COMPRESSOR
? NOISE GATE with 30db quieting
? Effects send/line & receive jacks, headphone jack and 8 ohm speaker output jack
? constructed with Poplar plywood--not particle board for light weight portability
? Covered in black DuraTuff II?.
? PB100-15: 17.5Wx12Dx22.7"H
? Wt: 48lbs.
My comments: amp actually about 44 pounds, very light. Have to use effects out for line-out because the headphone/line out defeats the amp. Nicely built and very good features for the price!

I have a 25 year-old Carvin bass with double coil pickups. I haven't played in many years but the amp seemed very versatile. I liked the warm sound, especially for such a small cabinet. I didn't keep the amp because it didn't have enough sound volume for my needs although the amp stayed clean all the way up to 10. I'm trying an Ampeg B-100R now which has more volume, is heavier, and costs more. I probably would have been happy with the Carvin PB-200-15 because of the higher power.

I didn't use it long enough to have an opinion.

I used the Carvin 10-day trial and sent it back, see above. The return shipping cost me $32.60 so that is my total out of pocket for the tryout. My communication with customer support was very good, 1 year warranty.

As stated above, the sound was good, volume a little shy of my needs, weight is very light.

i believe it is a 2001. Bass, Mid, Treble pre-amp buttons (boost). Bass, sweepable mids, treble, master volume, noise gate, compressor. Ext. speaker output, line out, effects loop...

hate the noise gate, love compression. Excellent for all types of music. versetile eq. Used with fretless ibanez, p-bass, and 5-string warwick with high b string. Not too loud so i got the same amp with the 10-inch speaker, split my signal using the 10 for highs and the 15 for bass. excellent tone! used a real tube, tube driver pedal and tube preamp which added volume and overdrive. sounded excellent.

very reliable. has dealt with many bumpy rides in the back of a pickup truck. many gigs and recording sessions.

1 years warranty. just after a year of owning it, i tried running a 4 ohm peavey 4x10 out of the ext. speaker. the amp clipped and it starting blowing fuses. sent the head back and they fixed it in a very short period for no cost. can't run ext. speaker...the only real flaw, but carvin is very dependable.

very dependable and versatile. not too loud, but killer tone. for volume i'd recommend the 200 watt version (basically the same amp. To hear this amp with the warwick www.iagainsteye.tk

This amp was made in 2001 I believe (purchased just last October), I play many types of music mostly variations of rock with a little funk (at least in the band I play in). It definitley works for my playing style. It's solid state has 3 preshape filters(bass, mid, low), 3-band eq, an effects loop, line out(hi-impedence) which is also used for the headphone jack(mono only), extension speaker out, compressor and gate, master volume of course. Only one channel. The only feature I wish it had was that the cabinet was a tilt-back model so not only I could see myself better but I hate having to bend down to be at equal level with the controls one other thing is the speaker it doesn't work all that great with the B-string I wish Carvin would include better speakers that were more efficient for the low-B. I use all the features except for the extension speaker which I would use if I had an extension cabinet(extension out is for an 8 ohm speaker by the way). I use this amp for practice, to jam with friends as well for small gigs (on the rare occasion I do them), I can cut through I just have to sacrifice a for a crappy sound which is understandable since it only has 100 watts.

I use a Peavey Milestone V 5-string with Jazz pick-ups. With the Carvin PB100-15 I can get quite a wide variety of sounds that suit my music style. I'm bad at describing tone with terms but with tweaking you can find the sound you want. It's not the punchiest amp out there but you can make it somewhat by turning the mids all the way up. The preshapes give you a much better sound when using them. It's sorta noisy mostly due to my pick-ups which are hum cancelling but at high volumes the hum is still there the Gate helps alot to cut down on noise I usually have that at 3 1/2 otherwise you'll notice your sound fading in when you play.

The amp for the gigs that I have done was reliable I had it turned up to 7 and while it didn't sound the greatest it didn't break down or anything. It seems dependable although others have had problems I have yet to except along with the speaker not handling the B-string that well. It's ok but Carvin should consider more efficient speakers.

Never dealt with Carvin support. Sorry!

