Carvin AG100D 112 Combo

Lot's of little extras that you only appreciate after operating the amp. Built in digital effects are a plus, especially the chorus.

I purchased this for use with an acoustic guitar and was very pleased because you can customize the sound it produces. I have also used it for a bass guitar in a small venue setting and it has a nice bass sound that can be tweeked.

I've never had a failure or problem of any kind in almost ten years.

Never need customer support

I've been playing bass guitar and guitar for over 30 years. I shopped around for acoustic guitar amps and chose this one and have never regreted it. It had more power than most of the compeition and with 3 channels it is versatile. I love the green color of the exterior. Do yourself a favor and invest in a Carvin cover for it. It has kept the amp in new condition.

I bought two to use in acoustic/electric live band.

Did what advertised.

Same as the rest of you poor suckers. Both are unreliable and cut out at most unoppertune times. (LIVE in front of a crowd!)

Terrible as stated, They'll sell you a new head. sell sell sell.

One is a doorstop, one is an amp stand for another amp. I would give it to an enemy, but bad Karma stops me.

Bought new 2004
very versatile with 3 channels I thought for bass & acsoutic
i play jazz bass at coffee houses etc.

each channel is ok but not much power for a 100watts. muct be 100watts divided by 3 channels.
can't really get an good acoustic sound.
bass not bad though,
keyboard channel good
no distortion at max volumes

Here's the problem, I mostly used this at home off and on but mostly it just set around collecting dusk up until about 9 months ago, when i started playing gigs as a jazz bass player. About 4 monthes ago all the symptoms started happening as others have stated. popping, crackling in the speakers, then started cutting out and clicking no sound. I tuned if off then came back one then cutting our again on and off. I only have one amp for my bass or acoustic and cannot depend on this thing. i'll be shopping for a new amp soon in the middle of our busy season gigging every weekend at small venues. Carvin has lost all my future buisness. I can't afford to buy more gear that doesn't purchased work though the mail all the way across the US. I might Look for a amp head i can use with the speaker 8 ohm. the AG100D supoose to have a 300watt speaker now I wonder about that too..
the advertisement for this amp was said to be so great, i wonder how much they paid them for lying about it. would be great amp if you could actually use it.

Didn't waste mty time calling carvin after reqding other reviews.
They got the money I got the shaft...
no more mail order purchases.

build well, solid, good speaker.
power amp worthless, unreliable.
don't buy this thing unless you have money flush.

This is a follow-up to my review in Jan. 2006. I ordered my AG100D, new, about four years ago. I run a Roland GR33 guitar synth through channel 1, my piezo-acoustic through channel 2, and, sometimes, vocals through channel 3. I do not play out, regularly, but I use this amp for small to medium indoor gigs and for practice. So far the features and power have been ideal.

I use a Brian Moore guitar with humbuckers and piezo-acoustic pickups, which also feed into the 13-pin synth output. I also use an Alvarez electric acoustic. I play a variety of styles of music: electric, acoustic, rock, and Motown or Atlantic soul from the 60's onward. The Carvin is great for tone shaping, since each channel has independent EQ. There is also a 5-band master EQ and a tweeter level pot. You could not ask for more capability in one small package.

After very little light use at home and a few gigs, my AG100D started cutting out at random. I was not willing to pay high shipping and repair costs for an intermittent problem, so I took it to a local amp wizard. He fixed a cold solder joint, but the cut-outs continued so I took it back. He kept it for 4 weeks, unable to recreate the cutouts. Finally he observed the problem and installed a larger heat sink; I just got it back. I am running the amp for hours at a time and testing it when I can, and it seems OK, but I am afraid to rely on it without back-up.
NEW INFO: The amp started to cut out again, and badly, I finally broke down and called/e-mailed Carvin. The service was great,and like other reviewers have said, Carvin obviously knew the problem that I was having. It cost me about $160.00 total for shipping and repair, and I have felt fairly confident that the amp was fixed, HOWEVER, I have begun to practice while running a vocal mike and my electric acoustic, and the amp now cuts out when I hit certain notes on the first or second string of the guitar. The sound will come back after a half-second, but if you strum a chord such as a bar chord on the 3rd fret and above, the amp totally shuts down until you stop strumming. Carvin has ignored my e-mails for the past week. They also deny that the AG100D has had problems, although about 40% of all the reviews I have found point out a poor reliability rating. I dropped off the amp with my local tech, this morning, and I hope he will fix it, After that I am done, and will probably not buy from Carvin, again.

Carvin helped me to get the amp to them for repair, and sent it back promptly. I just can not keep paying shippig and repair bills for an amp that was never reliable, should be working fine, and obvously has design problems. They should not ignore a "valued customer" after all of this. I have other amps-Fender, Peavey, and Music Man that have worked fine for 5 years up to 40 years with no repairs needed other than routine tube replacement or cleaning.

