Carvin Legacy Combo

I bought this amp new in 2001 and really loved the tone. I play classic rock primarily, some heavier stuff and also blues and it does well across the board, although it takes really hot pickups to shred.

It's a good, all tube, 2-channel amp that certainly captures the Vai vibe for soloing. Unline complaints I read on reviews before I made the purchase I don't feel it's a one-trick pony; I've found it works well for rhythm, and the clean sound is outstanding.

Major gripes are the reverb spring is pretty whimpy, my previous amp was a Fender Princeton Chorus and I really miss that reverb. Another gripe is, since it's tough to hear the reverb on stage, I wish the footswitch had LEDs.

Another HUGE gripe - no master volume. This amp is LOUD! It's a 100W 2x12 combo, and it has a 50W switch to run at half power, yet I still need a power brake to play practices with my drummer and bassist. A master volume would allow you to get the same nice distortion without the high volume (something they've recently added to the new Legacy II and V3 amps). Without the break you can't get the full dynamics at low volumes.

Just figured I'd talk a bit about this amp since I recently did a review of my Carvin CT6M (which I love by the way), but I think down the road I'd like the full featured V3 from Carvin, or possibly a Mesa Boogie. But this is a great amp.

I use this amp primarily with my Carvin CT6M with Paul Reed Smith Dragon pickups. It sounds great with both the Carvin and my Paul Reed Smith, I also play with a Fender HM Strat (shredder with high output Seymour Duncans). When I play my Fender American Standard Strat it does great bluesy bite, but if I want more I need to use stomp boxes to get there with the lower output single coils. My Strat with EMG David Gilmour pickups wails nicely though, as do the higher output Seymour Duncans on my Mexi-Strat.

Overall I love the sound of this amp, which is why I lug the heavy beast for shows in favor of much lighter amps.

**Just remembered I retubed this amp with Groove Tubes before ever hearing the standard tubes, so keep that in mind when considering the high marks for sound. See reliability comments for an explanation.

I've owned this amp since 2001 and have been using it constantly, at least twice a week, and so far I haven't so much as retubed it.

I will mention it had a cracked power tube when it first arrived from Carvin, most likely due to rough handling by UPS.

I had to deal with Customer Support upon receipt of my Legacy combo due to a cracked power tube, and they replaced it no questions asked as soon as I called. It was a bummer to have to wait for the tube, but once I had it I was a happy guy.

Actually, now that I think back, I got impatient and purchased Groove Tubes while waiting and replaced the power quartet along with the preamp tubes, so I suppose I should comment on that above under sound quality...

I've been playing 21 years and this was my first high quality tube amp. Before my Legacy I had only played solid state due to economics, but now that I've played it I don't know if I could ever buy a non-tube amp again.

I am very happy with my Carvin's sound, but with the new V3 and Legacy II available from Carvin I may be upgrading soon to get the additional features of 3 channels and a master volume.

Overall the main issues with this amp are:
1. No master volume
2. Weak reverb
3. Only 2 channels
4. HEAVY
5. LOUD!! (only a problem due to #1)

Two Channel 2X12 (celestion greenbacks) all tube combo amp. Switchable between 50 and 100 watts. Built in reverb (footswitchable on/off). Has effects loop. Very easy to use, self explanatory controls. Anybody could walk up to it cold and dial in a useable sound in about 30 seconds.

I play mostly Blues and rock. Humbuckers in my two main guitars. I was really suprised at how clean this amp was. The greenbacks give it a warm woody tone. It has an excellent stock distortion that I don't really use (I rely on my pedalboard) but I know I could in an emergency and not have a problem. It is capable of very thick distortion but notes are still clear. I've never dialed in a Steve Vai type of tone, but I'm not that type of player. As other reviewers have said this amp is EXTREMELY LOUD. I had to buy a smaller amp for my cover band because the bar scene just couldn't handle the volume on this thing. I use it exclusively for my original band and get nothing but compliments on my tone. I run a PRS custom 24 through a Radial Hot British and have used the dirty channel on the amp for a lead boost... until I got my Keeley Katana so I wouldn't have to mess with the Carvin footswitch. Good plain reverb. My only complaint with the sound is the Bass gets overpowering very quickly. I have to keep it just above noticeable and turn up both the treble and presence. Even then I opted to get a separate EQ pedal to boost the highs.

