Carvin AG100

This is a 98 bought on ebay 3 years ago. Honestly, I love it. It is great for a band to own one. Our band plays 60's thru 90's rock. Very versatile...we use it practicing, running two mikes and a guitar thru. It will sound Ok for our keyboard player, for guitars, for bass so it is the perfect one backup amp to own. We can even run mikes thru it if the PA dies but it never has. I use it myself with acustic guitar and line out to the PA for more control and also with a few tweaks I run my electric thru it. Very treble sound so great for rythmn guitar players but I crank it with pedals for my leads and it cuts thru and defines well.

I play either Carvin AE185, Strat, or Michael Kelly phoenix HT. Acoustics? I play either my Martin J40 or Ovation depending upon the venue. Sounds great with all. Great clean sound...effects are OK, and thru pedals, sounds clear and defined even with distortion.

Never any problems..we throw it all over town with never any problems. Light weight and easy to deal with also.

I have had good communication and service from the company. They helped me thru minor amp problems (needed fuses) evn though it was second hand. They sent me free parts and agreed to pay for some minor concerns with my warranted guitar so I would not have to ship to them.

Been playing since age 8 (pushing 50 now) and with the band for 4 years. Also have, and use, Peavey bandit 110, Crate 212. I would buy another in a heartbeat if for no other reason than the great backup value for all instruments and the use for practice. Tube heads want an amp that's 75 lbs. Trust me,,,the audience could care less and this thing is 30 some lbs and sounds just fine.

it's a mini pa with inputs for microphone, bass or keyboards or acoustic guitar. Doesn't matter how many features it has though because the power transformer on it went after only 3 years and Carvin will not send you another one even if you want to buy it. They want you to just buy another amp. They will not ship out another power transformer to you.

Does not make any sounds at all since the power transformer went after only 3 years of use and they will not ship me a replacement part so I can't fix it either. I refuse to buy another one because I don't trust that another amp from these guys will last either.

The power transformer went after only 3 years of use. I didn't even use it often at all.

They refused to send me a replacement power transformer even though i wanted to pay for it. They only wanted to try to trick me into buying another amp. I wouldn't buy anything else from these guys ever.

Don't trust Carvin. They have horrible customer service and shotty made amps.

My amp is an older one, I think I got it the second year they made them, maybe like 5 years ago. Its got a 10 inch speaker and spring reverb, they don't make those any more. Its got plenty of features which is why I got it. Three channels, one for guitar, one for bass or CD, and best of all one for a microphone. I mostly use it for vocals at practice and for a powered monitor on stage. It gets a lot of use.

Acually, I'm not too impressed with any sound this thing makes, even though I use it all the time. Its a decent bass amp, but not very loud. For vocals its good. For guitar, I'll have to say it sucks. I just don't like it for acoustic or electric, all those EQ knobs don't do me any good.

I've fixed it myself. It acually didn't take long for me to start taking the thing apart. Right out of the box it had rattles, just screws to be tightend, the reverb tank was a little loose. The pots and jacks are attached directly to the circuit board and once an input jack came loose. Also the plastic shafts on the pots break off easily, definatly be extra careful handling this amp. The reverb hums a bit. This amp works all the time, an average of one rehersal and one gig a week for a few years.

I've never called them

I've been playing for over 20 years, in a working band for the last five. If I lost this amp I would get another one. It does everything alright but nothing really good. Its a tool. At gigs I don't bring a backup for it, its the backup for everthing eles. Every band should have one.