I have been playing guitar for 42 years. I have several electrics and acoustics, and a variety of guitar amps. I also have a big Peavey KBA300 keyboard amp. I love the Carvin's capability and sound flexibility, but the lack of reliability makes it unacceptable.

It's all been said above.

Sounds very clean. I play a Carvin Cobalt C450TS acoustic bass out of it. Sounds awesome.

Carvin rocks. This amp stopped working on me the night before Easter. I had a big gig on Easter and was really worried. I noticed a little cap above the power. Long story short - opened her up. Comes with an extra fuse right inside. Changed it out and we're good to go.

Great design Carvin!

Really good. I work down the street from a Carvin store and they are really good.

Really good amp. Very versatile. I can plug in my acoustic bass, my son's acoustic guitar and my other son's electric piano. We are all in the living room having a great time. Sounds really clean too. It's like a mini PA.

Great Amp.

great features, everything you need, however speakers aren't great; see below

tried every configuration with the onboard EQ and couldn't get a decent sound. then I tried a LR BAGGS Paracoustic DI and the sound was better, but still nothing great. after reading ricky shroeder above, I thought the problem might be with the speakers so I replaced the 12" with a JBL as recommended by a local amp genius. got lotsa bass but the highs sucked. then I talked to a local PA genius and he said try a regular guitar speaker. did that and the guitar sounded better but the mic sucked. I was about ready to sell it on EBAY when I remembered I had an ancient AR ACOUSTIC amp that had 2 8" coaxial speakers. the AR ACOUSTIC is an old company that makes amps sort of like bastard grandads of ULTRASOUND. I plugged the amp into the speakers and IT SOUNDED LIKE SOMETHING I"VE BEEN TRYING TO GET OUT OF AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR AMP FOR YEARS: lotsa volume, "grind" on the top end (not distortion) body...everything I was looking for.

so the problem then was how to get the two amps combined. I took the modular head out of the Carvin (easy, four screws) and took a sabre saw to the AR ACOUSTIC (similar, if not the same chassis as an Ultrasound) and with a fair amount of serious modification to the box, was able to mount the head of the CARVIN on the AR ACOUSTIC box. plugged it in and it sounds unreal; and is lighter than the AG100D.

what does this mean to you? if you are a fingerstylist you might want to find 2 8" coaxial speakers (meaning with tweeter) like an ultrasound or marshall use (I believe) and make your own cabinet or hotrod a twin 8" cab and install the modular head unit from the Carvin.

the difference is amazing. I do some vocals live and the AG100D was better by itself for a mic/vocal sound. but since I mainly play fingerstyle, now the feature is on the guitar sound which was less than adequate before I hooked up these speakers. now its the best I've heard from an amp--especially considering the price.

if you've had problems, have your local tech resolder AC input board and main power supply board rather than ship it to Carvin. this worked for the previous owner of this amp when it was cutting out.

not great, from what I've read here.

I bought this amp 6 months ago mainly because I've owned Carvin equipment in the past and was happy with it but also because I wanted the versatility that an ALL-IN-ONE amp could provide...meaning I could plug my guitar into it plus a mic and my porchboard bass. One amp for all 3 purposes. This amp has 3 channels and each is nicely configured with a good selection of options, features and tonal capabilities. I've been very happy with it.

My acoustic sings through it and I even use an electric guitar with it after passing the signal through a Seymour Duncan twin Tube preamp pedal. It strengthens the signal and warms it up a bit so the electric sounds good. I have also used modeling pedals with it and they sound great as well. This is essentialy a PA...no colored sound here so it works great with modelers. The mic / vocals channel is great as well and sounds fantastic with my harmonizer.

I've had it for 6 months and have had no issues at all. At times i push it to its limits and its never, ever faltered. If there were problems with this amp they have evidently fixed them in the latest ones...like I said...mine is fairly new, about 6 months old.

I only called carvin once about hooking up an extension spesaker and they were great!

Since the amp does everything they claim it does, and it sounds great no matter what I use it with, and since its held up for 6 months of steady use without a problem and since tech support was great I'd rate it a 10 overall. By the way I also own a Roland KC-550 which has 4 channels vs the carvin at 3 channels. I also love the Roland KC-550 but at 65lbs vs the Carvin at 35lbs the Carvin is also a lot easier to haul around. Unless I think I'll need the Rolands 180 watts vs the Carvins 100 watts I'll take the Carvin with me!!!!!

Not bad.

