Carvin PB-200-15 Pro Bass

I have just bought this amp off a guy who wanted to get an Ashdown. I do not know when it was made.

The style of music I use this amp for lies between stoned, blues and metal, and i use a couple of effects including a Digitech Bass Whammy and a Boss ODB-3 Overdrive. The amp offers me enough options to moderate my sound, so to me it's versatile enough. Now for the features:

Passive/active input, bass control, mid freq. sweep, and high freq. control. Switches for low boost, mid cut and high boost. Post equalizer. It also features a compressor and a noise gate. These controls serve me quite good. However, the post eq. doesn't have that much effect as I expected.

I am planning to use this amp for rehearsal and small venues. I have only had it for two weeks, so the real test still has to be experienced. The control knobs are made out of plastic, so they feel a little light. I hope they will survive as we go.

I use an active Dean 5-string with EMG-HZ pickups and a passive Yamaha 4-string. With the right adjustments, the amp sounds reasonably well. There is a slight noise when I turn it on, but it remains a soft noise even when I turn up the volume. So that shouldnt be a problem. The clean channel stays clean even in the upper regions of the volume knob.

The amp suits me well for the style I play (see previous category 'features'). I can get a nice, clean sound which sounds very well if I switch on my overdrive.

Since I've owned this amp relatively short, I don't know if it will break down on me.

Never had to deal with them

I've been playing bass for six years, and used different amps in all kinds of settings. Among them are Ampeg, Peavey, MarkBass, H&K, Hartke, and Trace. I'm not going to say that Carvin is the hidden jewel out there and that you all should buy it as soon as possible. The amp sounds quite good though, better than I expected from a relatively unknown brand. I like it better than the Hartke amps I played on, and I like the clean sounds better than on an Ampeg. So for now, I am very positive on this amp, but I have only tested it partially. There will be more later on.

200 watts with bridgeable separate power amps. EQ, compressor (sounds bad), limiter (sounds worse). I think a lot of owners don't realise if you are just using the built in speaker, use the first speaker output (bridged) but if you ad a combo plug that speaker and the extra box into the second and third speaker output. If you don't you are only using half of the power amp. It really is a lot better sounding if you follow these rules. To me this is a needlessly complicated feature, and once again my PB-150 was better sounding and simpler to use with or without extra cabinet.

Fender precision bass. Classic and progressive rock. It is noisy, more so than my previous Carvin PB-150 bass amp which I unfortunately sold when I moved to Europe. This amp does not have much versatility and sounds sterile and dry in all settings.

Don't know yet. A lot of people posting here had it break down.

Never tried. I think overall Carvin customer service is very good but I've never had anything break.

I've only had it a couple weeks. I am disappointed with the overall sound, which is dry and lifeless, much in contrast to my previous PB-150 bass combo amp by Carvin, which had an unusually awesome sound for a small combo and I played in pretty large clubs with an extension cabinet. This one sounds noise and grainy, even with the tweeter turned off. The limiter and compressor don't sound nearly as good as with the PB-150, and I wonder if the "redesign" to the red series was really a cosmetic makeover with a turn to much cheaper parts. The limiter really sucks and cuts in an out, and the old one was perfect and I used it all the time. What gives, Carvin?

Not many,
It has an useless equalizer and compressor. Plus the usual bass treble and gain.

Terrible!!
I have played it with different basses and have never, NEVER, been able to get a good, nice and warm, sound from it.

This is the worst thing about this amp. Maybe some people like the static sound it makes, but no one like his/her amp to stop working while on stage. It something also drops in volume enormously without any warning.

It's not my amp so I never had to deel with them.

Would not advise this thing to anyone. Terrible sound and reliability. I own a Hughes&Kettner basskick 515 myself. Really nice warm sounds en it has never let me down.
For about the same price I would definately go for this one. In fact: I would not buy the Carvin if it cost me only 5 dollars.