When I got it, I had to change the pre-amp tubes (they were the originals) because the volume was fading in and out. I haven't had an issue with it since.

Haven't needed to contact Carvin for any reason.

I've been playing for 16 years and this was my first Tube amp. I bought it because I got an incredible deal on it from a college kid who couldn't stand carrying it up and down the steps to his dorm room anymore. The amp is ridiculously heavy. I put a set of casters on it after a few gigs carrying back and forth to the car. I actually did injure myself getting it out of my trunk once. It got tangled in my cargo net and I hurt my back trying to free it. I didn't go out looking to get a Carvin but have been pleasantly suprised with how well this one has done for me. I thought when I bought it that the Greenbacks weren't the original speakers (since found out that they are) because they are only 25 watt speakers and the amp is capable of up to 100 watts. I've always kept it on 50 and it's so loud already. I don't think I've ever gotten the volume above 4. If it were stolen or lost I'd like to have another 2X12, but I'd probably save up for a more boutique amp with a little less power (and hopefully a little lighter too.) I got such a great deal on this I couldn't pass it up at the time. But overall I've been very happy with it and it's treated me well.

2008 model that is able to handle any musical style with full bodied tone. Very rich and very musical and very touch sensitive...Gilmore fans would love this amp and I used Hiwatts for years. Two channels but I only use the lead channel with the drive around 2-3. Effects loop works very well and the channel switching foot pedals is what you'd expect of a top quality amp. I use this amp in the studio and live. Switchable from 50 to 100 watts is nice but 50 is all I've ever needed. 100 watts would blow the balls off a charging rhino at 50 paces! I love the classic feel of the amp.

I have many different guitars with strats being my favorite. I use seymore duncan jr's in all positions or the Fender noiseless depending on the need of the song. Playing progressive rock (Floyd meets Rush) it is perfect...tone rich, something in the low mid styling of Hiwatt or Vox not the high mid styling of a Marshall, but is totally all original sounding. A very musical amp. The distortion or gain on this amp is all you'd ever need. Clean channel is like glass...thick bulletproof glass but glass...beautiful!

I've been using Carvin amps and guitars since the 80's and have never had any trouble with anything I've ever purchased...top of the line! If the amp ever went down I'd get another immediately! I didn't buy it because it was less expensive than other top of the line amps...I bought it because I liked it better than all the rest.

I've dealt with Carvin for over 20 years now and they have always treated me like gold! I've never had to have anything repaired so I guess the warranty could be lifetime on all their amps...I have three X-100B stacks, an MTS combo, a Nomad and this Legacy and have never had anything done to them except re-tubing them. And understand I tour and record for a living...my stuff has to work! It's how I pay the bills.

I've been playing for over 25 years and would get another if ever lost. Nothing else compares to it in my book.

This is my second 'go-round with a Legacy Combo.I sold my first one 4 years ago [Not sure why]. That one was a 2000 model. This one is a 2007.I am glad to have it back in my collection. One GREAT AMP!!This newer version seems better in the controls area.My last one would make huge volume swings between, say, volume 1 and moving up to 2.It was hard to practice at low volume. This has a much more gradual calibration.The clean channel is how I remember it...Fantastic! The best clean channel I have ever heard on any amp Vintage Fender,Boutique amp, what ever. The best clean hands down, and a beautiful spring reverb to match.I have a V3 head also, and it has a decent clean, but I wish that Carvin would have installed the Legacy Clean and reverb in that V3 amp.Then it would have been perfect!!On my old Legacy I was luke warm on the gain channel,but now I'm finally dialing in the EQ and I see just how damn nice that channel can be as well, especially just how good it makes all my single coil Strat's sound....Wish it did have a volume boost like the V3 does.

This is a great amp.No other like it out there with its original Vai voiced gain channel and absolutely great clean channel.I thought my V3 was my favorite Carvin amp, or my old X60 combo's or XT112, but this truly has to be the best Carvin amp ever.I still enjoy the ones listed above but this thing is superb!It is very sensitive and resposive to your picking or/finger attack and responds accordingly. Very cool.