I have been playing for a year and 2 months I own an Ibanez GSR200 and a Boss DS-1 Distortion Pedal. If it were stolen or lost I wouldn't buy it again just because I want something bigger but if I didn't I would sure buy it again. You cannot go wrong for the price at all this amp is great! I didn't really compare it when I had first bought it but later I tried other combos its better than the Crate BX100, the Fender Bassman 100, Peavey TNT115 and almost but not quite on par with the Ampeg BA-115. The only thing I dislike is the speaker not handling the low-B and the fact its not a tilt back model. I shouldn't really complain again though because the price is right. Overall I give it a 9. If you're in the market for a good sounding practice amp consider this one especially if you're low on dough.

For $300 bucks, this thing is great. Line out, compressor, noise gate, extention speaker/headphones out....you don't find these features on an amp in this price range.

I've been playing guitar for 30 years, and I'm giving bass a try because it's a funk band. Really fun to play bass in a funk band. I use a 5 string Fender Jazz. Again, for the price, it really is a great amp. At stage volume it could use a little more power. I wish I had purchased their next level up amp...160 watts. But this thing works fine...especially with the line out. When using the line out, the amp becomes a stage monitor. When cranked to it's limit, there is some distortion. I was surprised at this, and I haven't yet found out if it's the amp, or the speaker. I suspect it's the amp. It's not a bad thing, I can work around it. Because it has no tweeter, it doesn't have the real crisp highs, and the Jazz has single coil pickups. But the end result is pretty good. My drummer has been playing for 30 years too (the last 5 with me on guitar before I switched), and he says I'm his favorite bass player. I know he likes the sound of the amp too. It has a very good ability for dynamics. Pluck with your fingers, you get a traditional deep bass sound. Then without adjusting any knobs....just start slapping your thumb or pop a string and you can hear the highs come out just fine.

I've heard about problems with Carvin gear. A bass player I know had to send his amp back twice to the factory. He used mine while his was in the factory. But in all fairness, he uses bad cables at full volume and unplugs the bass at full volume....POP!....and he wonders why he blew the power amp. I've been using mine for about 6 months with no problem. I also use a Carvin guitar tube combo amp I purchased in 1984...and have been pounding on it for 18 years. Never a problem. I even had a tech check it out, said it's just fine. So my experience with Cavin gear has been very good.

Never really had to deal with them, but the friend who had to send his bass amp back twice (as I mentioned above) he was very satisfied with their service.

Great amp for the price. Needs just a little more power, so it won't distort at stage volume....but it's a loud club funk band, and I'm usually RIGHT next to the drummer.

the normal with cd input, pre-shapes, noise gate and compressor. on the back it has a headphone out, an extension cab out, and an effects loop. i don't see a need for an effects loop with such a small amp, except for practices. i don't like effects on bass anyway, so no big deal
very rugged 7 ply plywood and steel grill.
it will be my practice amp after i can scrape enough money up to get the Carvin RL1018 stack, but it works fine right at gigs right now. at 49 lbs, it is very portable.

i have a cheap dearmond pilot bass i got for $99us, but i heard from a lot of people who've played on it that it does have a good tone, so i'm not worried. i always play P/J unless i'm at church, then it's just P. the sound is incredible. i've played fenders, peaveys, and swrs and none of them compare to the full sound i get from this amp. i was going to get an swr or ampeg, but the price of this one and the sound of it really did it for me. the swr workingman has too thin a sound. lots of bottom and top, no middle. i have not this problem with my carvin. i usually use the low boost button in, mid shift on, and low boost off with the eq running bass at about 4, mid shifted back to 400hz and level back to -2 and my highs up at 6/7. it is amazing. i can flip the lows down in a second to get the slap sound church requires sometimes. my band plays metalcore / grindcore so the full sound really fills in beautifully. i've never distorted ever. i turn the compressor up all the way (3:1) to prevent this, since i'm usually running the volume up high. it is a small amp after all, and at the gigs i get drowned out if i keep it at my practice level of 5. i crank it all the way at shows. most shows are going straight out of the amps, with only vocals mic'd, and i can handle it fine. the extension is used sometimes to fill the stage more, but only when i get on a large stage. i've used the noise gate, but it cuts out the sustain i need for metal, but it is on for church where noise is bad. the only noise i get out of my amp is from my bass. very quiet amp.