Bought this amp in '99, so it does not have the CD feature. Instead it has seperate inputs for active and passive. I'm a straight forward player. I play clean...never use effects. This is a single channel amp. Simple is what I like. and this fills the bill.

My approach to the bass is simple. I set all the knobs on my bass at halfway and then find my tone and volume on the amp. Knobs on the bass are for "fine tuning" of my sound. With the 5 band EQ and the low, mid and high filters I can get a variety of USEFUL sounds. The key word being USEFUL. This amp is loud!!! Good tone at high volumes.

Never given it real rough treatment, but it has been out of the back yard more than a few times. Lot of marathon jam sessions and recording sessions with this amp. 6 years and no problems yet.

N/A

Play a Carvin LB20 and a Fender A.S. Jazz. If stolen I'd upgrade. But for what it is...well worth the price.

Another 2 years has gone by and I'm posting a follow up to my review posted on 12/30/2002. Well after another couple years and really bad ESD (electro static dishcarge) to the to the input the thing quit on me. Oh well. It's literally been all around the world with me, and it had to take something like this to kill it. For those who don't know, ESD will kill solid state devices in a heartbeat. You know. When you were a kid and wold run around the hose in your slippers dragging your feet on the carpet, and touch your cat's nose, and the shock would send the poor kitty to the ceiling. Yea, this poor amp took a really bad one of those, and blew the output devices.

It is fortuitous for me that I'm a trained electronics tech. Popped it open to find that it's pretty well made. Solder mask (the green stuff on the PCB), and silk screen (the little white letters) on the PCBs, and quality components. I blew a junction in one of the output devices. It's just a TDA7294. You can get them for around 6-8 dollars on the internet. This thing uses 2 TDA7294 power amps. This is quite an amazing little device. It has the phase inverter, protection, and startup start-up delay circuitry built into it. It makes an extremely compact power section. In fact the power section consists of 2 small PCBs with the devices mounted to the PCBs with the bias/input/bypass caps on them.

After repairing the amp I experimented with the outputs on the back. I ran one of the 4 ohm outs to a 4 ohm 410 I have. Wow, what a difference. This amp opened up and started to really talk. They really should make a simple 300W mono version of this thing and make a rack mountable head ot of it. The 115 cab this head is attached to doesn't do any justice for this head. I realize it's only 160W RMS, but beefing up the power supply to hande 2 more of these devices to get about 300W would be a modern marvel with tone shaping to boot.

But then again I realize it's just a good practice amp. Maybe I'll do it myself when money allows.

Sure, this little solid state bass amp, boasts many features for a combo amp, such as 5 band EQ (which I use), pre-shape low-mid-hi boost buttons (sound great and I use), compressor (don't use), noise gate (don't use). The comp and gate take away from the tone of the EQ and Boost. Nice features overall.

Interesting enough, the passive input sounds more robust than the active input. I have a 5 string Carvin fretless w/ active eq, which I love, and it sounds better through the passive line in. Nice little tweeter and 15" woofer give this amp great tone at low-moderate levels. In other words, great practice amp! When turned up just a bit, it has really broken up and made nasty sounds. There is either something wrong with it or the design is flawed. You have to baby this thing, and most bass players cannot treat their amps with kid gloves. Because of the occassional noise it spews at mod volumes, I don't use it to gig with (bummer!).

Been in local repair shop twice! Defective power transistors! Thing just dropped dead on me, from just practicing in my bedroom! I'm afraid to use this other than casual jams and home practice, because I don't trust this solid state heap of mediocrity.

Had problems just a few months out of warranty. Service techs have no empathy for customers. The guy I talked to could care less about my problems.

I cannot recommend this amp. Sorry.

This amp is very versatile. It has many settings to make the best sound for the situation. You must know how to use the controls for the best sound, and the booklet it comes with even has some basic settings for different sounds.
The graphic EQ and the pre-shape are an awesome feature, and they are really easy to use. The Tweeter is also pretty cool. It is one of the few combo amps that I have seen where the tweeter has a volume control, not just an on/off button.
It also has a built in variable compresser and a noise gate to keep your sound nice and limits pick-up hum.

