Carvin Bel Air 212

Hi Kids! I have been playing the guitar for many many years and have owned ton of gear! Carvin guitars are my choose these days! I use a Fender Prosonic 2x10 and a Matchless Lighting 2x10 as my main amps. I started reading about the Bel-Air 2x12 and could'nt understand way there were so many negitive comments about it! I called Carvin and ordered a Bel-Air from them. When the amp came in I fired it up right out of the box, after about thirty minutes on channel one, I was very pleased. This amp would stand up to any in my studio! Lots of power for fifty watts!

Okay! We talked about the clean channel of the Bel-Air 2x12......Now lets go to channel two, this is where all the negitive comments are coming from and for good reason! The drive channel on this amp was one of the worst I have ever heard! I retubed the amp with JJ's like everyone raves about! It made a differance but nothing to jump up and down about. I called Carvin and spoke with Joah, he knows Carvin amps in side and out! After thirty minutes on the phone I took the amp back to the stock tubes and replaced the V-1 preamp tube from a 12ax7 to a 12au7........That's all it took!!! The amp purrs like a kitten in the drive channel! One thing to remember here is that this amp is a Vintage Tone Amp! Also in reading comments I see players giving the amp a thirty minute triout then boxing it up and sending it back! Not everything sounds great right out of the box! Just like buying a new guitar, you have to set it up for your playing style and tone! Im going to keep this amp! I like it so much that I am using it in place of my $1100.00 Prosonic for Blues and even Jazz styles! Don't sell this amp short! Take the time to learn and understand what the amp was made to do............For those of you who gave up after just a few minutes, you missed an awesome experience!

I would take it anywhere without a backup!

The staff at Carvin are wonderful! They will spend as much time as needed on the phone..........And will allow returns with no problems! They stand behind what they sell!

For the money...............You simply can not beat Carvin! I would even buy Carvin gear at retail prices!

50-watt, two-channel, all tube amplifier with reverb, effects loop and master reverb. Footswitch available ($29.99) for channel switching. Separate passive bass, middle and treble controls for each channel. Acoustic presence control for the clean channel only. Great looking too, with bone-white chicken-head control knobs and vintage tweed cloth covering.

Agile LP-2000 Flame Top > 12' patch cord > Carvin Bel Air 212. Very disappointing. Passable middle and lower end, but amplifier is almost totally lacking in the treble range. This is rather surprising to me, since in the owner's manual Carvin details a number of steps taken to preserve the high frequencies. The ceramic humbuckers on my Agile guitar put out a TON of high end, but you'd never know it from this amp. Even with the bass and middle set to zero and the treble and acoustic presence controls maxxed out, this amp had no zip to it at all. Now I know why they call one of the channels "SOAK." This amp sounded like it was under water. Clean channel is useless for anything but be-bop jazz, and the overdrive channel was noisy and dull.

I have no opinion on this. Within ninety minutes of receiving this amplifier, I was on the phone with Carvin, asking for my money back.

Carvin's customer service rep was terrific on the phone. Took the amp back with no questions asked.

Totally disappointed with this product. I didn't think an all-tube amplifier could sound this bad. I've got a pair of little Marshall transistor amps that sound better than this.

Purchased the amp in 2000 and kept it for 2 years. Like so many other reviewers, the 2 channels are great as well as the versatility of the rear controls. I know its not cool but I still wish manufacturers gave you more than one input on the front.It seems that when you get an effects loop in the back, they feel they gave it to you. By the way, the effects loop is not a strong point with this amp. Used the amp for some Band Reunions I did in 2001 and 2002. Loved the looks of the amp and the solid wood construction.

Ok, I have played real Fender Strats and Carvin SC 90 through this amp. The clean channel is awesome. Great tone via reverb etc. My only complaint as you have heard is that the Soak or overdrive channel is weak. Hell, I can get great overdrive through most Fender Amps and today's rendition of Fender is pretty bad. However, This baby doesn't cut it. In my book that makes it less than versatile and was the reason that I sold it over a year ago. I like all kinds of music and have played for over 25 years off and on. I know what a Marshall sounds like and I know that I didn't buy this thinking it was a Marshall. But hell, Marshalls and Boogies give you more flexability than this puppy. One bright spot folks, this conbo turned me onto the Carvin Speakers VL 12's. These are made by Eminence and I have them in a guitar cabinet that I got cheap when MARS Music bit the dust. They really handle the load and frankly are better than the Celestion speakers being put into most Marshall's today. The upper end Marshall's still use the better Celestions, but the lower end products use low end Celestions. You might try the Carvin speakers. They made a believer out of me.