Built like an absolute TANK!.Heavy, solid and very easy to see that it is quality built. My old one had 30watt greenbacks that just couldn't take the heat. These Vintage 30 60 watt Celestions are a big improvement.The amp looks great as well.This one was shipped from the factory with all Electro-Harmonix tubes?? Usually Carvin is exclusevly Groove Tubes.Well, I'm telling you I am now a big Electro Harmonix fan.They make this amp sing! Very warm great tube sound.I would love to see a single 12- 50watt version of the Legacy with a closed back cab.I hear there will be a Legacy 2 three channel amp coming soon from Carvin. Stay tuned!

Carvin has always treated me fair. No problems easy to deal with!!

I love this amp!! The best clean channel anywhere, bar-none!and a great over-drive/gain channel as well.The reverb is superb, and there is just that great warm/fuzzy feel from strings to amp that you only experience on a good tube amplifier. Vai got this thing right!I got a great deal used at $550 US in absolutely new condition!Hey at $1080 new from Carvin I'll gaurantee nothing can beat it.It will blow all those so-called 'high end'over-priced boutique amps [Matchless-orange/etc-etc], right out of the water, just like the V3 will.Carvin builds amazing stuff for the price$$, and this Canadian likes the fact it is built in the USA by our good neighbors down south in San Diego.I have many reliable Carvin products in my studio and more to come! I give this thing straight 10's because for the money paid it is an amazing deal!

The Legacy amp line was introduced in 1997, and was designed by Steve Vai. This is a simple and intuitive amp that is easy to use. The amp has two channels, but it is a welcome change from the 3 and 4 channel amps that are mostly useless. The combo comes with reverb, a bias selector, effects loop, and half-power switch (nothing out of the ordinary). The amp gets a seven in this category because it is a simple, easy to use amp that is not over the top in any way. This amp is LOUD! I have owned it for about five or six months.

I have a Jackson Dinky with a Seymour Duncan JB TB4 pickup that I use with the amp. I play progressive rock, metal, hard rock, etc. and the Legacy excels in these genres. This amp was made for lead guitarists. The amp features a smooth, saturated, articulate distortion that makes solos sound fantastic. That being said, I am not saying that the amp cannot achieve a solid rythm guitar sound. The amp sounds fine no matter what the settings are it seems. This amp can do metal sounds, depending on what your definition of "metal" is. The distortion is a bit too smooth for extreme genres though. The clean channel is amazing! I have it set up for a dark bassy sound, and I love it. I did not play clean often on other amps I have owned, but now that is changing thanks to this amp. The amp is not the most versatile around, and when the gain is turned up past eight there is a lot of feedback. Turning up the treble enhances this feedback and squeeling. This is to be expected with high gain amplifiers though. I would not change anything about this amp, I like the way it sounds.

This amp is very reliable as are all of Carvin's products. My amp has never broken down or had any serious problems. I have done nothing other than a tube change. The combo version of this amp is prone to tube rattle, so be conscious about this if you are thinking about buying one. My amp rattled so much (with the volume maxed), I had to change the tubes. I think this is to be expected with all tube combos.

Carvin is fantastic in terms of customer service. I have called them with questions about my order, and they were very kind and I did not wait long on the phone for an answer. The only problem I have with Carvin is that they are a mail order company, meaning if you want a repair, you have to send your amp to them to get it repaired (if you do not live close to a store). I ordered my amp and it took less than two weeks to get to my home in Eastern Canada (Carvin is located on the West Coast of California), and it was worth the wait.

This amp is all I have ever needed, and it has never failed me. I almost bought a Peavey JSX instead of this amp; I am glad I did not. I have only been playing for about four years, but this amp is one of the best I have played. I am so glad I got this amp, and I believe I will have it for a very long time.

Looking for good tone to your amp collection or just buying a new amp. Give the Carvin Legacy a try. The features on this amp is very basic, just the way I like it. Has two switchable independent channels:clean, overdrive, and a shared reverb. If your the type of guitarist who likes to run with an enclosed combo amp, you have the option to, I leave it open for more of an open sound.

