Carr Amplifiers Raleigh

This the Raleigh, one of the newest offerings from Steve Carr, Mine was build in Oct 2008. It is a small 1-10 combo, 3watt (1EL-84, 2 12AX7s),little buddy hemp cone 10" speaker. This amp is designed for great tone at managable volume. Primary uses might be for small room practice, recording, and small venues. It has a master switch which engages an overdrive. Wish it had a foot pedal for that switch, other than that very sturdy, and great size.

I play this amp with a John Suhr (SSH) standard and/or a PRS CE-24. Both guitars retain thier own voice with this amp. The amp enhances the guitar not cover the tone of the instrument. My style of playing is classic rock, blues, and country. This amp covers each of these very well. Cleans are rich and chimey with plenty of room to raise volume without getting too dirty. With the Mawster switch engaged the amp comes alive with great break-up and natural drive. The tube breakup matches with speaker drive and creates great blusey tones. It also takes pedals very well. I use an MXR Distortion and MXR Carbon Copy delay.

The craftsmanship build on this amp is excellent. I visited the Carr Amp shops in Pitsboro and was given a tour, the guys there were great and willing to tell me about the products and I got to see some handwiring process and chasis being built. The amp has been used regularly for the past 10 months (several times a week) in both practice and live settings. When mic'd this amp can play with the big boys. No problems, ever.

Never had a problem with the amp, but the guys at Carr Amps are very responsive to reply to any questions, and will even show you around if you stop by.

Overall a great little amp. Small enough to be easy to carry and fits in those small places so very well. A great recording amp due to its power rating. It dosn't have to hide in a isolation booth to get great "pushed" tone. I love the size and tone out of such a small beast. Only draw backs are the lack of a foot switch and the price.