Received amp from Carvin yesterday (2/9/01). Amp is primarily designed for acoustic-electric guitar, or as a mini PA for small solo act gigs. Features are why I bought it. Channel 1 is for acoustic-electric, Channel 2 for instrument or line level (bass gtr.,drum machine, etc.), and Channel 3 has an XLR for mike, or another instrument/line level. There are 2 digital effects channels (pick delay,reverb,chorus,or flange), either of which can be assigned to any of the 3 channels(chorus on gtr., reverb on voc., for example). I bought it for the very occasional solo gigs,and for fill-in low volume bass gigs. However, there's another use that so far Carvin hasn't thought of in their ads: it's a powered monitor. I play mostly electric gtr. in a classic hits trio, and the bands PA will only allow 2 house speakers, and 2 monitors. but the Kawai powered mixer we use has a line out, which I plugged into channel 2 of the Carvin. With the 5 band EQ to help tame feedback, I was able to not only have a monitor, but a monitor that reflects what the house mix is. The amp is 100 watts RMS into a 12" woofer and a tweeter, but I wouldn't call it a loud 100 watts.

Gig-wise, I've only used it to monitor vocals, and the electric-acoustic I occasionally use (plugged into house PA). I have a fill-in bass gig coming up soon, so I'll know better how it works as a bass rig. In trying channel 2 at home with a bass, you have to turn up the channel volume pretty high (because the input can accept low level instruments all the way to line level CD players). And on channel 2 there are bass boost and mid cut buttons, and it sounded better with the bass boost on with bass gtr. On Channel 1 (the acoustic-electric channel, there are mid cut and high boost buttons...and the midrange knob can be boosted or cut, and you can change where the midrange is centered. Trying channel 1 with my Washburn EA-20, I boosted the midrange, and moved the frequency knob until I got the most "honk". Then I turned the midrange knob down, effectively getting rid of the honkiest part of the sound. I also tried the mike channel (channel 3) and even though there's only low and high controls on the channel, and 5 band master, I was able to dial in a decent vocal sound. Although I haven't tried a drum machine or a keyboard thru the AG-100, I suspect they'll sound good. About the only instrument that wouldn't sound good is electric guitar, and for that I've got several other amps, but none of them make a decent bass amp or PA !

Too early to tell. Presuming it's well made to begin with, there's not too much that can go wrong with a solid state amp with some headroom.

Warranty is for one year. Ordered the amp on a Wednesday evening, it was here (from San Diego to Massachusetts) 9 days later. I did get the cover with it...should help keep the amp looking nice for a while.

Been playing for over 30 years. This is kind of a specialty item...an acoustic-electric amp, solo small room PA, small bass amp combination.
I think it could be a little louder, but the versatility, light weight, built-in effects, relative ease of operation, make it a great deal (under $500 inc. shipping and a cover). If it were stolen or lost, I'm not sure if I'd get another one...I made it through life so far without one...but I know I'm going to find lots of uses for it, and I'll probably begin to rely on it.

This amp was really easy to use and I was able to get a great sound right away for my Washburn D10 and for the vocals. The 5-band EQ is a really nice touch to round out the desired sound.

The amp always sounded great for the over 3 years that I used it. I usually play between 3-4 gigs a week and it was always a reliable source to insure that my sound would be good. After 3 years of use, it totally bailed on me - and I was always so careful and delicate with this amp. At a gig one afternoon, it just started making a terrible static noise and would not stop even when I turned down the volume of all the channels. Needless to say, I have not used the amp since and can't find anyone who can fix it because it's a Carvin and no one says they know a thing about Carvin.

Refer to the earlier paragraph - definitely not a good investment for only using it 3 years!

Never delt with the company.

It just was not worth the money to invest in an amp that served me well for 3 years then totally cuts out.

I bought this amp in 97. I wanted an acoustic amp with a xlr mike input that i could carry around and that I could afford. I mostly play with friends at partys and can get treated pretty rough around a bunch of drunks so if somebody wreaks it Im not out a lot of cash. For this application its pretty much ideal. By the way, I use it for acoustic guitar only with a bass pluged in the second channel sometime and a sm58 mike on channel 3

I mostly play a Yairi DY 70 with fishman matrix at these so called get togethers and at home I play a HD-28 with a LR Baggs ribbon. This amp has no clipping distorstion built in which is good for an acostic amp/ pa. I have tried electric guitars with distortion but you really miss the tubes in that application. I never have turned and channel up all the way. Never needed to where I play. I can annoy people at a little more than 1/4 to 1/2 volume. The only problem is when you change guitars you half to retweek the two acoustic blend knobs for just about anything you plug into it. I guess its good to have such a wide resposive band but it does loose some of its simplisity here. Keep note or mark your knobs

I do use it without a backup. I have never had any trouble with this amp. Its starting to look a little rough but its still fine. Problebly a little better because Ive learned to get the best out of it over the last few years.

