Carvin R600 (Stereo 600W Head)

Made in 2002 series III, one channel with many options, you can create the sound you???re looking for but you have to take the time to do so. I don???t like to mess around with the controls after I get it set to the sound I like that???s it each gig I may tweak couple knobs but that???s it.

I got it used the head + RL210T and RL1x15 all for $350. local the head was going in and out on amp#2???easy fix found cold solder joint on one of the inductor coils next to the twist-lok output jacks. Also one of the speaker wirers in the 210 cabinet was hanging loose.

I use Fender & Yamaha bass guitars all sound great!
It fits my style; blues, classic rock!
Sound is clean but can add little distortion by overdriving the input.
I can get any tone I want just turn the ten thousand knobs.

I don't abuse my eq so time will tell, will have to see if the fix I made was just an error on carvins part or just a common problem with these amp?

I like the sound I'm getting and the stack looks great on stage!
I had a carvin vintage V50 guitar amp years ago, it sound and worked great even the day I sold it and bought a Marshall JTM60. I own ampeg and fender bass amps so I'm not too worried as I always bring a back up to gig's...If it was stolen I would buy another used one, because they don't make this modle any more, they now have the BX series.

Very versatile head. Can create just about any tone you need with a good bass. I am a boomer and love my low end, I play a warwick thumb bolt-on 5 string and this head(with the 4X10 and 1X15 cabs) is a great combination!

The auto protection cut-off is key. Let an opening band use my setup and the bassists cranked this thing WAY to high! He would have blown something but the amp cut out and went into safe mode

guys know what they are talking about

cant beat it. i mean if you want tubes, buy tubes. for the price this amp is a great value!

The best thing I can say is go to carvin.com and check out the features there. It will be alot more complete than I can descirbe.

I cannot rate this very high as far as sound. The mids on it are fairly nasaly, not in a Les Claypool/Justin Chancellor way. There are ugly nasaly. If you try to get a really bassy Chi Cheng sound, all that you'll accomplish is getting a boomy un articulate sound. If you are not carefull with the highs, all they will do is shriek. The head dosent seem to have alot of output, even though it's a 600 watt head. There always seems to be something lacking from your sound. It is very, very difficult to get a sound that is balanced across the board. This is a muddy amp. The "tube preamp" can only be called that because the is one tiny tube, that dosent really give you a tube sound, it kind of distorts it and makes it ugly. Not a great sound.

The Carvin R600 is a very sturdy amp. You could probaly drop it and not dent the casing. However, when you open it up you will see why they cost so little. The electronics are most likely the cheapest on the market, and because of this I've had problems. The 1/4 inch jacks will break if you breath on them. They are mainly comprised of plastic so they strip really easily. The unit runs pretty hot. There is some kind of electric problem that could be traced to that. Ive been told that it is some kind of high end crossover that has been fried. But I must give credit where credit is due: It has never stranded me at a gig. As far as breaking down, it never has.

Carvin is damn good on support. Ive delt with them a coule of times and they have been very helpful. I had a 2x10 a couple years back, And the tweeter horn kept blowing. They must have sent me 3 of them with no questions asked.

I have been playing bass for about 5 years now and have played alot of differant amps. I have always been an anal retentive ass hole about my sound and my gear. I accept nothing but the best, and as alot of people know cavin is not top of the line. And for most serious players, Carvin is not acceptable. But let me tell you, before I was experienced and first got the amp it was the greatist. For the price paid and for the purposes of a starter, there was nothing better. If a starter is what you are looking for I would recommend it. I you are a serious musician, I would not. I can't talk too much crap about it, it has sufficently done what I needed it to. But as is life people grow and change, and after some time playing of this head, and hearing better, you will seek better.

