Carvin Quad X-Amp Tube Preamp

Quite easy to use after the user's manual reading.
Then, no rocket science there, do not forget to assign/unassign Rev, Mast eff and Eq per channel when light up.

Rear face connection also clearly labeled.
The manual is clear and accurate.

The preamp just fit my use. 4 channels, very efficient tone knob.
Impressive efficient preamp, for ones who take time to taylor the sound, good tone should not be a problem.
It isn't for me. The effect loop per channel is great to assign an ext graphic eq on channel 2 for exemple.
Only the reverb is disapointing, anyway, I use an external one, like most of us I imagine.

Mine is a 92 model, I do not know it's former life.
It works and works gig after gig.

Never had to deal with them. The Carvin discussion board answered my questions.

I play pop rock for a lonnng time. This preamp is just the perfect companion because of its 4 channels, very good tone, connectivity, and midi connection.
I only regret that there is no possible midi mapping, that involve a programmable midi footswitch to have patch arranged in one patch for live easy usage.

old still buttons, very easy to use, and get a sound from this item. To understand and take advantage of all the possibilities the only way is still to read the owner manual.

I'd like to put a 10 because the tone pots are really efficient, and even minimal moves will be heard, in other words, if you search you will find your sound. I'd put a 9 only because of the spring reverb that does not convice me a lot..

I got mine second hand, all works perfectly. I do not know about the history , so

Never had to deal with

No hesitation, it will be a 10 there. This stuff got 4 channels, a true natural good sound, and enough versatility for the one who takes time to play with the buttons. The effect insert per channel is a great feature.
On mine the midi is full fonctionning.
I do not understand why this stuff does not exist anymore brand new, too bad. Fortunatly it's not too difficult to find, many have been sold, and it looks very reliable.

Most people who use the Quad X know that the clean channels are execellent. However, most don't know how good the 4th channel is for high gain settings are. The high distortion setting on channel 4 are only needed for leads/ solos. For rhythm guitar, very little distortion is needed. High distortion on this channel adds the sustain needs for soloing. For in your face rhythm settings with the Quad X. First, make sure you have a high output pickup at the bridge position. This will make the most of this preamp setting.

Too much distion gain on channel 4 for rhythm guitar sound will only mAKE too much OF a "fizz/ fuzz sound." For a dominant rhythm sound, I recommend these settings...

overdrive 3.5
low 3.5
mid 4.0
high 5.0

add the graphic EQ with these settings

75 hz 0
160 hz + 4
1K 0
3k + 4
6k 0

I am using a solid state Rockton power amp with the Quad X. A high quality tube power amp will make this setting sound even much better!

This is an old preamp but still has the madness to keep going!

I haven't had to cal Carvin, but they seem to put out a great product.

Very straight forward. Manual is easy to understand.

Tone is great! Very versatile. Great live and direct recording.
Why use a tube amp simulator when you have the real thing!!!???
Got rid of my pod xt. Don't use my v-amp either.

No trouble yet. (fingers crossed)

Never needed support.

I play rock and heavy rock. Been playing 40 years. I run the Quad-X thru a Carvin Tube 100. I run mostly in stereo mode at 50 watts. I run thru a stereo 4-12 cab. I play a Shadow with active electronics (German Made)and a hand made SG with Dimarzio PAF in the neck postition and a Super Distortion in the bridge position.
If this amp were stolen I would hunt the person down like a dog and torture him by playing the Osmonds Greatest Hits until he begs for mercy and pledges never to steal again.
I would definitely buy another one.
What I like best is the versatility in tone and ability to call any combination of effect from my Digitech RP1 and any channel on my Quad-X by the tap of a button via MIDI. I love the MIDI option even though I have the footswitch for the amp also.
I have played Marshall, Mesa, Peavey, Crate, and the list goes on and on............ I'm not gonna say it sounds better than any other amp. It actually sounds similar to some but WAY MORE versatile and easier to access the tones you want at the tap of a midi contoller.
This amp definitely ROCKS!!! Great clean tone, great crunch and great hi gain!!!

Addendum and rebuttal to the pro player assuming a pre-amp could ever stand in for real tube output. Get a clue. NO tube pre-amp is EVER gonna sound like a tube amp. Clipping the headroom of a vacuum tube generates distortion. With pre-amps, it is thin and needs to be amplified. I have used Halfler (read Bogner) tube pre-amps and they sound even better than the Carvin, but never mistake output tube distortion for pre-amp distortion that is amplified.

Ease of use is still 8 for novices; 10 for experienced.

See previous Michael E. Waggy Post

Still lament my tc electronic M-300

Want a tc-1210 spatial expander and 2290 DD

Built like a tank

Never needed it

I'll say it again.....