The unit never went out, but I always had an upper frequency hiss when using any effects that boosted the Pre-Amp. Another reason I think the amp is weak on Soak/Overdrive functions.

Hell, who gives support these days. Frankly, they are no better or worse than any of the manufacturers out there today. Did call them about the hiss and received little help even when it was under warranty.

Look, when I got back into things a few years ago, I went back to what I knew Manufacturer wise. Marshall, Fender etc. The Bel Air was a disappointment for me. I wound up buying a custom rig and using an old Marshall 800 50 watt head. With the new advances in Rack Pre Amp design, I can finally control the volume and still get great tube tone. But alas, it would be nice to go simple. The Bel Air was not the answer.

Made in 1995-1996. Got it used for a good price. Go to Carvin.com for features.
Soak channel - 10/10
Clean channel - 10/10
EQ for each channel - 10/10
Carvin VL12 speakers - 9/10 (always thinking to try Celestion, but so far so good for my needs).
Power - enough to keep the tone great your neighbours angry :o)
Other features that are usless for me: effects loop, voiced out, speaker out.

Ibanez RG 1550: bridge,neck-DiMarzio Evolution, middle-DiMarzio HS-2.
Fender Strat Deluxe: original configuration.
Very sensitive to articulation and picking at any setting, shows every nuance - very rewarding.

Soak channel provides very usefull and versatile overdrive:
- lead tone soloing at Soak (drive) pot settings at 5-8: clean, not too sensitive to reveal pick/string interaction noise, sustained long enough to keep notes solid and full until you mute. Settings above 8 give endless sustain and sensitivity that needed playing legato passages without picking or when using tapping.
- rythm crunching or overdriven chords playing Soak pot at 3-7: firm, full and again sensitive to your articulation: everything you need when in the rythm session supporting a lead player, bluezzy at lower values and good rock sound at highs.
- country style, fast picking arrpegios using bridge position set Soak between 1-4 and see your audience WOWing!
Overal about soak channel: useful and reach overdrive sound, no external overdrives needed to keep me happy.


Clean channel is "a must have!" for anyone:
- deep reach and melodic sound of humbucker in neck position when playing chords, intervals or melody - great jazzy sound;
- sharp and briliant sound of 2nd and 4th position of strat guitars.
Overal about the clean channel - clean, warm and sensitive.

Spring reverb: great for gigs, for recordings avoided to give room for engineers' toys.

Effects loop: noisy, never used.

Voiced out: 4 out of 10 if compared to the sound that comes from speakers.

JJ tubes are selected over the time of the ownership for preamp and amp group.

Played every day a few hours. Never thought of a backup.
Since 1996 it was bumped a few times when loading in a track - nothing happened still works. Tubes are replaced several times.

Had no reason to deal with.

Owned it since 1996. Have bought/sold a lot of amps since than, had Crate, Vox, Fenders, Marshalls (not tubes). This one still stays, mostly for its sonic individuality. Last few years it's been played almost daily 1-2 hours, still turns me on. Also used in recording sessions and gigs.
Good value.

- Made '04 I think
- 2 channel, clean and dirty, reverb, seperate EQs, Presence (clean only).
- In theory, this amp has all you'd need.

- Nice clean sound, I thought that it broke up too early though.
- Overdrive sounds like a wasp in a jam jar, fizzy and thin; like the sound you get when you run your guitar through a 'metal zone'and then into your Hi-Fi.
- EQs are about as unresponsive as they come.
- for me there were no GREAT sounds, just an O.K clean channel.
- Pedals made no difference at all.

I took it back after three days of frustration trying to find a useable overdrive sound, so I can't comment on reliabillity. But it seemed to be built O.K.

Carvin deal through a company called NEVADA MUSIC in the U.K, so I never had dealings with Carvin themselves. NEVADA are great though, nothing was too much trouble for them they did everything they could to help me out, that meant a full refund - consequently, I bought my Hot Rod DeVille from them later.

That said, apparently NEVADA recieved a whole batch of these (mine included) and Carvin had not bothered putting the logo on the front of any of them. In addition, mine came set to the wrong speaker impedance - well done Carvin, good job I checked first!