Newer R600III (2004) Has two pwr amps and can run biamp or bridge mono
for the full 600watts at 4 ohms. Big thing to say here is the older
MOSFET pwr amp models did have serious reliability problems. Since
going to a conventional bipolar transistor pwr amp, these amps are
pretty reliable. I found the tone to be dry and thin without the
"shape" EQ feature engaged - tried it with several kinds of cabinets
but this was always the case. Got to be careful not to run too
hot a level going in if you want to use the "tube" sound - it has
very little headroom! Overall nice sound and plenty of punch. I
prefer the tone of the Hartke amps, but I got a deal I could not
refuse on this so here it is! The direct out works very well as long
as you remember to lift the ground. Definitely great bang for the buck
but an SWR 750X it ain't...
I also own a 1969 SVT so I am pretty spoiled, tone-wise I admit.

I brough this amp as a part of the RL610 combo which comes with 2x10 and 1x15 cabinets. The main feature of this amp is the bi-amp mode, in which it has two independent amp circuits for lower and higher ranges. For RL610 combo, the low amp drives 1x15 and the high drives 2x10. You can adjust the cross-over of the rages with a knob on the front panel. You can also control the volume of each circuit independently. These two circuits can be bridged and used as a single amp.
This amp has three stages plus one tone adjustment. First, there are pre-shape (booster) buttons for low, mid and high. Then, you have three-band equalizer with adjustable mid range. Finally, you have a graphic equalizer which you can turn on/off. You also have a transistor/tube simulator mix adjustment.
Other than that, it has input gain control, which is useful if you play bass with active circuitry, and built-in noise gate and also built-in compressor.
These controls make this amp extremely versatile but makes difficult to setup at the same time because of the amount of freedom you have.

If you are looking for a signature tone character from an amp, this is not your choice. If you are looking for versatility, or if you are not satisfied with the tone of your amp and want to create your own tone, it?s for you. In any case, if you don?t have the patience to figure it out, this amp is not for you.
To get the most out of it, you have to understand and master all the controls you have. I see some people complain about this amp but my guess is that these people don?t understand how to properly adjust the controls. Or they may not completely understand the concepts of bi-amp and bridged modes. The manual is short and brief, but it gives you where to start. The principle is to adjust the tone in the order of the signal flow. Once you get it, it won?t be so bad. If you know the exact tone you like and you have patience, most likely you will get it. It took me for a while to get used to it though.
I used play P/J passive through Peavey tube amp (from 70?s?) and Ampeg 8x10 (also old). I could recreate the similar warmth of the tone with this amp. With my active P/J, it produces punchy low end with enough treble. Again, the point is that you can create your own tone with this amp. As for the power, it has enough overall power for most of occasions if it?s used with multiple cabinets.

I have this amp for only few month. I can?t tell you about the reliability yet but it seems that it is built strong and able to withstand against a good amount of physical abuse.

I bought them directly from Carvin. Ordering process was relatively simple. I received a wrong item but exchange was very smooth. I got what I needed pretty quickly. I have not use their technical support or repair service.

Pros: Good performance for the price. Extremely versatile.

Cons: Complex operation and controls. Requires patience to get the most out of it. Not recommended for beginners.

Most of you know all the features this amplifier comes with. I give this amp a 10 because it has excessive amounts of knobs. If you want a cheap amp with lots of features, well here you go. It's got the features. Just keep in mind the more knobs and electronics stuff they cram inside an amp, the more expensive it's going to be. The downfall is the features lose quality when they try keeping the price down.

I've plugged 4, 5, and six string basses into this thing and it just has too much lows and no definition at all. The graphic EQ only allows 12 dB of boost instead of 15 dB on most other amps with graphic EQ. Not to mention it lacks tight low end when plugging a low B into it. Sounds good enough in an ensemble, but it's a very complex amp to get good sounds out of. You'll be playing around for hours trying to find a good sound. Ain't happening. Once you find a sound you like, write it down. This amp is crammed with unnecessary features that just kill the sound. If you want this many features, plan on spending a lot of money. If you want a good sounding amp for cheap, get something that doesn't have so many goddamn knobs. This section is where the amp looses all my respect. I can't stand what I hear from it.