I mainly use it with a 5-string Fender Jazz bass. I have played in jazz, blues, country, rock, and even funk bands and it sounds awesome. The tweeter is great if you are playing slap/pop bass.
The amp is also loud enough to play outside. I played at a car show and it worked great even across a mall parking lot. I didn't think it was very loud until I found out how to set it up properly for outdoor use. The EQ helps a lot with that.
And of course, it sounds great in a garage.

Haven't had a problem yet.

My friend had one and the only thing that ever happen was his power cord didn't get shipped for some reason. He called them up and it was sent to him within 24 hours.
I beleive they're located in California and he lives in New Jersey. So thats good service if you ask me.
I don't personally have experience with them though.

I've been playing for about 6 years and If this amp was lost or stolen I would definatley buy it again. Its a great combo at a great price to something of equal worth. I had compared a $400 Hartke Kickback at the time and could only get it in a 12" without a tweeter. I think my Carvin sounds better too. It also outperformed and out featured the Crate BFX-100 which was $50 more. For $400 I'd say go for it.

This is still being made in Carvin's plants in California. It is a terrific first combo amp, and will extend farther than just a practice amp to a small stage amp with only slight modification. It is better tuned for rock than anything else because of the beastly 15" woofer in it. Although it has an L-pad attenuated tweeter, therer isn't enough mid-bass growl tone to play the sweet sounds you would want to play jazz. But with the built in 5 band post shaping EQ, you can get prety close to the sound you want. Further complimenting the arsenal of tone shaping includes the addition of three pre-shape filters that allow you, at the press of a button, dial up dramatic tone shifts needed for such a task as slap bass. A low boost button boosts the 60HZ range for low end boom, mid-shift button for a cut in either 200Hz or 600HZ, depending on your needs. The high end pre-shape boosts frequencies above 5K for slab bass enthusiasts. As usual, the amp has the standard Bass (80HZ), Mid-Shift (200-2000Hz), and Treble (6kHz) tone controls allowing dial-up boosts/cuts of +/- 12 dB. A definately thorough tone shaping that is present in all of Carvin's amps. However, other models benefit better without the cumbersome 15" woofer. Using one for a sub is one, but for the main speaker, it can cuase boomy, muddy lows. With some time in shaping you can almost elleviate that...usually. Also on this rig is a built in noise gate and 3:1 ratio compressor. Very good if you know how to use them, and use them well. This just adds to the marks.

The amp offers a CD/Tape stereo RCA jack input to use as sort of a PA, though the sound doesn't end up being that great again because of 15" woofer. On the back the amp has an effects loop, line out jack, and the unusual and very usuable ability to add two extension cabs. This is because the 160 watts is brought on by not one, but two separate amps. Therefore at 4 ohms, you can send out 80 watts to two cabs, or 50 watts to two 8 ohm cabs. This allows for versitile upgrading: a stepped system that allows an individual to slowly upgrade cab, then head, without completely sacrificing quiality. In normal mode the unit runs with a bridged output into 8 ohms (160 watts). Like said before, this is a good practice amp. However, in order to turn up and play on stage or even loud in practice, this amp cannot be used without modification. Carvin puts a very sensitive thermal shutoff mechanism to keep the electronics from melting. This is good, because if after playing for a while you will realize this amp gets extremely hot. SO much so, that in the middle of practice it is prone to sudden thermal shutdowns. The reason this is, is because there is no active cooling. The back of the recessed amp with limited cooling vents allows the heat to fester inside and kill ytour perfromance. Therefore in order for this amp to be usuable, it is absolutely necessary to buy external cooling. I spend $60 on an AC powerd 80mm fan that turned 53 cfm. When rigged, I could turn this rig all the way upp with lots of bass, and blast it. This time, when I felt the back of the amp, there was only cool air coming out, and the amp no longer got even warm to the touch. On it own this is only a mediocre amp. This rig must be fixed. I have told Carvin of this problem. They tell me it is a hardware defect, but I know otherwise. A good buy only if you spend the money to actively cool the amp.

