Carlsbro GLX30

Read the rest for its features - simple but effective, but a shame the quality reverb is footswitchable. Use this in a church setting and have also used in 100ftx60ft cow-shed setting - don't say this amp isn't loud..The effects loop (aux in/out) works ok but can sometimes be a little wishy washy and dulls the tone. Has ample voulme on the clean channel and has a lovely punchy sound to it. Dial in the drive channel and the tone thickens nicely into a warm, smooth sound (Santana anyone?)

I use a Les Paul copy with mini-humbuckers and it sounds just great. Can go from smooth jazz on the neck to crunching lead sounds easily, and everything inbetween. Have also used an epiphone casino with this amp and was blown away. Valve emulation sounds good, but would like to have larger speakers in it for extra depth in the sound. As previously mentioned have used this in a cow-shed for a youth camp and was miked up. The sound cut through the band without being obtrusive, and was able to hear what else was going on around me. Could easily have played this without miking, but that's pa guys for you. i tend to play slightly rocky styles, though sometimes cover blues, reggae, folk, jazz, funk and downright hardcore and this amp covers them all. The distortion could perhaps do with being more warm at extreme settings.

Never broken down, though the gain pot started to crackle but is ok now. Would use without backup.

N/A

Been playing for 10years now, and three in a public setting where your sound matters. The good comments increase each time i play as i learn more about this amp and tweak it to its sweet spot. Distortion could be better but otherwise a great amp for both practise and on stage

Two channels, clean and overdrive with foot switch supplied with amp. I like the aux line in with separate volume control for jamming along to CD's. Three equalizers give good range of balance and tone and I can always get a clear and rich depth of sound. Overdrive seems to be all-or-nothing and gets buzzy, too noisy at higher volume levels. Reverb is spring type and is excellent. I use the amp for practice mostly at home and don't crank the volume up much. It has a headphone socket if I need to keep it quiet and it will rattle the roof if I turn it right up.

I bought this as a practice amp with the intention of using a separate digital effects unit. My requirement was for a good honest clean sound. I went to a large music store and tried out everything they had. This amp had the truest clean sound and was absolutely silent while I wasn't playing, all the others hissed or buzzed in the background. My guitar is a Fender California Strat with ash body and Seymour-Duncan single pole pick-ups. With this amp I can really hear the tone and resonance of the guitar (amazing what a fresh set of strings does too!). Thats on the clean channel. I have failed to get a decent sound out of the overdrive channel. The reverb is excellent in low to mid range. All sounds deteriorate as the volume gets high. Keep it in mid-volume to get good sounds.

Solid construction isn't going to break. Good quality celestion speakers. I've had no faults in six months practicing use.

Seems OK to me but I've had no problems.

I came back to playing 2 years ago after a longish lay-off. This amp suits me for practice using external effects units. The clean sound and reverb are great, the overdrive sucks. If it were stolen I might buy the same thing again or maybe go for an amp with built-in effects from Marshall or Line-6. But for the money, using the nice clean sound on the Carlsboro and external effects is hard to beat.

Good features, spring reverb and such ... however, maybe I've been spoiled by owning a Sessionette 75 and an old HH for too long. I really dislike the sound this amp makes. It's way too transistorified, I'm talking metal mickey here guys, and even after spending many ear crunching, ass numbing hours trying to resurrect some kind of tone from this dead zone I have to admit defeat. I admit it. I paid good money for this amp, and I have no-one to blame but myself. The amp is currently residing in the spare bedroom underneath all of the kitchen equipment we don't use, and has been there for some 18 months. I do dig it out occasionally and plug in to see whether or not it's just me being hyper-critical, but I'm here to tell you I'm not. My advice? Don't get one.

Oh dear, here we go again. Read the previous section once more and allow the truly dreadful drone of this amp to drip, like lukewarm oatmeal, into your otherwise excellent ears. Please don't buy this amp ... my mother didn't raise any liers.

I've owned it for about 18 months and I've never used it for more than half an hour at any one time. A body can only stand so much. I'd never gig it because it sounds so awful, I'm sure Carlsboro are a fine bunch of men and women, but I think this amp is the turd in their company swimming pool.

See above. However, I do sometimes wonder if the non-corporate, non-profiteering members of Carlsboro PLC are truly happy about amps like this hound being sold to a mostly unsuspecting public. I know I sleep well at night.

If you're completely determined to sound like a demented cat in a tin shed then buy one. If not, don't. I wish someone would steal it so I could claim on the insurance. I've tried selling it but I think people would consider buying pornography involving Margeret Thatcher and a small dachshund before they'd part with money for this. It's like a road accident that you can avoid, so drive safely and avoid it.

Standard 2 channel guitar amp with reverb. Could use separate EQ on each channel. Sturdy, holds up (had mine 2 years now without a problem-had it imported to US since Carlsbro doesn't distribute to USA. clean tone is fine and Overdrive channel has enough drive for all but the fugliest metal head. Reverb gets false sounding when driven hard but is fine when used sparingly. Red cloth looks great.

Using both Humbuckers and Single Coil guitars. Works well with both-Overdrive for hums and clean channel for singles is the best environment. Run mid control low and Bass almost midway with treble full for brightest, cleanest tone with heavy overdrive (or maybe my hearing is going!)Definitely has its own tone in overdrive. Don't run it flat out- The speakers seem to object (15 watt 2 x 8" Celestions)and affect the sound.

Have used it on gigs, at home and recording. Never a problem (good thing since it would cost a bundle to ship it back to England for warranty work!

2 year warranty I believe-never needed to use it. Sales staff were great (online contact only).

Been playing 30+ years. Also own Hiwatts, a very small Laney combo and an old Carlsbro 100 watt tube amp. Owned Marshall in the past too. I like the crunchy British amp sound

The 30 watt combo has a good clean sound if you pile on the bass and mids. Its a twin channel combo with eq only on the clean sound. The distortion channel provides lots of wild feed-back if you turn it up, but tends to sound rubbish if you want to use it for a desent solo. Good begginners amp. Ideal for a jam in your mates garage, but not loud enough for a gig.
Overall, I would say, good begginners practice amp, but not a good alrounder.
The two channels are switchable with the f.s provided.

I personaly use a gibson les paul with the amp. Sounds good if you use the clean channel with treble on 10, bass on 6 and mids on 5. Gives a great rythmn or picking sound using the les paul's neck pickup.
The middle position sounds good with the gain channel on 3/4. Gives great overtoans, but sounds extremely distorteed. If you turn the bass to 3/4 you get a great brutal, bassy soloing sound.

Never had any problems with the amp. The celestion speakers seam to never cause any problems either. Could e a reliable amp for a gig, but needs putting through the P.A system to give it that extra volume.

Authorised service centres arn't easy to find. If you live in the North East, try Vamps music in Washington, or maybe sound control in Newcastle, or Windows.

I think if it were stolen I'd spend a bit more on another new amp, possibly a fender/ laney combo, just for the extra beef, and the volume.
Good begginners amp.