It's dependable. I'd use it at a gig without a backup. But this thing would be a backup at most. Nothing wrong with construction. A solid amp with plenty of useless features that unfortunately work every time you turn the thing on.

Can't comment. I give them a 5 (neutral).

I've been playing too long to have an amp like this one be worthy enough to amplify me. I'd rather not show up to a gig than have to use this thing. Sounds like crap. But as far as power goes, it's got plenty of volume and certainly is reliable enough.

my rl-600 was made in late '02 and i am loving it, this is an amazing amount of features. the power alone is amazing, i mean come on, buying a brand new head for about $550 and it pumps out 600 watts. my other option when looking for a new head was a ampeg B2, which was about the same price, but doesnt even compare. then a friend of mine playing in a larger local band bought a rl-1000 with a 1x15 and 4-10. we both fell in love with carvin amps so i decided to get my own. and thats where the story goes. me happily ever after with my carvin.

i am now playing with a warwick rock bass (pretty much a warwick made in china with cheaper wood) and its active, so i had to reajust the eq a bit, but this amp is the envy of every bass player i know. it sounds beautiful

this amp is a brick. i have had it a year so far and i am looking forward to many years with this baby. this amp is performing just as wonderful as when i got it out of the box. now i have it in a SKB rack case and its been banging around in my car many a times and it has not been phased a but

i am forever in love with this company, i ordered by phone and i must say the staff was incredibly helpful and best of all, they knew what they were talking about.

ive been playing for about 5 years and even with many other amps out there i would still stick with carvin. if my amp was ever broken or stolen, i would buy another one without a doubt. and if i ever upgraded in ouwer, i would just get the rl-1000.

The $500 price was for the R600 head and a Carvin 4x10 Red Eye cabinet. That was too good a deal to pass up. If you need more features than this thing has, you've got problems. Not sure when mine was made. I think it is a series II. Seperate inputs for active/passive basses, input gain trim knob with peak LED, blend knob for selecting between solid state and tube preamp, tone pre-shape switches for bass boost, mid cut, and high boost, tone knobs for bass, sweepable mids, and highs, noise gate, compressor, crossover, bi-amp/full range switch, 9-band graphic EQ with bypass switch, power amp volume knobs, master volume, and headphone jack. Some things I really like are the red-anodized metal knobs, and the fact that the graphic sliders have plastic tips instead of big knobs that get broken and bumped out of place easily. As one other reviewer noted, I am also not a fan of input jacks that use plastic threads and nuts. They seem out of place considering that everything else has such a quality look and feel. In back there is an effects loop, direct out (either pre- or post- EQ), and speaker jacks for stereo or bridged output. 300 watts at 2 ohms per channel stereo, or 600 watts at 4 ohms bridged. There is also a footswitch jack for punching in the graphic EQ and the compressor.

I play an Ibanez Roadstar and a Gibson Victory. Both are equipped with passive humbuckers. This amp had a decent sound right away, even without tweaking the EQ controls. I play a mix of hard rock, punk and metal, and I favor a sound with a lot of sharp attack and some nasty treble. I eventually settled on the blend knob slightly favoring the solid state preamp, the high boost switch in, the tone knobs flat, and a bit of bass boost and mid-cut in the graphic EQ. I run a Carvin 4x10 and a JBL loaded 1x15. Even though I could run this set up with the crossover in bi-amp mode, my cabinets are 8 ohm, so I run in bridged mode to get the most efficiency out of the power amp. I played in a big room using only stage volume and easily had enough sound with the master volume set at 3. If I need more than 600 watts, then I should be going through the PA anyway. The noise gate and compressor can be useful. The tube preamp circuit can give you a different sound, but I am not a tube fan so I'm probably not fit to judge whether it's really a good or bad sound.

The thing is certainly built well. I haven't had it long enough to judge its long-term reliability, but I did buy it used so I'm sure that it's got at least a few years under its belt with no indications of problems.

I've e-mailed Carvin and gotten quick repsonse. Haven't had to deal with them beyond that.