Right now, I am still using my first bass with it; a DeArmond Pilot 4-string bass. I prefer for my bands music to play mostly with the bridge pickup, seldom swithing to the blended bridge and neck pickups. My band plays EMO rock music, and the bridge pickup allows me to dial-in to the best of the rigs ability, jazz types tones. Like I said before, the 15" makes it difficult to get that sound, but with 60Hz boost, cut at 200Hz, and some post shaping, using the bridge pickup, you can just about get it. The amp is not noisy what so ever. The fan I added however makes it really noisy, but I like the benefits enough to ignore that. The noise gate keeps the amp whisper quiet.

The amps variety opf sounds is vast due to the inclusion of a tweeter and with so much tone shaping that is standard with this amp. Finding the jazzy sound I crave is a little difficult, but you can pretty much dial-up any sound you want. The sky is really the limit. Even under the absolutely harshest settings, the amp does not distort at all. This is a real monster with the mod I put in place. I have found a new born love for this amp.

Here is a tricky subject. On its own, I would not rely on this amp at all for a gig, especially if it happened to be in the summer. But with my new fan mod, I would take this thing to the desert with me and play full blast, and trust that it would hold. Like I said, Carvin had told me that it was a fault in the hardware somewhere, but I knew otherwise. At practices, I was runing th thing full power with heavy bass. I simply overloaded it. I mean if you touched the back of the abp where the cooling vents were, you would be luck y not to get a third degree burn. Even the top of the amp was warm (through the wood). However when I spend the money on a nice stainless steel fan from PCPowerandCooling.com, I had a new confindence.

Carvin is a truly spectatcular company to deal with. They are really about customer satisfaction. You will not find a better company in this respect.

I have been playing bass for four years. I own a number of recording equipment, guitars, and other music oriented stuff. If this rig was stolen, I probably would not get another becuase I would want to upgrade, but if I became a beginner again, I would for sure. I love the tonal variety you can get, cost to quality to performance ratio, and the ruggedness of this rig. I only dislike that fact that it overheated so much.

I have used several combo amps in the past that had alot of useless
features,this amp has no useless features. The noisegate and compression features are the main reason for choosing the carvin over other small combo amps. I own a larger carvin amp system(PB500 head,410 and 115 cabinets) and this amp works just as good as the larger system.

I am very happy with the sound of the amp. I am still experimenting
with the HI/MID/LOW buttons and you get great sounds even with all
EQ set to the flat position. I was expecting the amp to have alot of low end and no presence(this has not been the case). I feel the tweeder helps to be able to get many usefull tones. Also I have had combo amps that said they have 300 watts(peavey combo 300)but sounded
as if that power was not that high. I used this amp at church and keeped it dialed to 3 and the volume was nearly too loud.

I have only had this unit a few months but have had no problems.

I have had great support in the past with carvin products(they replaced an item UPS broke)and they seem to be willing to go the extra mile for me anytime I have asked. So far I have needed no support on this amp.

Overall it has exceeded my expectations on all fronts. It was purchased to be used on medium/small indoor venues where my bigger rig
would be overkill and to use at church to give me control over my tone
rather than to play direct to the PA.

My amo is a 1999 model, and I bought it brand new. It is jam packed with little features. You can read all of the features in the other reviews. The features I never use is the noise gate, and the compressor. You can only set the threshold with the compressor and noise gate. But hey, it's 399.00 and it's 160W RMS with a 15. This amp is used for small venues at realatively low volumes, but it can push some air. It won't move the world, but it can hold it's own (even be overpowering) in a small venue. If you want a high powered bass rig, then you will need at LEAST twice the power. No high powered bass rig is 160W RMS on this planet (for 399.00 anyways). It is a GREAT practice amp that tkes up very little room, and is quite lite. I rate it a ten for features. If you can find at least 5 good tones out of this thing, then you need a new bass (or hands). I will say this however... The tone controls, and EQ respond a LOT so be patient and don't get frustrated. If you tweak with the noise gate you can make it work for you. It just takes patience, and lots of it. It's not a one trick pony. It just takes a while to learn it's tricks.