i have used it at gigs without backup. it has been a back up at shows for other bands using ampeg stacks. i might even abuse it slightly, and it still holds up. i've had it for two minths now, so i can't really say much about it holding out on tours or whatnot. i do know cornerstone festival uses a carvin redline amp at one of their stages, from 2pm to 2am constantly for 6 days straight with no problem. carvin has rid themselves of their reliability problem the last couple years.

i've never had to deal with customer service, because it is a solid amp. but when i went in the store they were laid back, cool, and let be mess around with the amps, play whatever bas i felt like, regardless of price, and it was fun. i've never had a problem with them. my rating is based on service when i bought it, not from problems

even if i had the money to get an ampeg, swr, galien kreuger (which my friend in another band has a full galien stack and it hardly ever works right), i would get the carvin. when i do get the money for the rl1018 this is my pratice amp. a friend in another band has the rl1018, and it is amazing. but this will do until then. the only problem i've ever had with it is the volume going against two other guitars, drums, and a pa with two vocals on an outdoor stage. but the next band (the one with the apeg ful stack that pooped out) used it against two mesa boogie 412 cabs and drums and one vocal on the same outdoor stage, and it worked just fine for being a bass fill. leads were hard to distiguish above the guitar though, but that was a 100w 15" bass amp versus 100w guitar and 8 12" speakers. it is an amazing amp. small compact size, great sound, good volume, and features. i would definatly save up for months to get another one if it got stolen.

The other reviews list all the features. I have never used the noise gate,the compressor, or the front imputs for an external sound source. The three pre-shape buttons are a quick and effective way to boost the quality most sounds. The eq buttons take care of the rest. The amp is very versatile with its line out jack, its extention speaker jack, and its effects loop.

I play with a Dean Edge. The amp has plenty of bass and a warm sound, but lacks punch and a sharp treble. Even the pre-shape treble boost dosn't help much. That's understandable for a 15" speaker used without a horn. The overall sound is impressive, especially for the price. There is some distortion at full power, and the bottom flats out, but not too extremely. At full volume it rattles walls and floors and upsets the other guys in my dorm. I use the amp in church and with a praise band, but the amp would probably work for a small to medium sized gig. It holds against an unmiked drummer.

I've heard the Carvin horror stories. My amp has never given me a problem. It looks solid, feels solid, sounds solid, and when you pick it up, it's surprising light for its size. The only complaint I have is that sometimes when I insert a cable into the imput, the amp buzzes loudly, making it necessary to reinsert the cable. I think that's my cable, though.

Carvin quickly answered my questions before and after I purchased the amp. I would imagine the same if I ever had to repair it. The one year warrenty seems a little skimpy, though, when compared to the five year warrenty offered on Crates.

If it were stolen I would purchase it again, but I might check out Carvins 100 watt 10" model first, since I play small gigs and the ten would be a lot easier to carry around. But I think I'd miss the rumble of the fifteen. I almost bought the SWR Workingman's 12, and was seriously considering the Workingman's 15, but then I considered the size of my bank account and the Carvin won hands down. It's low end sound quality and volume even compares to the SWRs, and its over $100 less than the WM12 and almost half the price of the WM15.

My amp is a solid state 100 watt amp, with a 3 band eq,line out,head phone jack,compresser etc.

my guitar is all part ash body,duncan pickups,warmoth neck,and bad ass bridge."see my seymour duncan 1/4 lbs.p bass pick up review.I bought it because it was cheap $197.00 and had enough watts to play out and a line out.I thought it was ok sounding but nothing special,well fortune fickle bitch that she is finnaly smiled on me,and I got a new 100 watt ev speaker for it for$100.
Now it kicks ass with a iron boot.I ran it falt against a 100 watt TRACE ELLIOT AND MY BABY HELD IT'S OWN.

hasn't broke yet.

told they are good but since changeing speaker it is void,also not origial owner.

for the price it was well worth it,with the new speaker some where at about $400 list it is a F*&%^ing fantastic deal.

Built in 2001. So far it seems to do what I need-- this is my first bass amp, and I'm learning. It has one channel plus CD input, 100 watts into 8 ohms, 15 inch speaker, an FX loop, headphone jack, and various signal processing goodies-- tone preshape buttons for bass, mid and treble, variable mid-boost/cut, noise gate, compression. I don't need the noise gate, 'cause my bass is very quiet. I am using the amp in my living room so far, but have been invited to sit in with a garage band. I'll see how that goes. The only feature I don't like is that you must remove the whole amp chassis to change a fuse. Hope I never need to do that on stage! When the warranty expires, I'll put a regular fuse holder on the back.