I've been playing twenty years. My main amps in the past were Lab Series and Cerwin-Vega, and this easily surpasses them both in terms of sound quality and output. I think this amp provides the best combination of features, quality, power, and price. I would definitely get one of these again if it were lost or stolen.

I bought mine used. It is the Series II, which still had the 12ax7 preamp tube unlike the new series III. If you need an amp that has it all, but don't have much to spend, this is IT! I read a bad review below. I have to tell this guy that he bought a lemon, a fluke. Mine rules. I can only find one flaw with it: The input/output jacks SUCK! The washers come off, and you can't put them back on and expect them to stay! They fixed that with the Series III amps at the expense of losing the 12ax7. Not a fair trade in my opinion. I use the tube and SS in a 50/50 blend, but I'm already using another 12ax7 in my Nightbass, so take that into account. If you want the sound Staind gets, this setup will do it for you. 600 watts bridged to 2 Ohms is more power than most bands will put up with from a bass player on stage, so I have to say it has plenty of power.

I use a Steinberger Q4 bass from the mid 80's with 2 active EMG Humbuckers into an ART Nightbas. This is a full range signal into the R600 where it is biamped into a MESA/Boogie RoadReady 2x10 on the top, and a Hulse Bass Systems "Pulse 15" bass reflex cab with an Electro-Voice EVX 150A 1000 watt 15" speaker in it for thump on the bottom half, and I can tell you from experience that I have never had so many compliments on my sound in my 26 years of playing bass. This rig will bounce your wife right off your lap! I play all styles of music (except country, rap, polka... you get the picture) and it has all the versatility you need to handle anything. I sold an all tube Trace Elliot Twin Valve after I got this. I made money, and my sound has never been better. What little noise there is in the amp can easily be remedied with the noise gate. Enough said

The only problem I have with it is those LOUSY input jacks. After you buy one of these, replace those. Other than that, I could only wish I had the R1000 for 400 more watts. You can never bounce too many other guys women off their laps.

Never had to deal with them yet, so I can't give an opinion.

Just buy it. Unless you're a big touring band you'll be hard pressed to find a better value. I was a skeptic before I tried this. I thought "Well, there has to be a tone tradeoff for all those features.".... Nope. I can honestly say that I think the only better value in the bass amp market would be it's big brother. $80 or $90 more for 400 more watts is a pretty good upgrade. Just try one!

mine was made 2002 (sept) It was brought thru Carvins "upgrade Program) I sent back my Carvin PBll that I brought about 20 years ago (and may I add never had a problem with it till a few monthhs back so I upgraded) I personally think Carvin is the best out there for quality and price...

I play a Rickenbacker 4003 and a Fender Jazz bass, Playing soft rock to med. rock nothing hard.. a tad noisy but the noise reduction handles that... nice clean sound and a subtle distortion when I need it

if its like the PBll I had i'll never have to worry

Carvin is very helpful and told me about the upgrade program with out me having to ask.

Ive been playing bass for 27 years and for 20 Ive used carvin. Dont think I could use anything else. I would continue to buy from them ( I already have three other carvin amps and a small PA.)Ive tried others but im hooked on carvin.....the price I paid was for the upgrade program in the catalog it sells for$570 plus tax (if you live in CA.) and shipping

Mine was made in -97, it has a lot of functions like graphic eq, bi-amping, compressor, separate power amps etc. It has a hybrid preamp, but it doesn't add much tube character to the sound, so whats the use? The compressor squashes the sound. The noise gate is needed (due to noisy amp) but it's insensitive. The DI-output has never worked properly.

Great value if it's the quantity of functions you need. But if it's quality and good sound you're after - forget it.

Im playing acoustic/electric trio rock. It's got a good hi-tech sound but there's no rock'n roll in it. The distorion sounds like I'm overdriving a cheap transistor head.
It's hissing a lot. I had to get myself a Line6 Bass Pod to get something that reminded me of a rock bass sound. In other words: I don't like it at all.

