Carvin TO-1 Tube Overdrive

Easy to use - 3 basic knobs thats all
Found had to use gain on full to get anything from it that sounded like overdrive.

I have a Standard Fender Srat and I first used the Carvin pedal with my old tube Rockit 60 watt combo and then tried it with a new Trace Elliot 100 watt Super Tramp Twin combo I had purchased.
It was no good to me as when I changed channels via footswitch to say the 2nd or 3rd "dirty" channel all I got was a big volume increase. So much so that the gear tended to feedback badly. Much simpler and better sounding to just use the overdrives available on my amp so I got rid of it.

Very well made but the battery compartment was a bit of a sod to get the battery in or out of so I used an A/C adapter most of the time.

I think what I have said previously covers it. It didn't do it for me or others that tried it

3 knobs and some air. Evien an idiot--me for example--can use it! It hsa s footswitch jack and can be powered by a wall wart. Good for what it needs to be.

I've played this through a Carvin Vintage 16, a Yamaha Fifty, and a Yamaha g-5. It gives them all a different character--but is's a good character. The Carvin and the G-5 are the best, creamy when added to a slightly distorted signal. Noce round tone especially in a low drive setting. Good clean boost at a no drive setting.

After I had a lemon replaced--which Carvin did without question--I haven't had a problem with it. It's sturdy. I do dislike that battery cover has to be screwed on and off. Carvin needs to get with the times on that score!

Carvin has done well by me. Some things they've sent have been less than stellar, but they've always taken care of business.

Good basic OD stompbox. Reliable, sounds good. Works and plays well with others. Nothing fancy, don't deed it.

There are 3 knobs. Very simple to use. It does not take long to get a good sound out of it.

I use a fender strat, and a ibanez destroyer through a marshall mg50dfx or for practice a little 15w. The sound is great, I use it on both overdrive and clean channels. Used with the fdd on my marshall I can get a very good "tube sound"

Yes I would use this at a gig without a backup. This is built SOLID like a tank or brick(closer to its size. No plastic is used.

Did not have to deal with customer service after buying. I did however e mail them before with a few questions. The response was very helpful.

I've been playing for a little over 3 years. I dont use many other pedals b/c i have a few effects on my amp that sound pretty good. I own a big muff,metal zone, small clone, and this. At first I looked at the tubescreamer by ibanez. I was vey disappointed when I tested that in a store, it barely did anything but at some bad feedback. I listened the carvin pedal on their websit "jamroom" and liked the sound much better than a tube screamer. The sound was even better in person. Also the price is right.

Three knobs, just like everyone else.

It's not great, but it does the job. In regards to the previous post, he's probably right. I'll bet it does sound just like his Rouge overdrive. Costs about the same, too.
This pedal is designed to do one thing: take a slightly overdriven amp setting and send it over the top to sustain, and it actually does this pretty well. That's why the bass is trimmed; too much low end into a distorted preamp or amp can sound flabby. Tubescreamers do the same thing, and it's on purpose. I find it works well enough for me with 3 completely different amplifiers. Play it into a completely clean channel, and it stinks. Dial up a slightly overdriven amp setting, then hit it with a slightly overdrive, slightly boosted overdrive pedal setting, and you have a time-proven lead recipe which I find fun to use, great for controlled feedback. I have a Boss OD-3 which has much more low end, but which doesn't sound as good in the same application. It sounds better as a clean boost than it does as an actual overdrive. The Carvin really only lacks sound quality (for what it is) in the noise dept. I wish they had used a quieter opamp. This thing hisses pretty bad, even with the color control down below halfway.

Here's my other beef; the battery compartment and door are absolutely miserable. I had to actually grind away part of the circuit board in order to make enough room to easily remove the battery. Even then, you need a screwdriver. Also, when the battery gets weak, your clean bypassed sound gets distorted in an unpleasant way. When this happens on a gig, you have no choice but to stop, unplug it and physically bypass it. Bummer.

It does what it's supposed to do, but I have to believe there are better choices out there if you consider the noise factor and the battery compartment issue.

A simple 3 knob stomp box.
A remote switching jack is included but none of my remote switches
that I use with Boss pedals would switch it.

Not much clean boost. An average overdrive distortion. Not much
bass. This sounds EXACTLY like my 10 dollar Rogue overdrive
from Musician's Friend. See for yourself.

Seems solid with metal box and metal knobs/

Carvin is great, I got my first Carvin guitar and amp in 71.