Have not delt with Carvin. I have gotten mixed reports from other people.

Ive been playing about 6 years. I have a strat, tele, sure mikes, stompboxes and a small rack I use with the AG-100. People compane about the reverb on this amp and most others for that matter. Do yourself and buy a Lexicon MXP 100, a BBE sonic maximiser and run it through your effects loop on your AG-100. You will have all the reverb you can stand plus many other effects. It works on your vocals channel too if you want it too. The BBE adds the sparkle that a lot of cheap acoustic amps cant reproduce. Its not top of the line by any means but neather am I, as I get better, so will my equitment. I could not bring out the best of a 2500 dollar amp right now.

Got mine the first month they were out. Bought it primarily for practicing with a mic and found out it works great for duets with a line splitter. Haven't used the Bass channel but have loaned it to a friend who said it worked fine. As with the rest of the reviewers the reverb is weak. Mine has the 12 inch speaker.

Playing a Takamine sc325 w/onboard graphic EQ you can turn it completely off and dial tone in on the amps EQ. I found it easier to do that to get a more even balance than tweeking both. Vocals dial in easier than the guitar. This amp was big enough to do any venue and I've used it alot. I've lately compared my amp to the latest acoustic amps out there and with the exception of the lack of chorus the AG still holds it's own.

Hasn't quit on me yet.

Had one of the knob centers fall out. Called to get a replacement,(one), and the dude from Carvin told me you had to buy a sack full of em,(12). Other than that I haven't dealt with them.

Been playing 25+yrs. and I like my AG 100 just fine. I have yet to hear an acoustic combo that sounds as good as running a guitar through a PA but with a built in PA this unit works great. I don't know if I'd buy another acoustic combo but I plan on purchasing one of Carvins guitars the next time I take the plunge. They advertise "biggest bang for the buck" and I'd have to agree.

1998 Yes, rock, pop, and blues. 3 channels. No. Yes. Yes. Overdrive and more tone knobs on channel 2. To get better sound. No. My house. Yes. Solid state, has external speaker jack, and has equalizer.

Acoustic Martin thin line pickup and Yamaha bass in channel 2. It suits it well (rock, pop, and blues). Yes. Channel 2, by a large sterio system. Revrb. Not much Yes. Channel 2. Pretty bad.

Yes. No. No.

I haven't dealt with the company. No. Not really. 1 year.

8 months 7 days. None Get something else. The tone. It picks up radio signals. No. None. It seemed like a good practice amp. Overdrive and more tone knobs. No.

10-inch speaker model with compact cabinet, otherwise identical to the 12-inch model. Three channels: 1. Guitar, acoustic/electric with 3- band EQ & effect send; 2. Bass, drum machine, or other second input with bass & treble control; 3. XLR mic input with bass & treble and effect send. Internal spring reverb which can be bypassed by external effects effects loop. 5-band graphic EQ for the overall amp. Switchable piezo tweeter which adds a nice top end for things like a drum machine. Solid state rated 100 watts; surprisingly loud for such a little box.
No channel switching: all three inputs are always on. It's designed as a "one-man-band" amp and works well for the classic setup of guitar, drum machine, and mic.
I'm rating this an 8: not as a guitar amp, but as a do-everything amp.