I tried the DI out after the swedish dealer warranty expired, and it didn't work. The input stage started to crackle and I had it repaired. Recently the power amp burned out.

I've played for 10 years. I use a 4 string Sting Ray. I don't like the sound or the quality of it. I bought it because of the power rating compared to the price. Now I know it wasn't worth it. I'm a hobby player and as soon as I can offord I will another amp head. In fact, I WISH it was stolen!

Any tone you want is in this head. Though Carvin is big on biamping (I originally had a cyclops, traded the cab for an Eden XLT 4x10) this amp really shines through a 4 x 10. Lovely sound, just sits there while you do the work. Through the Eden cab it needs no real EQ, everything is self explanitory. Pretty much anything you'd want for an amp. Speakon cables, good wattage, awesome price.

Anything you want - good tube distortion, awesome solid state. Versitalie; experiment and you will get lots of good results. Iuse with my Yamaha bass and get the tones I want- everything on this amp is quality and I couldn't ask for any better. For the price its twice as good as whats else out there.

Perfectly reliable in the past 6 months - nothing wrong. Yet I hear a horror story from Carvin or two. This may be the biggest risk of Buying from Carvin, but I've had no problems.

Never needed it, so I won't say. Warranty is for a year on parts.

High quality, man. I like this amp a lot. Sure, its no Acoustic 360, but even in reality I make my fretless sing like no other. I highly reccomend this amp.

The one I have was one of the older ones with a 12AX7 in the preamp. It has a blend knob to blend tube or solid state together, or have one or the other. Both sound exceptionally good. It has effects loop, headphone jack, built in compressor, noise gate, and 9 band graphic EQ. This amp works for all styles of music; funk, metal, jazz, blues, rock, classical, everything. It is a stereo, bi-ampable, amp of death.

I play a grindcore, death metal, and hardcore mix and the way I have this amp set, produces a deathly sound. It has 600 watts of bowel cleansing bass, mid, and ear exploding treble which when dialed in correctly will slay. This amp is amazingly versatile it astounds me. Right now I play a crappy Rogue LX200B bass, and this amp makes it sound unholy in the eyes of the lord. When I get a new bass, I will probably end up in hell. This amp is suprisingly not noisy at all for a bass amp. The noise gate works really well. I cranked the gain knob all the way up while I had the blend knob turned to tube, and it produced bowel cleansing, angel slaying tube bass distortion. I had to change my boxers after that. It was the most unholy distortion I heard from a bass amp ever! It was even greater than that of the SWR Mo'Bass head! I play through a custom, made by me 2x15 cab, and this amps rips and slays everything on the market that I have heard. I would like to try the 1000 watt version of this amp soon, when I have more money.

I bought this head used from East Coast Music Mall mail order, and It has not given me any problems at all. It is a very rugged, well built, burly amp. I have played 3 shows with it, and practiced with it numerous times, and have never had the need for a backup. I doubt I ever will need a backup.

I have dealt with the company, but not for the amp. As I mentioned earlier, I built my 2x15 cab using their speakers and they were very helpful on telling me the proper crossover to use, construction, and placement of the speakers in the box. They were very friendly, and gave me all the info I needed.

I have been playing bass for 2 years and have no other gear besides this head, my cab, and a future 2x10 cab I will make. I basically have my dream amp, and if it ever gets stolen, I will definately buy a new R600, and make my cabs again. As for my bass, when I get a new one, I am looking at making my own bass.

this amp was made some time in the mid 90's it has many handy dandy features. It has three pre-shape eq buttons (low boost, mid shift and hi boost), a 9 band footswitchable eq, a footswitchable fx loop, two inputs (active and passive), a solid state/tube blend knob, a headphone/tuner out, two three hundred watt power amps w/separate level controls, a crossover knob (200Hz-2kHz), a compressor (which sounds really nice and is very useful for slappers),a limiter, a noise gate, and yet another four knob eq section, an xlr direct out with a ground lift, and it's biampable and bridgeable. Lot's of bang for your buck espcially in the features and power departments, it's a nice price too- works out about a dollar for every watt