I did not buy this amp for large venues, but I must say it noticeably lacks headroom in the volume department, even for solo gigs at the local restaurant. For that reason I haven't used it much even though it has many more features than my little Crate PA head.

I bought my AG100D in 2001 and for personal reasons did not use it for over a year while it sat in my studio with my other gear. The first time I started using it regularly, it had just gone out of warranty and the external speaker jack was dead. Carvin customer service said sorry buddy but you're SOL. I licked my wounds and went on using the amp without extension speaker as a band practice monitor. Never really used the amp much because we did our gigs with other equipment. Then in early 2006 I began using the amp again as a practice monitor and after two months I started getting snaps and pops whenever the amp was on. I don't think I've powered up this unit more than 75 times in 6 years and so I must be honest... I think this amp is made with junk. And I don't think I'm being too harsh because I'm comparing it to my little Crate PA head which has been used regularly for 15 years and is still running strong.

In frustration I wrote a nasty email to Carvin who then offered free repair to the unit if I shipped to to them. This is the first time that Carvin has behaved in a magnanimous way and I have to give them credit for changing their ways... at least this one time. My prior dealing with them has not been productive so I'm going to average my rating with a 4. They've still got my amp (third week)so I can't report whether the unit is fixed or reliable. But after reading the other reviews, I'd like to believe that they have admitted to themselves that they built a piece of junk and cannot afford to operate a business and not stand behind their product.

Unfortunately, I cannot in good conscience recommend their product nor their company, because there are plenty of other manufacturers willing to do whatever it takes to make things right.

If a year or two from now, I'm happy with the repaired amp, I'll write a more positive review... if I think of it.

I've been performing for 40 years but not much as a soloist. So I haven't owned a lot of sound reinforcement gear over the years. I bought the AG100D as the perfect versatile unit to last me for a long time. Boy !!! was that a mistake. Carvin has a reputation for nice custom designs and top quality, but I think their reputation went to their head and they stumbled into the gutter. I'll go elsewhere for future purchases.

I bought the amp in the new Sacramento Carvin store about a month or so ago. So it's the new version. I bought it because I happened to have my 77 sigma in my car, brought it in and plugged it into the amp, was blown away--that guitar had never sounded so good! (running a fishman rare earth humbucker in it).

I've used the amp at one show so far and really liked it. I was able to dial in a very nice subtle reverb over my vocals, and the amp did will for my guitar also. At this show I used a PRS custom 24 through Line 6 verbzilla, line 6 delay, keeley-modded tube screamer, keely compressor, and Digitech Jam Man (in that order). I also used the amp's onboard delay. It was a lot of fun to layer the amp's delay under the Line 6 stompbox.

In the third channel, for a couple of pieces I ran some backing tracks straight out of a Korg Pandora. I was able to adjust the eq quite nicely, and had a good sound mix going between guitar, vocals, and backing track.

For me the most telling part of how good the gear is, is do I feel comfortable, relaxed, and confident as an artist while using it? If the sound or feel puts me off, my whole performance is affected. I felt very "on" with this amp.

Don't know yet. I did use it without backup, but I hadn't read about all the reliability issues....

I've been playing 30+ years. My rating for this amp is in comparison to running through the board into a PA, which of course is great IF you don't have to lug the whole PA around and set it up yourself. For just quickly setting up a nice system, this thing is great.

I ordered my AG100D, new, about two years ago. I run a Roland GR33 guitar synth through channel 1, my piezo-acoustic through channel 2, and, sometimes, vocals through channel 3. I do not play out, regularly, but I use this amp for small to medium indoor gigs and for practice. So far the features and power have been ideal.

I use a Brian Moore guitar with humbuckers and piezo-acoustic pickups, which also feed into the 13-pin synth output. I play a variety of styles of music: electric, acoustic, rock, and Motown or Atlantic soul from the 60's onward. The Carvin is great for tone shaping, since each channel has independent EQ. There is also a 5-band master EQ and a tweeter level pot. You could not ask for more capability in one small package.

After very little light use at home and a few gigs, my AG100D started cutting out at random. I was not willing to pay high shipping and repair costs for an intermittent problem, so I took it to a local amp wizard. He fixed a cold solder joint, but the cut-outs continued so I took it back. He kept it for 4 weeks, unable to recreate the cutouts. Finally he observed the problem and installed a larger heat sink; I just got it back. I am running the amp for hours at a time and testing it when I can, and it seems OK, but I am afraid to rely on it without back-up.

It is cheaper to deal with local repair service. I never intended to send anything across the US for repairs.

I have been playing guitar for 42 years. I have several electrics and acoustics, and a variety of guitar amps. I also have a big Peavey KBA300 keyboard amp. I love the Carvin's capability and sound flexibility, but the lack of reliability makes it unacceptable.