Carl Martin Custom Shop 50 212 Combo

2006 - Very simple no bull**** all tube boutique amp. One channel, KT 66 tubes, Class A/AB, fantastic reverb. This is a very LOUD amp, without doubt the loudest combo I have ever played! This is probably the first amp in guitar history that is actually designed with the one purpose of sounding great with PEDALS! Lets face it: We all dig the channel switching, fat switch, pre-gain, crunch/overdriven features of all the fancy (and some classic) amps on the market but at the end of the day (rehearsal) we stick to our favorite and well proven pedals. AND THIS ONE DELIVERS! No (unwanted) compression, pure tone and dynamics and the sound of your fingers! Bearing in mind that it is purely designed for pedals and does the job better than anything else it gets an 8 in features because of the A/AB feature, the power and the diode/GZ switch

The sound quality is unheard of. Dynamics, brutal power, tone for days and the fast and tight response. I Use it with all kinds of guitars and pickups, vintage strats, teles, Les Pauls, SGs etc. It simply delivers in every category and all kinds of styles. Again this is louder than any combo but is still fast, tight and reliable. Use the class A setting and no bright switch and you have all the vox tone you need. A/B and bright switch and your heading for the states. Is killer in studio as well since it covers everything from country (oh yes, be afraid all you Fender Twin rental companies..), pop, crunch, overdrive to singing leads - and still has that bluesy tone. Its a winner.

Played probably 120 gigs with it. Never had any big issues. Did however at some point fall down from a truck (as far as I was told it wasn't moving...) Had to take the trip back to the boys at Carl Martin on that account. Quick fix.

Very nice people and always fast response. They really care about their products and are proud of them too. Guess they're entitled to when they make beauties like this.

Been playing for almost thirty years - nearly twenty of them as a professional. All kinds of styles from country to hard rock - live and as a session guitarist. Own tons of gear, 61/62 Vox AC 30 head, 62 AC 30 combo, 65 AC 30TB combo, Marshall 68 Plexi and 72 Superlead, Hiwatt 73 Custom 100, Gibson GA 18 Explorer, VHT, Peavey and various other stuff. Love them all but the Custom 50 is the most versatile and the pick for any gig where you don't really know what to expect. Would hunt down the scum that did it if stolen and buy two as replacements! Never had a complaint and the soundguys absolutely love it. L

I`ve just purchased a Carl Martin Custom 50 combo in a very sexy lookin creme colour
and it`s a VERY good sounding amp. One channel - very simple layout and just pure and
sweet sounding tone. A switch for Class A (34w) or A/B (50w) and diode or rectifier tube and a large reverb with remote on/off.
It sounds a bit like a cross between a blackface Fender and an old Marshall.

Im playin old 60` tele/strats and a 57 Les Paul and is the proud owner of a beige Vox from
the early 60` and a white Marshall head from 69 and im so happy with the Carl Martin amp
because it replaces my former live setup with 2 amps and it does it so well.

It looks like it`s gonna last my time out - it`s a very nice piece of work.

Very good support and people that cares about their products and customers.

I`ve been playin for 37 years (oh lord!!) and i love my new amp.
I`ve tried Matchless and Bad Cat amps (also very nice amps - for studio work) and lots of vintage stuff and what i like about the CM Custom 50, is the way it handles overdrive/distortion pedals. It`s in my opinion one of the best amps for playin live with a clean amp and pedals. I would not hesitate to buy an other, if stolen.

I was looking for a new amp, just bought a Plexitone for my Marshall and found this on their site, and bought one.
I also saw the prototype at Franfurt and heard it briefly and could not wait to get one.
An one channel and one input MV amp, bright switch, bass, middle, treble and reverb.
Swithces for Class "A" mode and A/B, silicone rectifier or tube rectifier.
50 watts combo with KT-66 output tubes.
Two V30 Celestion speakers.
And a long tank reverb.

I have a few others highend amps, and some good classics too.
This one is defently highend, it is almost like a super JTM45 in some ways.
It has big round bottom, and the mids have a very wide sweep, lots of nice soft highs, very pleasent but still with enough precense, use the bright and it can get you those cut your head off tones that some like for blues and some funky stuff.
I have used for a few jobs now, playing some cover rock stuff, used both the Class A and A/B plus with and without the tube rectifier, both setups worked great.
It fitted very good in the band, one of the jobs required some more focused highgain playing, so I brought along my old Marshall cab with 4 30 watts greenbacks, both as a combo and "head" it worked very well.
With the four 12's it had a very focused and extremely fat sound, no mud or flabby lows, just that round huge bottomend and very woddy mids, dialed enough highs to make it cut well.
It is a pedal friend for sure, no wonder??
The cleans, well very rich and full, like a cross between an old Marshall and a Fender BF style amp, lots of depth in this amp.
You can set it to alot of useable sounds, it could go from chime to very fat and full, and about everything between.
As a combo it is quite versatile and covers alot of ground, it has pleasent personality and you can play and play and feel good about it.
When used as a head with a closedbackcab, it ads even more dimensions to its useage.
I think that I will order a head, when I have a robbed a bank or two that is.
It is an amp meant for clean sounds, you can get it to drive with the four 12 cab, but that is not what it was designed for, it is a clean base, and it can get you that very nice tube crispy sound with fatness to spare.
CM deserve a spot in the highend of ampdom, this one is an outstanding amp with loads of flexibility for the experinced player, even a newcomer would feel comfortable with this one.
One of my young students loved it from the first sight, had no trouble dialing himself into a prefered sound.
In the Class A mode and with the tuberectifier it is still a loud but mannageable amp, the tone is spongy and very pleasent, lovely sag and caresses your notes with a ring of warmth, and you can set it to play low and still get very nice sounds.
In A/B and with the silicon rectifier it tightends up and gets more bite, but still it can retain the inherited warmth and pleasent soft highs, and works great from low levels to earsplitting levels, it can be a very loud 50 watts amp for sure.
I am so happy that I bought this amp, and the wait was worth it.
My guitars are a Gibson with M?rch pickups, one EJ Strat, a Customshop Ashbody Tele, one Kramer Baretta from 84, A Charvel San Dimas strat with one humbucker, Tokai 335 with SD Seth Lovers, and a few others pleasent companions.