I use single coils, and Humbuckers. It suits my my style, fairly well. I play slap, chordal harmonics, and some good down (duck dunn) home rock. The only thing that makes noise on this thing is your bass. If you are getting noise from lights, and what not, use the noise gate (see my patience spiel above). If you turn the amp up to 10 with the "notch filter" preshape EQ, and boost the bass in the post graphic EQ, this amp will clip, and very badly. If you absolutley must boost the bass EQ and use the nocth filter then use the compressor. The compressor is just as sensitive as the noise gate. A little turn will get you a lot of compression. This too will take patience. What I like to do is use the both the high pass, and the low pass preamp EQ simultaneously (I think it has different cutoff frequencies than the notch filter), roll the bass off a little on the post EQ, and push the mids a little. The highs will need to be turned down considerably (depending on your taste). In the mid sweep control, if you dial in the mids somewhere around 400 hundred, and 500hz, and give this a little boost, you can really round out your sound, and give it some punch.

This amp is far from the "king of tone" award, but it's versatility really makes for a great sounding low priced quasi professional small venue/practice amp. I gave it an 8 because 7 is just satisfactory. 8 is above average for an amp of this caliber. You go find an amp in this price range, and this amount of power and tonal versatility, and I'll buy one. Please note: This rating is for an amp of this price range, and pwoer level. To some nothing will ever be over an 8 or 9. It's not an ampeg or SWR, but it will still get the tone you want, at a darned good price.

I have used this thing on gigs without a backup many times, and I doubt I may ever need one (famous last words). Mostly because I don't crank it to 10 every time I plug in. It does run warm (just like it says in the manual), so don't be using it in a sauna, then it may have problems. If you ever have to run this thing at 10 then you need more power, step up to the plate and fork out the dough. Power takes money. I have no choice but to rate this amp a 10 for dependability. I've had it for three years, and it hasn't quit. I have ran it at 10 before (to see how it would react, I never recommend running a solid state amp at 10 without a limiter), and I have ran it at 8 all night ling in the past without a problem. I have abused it a little (stress "a little").

Here is a big place where people like to rant. I have good and bad experiences with their customer support. The time I had a bad experience, it was sort of an experiment. I got o the line and acted a little cocky, and acted like I knew everything. The guy one the phone tolerated me, and I could tell he couldn't wait to get off the line with me. Who Wouldn't? All of the other times I call, I am polite, patient, and resoectful. After that the guy wouldn't let me off of the phone!!! Manner lessons learned (or should have) as a child really go a long way with these people. Carvin is stll family owned, and operated. Also there are cultural gaps, in America. I'm a very well traveled guy, I understand the humor of both sides of the continent. What may seem insulting to some is just a goos wise crack to another. Mind you manners, and you'll get far with them. I give them a 9 for their family feel, and just good people atmosphere. I marked them down a point because of the static with my experiment. The customer should always be right.

I have been playing for 10 years now. I have always been complimented on my technique, and musicianship. I am a very serious musician who has put a great many hours in practicing, and developing my technique. I get really picky about my tone, and hence, get complimented on it a lot. This amp will not rumble you or your audience out of their seats. It will get the job done for a small venue and practices. That's only if you don't practice at 160db. If you are a jazz player on the go, or just a joe in his room and at a local bar, you would be hard pressed to find a better value. My overall rating for this amp is a 9. It'll do what you need it to do, if you are patient, and love your tone as much as me. Be modest with the adjustments, and for pete's sake, don't get in a hurry. I'm still looking for an amp on it that has an adjusment labeled "DREAM TONE". But until then I'm still looking. This amp has been a good hard working little amp. I have several others (fender
(s), mesa, peavey), and this one is my slave.