The Carvin Legacy is what Steve Vai ever wanted in a guitar amp. It is very playable for a variety of music styles and it sounds better when it warms up, my Marshall JCM 900 can't even match it. I'm not going to say it's better then a Mesa, but it is warmer compaired to it and more affordable.

Now I'm a guitar player that has played for twelve years, can't say I play everything, but I like to mix it up. I have a variety of guitars: Gibson, Fender, and Jackson. Each guitar has it own sound, and they all are very pleasing to hear through the Carvin Legacy. Just to let you know this amp is very powerful!!! With lot's of headroom and everyone that shares the stage with you, will hear how clear this amp sounds.

Can't say did't have it long, but I bought the amp used and the original owner had it for three or five years with no problems.

Got it used.

This signature amp, I would buy again if it were stolen or faulty.
Another option I like is that you can interchange power tubes, that is a plus in a amp. The stock tubes are not the best, replaced it with Winged C EL 34's, JJ ecc83s pre-amp section, Mullard 12at7 (a.k.a. ecc81) in the phase inverter for more of a clean tone. This set up improved the amp sound buy so much. So if you are near a Carvin shop, drop by and try the Carvin Legacy...

Take some time to dial your sound.

A relatively simple amp considering some of the options that are out there. Depending on what you're looking for, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. In my contexts - solo jazz guitar, rockabilly and the single guitar in a hard rock band with bass and drums, it is perfect. Versatility may not be a strong suit of this amp - but it does what it does very well.

To my ears, the clean channel is the best I've ever heard. I've been playing semi-professionaly for 20 years.

"Clean" approaches how the channel could be described - other terms I use to describe clean channel: rich crystal, pure glass - pristine mountain lake...

I use the clean channel for solo jazz guitar (old brazilian style) and rockabilly.
When I bought this amp (almost three years ago) I had a number of musician friends over to compare it to a few other amps in the room. All were impressed by the Legacy's clean tone. The unanimous decision based on the the clean channel was "Get the Carvin".

Overdrive channel: I like the overdrive channel a lot when I'm the only guitar player in the given group. It has a very powerful mid-range sound - "big round balls" if you will. However, I've played in a band recently where limited versatility reared its head. The other guitarist played through a Mesa Boogie. The Mesa produces a crackling high end crunch that the Legacy cannot approach even with bass and mid turned all way the way down with treble and presence settings cranked... I'll say that I did feel some disappointment that the Legacy couldn't produce those highs... but again, when not 'A-B'ing against another product, in my usual context where I'm the only guitar player in the band (like the Van Halen tribute I've been part of) the amp produces plenty of highs on the foundation of awesome lows and mids making for a "brown sound" all its own - I don't know if you can create a grating tone with this amp... maybe that's a good thing...

My only other beef with the amp is that it is frickin' loud. It is a very loud 100 watts. There is a switch that allows you to bump the amp down to 50 watts, but in the times I've experimented with that switch, it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference (-4db is what it is supposed to do I think).

Anyway, I ended up buying a THD HotPlate in order to keep the amp at a reasonable stage volume - even playing a hard rock gig I was told to turn down the stage volume on this thing (from a setting of '3') which would've really removed the balls of my sound - the HotPlate is a real value to make a loud amp like this function at a reasonable volume.

I had to return the first Legacy I received due to a volume fluctuation problem. Carvin immediatly corrected the problem. They sent me a new amp that has been perfectly reliable over the last three years.

Carvin support was courteous and responsive.

Well, I've had this amp for about a year now so I thought I would give my 2 cents. Has just about everything I could want in an amp. Two channels, effects loop, reverb, and that great tube warmth. I do wish it had a second effects loop.

