Carvin R1000 Bass Head

Lots and lots of knobs and buttons. Built-in crossover, compressor, 9-band EQ, direct out, tuner out, boosts, etc.

I fiddled with this amp and it capabilities, and I was never particularly ecstatic about any of the tone i got with the R1000. It seemed as though whenever i got the lows the way i wanted them, the highs and mids would suffer. And every time i got the highs the way i wanted them, the lows and mids would suffer. I was never able to get the mids as punchy and clear as the lows and highs.

I owned this amp for 2+ years, and for 2 years, i never had any reliability issues. I used this amp A LOT. At least three times a week, for practice and gigging. But now it's not functioning correctly, and i didn't find it to be worthwhile to fix it.

I didn't send it to Carvin for repairs, basically because i use it so often, that i needed it repaired asap. Dumb idea. My repair man had my amp in his possession for 3 months, all due to Carvin never sending the parts he ordered. Apparently if they're not the ones fixing their amps, they don't want them fixed at all. And apparently they don't want their customers choosing Carvin again. I won't.

I would never buy anything from Carvin again, and will be sure to convince anyone considering a Carvin product to go elsewhere.

I read many reviews that said TOO MANY FEATURES and I didn't believe them. It turns out, for me, they were absolutely right, I didn't use a single feature except the very first bass boost, which practically every amp in the world has. While I'm sure you could dial in almost any sound you could want, most players I know have only one or two sounds they need from the head, everything else is from a pedal or pod. I did try all the dials, they all work smoothly and as expected, the documentation was great, but I just didn't need them at all.

It's very misleading to call it the R1000, because that 1000 watt rating is only if monobridged and loaded down to 2 ohms. In the real world, 99% of people will probably be pulling 4 ohms in bi-amp, which is WAY less wattage, like a total of around 250 watts, and split that between two cabinets. I knew that from other reviews, but still hoped that'd be enough, so I ordered it.

It had very poor volume for a loud band. On stage it would be enough if you have decent house sound, but in our small practice space it could barely keep up with aggressive drumming. Worse still, when I turned the power amps to 70% each, and the master volume to 70% (so really about half the volume it should be able to produce), the peak meters lit, the head smoked white, and the sound cut out (protective measure). It cooled for about 30 seconds, did it again. For two weeks I tried to get as much volume out of it as it could handle without shutting down, and while it never smoked again, it always got hot and shut down at 70%/70%/70% with flat EQs and only a stage-1 boost. I even used the padded ACTIVE jack.

The footswitch made too much noise when changing in/out of EQ or Effects. That was a bummer. The headphone/tuner jack will not mute your cabinets, so it was of little use to me.

The tube-emulator was not bad. It did put in a decent squashed growl. I didn't care for too much of it myself, though, and mixed in about 10%, which sounded good.

I play a Carvin 5 string, so this amp seemed like a natural match. I play deep smooth lines in a hard rock band, nothing jazzy or bright or too terribly quick. The 1-15" cabinet that comes with it was decent (for what I play) but the 4x10" should have been much better. But the 4x10" buzzed a lot, first one speaker, then another. Not the head's fault, I guess, but it all came as a package deal. At low and medium volume (as in "hold a conversation" volume) it sounded very nice, very full and round, deep and resonate. At any setting beyond 5, it lacked real volume and then had cabinet problems anyway.

As I mentioned, it constantly shut down on me. It smoked, for crying out loud! If the dials go to 10, I should be able to turn them to 10 and the thing should play. I could not turn them past 7 without it shutting down, and that was without any serious boosts or EQ, on an Active input, with my guitar controls flat.

Based on this experience, I would say that I was VERY nervous about going to a gig with this. If I could play very low volume for just me and the drummer, and use house sound, it would be fine, but if I need to play loud or don't have a sound guy, I would have been screwed. It would have gotten hot and stopped working within 5 minutes.

I dealt with customer service quite a bit. They've been very good so far. They did not upsell me on anything, not even an extended warranty (which now seems funny). The first 4x10" they gave me arrived in pieces (courtesy of UPS), which Carvin replaced immediately. In fact, the broken one is still sitting downstairs waiting for UPS. They sent the new one FedEx 3-day at no charge, it arrived fine. For all I know, the head was damaged during shipping. The box looked fine. The head looked fine. You've read about it's technical problems above. Carvin reset my 10-day trial period to coincide with the arrival of the new 4x10, and after the 10 days of contuned problems, they offered to pay for the whole set to be sent back, a whole new set to be 3-day mailed to me, and we'd start again. It was a tempting offer but sending stuff back and forth to California is not a reliable way for me to work. UPS destroyed one box, FedEx was not a lot better but at least it was in one piece, and I don't want to keep trusting my equipment to them. When things don't work (like the head) I don't know whether to blame Carvin or the delivery company. Carvin agreed to give me my money back (last week, has not happened yet) with no arguments or guilt-trip. They emailed me pre-paid labels to mail it all back, and UPS is supposed to pick it all up on Monday. I'll give them a 9 instead of a 10 because they have not called UPS and cussed those idiots out, or stopped using them, and have not helped me get UPS to pick this crap up. Carvin and UPS are paying the shipping, yes, but it has not been easy to get it out of my house and into their hands.