Lost, broken....buy another

Stolen = Dead Man

Well, it's easy to use, great features.

The clean channel is very sweet... the distortion sounds are just ok to me... very muddy and unreal... highly compressed... if you could make an A/B Test with a real tube head(think a good Marshall, soldano,boogie), you will realize that this preamp is for kids or the make highly procesor like guitar sounds,there is no contest against a head... no matter power amp use with it.
I'm not sayi' that sounds bad, very muddy and compressed... not an organic distortion at all...

I'm a pro guy with a lot of experience and a lot of gear to compare...
My music style goes from modern jazz and rock-fusion styles...
To me a great tone is the key to great stuff, and this preamp don't give great tones, plastic is the word to define it... Some solid state amps sounds better to me...by far...
I'm still waiting to hear a preamp that could sound as good as a tube head...

Tone to die for! Currently own 14 electric guitars running the range from LP R9 to Custom made guitars. I play hard rock/metal/alternative and run a TSR24s in the effects loop. I can tweak the Quad-X to get ANY Fender clean-tone, Marshall crunch, Mesa punch with as little or as much distortion as I want - I do have some gear I occassionally run into the front-end (Vox V847 w/ Italian Mod, Redwitch Moonphaser, Analog.man Clone Chorus, OCD, Tonebone Hot British) for when I want to push the Quad-X in another direction, but I could easily kick serious ass with it alone. The noise gate is second-to-none, the reverb works well under 2.5, above that it gets sort of funky and the Para EQ is adequate. Running into a Tube 100 or Mesa poweramp is a must as it creates a saturated tone that is not only head-turning, but able to but through the most demanding situations. The distortion is thick, has it's own character but not over the top. My OCD/Classic British can push it there quite easily though.

So far I prefer my original 93' Quad-X the most, but the 96' is interesting in that it has a different "modern" thing going on, and the 92' seems to have more of a early 60s lower gain thing going on.

I tested all three with my own personal tube selection - The 9, freaking 9! original Chinese 12AX7 were great on their own, but I found a mixture of vintage/hi-gain stuff that suits me better.

Unless you're a country, jazz or orchestra cat I guarantee you'll find something using the Quad-X that you won't find anywhere else, which if you're like me means it's a must have item!

I won 3 Quad-X preamps (92', 93' & 96) and they all sound different! I started with the 93' and bought the 92' as a back-up and the 96' because I heard they were voiced different. They're all Midi and they all function 100%.

I have been using the Quad-X as my main tone generator due to its versitility and awesome tone, so far its my favorite by far and I've owned several Marshalls, Mesa, Fender & Peavey amps and for me they just don't do what the Quad-X can...the only other tone generators I own are an Acoustic Control Corp. 164 (just can't bring myself to sell it) and a Pod XT Pro (I use it for scratch tracks until I get around to miking-up my rig for serious recording).

Never had a problem with any of the three units I own.

Well, since they haven't made Quad-Xs for almost 10 years I suppose they couldn't do much for me, even if I needed it.

Carvin must have lost their mind when they discontinued this unit - Being a So-Cal native I've been around Carvin products my whole life and other than one of their guitars I mistakenly bought the Quad-X is the only product I have even seen them produce that's a keeper.

Obviously I think VERY highly of this unit, otherwise I wouldn't find it necessary to own two back-ups, which I bought before the prices went crazy in the used market...Now everyone wants one, but they can't have mine! They're safe and sound in my VERY secure studio and only one leaves at a time and I watch it like a hawk!

tried the preamp with several guitars and always the same result: tons of sustain, harmonics and overtones. very quiet with built-in gate. the clean channel is one of the best i've ever heard. channel 2 and 3 are good to run a pod or v-amp thru to get a some tube help/warmth. channel 4 is all the gain you ever wanted and more. with normal output pickups you may never go past 6 on the gain control. now the bad: channel 4 has a nasal midrange harmonic overtone to it. i tried changing to new mesa tubes but still the same sound. not bad, just very different. you won't get a marshall or mesa sound, just an original carvin sound (which can be good). also, there is no high-end fizz to the distortion, not even with the bright boost on and the eq cranked to max on the highs. what does that mean? get a BBE and you might be happy. the preamp just doesn't cut thru enough on it's own.

by now you know the specs. 9 tube preamp with tons of features.

built like a tank! no problems to be found after years of use.

carvin is great to deal with. the other musician's on the carvin forum are also very helpful.

if i found another quad-x with the pedal for under $250 i would consider picking it up. my friend has mine and uses it in conjunction with a behringer v-ampire amp and v-amp and a BBE and gets great tones out of it. so try it with different gear to see how it reacts before you dis' it. i'm now using an engl E530 preamp and a peavey tube fex preamp and i love it.