I play a Ibanez Rg-550 with Tone Zone bridge and Paf Pro neck, a Ibanez Rg-1570 with Evos, a Chavel with a EMG81 bridge, and a Fender Strat YJM stock. This amp is not noisy, but I do run a NS-2 in my chain because my Strat pickyups have such a low output, that I have to run a Rat distortion to play any type of heavy metal music. I also run a BBC stomp through the effects loop to mold my sound. With this amp I can play any style of music, depending on how you set up your amp. The only thing dislike about this amp is, the clean chanel breaks up at around 4, but so did the Fender HotRod Deville I played before I bought this amp. If any one says they can't did that Steve Vai sound with this amp, doesn't know how to set it up or they are using the wrong guitar.

Never had a problem.

Never had a problem with the amp, but I did call they to ask about tube replacement. Extremly helpful, said I should talk to JJ Tubes, and gave me thier number and web site. Hats off to thier customer support, in my case.

I've been playing for about 25 years, and this is my first tube amp. I'm very happy with it. I spent so much time shopping, looking for an amp that would fill most of my needs and this one does it. For the price it's hard to beat. Before I bought this amp, I tried a Fender HotRod, Peavey JSX and XXX, Laney, Marshall, Mesa, VHT. All good or great amps depending on the sound your looking for and how deep your pockets are. If any thing happend to this amp, I would get another one.

Two channels, reverb, all tube switchable from 100 to 50 watts.

Very versatile sound. Very clean amp.

I am a steve Vai fan..
This is the first time I have played an "Artist endorsed" amplifier that actually sounds like the artist.
I can play my Ibanez with the DiMarzio evolutions through this, it sounds like Vai.

Love it.

Hasnt broken down yet!

Carvin is fantastic other than the inflated prices from replacement Chicken Head Knobs.

5 bucks a piece plus shipping and handling...

I guess they need to make profit some where, the amps are priced so weel I cant imagine they make too much on them.

Best Amp I have ever owned.. I have been through Boogies, Marsalls, Fenders, Peaveys, and ever at one point a Tube Works.

This is the best amp I have owned..
I would say it sounds like a modded Marshall... put a Tube screamer in front of it and its the best thing since sliced bread.

Steve Vai Legacy combo. 100 watts switchable to 50. This amp is all tube with reverb. EL34's or 6L6's may be used. Clean chanel has a brite switch. Seprate tone controls for clean and dirty channel. Presence knobs for each channel with shared reverb knob. Footswitch has channel select and reverb on/off. Combo comes with celestions. Removable back panel to make it a closed back or open back...VERY useful feature.

I use a 1985 Alder bodied PRS bolt-on with Duncan 59's in the bridge and a tapped Duncan stagmag in the neck for the single coil sound. I also own a late 80's EMG 81 equipped Les Paul Standard and a 1995 PRS custom 22 with the stock dragon 2's. The neck pickup in the custom 22 is also tapped. I use this amp for all my band's clean tones believe it or not. I have two early Mesa dual rectifiers but more on that later. The clean tone on this amp is totally UNDERRATED! I have read very little regarding it's incredible clarity and massive headroom. Regarding the clean channel: the frequency response is excellent! I tune down to "C" and the amp completly covers the sound with no problems whatsoever. I have a rack unit for delay effects only and this amp KILLED my Mesa Tremoverb combo for this type of thing. It was louder and clearer and WAY more articulate. Note distinction is glassy and clear. The amp seems to LOVE effects. Highs where sparkly ans shimmering and mids where musicle and compatible with all of my guitars. I really cant say enough about the AWSOME clean channel! SUPERB! The dirty is...well...dirty! I do leads with this because the open back allows for more mids to jump through. I have this at home as my practice amp and it is LOUD LOUD LOUD! I am not a huge fan of the dirty channel for rythem. I have the recto head for all of that. When I compared the two running through my recto 412, the dirty was too "loose" and lacked the "focus" that the Mesa's are known for. It seems like guys who want the recto tone just need to buy a recto and be done with it! Guys who want more or want to sound unique should investigate this amp. The tone knobs do a lot. They have a wide sweep and can really change the sound drasticly. This is a good thing if you use multiple guitars on stage. It took a while to dial in a usable sound but I learned the sweet spots just like when I bought my first Mesa. For the clean sounds, both my PRS guitars have tapped neck position pickups and the sound is crystle clear. Lets face it, if you want a strat sound, BUY A STRAT! If you want your humbucker equipped chunky guitar to sound clean this mod paired with the Vai Legacy is the clincher! I have a hard time with my Gibson because those EMG 81's are hell bent on distruction. I found if I roll back my volume it cleans up and sounds smooth and jazzy through this amp. The leads sing with this amp! I read a review that said it has a "vocal" quality and I understand now. This is probably why I prefer the rectos for rythems. They are simply tighter. I cant wait to track with this thing!