I've been playing about 15 years, my old Crate stuff has always been unstoppable, but Carvin did not work out, and now I've decided to go with Mesa/Boogie. My Carvin 5 string has been great and I will buy my next bass from them again. But the amp, I'm afraid, gets a pretty low rating. If you're hoping to gamble that yours will arrive unharmed and will perform as expected, that's what I did, and I lost. I'm not out any money, but it was a major headache and embarrassment, and a month later the carcasses still sit in my house. I'm going to go pay twice as much for a Mesa, but it will be twice as powerful, is honest about its real-world power rating, have a better warranty, and can be serviced almost anywhere.

If my experience at high volume had been the same as my experince at low volume, I'd like this head. Sure, it'd have tons of crap I don't use, but it sounded good at low volume and was a decent price for 250 watts. Instead, after my experience, I can't trust it at all. If Carvin had a store in town, or even authorized repairs in town, I would certainly try them again, but this mailing back and forth to California, even at their expense, is no way for a working musician to live. I guess the volume might be more suited to something like a church band or something relatively quiet, but calling it a 1000 does not make it any louder, and for any loud rock music, it barely gets heard.

I think the features are great on this amp. Biamp, Full range, and bridge mode allow for a few different setups. Plenty of EQ (if needed).

I keep everything flat, as I prefer a more natural tone. Even with everything flat, it's still just a little too "processed" sounding. But, dialing in the 'Tube Emulator' knob makes it sound pretty darn good. Overall, I think the amp sounds pretty descent...plenty of power available, so there's plenty of headroom.

I've gone through THREE RL1000 heads. Yes, on three separate occasions this amp has failed me, and our band. The amp was purchased by our bands guitar player, and was used by the bands previous bass player. It failed him twice, and me once (new bass player in the band). I have the full RL1018 stack (RL1000 head, RL410T 4x10 cabinet, and RL118 18" sub). The amp is set up in 'biamp' mode, again with controls set to 'flat'. Input gain @ 12 o'clock. Output gain @ 12 O'clock.....you get the point. There is no reason the amp should be failing, as there is no "mis-use" or extreme settings.

Well....this is where a company (who's product is in need of repair, for the third time) is SUPPOSED to win the customers hearts and faith back. In fact, they made it worse. Sure, the guys seem nice enough on the phone and via email....but they don't follow through. First of all, it took one solid week of emails and phone calls to even get return authorization. What a pain in the ass. This should take one email, and MAYBE a phone call. Secondly, I was promised the amp to be repaired and on it's way back to me within 5 business days (I explained that I'm in a working band, and was told to put a 'rush' note on the amp...which I did). "OK" so far....
The amp was received by Carvin on a Thursday, first thing in the am. After not receiving a response to an email I had sent regarding the status of the amp repair, I called Carvin service the following Thursday....after having the amp 6 solid days. They told me the amp had already been repaired, and was already boxed up and was shipping out that day. A tracking # was not available yet, so they told me to call back the next day (Friday, if you're losing track). I did just that. Tracking # was STILL not available, for some reason. So, they told me to call back later in the day.....which I could not do. BUT, they again assured me that the amp IN FACT shipped on Thursday, putting it in my hands on Tuesday or Wednesday. Plenty of time to test the amp for the weekend gigs. So, I called on the following Monday morning, figuring the tracking # would surely be in their system by this point. Well, it was. But the amp had NOT been shipped until Friday evening!! What?!? So, now I'm getting the amp on Thursday.....leaving me virtually no time to test the amp (and make last minute rentals if necessary). So, they took their sweet time on repairing the amp (which SHOULD have been REPLACED outright, since the amp was still under warranty...and it was the THIRD defective amp we've had), and I was basically lied to by 2 Carvin service reps.

Bottom line: the amp is descent, especially for the money (and when purchased as the RL1018 complete system). But,I will never be able to put my full trust into this amp. And especially, I just can't get past the lack of customer service for a fellow (working) musician.

anything you can imagine...as said in the above reviews...

You can dial in just about anything....

