Product: Carvin PB-500H Pro Bass Head
Price Paid: US $325
Submitted
04/17/2000
at
08:44am
by
Chris Adams
Email: inverted0780 at bigfoot<dot>com
Features
:
8
Solid state 2 x 250 watts into 8 ohms, bridgeable mono 500 watts into 8 ohms. Onboard crossover, noise gate, EQ with
semi-parametric midrange plus graphic EQ (footswitchable), effects loop (footswitchable), headphone jack, and a plethora of patching
opportunities via jacks on back panel.
I never used the compressor, noise gate, footswitch, or any of the bi-amp features.
Sound Quality
:
7
It's been fairly difficult to find "the sound" from this amp. It takes a LOT of toying with, but when it's finally tweaked, it has sounded really sweet.
Reliability
:
3
I bought this amp used, and it worked great for a while. I am not sure whether the previous owner had any knowledge of the problems I have experienced or not. The pre amp has been overheating, which has progressively gotten worse. Initially I could run the head for about 4 hours straight with no problems. It now cuts out after about 10-20 minutes of playing. This all took place within about 1 month. The amp in does allow for bypassing the pre amp, allowing me to still use the head.
Customer Support
:
9
Carvin has been very helpful in my conversations with them, i.e. sending a new manual and answering my questions over the phone.
Overall Rating
:
7
A great amp, very clean and a good price for the features, but maybe not quite as good as GK or Ampeg.
Product: Carvin PB-500H Pro Bass Head
Price Paid: US $550 w/410 cab used
Submitted
01/25/1997
at
05:05pm
by
Steve Miller
Features
:
9
Solid state 2 x 250 watts into 8 ohms, bridgeable mono 500 watts into 8 ohms. Onboard crossover, noise gate, EQ with semi-parametric midrange plus graphic EQ (footswitchable), effects loop (footswitchable), headphone jack, and a plethora of patching opportunities via jacks on back panel.
I never used the compressor, noise gate, footswitch, or any of the bi-amp features.
Sound Quality
:
6
The amp worked for me while I used it because I was playing in a rock band in clubs where the soundman could negatively affect my sound far more easily than I believe the amp did. It never sounded bad, it just never sounded right. The amp is probably capable of a variety of tones but I and I think most people look for one good one and stay with it, and I never really found it on this amp.
The amp is clean and loud, but also rather sterile and cold. It makes me think of air conditioning: it's supposed to feel comfortable, and compared to certain conditions it can do that, but it's always rather stale and never quite satisfying enough.
Reliability
:
9
The protection circuits shut the amp down twice in practice due to overheating: the cooling fan armature was stuck in magnetic no-man's-land on power up and failed to turn. All I had to do was bump the fan to start it turning and wait for the amp to cool. That was a year ago and it hasn't happend since.
It was blowing fuses for a while, but I was putting the wrong ones in. Dork.
Customer Support
:
5
I've dealt with Carvin only once:
In Carvin's catalog, the amp is billed as "RACKMOUNTABLE!", while it comes in it's own cabinet. I removed it with plans to rack mount it but there is no cover on the bottom of the chassis - electronics are exposed. I called and asked what this was all about and I was told that they don't come standard with bottom covers, that I would need a bottom cover to mount it in a rack, and that bottom covers are $10 extra plus shipping.
I put it back in its cabinet.
Overall Rating
:
7
The features and power / price ratio on this amp is quite favorable. If you try it and like it, go for it.
The PB500 was a huge step up from the antique Peavey combo I was using previously, and I used the Carvin exclusively for a couple of years. It was the right amp at the right time for me, but it is no longer the right amp for me. The longer I play, the more I become attuned to how I want an amp to sound and the Carvin isn't it anymore.