I use an active soundgear which is kind of sharp and ugly sounding through the R600. turning up the low frequencies and the compressor seemed to fix that. I haven't had any noise problems with the amp except for with the xlr direct output which for me was very noisy and distorted which was sad because that seemed like a really cool feature. the amp is capable of producing a lovely palette of sounds-from round deep mellow tones to poppy sparkling funky sounds

although 600 dollars is an unbeleivable deal for an amp with this much power, this many features, and this good of sound, it was a lot of money for a guy like me so naturally I took imaculate care of it, it was my baby, I NEVER dropped it I never bumped it or anything like that all i did was turn it on and off and move it from one gig to the next...AND IT BROKE ANYWAY!I brought it to a show one night and plugged it in and nothin!!! all the lights turned on, the fan turned on but nothin, I thought it had to be the cords or something simple but I checked everything changed the tubes checked the circuit breaker checked all the knobs and settings. everything seemed normal, but NO SOUND!!!!

the folks on the phone seemed nice and helpful, the deal with getting an R600 repaired through carvin is: flat rate labor and parts cost of $145 and you have to pay for shipping both ways so that could be a great deal or a total ripoff depending on the severity of the problem. you get a one year warranty. my problem occured out of warranty

I loved the amp dearly when it worked and by the looks of these other reviews it's seems I just got a bad rap. the thing sounds like a dream besides that direct out problem I had. and it has immense tone shaping capabilities plus you gotta love that price. I've played the acclaimed trace elliot amp thats supposed to be so great and was not impressed after playing my carvin, the compressor in the trace was stupid and the amp was like three times as expensive. so I have mixed feelings about the R600. I guess I'll close by saying that it rocks when it works!

Brand new. redline series II. Features include blendable, solid state/tube preamps, three preshapes, rotary bass and treble and a variable rotary midrange. Foot-switchable Effects loop. Noise gate. variable compressor. Foot-switchable 9-band graphic EQ. Tons of features. Check Carvin's site for the specs.
This amp has two 300 watt power amps. You can bridge it to 600 if you dare. More than enough power for any application. I like the fact that you can vary the output on each amp seperately and still run full range through both sides. The built-in crossover allows you to bi-amp without additional power if you want, but I use one side to drive my Carvin RL410T and the other to run a monitor for the guitarist and drummer. The compressor is excellent. I actually think it is smoother than any on-board compressor that I have ever tried. I can hear a Trace Elliot compressor grabbing. This one doesn't do that! I never use the effects loop. As for the gate, my basses are both rigged with non-grounded actives, so I never have had a problem with noise. I leave the gate turned off. The phone jack doubles as a tuner out, but you can't mute it. I would certainly put a mutable (preferably foot-switchable) tuner out on the upgrade.

I use a 5-string, EMG loaded Jazz bass as a primary and back-up with a Washburn xb400 with twin-humbucking actives. This amp certainly brings out the unique characteristics of both guitars. I play praise and worship music that covers a variety of styles. This amp is excellent for that application. I was set on buying a tube hybrid and played every one that I could find, including Trace Elliot, Hartke, Peavey, Ampeg and SWR. This amp really is as good as any. The tube gives it a rich, round tone, and you can back it off enough to keep that tone and still get a tight punch out of the bottom. I prefer this sound to all-tube amps. This amp is more versital than the SWR. (and Carvin's 4-10 cabinet holds the B-string together much, much better than a Goliath Jr. 4-10). As for comparing it with the Trace Elliot, the sound quality of the 12-band series Trace is a little better, but it costs three times as much. Carvin's compressor is way ahead of the competition. With it cranked wide open, I don't hear it jumping in and out like I do with the Trace or Hartke. The Carvin is miles ahead of the Trace 7-band series. (The 7-band is alot like the Russian Tundra - cool and dry) The best comparison that I found is in the Ampeg SVT Pro III. They are very similar in tone and features. If you like the Pro III, I think you'll like the Carvin.