I actually purchased this amp "broken." It was sold to me with the reverb not functioning. I soon learned that its the tank itself not the amp. I'll get it fixed soon. The only other issue is it takes a while to warm up. It will crackle and pop for the first 5-7 minutes when turned on. My Mesa's dont do this. Everything else seems to be fine.

N/A I have not contacted Carvin about the crackling. After the reverb I may do this.

I wrote this review because inevevitably, "metal guys" and "rockers" will look into this amp. This is very unfortunate. I do play music on the heavier side but also have played funk/gospil music for 8+ years. I once met a country player who used a Mesa Tremoverb combo exactly like the one I owned. He said he bought it for the CLEAN! The same holds true for my old Mesa 2 channel Solo head. I met a regge guy who used one. So this is for the guys who do the beefy stuff but are skilled and live in other sounds. I will never get rid of this amp for the stupendous clean sounds it produces. I played on a Bogner Ecstacy recently for an hour straight and this Cravin Legacy Amp has more crisp highs, more sweet mids and usable lows with out the Bogner price tag. Carvin has a 10 day trial period for products purchased by mail from them. Check one out! The prices are resonable and the worst is you hate it and send it back! No big deal.

Just got this amp over a month ago. Basic features and that's what I wanted. If you want all the effects get a Line 6 or a Fender CyberTwin, which I used to have. I was a novice guitar player and those were recommended to me and they were great but I eventually wanted to go with an all tube amp where I could put in my own effects. Definitely loud enough; haven't put it past two. Both Channels are great, you just have to tweak them to get the right sound. I agree with those who say that it's not for Nu Metal.

I use American Fenders with noiseless pickups, Texas Special pickups and an American Delux Fat Strat. I also use a Ibanez RG 620 (I think) It's made in Japan but I replaced the stock pickups with Dimarzio PAF Pro (Neck) and a Steve Vai Evolution F Spaced at the Bridge. I can get Blues, Classic Rock and Hard Rock, which is what I wanted the amp for. I use a Ibanez TS9 tube screamer and I also have a Rocktron Xpression effects unit that I run through the effects loop. If you keep it simple, remembering that tone comes from the flesh, you can easily get those sounds with this amp.

Have never gigged it and nothing has broken yet. I will concur with the guy who said that his delivery box was shoddy at best. When I opened mine there were a bunch of broken styrofoam pieces. It seemed like it may have been a return. Everything seems to work fine though.

Haven't had to deal with them yet on repairs, but they processed my order pretty fast.

I really like it. The gain has a good crunch at about 5 or 6 and the clean channel is pristine. It's a basic amp and for the features (The tube selections and the Vintage 30 speakers) there isn't one out there that is cheaper. Marshall, Peavey and Fender costs more for comparable combo amps. If it breaks down on me in five years, like the guy below, my opinion may change but for now I'm happy. If it got stolen, then I would probably buy another.

made in 1999.this amp is perfect for clasic rock,blues and jazz. Not for Heavy metal. This amp is Super loud. i play in my bedroom and never can go higher than 2 in volume without driving my family crazy.This amp is very basic and that is what i like about it.

i use a jem and a tele. perfect for what i play. Satriani,Santana,classic rock,even jazz. Is not made for metal,but i use the clean channel With my Keeley mod MT2 and My KFK1 MXR 10band EQ and you are in METAL heaven. I also have the extended cabinet. the dirty chanel has a mild distortion. i use mostly the clean chanel and my top end effects.