Ease = 8 for novices; 10 for more versed. Give it a 9.

I bought this unit in 1994 along with the T100 Tube amp. I can honestly say that I have NEVER heard a combination quite like this. Is it a Fender Twin? No. Is it a JTM 45? No. It is what it is. A Carvin.

Editing patches is kind of a non issue on the pre-amp. I use a DigiTech PMC-10 and have assigned the Quad-X a MIDI channel and I can go from drop dead Fender clean to over the top Marshall/Boogie scream with the touch of a button (gee, go figure).

The manual is quite good, it's why I opted out of the FS-77 that is "supposed" to run the unit.

Dunno about any firware revision number. Upgraded? Nope, only been thoroughly cleaned and tweaked by my tech.

The EQ controls on the unit are pretty aggressive. Carvin warns in the manual that turning everything up to 10 is probably not a good idea. I thoroughly agree. My EQ (not the sliders mind you which stay more or less flat) rarely moves beyond the 3.5 to 7.5 range on any pitch.

The unit itself is quite quiet. Not as quiet as my faithful old Hafler (Bogner) T-2, but pretty doggone quiet.

I use the Quad-X in conjunction with the T100 Tube amp with 4 matched Groove Tubes. Getting the sound of any of my favorite artists is pretty easy....turn a know or two....change channels and you pretty much have it. Can I sound EXACTLY like David Gilmore or Alex Lifeson? No. But I can get close enough to fool even hard-core fans.

Bought the unit new in 1994, only thing it has ever had done is a cleaning.

Never gig without a back-up (Hafler T2).

no need, so no opinion

This pre-amp is a great pre-amp for anyone that isn't stuck on the "Just plug into an amp and play" mentality. It offers far more flexibility as far as FX routings (via the 4 channel dedicated loops, plus a master, not to mention the reverb loop) than ANY other pre-amp I've seen. Granted, I am a bit out of touch, but I really do love this unit.

I've been playing for 33 years and my rack is basically 3 units (sans the power strip). The Quad-X, The Tube (T) 100, and a tc electronic M-300. The only piece I somewhat lament is the tc - it doesn't have XLR. The output goes to two (Mesa) Boogie 1x12 cabs with EV 200's (L & M). Though I rarely crank the Vol over "4" (about -26 or -24 db) on the amp, I get frequent requests from my wife to "Turn it down!!" (undoubtedly due to my playing).

Lost? Buy another. Stolen?....Dead man.

Love everything about the unit. Best thing is Flexibility.

Compared to Marshall's MP-1 (?) pretty much all other pre-amps available at the time. This one just looked best. Wish I had that kinda luck in Vegas.

It neither helps the creative process nor hinders it. It serves as a great tool to release what I want to sound like. Would Stevie Ray Vaughn like it? Probably not. Same with Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend. Would people who like Alex Lifeson, David Gilmore, Mark Knopfler, etc like it? ABSOLUTELY. The routing configurations and sound quality alone make it worthwhile.

10 Rating
I got this and footswitch used at about $150 and consider it my best find after a Hammond C32, matching bench and Leslie in a dumpster. I use this in studio and out- it is versatile. Solid as a rock and no problems. I run Steinberger guitar and bass through this. Bass is great also on this. And I run a Sequential Circuits Prophet 600 analog synthesizer through it and it sounds fantastic! Ran such through a Leslie (not rotary speaker)and this was unbelievable. I highly recommend this as you can tweak sounds well with all of the features and this is a good teaching technique for sound generation which adds to your knowledge/experience for guitar, vocals, and bass if you use them. I have used all features of the amp at some time except the midi, and all worked fine.

I use a Digitech effects for guitar and synth "reverb." And at times I can run pedals through the individual effect channels. I run it right into stereo PA, so the XLRs out are perfect for this. I have the preamp and effects unit in a small rack type case and used to play thorugh headphones from this. It has midi that I haven't used yet. One problem or advantage depending on you is lack of "memory" so I use my brain to remember the numbers and knobs, which is actually good for both brain and machine.

In studio I can run quickly from bass and synth on Channel 1 to guitars on 2,3,4. The overdrive needs careful setting and may not be appreciated by all.

I play blues, jazz, folk, rock, electronic, acid jazz, whatever. I record into a digital machine. The machine has numerous emulations and ability to layer, but one still needs the warmth, body, and chaos they lack. Especially playing live. I can lay down rythm for a new tune then go to the bells and whistles as my friends pick it up.

The footswitch is full featured, big and easy to see, solid, doesn't slide around, and always responds perfectly.