Carlsbro Stingray 212 Combo

Just what one would expect - no bells & whistles here: Hi/lo inputs, switchable clean/OD channels, the OD channel with 4-band (I think) tone controls, reverb, all solid-state design. Dual footswitch option for reverb and channel switching. Basically OK - feature-wise, that is...

This is by far the worst sounding guitar amp I have EVER laid my hands on. Period. I was the miserable owner of it for a prolonged period of some year and a half around '80 when I was 16 and broke. The clean channel was sorta okay as long as you didn't crank up the volume too loud but still sounded like the amp was playing inside a cardboard box. The overdrive channel sounded - well, the words fail me... I guess it sounded mostly like it was broken, no matter what kind of guitar you plugged into it, and no matter how much you twisted the knobs. With a decent couple of stomp boxes and the clean channel only it would probably pass as a backup for a practice amp.

As I said, it sounded like it was broken. It was very consistent in doing so, though, and it would very predictably screw up the sound of any instrument you put through it.

I don't think they would want to talk to me if they knew what was good for them...

If I ever ran over one of these again, I would either hit it hard with something heavy just as a service to mankind, or I would stay outside a 10 ft security radius. If you find one, be sure to do the same.

I got this amp with fairly misguided descriptions of its features, but it looks late 70's/early 80s. Hi/Low channels (each with clean/bright jack inputs), presence, bass, mid, treble,gain, sustain, volume. And the inbuilt "suzz" sustain/fuzz effect. I believe this amp is a 150watt valve combo, which sounds an insane prospect in this day & age. My main reason for picking up this amp on the cheap was to use as a slave for a 100watt head, any road this thing is so powerful I ended up slaving the 100 watt head instead! For a combo it is a serious volume beast mainly due to its closed back construction. I got told to turn down at the practice rooms last week cos' it was shaking the ceilings!??! It's one of the loudest amps I've heard/used and can be played at concussive volume levels, if so desired. Even at 1-2 it overpowers the drums!

I mainly use the clean channel (normal input) all dials tuned full, aside from treble/middle which go halfway. There are bright inputs but I'm not looking for crisp or clean. I tried the suzz once or twice but it sounds like you're losing the option of maximum gain for a thin weird sounding distortion. This amp would be pretty unsuitable for most styles I think, unless you like playing heavy sustained stuff. I use this combo with a RAT pedal & it sounds amazing... the addition of a preamp seems to boost the headroom tenfold! My style of music is heavy/slow/loud and for that it works a treat. I play an old Gordon Smith and in combination with the stingray is a recipe for an exceptionally meaty tone with infinite sustain! If you're looking for an amp with a big, loud sound then this is ideal. Most people would most likely want to push this thing off a cliff but I cannot argue with no frills power (and its killer mesh grill pattern).

Reliable so far! it has delivered each time at practice & for gigs. Fairly indestructable & has the great addition of having wheels.

who knows?

I've been playing for over 10 years & I like playing instruments/amp made in the UK where possible. If it were lost/stolen I'd definately seek out a new one as long as I could pick one up for #100... I love its capacity for volume.

I have no idea what year it was made in but the guy I bought it off said he had had it for 10 years. Mine is a Stingray 2 it has Hi-Low inputs, presense, base, mid, treble,gain, sustain, volume. That it. This amp cant really do much. I don't know what style it does suit. I play blues, jazz, rock and most things in between. This amp can't get a single good tone out of it. No channel switching no second channel full stop. NO effects loop or headphone jack. If i decided to build an amp out of stuff in my garage it would probably look somewhat like this. Very poor

I play a Ibanex rg170dx through a morley wah and marshall jackhammer. It has humbuckers and with my first practice amp that i bought sounds amazing. This amp makes it sound like it's burried in a pile of shit. As stated before i can't actually think what style it suits. When you turn it up loud the fuzz kicks in at about 1/8 way round the volume and gain at 1/2. It isn't a sweat, soomth overdrive either.i just dont bother trying to get a decent distortion so I bought the jackhammer pedal. It can go very loud but mine just cuts out at half way so thats pretty useless. At the moment its just a 30kg practice amp!

I can't use this amp because it does cut out at half volume. The speaker cloth is falling off and so is the badge. I took the amp chassis out and found that it is clogged to the brim with crud. Cleaned it out and it didnt make the slightest difference. This amp has been neglected and I don't blame the guy before me.

I dont no. I'm not even going to bother.

SHIIIIIITTTTT

Combo amp with 2x12 speakers

This amp sounds like shit and i'm started to woundering what i could use it for. Then i connected my PODxt right into the power amp in the back and (not infront)......whoops it sounded great!!!! I'm now thinkin of use it for smaller gigs, it's got a lots of power and should be perfect for this kind of gigs. My main guitar rig is Bogner Fish and Soldano X-88 pre-amps and VHT 2150 power amp so you can understand that my sound is very importent to me. I'm really gonna start to use this amp a lot more now.

I haven't used this amp very much until now.

The pre-amp in this amp really sucks but with a POD or another preamp right in the power amp it will sound more then good....Rock'n Roll

Late 80's 2x12 150w amp. Built in Reverb, Chorus and Vibrato - totally useless. This model is called the Stingray Multichorus, has the terrible parametric EQ and no overdrive facilities built-in.
Produces appalling sounds at any level. Nearly all Carlsbro amps sound this poor though, the designeres must never have heard a decent Fender amp for the benchmark in clean sounds, or a Marshall for dist sounds.

Basically a very loud "clean only" amp. I only ever used to run it as the RH side from my rack preamp. In a couple of wors, it really is a pile of shit!! Awful reverb, chorus and vibrato effects, plus next to useless parametric EQ. Chorus effect actually adds distortion into signal chain (from poor quality compoenets, no doubt)

It's always been reliable, until I smash it to pieces later tonight!!!!!!!!

N/A, I'd like to get my hands on the clown who designed this though - it's absolute shit!!!!!!!

Terrible - who the hell would design amps so un-musical in tone??. I'm going to smash it up or Burn it tonight at a gig. We've bought some really cheap Squier guitars to trash/burn, and they are all going into the Carlsbro - it's gonna die tonight!! (I did tell the other guys to save the speakers though...). I think it will be hard to smash given the tough construction of the cabinet, but we managed to trash a #30 organ in a wooden cabinet recently (our KB player records with us on a Hammond, but uses cheap "home organs" for gigs, as they're expendable). If we fail in our objectives, we've agreed to remove said amp section and use for a PA slave amp. Today, I have lots of quality amps, Vox, Fender, Roland and Marshall vintage, I bought this a long time ago and have been unable to sell even for the most paltry sum. We primarily play Jazz, "Cop funk" Hammond/guitar driven music and straight Atlantic/Stax soul.
When I started out, I used this briefly, but found it awful, soon switching to a Fender Concert followed by Fender Twins (my favourite amp to this day).