This is basically a clean, hi-fi amp; no distortions. You wouldn't want this as your main guitar amp because it doesn't have any real "tone" of its own. But with an overdrive pedal in front of it, it makes a decent backup or secondary amp. And you can use the EQ controls and acoustic/electric switch to get a decent clean tone. The internal reverb is a dull sounding little spring tank---nothing special. You won't get "surf" with this setup!
I've used this amp to play bass when practicing with a power trio --- with a loud drummer--- and actually had to turn it DOWN. Amazing for a tiny box with a single 10-inch speaker. You'd swear that little 10- inch would fry putting out so much volume, but it just keeps going. They say the 12-inch version plays even louder.
I use a Shure SM-58 for vocals on the XLR input, and it works great. The EQ means you can get some pretty high mic volume before feedback, and it stays clean. Bringing the AG100 along guarantees that I'll have a working PA for vocals. My regular guitar amp is a Super Reverb and sometimes I don't want to lug that beast around, so I bring the Carvin instead. It's not unusual to have all 3 inputs operating, and everything stays nice and clean---even with vocals and bass coming through the same speaker!
By the way: don't expect to get much more sound by adding an external speaker. The ext speaker jack is in series with the internal speaker, so the amp will see a higher impedance and produce less power. This protects the amp, but it also means you need to be satisfied with the volume the AG-100 produces on its own. The AG100 is a compact little powerhouse, but not something you're gonna drive a 4-by-12 cab with.
Points off for the crummy reverb, but a big spring tank wouldn't fit in a box this size. Considering its purpose, I give it an 8.

I've had this amp for a year and a half, and I take it along every time I play out. Never a problem. The cabinet is really solid, yet surprisingly light. The amp chassis sheet metal seems kind of thin, but it's recessed into the cabinet so it's not really exposed to damage anyway. This amp has never let me down. On general principle, though, I wouldn't gig without a backup.

Never needed any support on this amp. But I returned a Carvin Vintage 33 amp after a week (because I hated the sound) and they took it back with absolutely no hassle at all. They actually apologized for their product not being satisfactory to me! I've bought a bunch of stuff from the Carvin Hollywood store and they've always been respectful and helpful. So I've gotta give 'em a 10 for excellent service.

I've been playing over 30 years, have several Fender guitars and others, a couple other amps, a bass, keyboards, drum machine, etc--- all the usual stuff. I play with a couple different bands and I always bring the AG100 along, regardless of what else I take. It's so useful: in one tiny box I have my PA, my backup amp, plus an extra if somebody else needs to plug in. Anybody who jams or gigs should have one of these. If it were lost/stolen, I'd have to get another. Which is a problem, because they've discontinued the 10" version. The 12" would be good too, just not as compact.

This is the 10". All the other user comments are accurate on the features. I also like the effects return (on back) for use as a PA amp line-in.

Using a custom wired Fender dreadnaught with stereo endpin for bridge (piezo) and mag (Dean Markley soundhole with removable inside plug.) I use an ART FX-1 effects unit which is pretty minimalistic, but really better than the onboard verb which is a waste. Carvin's 100D comes with the effects, and were that available at the time I purchased (over 1 year ago), I may have gone that way. Anyhow, with this set-up, when it's good, it's absolutely great.
I have found many problems with ambient electronic fields and possibly less than great cables. I still believe that if all outboard attachements were immaculate, the amp might me less of a problem, but I've found so many wierd situations that I've not been able to pin down the causes, nor lay it firmly at the feet of the amp. (Carvin, if you read this, HELP!) I've upgraded and sanitized a lot, and used other than my axe without the FX-1, but still wonder what I'm going to run into at the next site.

My cats are not attracted to the Duratuff, so it's still immaculate. I have a dog that prefers vinyl, so I'd probably stick with this cover.
See the Sound comments for reliability, but it seems physically bulletproof.

Unfortunately, I've not contacted them.

Been messing around most of my life (35 years of playing), but am new to amps. Did have a Carvin 450 and Alesis Q-verb, but sold it to buy the 100 because of compactness. Now I'm with other folk doing contemporary and rock Christian/up-beat music. I chose Carvin because of the 450 and their fantastic catalogue. Compared to Roland and Peavey chorus amps in shops. Also own a Peavey TNT100 bass amp. Love everything except the noise problem. They should skip the on-board reverb and wire in a gate, instead.