- I'm sure no-one cares how long i've been playing, but I've been playing long enough.
- I've owned a couple of valve amps, JCM800, 900 and I used a fender deluxe everyday for about 2 years (even though it wasn't mine!). All of these amps were better than the Belair.
- My advice to anyone thinking about this amp? shell out the extra ###s for a Peavey Classic 50, Messa F30 (if you can afford it), Laney LC50 or my personal choice the Hot Rod DeVille - simply because they are way better. The DeVille was only #100 extra, it came with a footswitch and a cover, AND IT HAS SOUL.

I WOULDN'T ADVISE ANYONE IN ENGLAND TO GO FOR THIS AMP, BECAUSE THERE IS ONLY ONE DEALER, AND IT STILL COSTS ALOT OF CASH - IF WE GOT IT AT U.S PRICES IT WOULDN'T BE SUCH A BAD DEAL.

This Carvin is a 2001 model I believe. Two channels and most regular features of a combo.The accoustics presence control works well on the clean channel.Very nice with a strat.Wish it could be applied to the gain channel or the gain channel had a presence control.A very versitile amp for all styles, plus it looks great. I get lots of comments when gigging with it,not only about the tone but the appearence of it.

Very warm tone and an excellent clean channel. I really didn't like the gain channel at first because it had no presence control. I found it a little too mid or bassey.After working with the tone knobs a while I started to really like the tone on this channel.Crank the treble,it's calibrated different than most [same goes for other tone knobs on this amp], a little higher on the Mid as well. You have to remember this is a VINTAGE TONE AMP, not a Marshall or other high gain amp.It does have a unique tone. I tried a Fender Bassman reissue amp [which i would compare this to], and I like the Carvin over the Fender. If you want a more gain/crunch tone don't worry,the clean channel works very well with effects. Just try any pedals;Metal Zone,DS1,Blues Driver,etc..they all sound great through this channel.Then,if you choose, you can bypass these and use the vintage,grunge sound of channel 2. You get the best of all worlds.

Very reliable so far. Easy to cart around to gigs [nice and lite],but still packs a punch sound and volume wise.

Good so far...

A very nice amp.Good tone and very versitile.Looks great!! Spend time on channel 2,don't give up and you will find the tone you like.If you want more high end on this channel,try the old reliable Boss GE7 EQ to add some.That works!Remember,VINTAGE AMP/VITAGE TONE.A 2x12 ext cab sounds great.

Not really sure what year this was made...bought it used...based on reviews and Carvin ads...The amp now is very vesatile...notice I said now.I think all the feature have been covered in other reviews.I have Parker Nitefly and with the acoustic presence...it don't sound bad.I do wish it had a light on the footswitch or on amp to tell what channel you were in...

I have use Parker Nitefly, Hamer Sunburst early model with Dimarzios and an old '71 Tele. I really feel this amp does it blues, classic rock, light jazzy feel....Amp is not noisy, clean channel is wonderful and the lead channel is blues and warm...

I have had this amp two years no problems...mostly used for church gigs.It has not been roughed up..

Never had a dealings with them....

I've been playing off and on over thirty years bought my '71 Tele for $180 in 1972...Glad I kept that one! I have an Ovation Legend Larry Coryell Model Cutaway..it sound good through the Carvin. If lost or stolen I'd have to have another one. I really love the warm tones I get...Now for the bad news.....I had to work to get the sound I wanted...Years ago I had a Plexi that burned up with an Altair..
But that was in my younger days when power and portability didn't matter.I have used a Fender Bandmaster but had to constantly drive it with a blues setting distortion unit..So the Carvin try..Very disappointed when I got it! I swear my Vox practice amp sounded better fatter in the distortion setting...The clean channel on the Carvin was great as noted in all reviews but the amp besides being wy Loud and I me LOUD,The SOAK Channel was just too gritty, like an old FUZZ Box and it would get there quick! Frist I pulled tubes to cut the power. That help with loudness a tad...then I changed to different tubes, sounds crazy but I bought some at a Flea market and just started swapping. I end up finding sound Telefunken 12ax7.
Well to make a longer story longer...In the preamp section from left to right Position 1 & 2 GE 12au7, 3 & 4 Telefunken 12ax7 and Last 5751
I also ended up with Vintage 30 speakers,,,I've never really like sound of the Celestion sound...but these two with the Carvin really cook...My son has a Peavey slant cab with G-12 which I hook up for fun.
Overall I'd agree sounds like a lota bull...But guitarists dabble...thats what we do tinker and play with our sound! Any Questions feel free to write...