Well put it this way, I have the series III R1000, bought USED, from a music store. The thing looked brand new. I've had it for almost 3 years now, and just recently got back from touring across the United States. The thing is still kicking like a monster!!...I run it mono bridged, why wouldnt you?....and it's never cut out, the only problem I have had has been blowing my speakers, not the amp.....but a new Ampeg SVT810E is on the way to fix that problem. All I can say is do your homework on the proper connection of this head to your speakers, keep dialing in those knobs, run it mono, and stand back.....

never had to call em...

I started playing the Bass when I was 13, I'm 27 now. I've played punk rock ,Industrial, Metal the whole 14 years...as of right now I'm using a Yamaha RBX765a Active 5 String, B.C. Rich Beast Active 4 string, Boss Bass Overdrive, Boss Metal Zone, Dunlop Bass Crybaby...two Hartke XL 4/10's..soon to be replaced by an Ampeg SVT810E....

Amp was bought used. 2 channels, 1000 watts total powered when bridged. This thing rocks, even with only an 8 ohm cab. Has a built in gate and compressor. None of my other bass amps have them.

The sound that comes from this amp could drop an elephant. All sound problems you might have that stem from your bass guitar or your cab can easily be fixed by fiddling with this amps special features.

Haven't had it that long, but it has endured a single, full 7 hours worth of hard rocking with Stellar Kin, Calico Jack, and Pedro the Lion. Thumped out watt after watt consistently, and only needed the volume turned to 6 (using only an 8 ohm 4-10 cab, only pushing around 200 watts max of it's 1000 watts) to fill a 150 x 200 foot ball room with floor shaking bass power. It certainly held up for that.

Haven't had to call them yet. Hope I never do.

For the price I paid and the features this amp carries, I most definetly would say that it was an amazing value. I play through a peavey nitrobass 450 and also a 4004 bass amp, neither can come close to the Carvin Redline 1000

Lots of features. Tons of EQ to shape your sound. THe tube emulator has no use to me. The compressor works well when set all the way to limit to get a good tight punchy sound. The noise gate was handy when i played an Epiphone P-Bass, but now that a quieter bass is played it is much less usefull. Lots of patching options make rack mounted processers very easy to route into your signal.

I use a schecter stilleto elite 5-str. i can get a good sound even with the crappy HZ pickups. The separate EQ's (parametris and graphic) make quick eq adjustments easy. Sough to find the sound your looking for at times dues to the millions of knobs, but once you find it, it stays. This amp has a lot of power, but you really have to read the instrutions manual in order to push it the right way. In bi-amp mode you can really get a very full sound through 4 10"s and a subwoofer. I've shaken pictures off of the upstairs tv with out pushing the volume past 6. An active bass is easier to get a clean sound because you dont have to push the amp's gain too much. I had a little bit of a muddy low end at first which was solved by a BBE sonic maximizer in my pre-amp chain.

I am surprised to hear about all the problems people have been having. ive beaten the thing up pretty bad and thrown it around in a cheap skb rack and never had any issue with reliability. The only thing that isnt reliable is the settings. If a knob gets turned on you, it could take a while for you to figure out why your sound sucks.

Bought it. havent talked to them since.

For the price i paid i must say that this is an extremely good value. The amp has never let me down. its flexible sound allowed me to perform many types of music and mever have a tonal issue. Whats more important than that?

Series III 2003. With the two stages of EQ and 3 different modes to run the power (full range mono, stereo bi-amp, full range bridged) it really gives you a lot of tonal options. You have to take the time to get to know the settings and how they work together but it's time well spent. The tube emulator doesn't really impress me but I can live with out it as I rely on a Boss ODB-3 for my over drive. I play in a cover band that plays everything from Hendix to Greenday to Modern English and it covers all the bases nicely.

Again, I'm not real impressed with the tube emulator in this thing. It just kinda thins out the sound and makes your speakers sound like they're a little blown. I was previously playing my Sting Ray 4 through an SWR Super Red Head with a Goliath III 4x10 ext cab and it just wasn't punchy enough. Once the tube heated up in the Red Head the tone really mellowed out which was NOT what I was after. I'm still using the Goliath cab but with this head I get not only serious punch but a cool growl as well. Most of all, heat doesn't affect the tone. Once you dial it in, it stays. I couldn't say that for my Red Head.

I play on it HARD at least twice a week. Had it a month, so far so good.

I called with a couple of technical questions when I first bought it and they seemed pretty cool. They were able to answer all my questions with no problems.