The amp went nut acting after 6 years. Very loud and annoying static and popping. i replaced all power and preaamp tubes and no solution.I only play in my house and was angry that the amp was acting like that. I will score low in this category because I COULD NOT AFFORD to pay $1000 and have the amp fail after 5 years. I dont think i neglected it.Also, in the small city where i live, the repairman had another legacy combo with similar problems.This is the only amp i have kept for so long. Is normal to fail after 5 years?

I took my amp down to Carvin in Sunset Blvd. for repair. They sent it to San Diego and they told me it will take 3 weeks to get it fix. Even when i called almost daily for information, they went over the 21 days as promised. so they said they would repaired for free and i only have to pay $39 for shipping to my house. Does Carvin has too many of their products breaking that could not fix my amp in 3 weeks?. Finally the amp arrived in my house after a whole month. AND THEY DID NOT FIXED IT!!!!!!!. Fuck i was piss. I called Carving next day and they pick the amp from my house and returned back to me in working condition a week later. FOR FREE. So i have mixed opinions about the way they handle my amp. Too bad my amp failed, too bad they took too long to not fix it and send it to me without fixing it. However, the guys in Carvin are very good with their clients. They were nice all the time and eventually fixed my amp for free.

Perfect amp for soloing. Perfect for clasic rock. if you are into metal,this is not your amp.If stolen i would buy an amp that wont breake after 5 years even if cost more. Overall I like this amp for its simplicity,high output,excellent for soloing,value. Too bad it broke but i guess that can happen with all amps.

This is actually a follow-up to the review I posted below. That volume issue came back when I recently played without my effects one night at rehearsal.
I tried replacing all the tubes and it still did it. Before I took it in to have it looked at, the tech told me it was probably the effects loop acting up but he couldn't be sure till he looked at it. I took it in but oddly and predictablly enough the amp didn't do it when it was in the shop. I got the amp back and played it the following week at rehearsal WITH MY EFFECTS IN THE LOOP and it ran no volume drops at all.
Then, I let a guy in another band rehearse with the amp. He didn't use any effects and the amp started acting up on him. He just plugged a cord into the effects send and fed it to the effects return and it stopped doing it. So, I got the problem solved sort of.
I'll probably let this problem go since all I have to do to correct this is either always play with effects plugged into the loop, or run a small patch cord from the effects send to the effects return of the amp. I'm too lazy to lugg it back to the tech just to have it run perfect for him again. Regardless, I bought this amp used and it's a piece of electronic equipment and nothing is perfect.
I'm still very happy with this amp.

I won't go into the features of this amp because it's been done to death all ready.
I will however agree with the reviewer below me that this amp isn't really feature laden. If you want bells and whistles than look at Line 6 I guess. Or if you are looking for a 3-channel amp than stop reading right now cause this isn?t it. But, if you are in the market for a no frills ballsy amp, keep reading.

I use Ibanez RG 500 series and Jem guitars and a Fender American Lonestar Strat with this amp.
I play 70s to current rock style covers and I'm really into solo artists such as Vai (imagine that) and Satriani. This amp can pretty much do those styles with no problem. I don't play any nu-metal really but this amp can do it with a little tweaking and EQ.
Tone is so subjective and I've had various amps over the years including a lot of rack gear and I'm not going to go into all of it. But, I will say that I had Peavey XXX before this amp. I liked the XXX but in order to get the low end I wanted out of it at rehearsal or gig volumes, I had to turn the mids basically to 0. Than, in order to hear myself in the band mix I?d have to tweak the highs and the amp got a little too hollow sounding. I am by no means dogging the XXX. But, in my opinion it?s voiced for a different generation and style of music.
The Legacy is a midrange-voiced amp. But, it's not a pierce your ears mid range. It's got a nice balance of low end and mid range. Basically, it's got the low end thump I was looking for with the cut through that I just couldn't get out of the triple X. I'd compare the lead channel to a kind of suped up Marshall tone. The distortion or lead channel on this amp is smooth. You don't need to turn the gain knob past 7 to get a nice smooth distortion sound out of it. Also, playing covers, I need a good clean sound and the XXX just didn't have it. Sorry XXX fans, but it was mediocre and kind of sterile and not very powerful. The Legacy clean will break up a little at higher volumes but that?s the nature of tube amps

This is a well built amp. Dependable and I'd gig without a backup.
The only problem if you want to call it that I had was when I first got it. The amp seems to have a sweet spot on the volume knobs. If they are below 1 at all the amp cuts out. But if you keep the amps volume knobs above 1 than it runs fine for hours. Kinds weird I guess.