This amp is very loud. I never push it close to the max. I did bridge it to 600 watts and crank it just to see how loud it would get. I am not sure if it was the speakers or my ears that distorted. You can certainly lose favor with the folks next door (or down the block) with this amp. I have never noticed any hissing out of the amp, but I don't crank the horn wide open and my basses are very quiet.

It's new, so it wouldn't be fair to say. But is is built pretty stout. The 2-space unit comes in a solid case. (You can remove it and rack it if you want). All of the knobs are metal, set-screw type, which I thought was kind of wierd at first, but I guess they will hold up well.

One-year parts and labor warrenty. I sent several e-mails and made a few calls to Carvin. I am never sure if they are trying to give me tech help or sell me something. I think it is all the same people. One thing that I think is unfair is that you have to pay shipping for repairs even during the warrenty period. If you ever found yourself in a back-and forth repair deal with them, you would be out of a lot of money in UPS bills and be without your amp for a long time. I hope I never have to deal with that.

Again, I would put this rig up against any made at any price. I would certainly buy another one if it were lost. I have owned all-solid state (Laney, Peavey, Ampeg) and all-tube. (Fender, Ampeg) This is definitely the way to go. If you are a hardcore SWR guy, you probably won't like the R600. Take it or leave it, nothing sounds like an SWR except an SWR. But if you are into Trace or Ampeg, this amp will save you a lot of money and you'll be pleased.
I also HIGHLY recommend Carvin cabinets. They are Eminence loaded (like Ampeg) and share a similar tone. My RL410T is barely distinguishable from the smaller SVT 4-10 cabinet. I always thought that I would be an Ampeg guy for life, I glad I took the risk on mail-ordering the Carvin. I can't imagine being happier with anything.

This amp was made sometime in the mid '90's. This amp is quite versatile. This amp is loaded with many effective features. The compressor is the best I've seen on a bass head and I've tried the equivalent Hartke and Trace Elliot models. The noise gate works well at high volumes. The amp has two EQ sections and three pre-shape buttons that boost highs, lows or scoop out mids. The 9-band graphic EQ is great for fine tuning the sound and a main EQ which is also outstanding and very effective. The only feature that I hate about this amp is the effects loop. It totally sucks. I've tried everything in order to get a good sound out of the loop and I can NOT achieve it. For effects, I use pedals or go from my bass directly into my Lexicon MPX-100 and out of the Lexicon and into the active input. I've used it for both recording and live purposes and it performs well in both theatres of action. For recording, you can use it as a direct box with it's XLR out on the back of the amp and go into a compressor/gate/limiter or straight into the board. I do the same for live applications also. I play many three different styles (slapped, fingered and picked) and the amp does a great job of routing the actual sound to the mixing board....very thick and full especially with the tube pre-amp at the maximum setting. This amp has more than enough power for what I use it for. I have the Carvin 4-10 and the 18 cabinet. I usually just play with the 4-10 cab... its more than enough. The amp has separate level controls for both cabinets....NICE! I tend to run the 410 louder than the 18 cab. I wish it was "full tube" and not just tube in the pre-amp section. This would make a great amp one of the best, but it would also increase the price by about $400. This amp still sounds great, though. For the money, you won't find better features. The Trace Elliot and Hartke equivalents are higher priced and not as good.

This amp sounds great. It is very punchy at high volumes (rehearsal and gigs) and sounds cool in the bedroom too. I play modern and classic hard rock... from punk to progressive metal and everything in between. The amp can get hissy depending on where I have the treble knob set on my active basses. I play with a Carvin LB75 and an Ibanez ATK fretless. If it starts to hiss too bad... I just roll back the treble knob on my bass and it solves the problem.

Very reliable. Carvin does a good job of manufacturing equipment that is durable. I don't have a backup and I don't need one. This amp is solid as a rock.

Never dealt with them... hopefully I never will.