I started life as a guitar player in the 80's, switched to bass about 5 years ago. In that time I've had a '79 Jazz Bass, 2 Tobias Growlers and a MM Sting Ray 4. All of which I played though my SWR Super Red Head. It was a great little combo but just couldn't compete against two guitar players in a hard rock band. I played a buddies Cyclops (based on the R600 head) and really dug it. I decided to go for the R1000 because it was cheap horsepower that I could use with my existing cabs. I've only had it a month but I know this, it has freed my mind from worry while I'm playing. Because I was pushing the SWR so hard I was always listening for signs of strain (which I often heard in the forms of clicks and cracks) instead of concentrating on getting into the pocket. Also, I mentioned previously that as it heated up the SWR would lose it's punch and I'd have to spend all night dialing things in according to temperature. The R1000 has freed me from all of this and it's made me a better player already.

I bought my R1000 in August 2001. Mine is the series II, I believe, and it has foot switchable graphic EQ and FX loops. Bulit in crossover and noise gate. Everyone else has gone over the features of this amp, so I'll skip repeating them. But, the features it does have are kinda worthless. The noise gate is retarded, and the power amps seem to clip VERY easily. But, you get what you pay for.

I play a Hohner b bass V, which has active electronics. I can get a decent range of sounds, none of which are anything amazing. This amp is good at producing good average tones. Nothing that will amaze and astound, but nothing that will cause you to be made fun of.

I have had a couple of problems, although some of which were my fault. In the past, it has just decided that it didn't feel like working, and just sat there and macked my pain. I have since bought a cheaper peavey mark IV to play gigs with. The Carvin sounds better, but I don't trust it. Any Peavey could be dropped of a moving truck, and sound just as good(or bad) as it did before. The Carvin has a "made of glass" feel to it. I have never dropped it or anything, but when picked up, things can be heard rattling around inside it. What they are, I have no idea.

The next Carvin catalog that came out after I bought my amp had the newer version of the R1000 in it. I tried several times to contact Carvin and see if I trade up, or something. I never heard back. Also, when I had the issues with the amp just sitting there after being turned on, They just told me to make sure I had it hooked up right.

Like I said, you get what you pay for. Overall it is a good amp, and if it were not for the reliablity issues, I would be satisfied. But that, combined with the lack of customer support, I would never suggest that someone buy Carvin.

This is a Series 2 model 1000 watt head. Lots of great features that would be wonderul if they were worth anything. The compressor sucks and so does the noise gate. Having a headphone jack is great along with all the effect loops but the overall product is kinda poorly made. I can't even play it at rehearsals anymore since it has started to die out completely now. Their amps always seem to have a short life. I only give it a 3 because it actually has features, although they're worthless.

I use many different basses with it and it doesn't sound too bad, although it can be a bit muddy/clicky. You seem to be stuck with either one or the other. The old PB300 I had from them was much better sounding. There's a blend between the tube and solid state that is pretty useless. There's hardly any difference in tone between the two sides.

No offense to Carvin, but this amp sucks. It's darn near dead. They apparently made improvements with the third series of this amp but I know for a fact that those get returned even more than this series did. It works great until you try and actually push it a little. If I play it with a band it cruds out since I try to put the volume past 3. The power amps on it clip out too easily. It's the lowest powered 1000 watts I have ever heard.

They're not exactly the friendliest bunch. The salesmen that do care don't seem to last too long there. Heaven forbid that you should go out of your way to help a customer and send them home happy. I think the heads of the company have become so apathetic towards their customers because they complain so much about the poor quality of the products. There are some nice people there but their hands seem to be kinda tied due to the insensitivity of the higher-ups. Expect to get charged a fortune for repairs and shipping back and forth. You pay for it all if the warranty is even a day over. Most other companies even have a longer warranty period.

I wouldn't purchase their amps if I were you. Lord knows I won't ever again. I'm going for broke and replacing my whole Carvin set-up with a Mesa/Boogie one. Sure it's a lot more money but you get what you pay for. There's a reason that Carvin's products are so inexpensive and it's not just because they're factory direct. The guitars and basses actually aren't bad but they seem to really lack with the amps. The sad thing is that the really old ones sound and work great. What happened along the way, Carvin? Maybe they should concentrate more on what they were known for as opposed to DJ and lighting gear. Too many irons in the fire has caused their product quality to sink.

Maybe too many features but it can be dialed in with work with almost any application. Make notes of the settings for the sound you like as you may never find it again.

Compressor varies widely between the series I & II. The gate is useless on both Series I & II. Good tone however across the board.

Hundreds of gigs and it's toast. It was never pushed hard and was well maintained. I don't trust their products any longer. Not my first Carvin problem.

WORTHLESS! TAKE THE SALES PEOPLE OUT OF THE LOOP! THEY DON'T CARE! I COMPLAINED TO THE VP OF SALES AT NAMM ABOUT THEIR POOR SERVICE AND THEY DID NOTHING BUT LOOSE ONE MORE CUSTOMER.

Great value but poor reliability and even worse service. What's the point?