It is ok but I don't need it, I've got 50 pedals at least.

This is your standard pedal. knobs and use self-explanatory. battery compartment (battery included btw) was a little tricky, especially getting the battery out without ripping the foam lining. semi-instruction manual printed on box.

i've been looking for a good overdrive to rival the dano and boss overdrives, and one that is comparable to the ts-9. this one may very well be as noteworthy. it has a full range of drive thickness and high-end, and being that i prefer the smoother lower midrange frequencies for a nice crunch, this pedal accommodates the pickiest player. i'm using a a Carvin dc400 with active/passive electronics. with the neck humbucker switch to single coil, the t-01 sounds like a dream. indiviudal notes are heard while using whole chords no matter how harsh the OD. on full humbuck mode, power chords come choppin' through. the sounds is very warm. those who like to do leads will find that it can scream without getting too scratchy when the tone knob is turned up.

i use it on my second loop channel on my pedal board. when i combine it with another distortion unit, both can be tweaked to make the sound just like the metal zone. also works great as a signal booster, since it's pretty quiet. works great before my flanger/ phaser effects. kind of eats up my wah sound though.

as for noise, you'll get the typical stuff that comes along with distortion and od pedals. stay away from the ground loops, unregulated electrical sources, halogen and flourescent lights, etc.

looks solid. kind of heavy and about 20% bigger than a boss pedal. knowing carvin and their gear, this badboys in for the long haul.

carvin rocks. it is a very honest, reliable, and high-quality company. here in california, you show up to the store and they take care of you. they do the same over the phone, and service is pretty quick.

i doubt i'll find any problems with it in the future. i've been playing for 7 years and am genuinely impressed with this pedal. i would buy it again if it was stolen. useable for any player, and for $40, it's worth every penny, and then some.

It's your basic three knob overdrive pedal with volume, tone and gain which ads or takes away the crunch. The tone control boosts or cuts the upper mids while leaving the harmonics on top when you roll the tone back-kinda like the Boss SD-1 overdrive.There were no instructions in the box, but the basics were printed ON the box.The on-off switch is the silent type that triggers an electrical switch,not the true bypass hard contact clickers like the MXR ones.The battery compartment on the back has to be unscrewed so U must be careful not to lose the tiny screw. This feature takes a point off the easy to use catagory.But great tones are easily accessible.

I'm using a Carvin MTS 3200 head with two Marshall 1936 2\12 cabs which I filled with Celestian 8 ohm Classic lead 80s.My main pedalboard is an Ibanez PUE5 tube unit which has a tube screamer, a heavier overdrive with an actual tube which sounds amazing,a digital delay, a chorus and an effects loop which I patch an extra delay for longer settings.I rarely find overdrive pedals that I like enough to take the place of the PUE5,but I was very pleased with the sound of the Carvin TO-1. It does what a tube screamer can't and it doesn't have as much thick midrange. The crunch is pretty tasty and the sustain and singing feedbacks were right in the pocket when I added my MXR Dynacomp to it for my solos. I also liked the way my Bad-Horsie wawa reacted when used before it at my gig.I'm keeping this one! Give it a try,you can always send it back if it's not your taste.

I've only had it for a week, but it looks like the all-metal construction will hold up well. I always keep backups of everything in my crate,cause sometimes you just never know who's gonna lose their balance,knock the mic stand into your teeth and spill their drink into your prescious investments.

I've been a regular customer of Carvin for many years now.I have 4 of their guitars, two amps,various p.a. stuff and if ever there was a problem, they always fixed it for me-sometimes even without proof and just taking my word for it.I'm good at soldering and basic repairs so they were usually happy to just mail me the simple switch,or what ever, and not have to bother with the shipping costs and repairs of the larger item.Although I'm sure they would if it came down to it. Greg in the repair dept. has always been helpful and answered all my questions no problem. Yes, I love Carvin ! No, I don't work for them or the marketing dept.

I think I've said it all already. It's a keeper for me, and I'm very picky. It's a great sounding pedal for the money. I forgot to mention that it's not a heavy distortion, but it gets a bit more bite than the tube screamer. I had a great gig with it two days ago,and I'm sure it'll sing again for me next week. I just ordered the heavier distortion pedal of Carvin's from the same series, and I'm anxious to hear that too.In my opinion, every thing I have of Carvin's is a great value for the money. I hope they continue this way.