It is build on old solid traditions, very clean and solid amp, outstanding quality!
Has not given me a single worry until now.
And I expect no troubles, and it will be well cared for.

Talked to S?ren Jongberg and mailed him a few times, always polite and attentive, very pleasent and down to earth company!

I have played for 23 years, and this is one great amp, right up there with a few classics and other boutique amps.
They did a very good and thoughtful job of this amp, just an addition the top does not come with a reverb.
But it is of no matter.
For those who want a very good workhouse allround amp of a very high quality, then this one will get the job done.
The KT-66's gives it something very special, there is no excuses at this end, it is just a matter of taste.
And this one is defently my taste.

Hey guys! Just an update on my previous review:
I've been gigging approx. twice a week with this amp for the past few months, and THIS IS THE BEST AMP EVER! Sits perfectly in the mix, reliable as anything and I'm still discovering more and more tones. The fine folks at Carl Martin really nailed it with this one. With a good overdrive pedal this amp can really do it all. Wish I had two for my live work so I could run one class A and the other class AB. Though, one is all you need for studio work. WOW!

Oh, by the way, I made a mistake in my previous features list, there is no effects loop. Don't miss it at all.

I love this amp!

Point-to-point handwired, single channel all valve amp. Switchable rectifier, switchable Class A/AB, valve driven reverb, 2 celestion vintage 30 speakers, KT66 power tubes. Controls: Bright switch, input gain, bass, middle, treble, master volume, reverb. Effects loop (series) switchable impedance, external speaker out.

This amp is everything I have ever wanted in a 2x12 combo!!

First off, this amp continues to amaze me, this is the best sounding amplifier I have ever heard!! Have tested it side by side with: Fender Vibro King, an early sixties AC30, a '67 Fender deluxe, a '68 Fender Twin, assorted Mesa Boogies, the current fender Hotrod series( not bad amps for use with pedals) and every model of Marshall with a JCM in front. This amp smokes them all, the most transparent, warm, high fidelity sound I have ever heard. The Carr Rambler comes pretty close, but is not as versatile...

Right... This amp has been designed to NOT distort in the preamp stage. The fine folks at Carl Martin wanted to design an amp that would be able to take the high input gain of their "Hot Drive & Boost" pedals. As a result, you get glorious power tube saturation without that "squashed" preamp tube sound.

There are 3 basic sound I use with this amp, and I'll rate each separately.

1. Clean - set amp to class A, rectifier to valve, bright switch engaged. This tone is just ridiculous - I will never play ANY Fender again - tops are super bright, but never harsh, even at extreme volumes. But it's only when you plug into any other amp that you realise just how good this is - everything else sounds harsh and hurts in comparison. But it's the low end that amazes me - rich, full and detailed, but never muddy, though when you crank to master volume it does mellow. This tone deserves a 10, but I'd give it higher if I could. (The reverb is unreal as well, almost as good as the Fender outboard units)

2. Blues. Set amp to class A, rectifier to valve, bright switch off. CRANK MASTER ABOVE 3'o CLOCK!!!! It's the BEANO album!!! With my PRS custom 22, this setting just sings, cries and wails. You do need an overdrive to push it over the top, but the results are mind blowing. Loud as hell too, but heres the best part.... Roll you guitar's volume knob back... And the clean to everything in between is so defined!!! Every note remains dynamic, even with massive saturation, the amp never seems to compress your sound, the tone is just so open.
10! 10! 10!

3. High Gain. Switch amp to Class AB, rectifier to diode, bright switch off. USE A HIGH GAIN PEDAL. Set input gain to 9 'o clock. This setting retains a tight, responsive low end, excellent headroom and rich, detailed eq. The only drawback is you have to use a pedal, but I have any better results with this setting than ANY marshall I've owned. This won't replace a 50 watt plexi head, and I have a cornford hellcat on my wishlist, but it certainly smokes the Mesa rectifiers IMO. ( I found the recifiers too harsh, loud as hell though)
This gets an 8 for the use of a pedal, but it is still awesome.

I've gigged for 2 months with this amp, it is just so rich and full, sits perfectly in the mix, but fills in all the gaps at the same time. Set the amp to AB, put the master volume to 10 o clock and watch you drummer smile!!!

Haven't owned it long enough to know - The folks at Carl Martin claim it is made from the finest components. Time will tell...

Carl Martin have always been super helpful, but shipping your gear to Denmark for repairs is a pain!!!

This is the most versatile, best sounding amp I have ever heard!!! It sings with any good guitar and player. I Love everything about it, although I do want to get a Cornford HellCat for the heavier stuff.
If lost or stolen I would certainly replace it. My only conplaint is that I want two of them!! Not cheap at all, but worth every cent and then some. You very much get what you pay for.