I'm using it with a Carvin B4A bass (active electronics, two stacked humbuckers). It is very quiet. So far I'm playing blues, classic rock, reggae. No distortion that I can detect at living room levels. Sounds great to me.

It's only two weeks old, and hasn't broken yet. I would gig without a backup, 'cause I don't own a backup.

Never had it repaired. My only contact with them was at the factory outlet store. They were very nice. Let me play any guitar and amp, as long as I wanted, without hovering. Very helpful. Even carried the amp to my car.

I've been playing guitar for about 20 years, but this is my first amp. I would buy another if it disappeared. I loved the price-- the catalog price was low (USD300), but it was even less on sale at the store! I had been considering an SWR WM12, but the Carvin seems like plenty of amp for a relative beginner, and a few hundred bucks less expensive.

This amp has the uncanny ability to fill a room of almost any size. I own this amp, but my partner plays bass in our duo and it will fill up the bottom end without shaking the walls and floors. Put it on a wood stage and it will boom from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. It is very straightforward with just enough features to make it versatile. For $299 plus shipping, I don't think there is a better box available. A bass player in another band plays an ancient Gibson EB bass through it and he loves it. The Carvin is a replacement for an old Polytone that he cherished but lost to someone with sticky fingers. He played a bunch of amps while he used mine on gigs and picked the PB100-15 over them all.

We use it mostly on country, light rock and pop, so it doesn't have to be loud, but it does have to have a nice, warm tone to fill in the empty spaces in a duo. It kicks butt in the six-piece country band, too.

Well, I don't know a lot of bass players who carry around a lot of extra gear. Carrying backup stuff is probably wise for just about anyone, but Carvin gear seems to be pretty reliable. For the fatally insecure, another backup might make you feel better.

I've had only a little bit of contact with Carvin on a CS level. I'll say one thing for them: When I placed an order and instructed them to send it to my office rather than my home address, they called me to verify the information. I appreciate that kind of attention to detail. My bass player friend called when the stitching on his amp cover started to unravel and they just send him another, no questions asked. I'd give them a 10 if I'd had just a couple more positive experiences. Another friend here in Pittsburgh got a promotional flyer intended only for Carvin's California market and called to pick up on a few of the bargains. They didn't give him a runaround; instead, they filled his order.

I would say that this is an absolutely solid value. If you compare it to what others you can purchase for a similar outlay, I would have to say that this is at the top of the pile. This think is portable, loud, versatile and, from all indications, very reliable.

The PB-100 can cover mostly any range of styles.Controls on the amp are easy to use and will adjust quickly to any room.I am playing a New Fender-P Bass through it and play in several bands ranging from mixed country to grunge.The compressor on the amp will keep the speaker in good shape while contributing to a punchy ,fat sound.It has all the latest features,Three pre-shape buttons,para-EQ for the mids,line in out,headphone, noise gate and a great quiet on feature.(no pop from the solid state when you apply power).The amp is full 100 Watts through a 15 in, 8^ speaker.it would have been nice to have a external out for another speaker,but I guess that would put a end to the full 100 watt through one 15in speaker.I dont push the amp to much because you dont have to and my settings are not extreme.I also own a old Carvin X-60 tube guitar amp(14 yrs old)and that always sounded great until it fried at practice this year.(I replaced it with a Marshall VS-100R,valvestate)

I would have to say that I was disappointed when it popped at a gig one nite and that was it.It wouldnt turn on again.Lucky I was in town and could run home to get a replacement head.The cab did well enough on its own with a separate 80 watt head.I would have to honestly say that I still wonder if its going to kick off one nite and I'll have to scramble for a replacment.

The amp was under warranty and Carvin fixed it at no charge.(just had to pay shipping to get it there($20.00).I received the amp back and three months later it was popping and buzzing at another gig.The warranty had expired.I then contacted Carvin via e-mail and their repair department said they would extend the warrenty since the amp had already been in for repair.They were great. Again,at no charge to me,just shipping one way.(another$20.00)

I would buy another Carvin Bass amp.Probably one of the bigger ones if I needed it.