Beautiful 2x12 Tweed combo. I bought this amp used, after researching the Carvin catalog for about 6 months. I love the layout of the front panel, and the on/off and stand-by switch on the back dont bother me at all. I've never had a problem reaching them, just reach over the amp and there they are! It isnt like they move around.

I play U.S.A Strats, and a Les Paul, and they ALL sound good through this amp. Here is a little secret for some of the people who have left a review for this amp. If you use crappy guitars with crappy pick-ups, you will most likely have crappy tone, no matter what amp you use. Imagine that. I play Blues and Rock, and this is one of the best amps I have found. I just sat here and played a Fender Blues Deluxe, a very well respected Marshall all tube 1/2 stack, and the Bel Air. Guess what??? The Carvin won. The clean channel on the Bel Air has so much breath, so much air. On the neck pick-up on a good Strat it is nice and open and bubbly and smooth!!!!! The reverb is simply very musical, adding to the tone of the amp without coloring it. Beautiful. The "soak" channel does just that. If you have ever used a vintage amp through a power soak, then you know what I mean. Full, round, warm, clarity, harmonics, aahhh!!!!! Put this amp through a Marshall 4x12 and stop searching. This is also a very quiet amp. Some people just dont understand that a little noise, hiss, hum, is inevitable whenever you use any type of overdriven sound. Make it work for you!!! Ever heard of Hendrix??

I use this amp almost every day, and have never had a problem. As with any amp, it is man made and eventually some things may need replaced. Also, to those of you who dont know, an amp must be run at the proper ohm load. I suspect some of you will throw it on any old extension cabinet and never change the ohm switch, which Carvin very thoughtfully included on the back of this amp. It is there for a reason!!

I have called Carvin a few times, and I agree it depends who you talk to as to the quality of advice you will get. However, I have had this happen at other amp manufacturers, also. If you have a trusted amp guy, stick with them. As I stated earlier, I bought this amp used, so there is no warranty. I have a feeling that as long as I use the amp in the manner for which it was designed, my problems should remain minimal.

I have been playing guitar for 30 years. Of those 30 years, I have been paying attention to things like TONE for over 20 of them. It isnt complicated. Trust your ears. Listen to other amps and guitar combinations, listen to other players. The key is to LISTEN. I love the warmth and life of this amp. It adds to the music, not detracting from it. It is MUSICAL. If it were lost or stolen, I would get another one

This is a pretty straight forward tube amp. It has 2 12in speakers and runs 50 watts. This amp has 2 channels as well as a knob on the back for presence. It also has a knob for dialing in reverb.

The clean channel is totally awesome!!!! Good crisp clean tone with plenty of warmth. The overdrive channel sucked wind for lack of a better word. To me the distortion was WAY too harsh and downright gritty. I play a Carvin dc127 with a zoom 9002 processor. When I bought this amp I was expecting the warm overdrive that a tube amp usually has but couldnt get that out of this amp. The reverb was pretty decent and the presence gave it a nice shimmer, so that is definately a nice plus for this amp.

I have only owned this amp for about 8 months now but havent had any problems whatsoever from it. Would probably use on a gig without a backup.

Havent had to deal with customer support.

I have been playing for 22 years now and play mainly neoclassical and classic rock. It can cover classic rock but lacks a really warm sweet tone that I want for neoclassical. If it were lost or stolen I wouldnt replace it. I plan on pulling the tubes and changing them from EL34s to 6L6's and rebiasing it to warmer. I'm giving it an 8 overall because with a good processor and/or pedals this could be an awesome amp. One thing for sure is it is LOUD!!!

This is a follow up to the review below mine. Please ignore everything I wrote, I really don't know what I was thinking or why I had the sentiment I did. I love this amp, period. For its price, I think the only amp comparable is the Peavey Classic series. The clean on this amp is beautiful (despite what I said below), and it's great for all types of music, space/indie/post rock included. The drive channel I still dislike, but with a tubescreamer it really sounds great. It's just a totally great amp, especially for the price and features. Sorry Carvin about the lame review I gave below!