I have been playing bass since 1987. I have tried out many amps and I gambled when I bought this amp... since I couldn't try it out. The gamble paid off considerably. I hooked up with Hartke and Trace Elliot sound quality for half the price. Don't buy those over-priced and over-rated bass amps. Buy a Carvin. You WILL NOT be disappointed. If I lost this amp, I would buy it again. The new R600 has even more features than the one I have now!

There are lots of features on this model....maybe too many. Pre-shape EQ buttons (like the GK amps), passive/active inputs, gain, pan between tube and solid-state preamps, parametric EQ, footswitchable 9-band graphic EQ, compressor, noise gate, crossover (for bi-amping), individual power amp volumes, master volume, 3 effects loops (mono and 2 stereo) XLR out, line/direct switch, ground/lift switch, headphone jack. I wish it had a tuner out/mute switch, and I know some that wish this model could be bridged. The newer one can now be bridged. The amp is rated at 600 watts with 300 on each power amp. I run this amp through Carvin 1x15 and 2x10 cabinets, and it can be awfully loud! (I've played in medium-sized auditoriums where they didn't put the bass through the sound board, and it more than balanced the rest' of the band) One other feature that I like is the two carring handles- one on top and one on the side of the amp, so you can carry it like a briefcase. It is also fairly light, which my roadies (me and the drummer) really like.

I use an old '76 Alembic Series I and sometimes some old Fenders through this amp. This amp is capable of many different sounds. When I adjust the gain and tube/solid state controls, I can get close to a mid-late '70's John Entwistle sound with little problem. Sonic Youth, overdriven SVT, funk, very clean, whatever "characteristic" bass sound you want, it's probably in there or pretty darned close. The tube adds lots of warmth or growl, depending upon what you like, but I generally like a little growl to thicken up the sound. It's great! I have to switch between fingers, picks and thumbs quickly, and this amp sounds good with all of them. My music styles have to go between classic rock, funk, country, blues, and jazz (even though I suck at it). I usually hit the low and high boost buttoms, leave the rest of the EQ controls flat (or change them a little in different rooms), and the amp sounds very good. It also sounds good with all the controls flat. I think this amp sounds much warmer than Carvin's old PB500, and every instrument I've tried through it sounds good and still retains its "characteristic" sound. Just for comparison, I tried a deluxe Trace head to compare. Yes, I think the Trace does sound a little better, but not by much in my opinion. The sound of the tube will go through the XLR out (a nice touch). Problems? Sure there are some. I had a sound man say that the amp was making some noises once. Ironically, it was from the noise gate. The threshhold was set incorrectly, so it was making some noise.Also, the noise gate sometimes "pops" a little when it switches on. There were also some buzzing noises (some of the lights and a bad cord could be partly to blame), but the amp isn't always perfectly silent all the time. The compressor is very useful, especially if you are a thumb player. Overall, I'm very happy with the sounds from this amp, and generally people who run sound say they like it too. I won't give it a 10 because it isn't THE best bass amp I've ever tried.

No problems here. I've dropped the amp once, and it is just fine. I would feel fine using this without a backup (I can't afford one anyway). If I ever have to replace the 12AX7 preamp tube, I'll have to take the amp out of its cabinet and put it back in. It doesn't look easy.

I've called several times both before and after buying this amp, and also exchanged e-mail with one of their salespeople. Generally very helpful and friendly in answering questions. I asked about a million questions before I bought this amp. Carvin sells mail-direct only, but if you don't like their products, send them back within 10 days, and you only pay shipping. Oh well. If you want Carvin to repair something, you need to ship it back. What a pain. Other than that, their customer support is pretty good.

I have been playing bass for almost ten years. I've played Peavey, Fender, GK, Hartke and older Carvin amps. I've tried almost every major brand of bass amp out there. The Carvin has more features than almost everything else that is available. As far as sound goes, it's better than anything I've tried except the high end Trace. Other than the slightly noisy noise gate, it has great sound and features, and is a real bargain. I'd buy it again-------no question.