I've heard good things about Carvin customer support and that's about it. I did e-mail them about the volume issue I mentioned above and they were quick to respond.

If this amp were lost or stolen I'd kill the f***er that did it.
I love the overall tone of this amp.
Like I said, tone is very subjective and I've given my example above.
Basically, if you're into nu-metal or scooped mids chugga chugga than this amp probably isn't for you unless you place in EQ in there to cut mids.
But, in 21 years of playing I've noticed you really need a nice balance of mids in your mix. Especially if you do any lead work.
Also, I've never needed to turn the volume knob past 2 on this for rehearsal or gigging. IT'S LOUD! Although, like any tube amplifier, it sounds best when you open it up. For this amp, it?s around 6ish on the volume knob. But, damn that?s just incredibly f?n loud!
So, this amp isn?t apartment friendly at all. But it wasn?t designed for that now was it?

My rating on this reflects as lightly-above average rating for features. It is not a particluarly feature-laden amp. This is not meant to be a bad rating, it just a basic tube amp, swicthable 50/100W with reverb and master volume.

I did not want to be overly harsh here but this is my opinion. I took advantage of the 10 day trial period to make my assessment. In that time I also purchased a Mesa Lone Star amp and tried out several other tube amps down at Guitar Center.

When I first got it I thought it sounded OK, I was expecting to be blown away. I really wanted to like this amp, and had I not tried out a buch of other amps I might have kept it. I just was not blown away, I am actually surprised Steve Vai put his name on this thing. That's marketing for you.

First, it came very poorly packaged for UPS shipment, I'm almost 100% sure it had been shipped/returned before because the shipping box was in such bad shape. There were no form-fitting buns, just a bunch of broken chucnks of styrofoam shoved in there. The amp had a damaged front grill (dented), but amazingly it appeared otherwise undamaged and functional. It simply made a really bad first impression.

As I spent a couple of days with it, I was at best lukewarm on it. I wanted a tube amp mainly for clean and slightly distorted blues tones, but I just did not feel like the amp had the warmth or squish to it I had hoped for. And the distortion was not great... maybe if I had pushed the power section it would have sounded better, but the amp was too damn loud for that (even at 50W). If you want a LOUD amp, this fits the bill.

When I tried out a Fender Hot Rod DeVille, it had a much better sound. Then I found the Mesa LoneStar and found nirvana! So I bought it and A/B'ed the two amps side by side in the quiet of my house. It was even close. Now I could hear all sorts of things I had not noticed before. The Carvin was a much noisier amp in general, did not have any warmth or squish, it has a harsh midrange, and the distortion was not particularly musical to my ears. My opion of it generally worsened after I compared it to the Mesa, which I obviously liked a lot more.

Lesson - if you buy anything from Carvin, be prepared to buy and compare it to something else because you just can't try these things out in the store.

Lesson 2 - you will have to pay for shipping both ways, so I am out over $100 for the experience. Don't buy direct unless you have had a chance to try it out somewhere beforehand.

Did not keep it long enough.

When I called to complain about the shipping box and damage, Carvin was nice and very accepting of the situation and did not give me any problems.

Been playing 25 years. I didn't really like it, although I suppose it could be made to work, it was in no way a "sweet" amplifier. Heavy and loud, noisy and harsh, and a big bill to try it out and return it, shipped in a beat-up box and damaged, I would hesitate to buy anything from Carvin again. I don't think I would buy anything mail-order again without trying out a friend's or in a music store first.

I compared it to the Fender Hot Rod DeVille Mesa Lone Star and it finished last. Mesa on top (in sound and $$$). The Fender was really nice too, and the cheapest of the three. I might get one of those too.

This amp is great and is very versatile for the styles of music that I play, which is jazz, blues, rock, classical, and jam band type of stuff. It works well with all of those styles, and it has enough power to get the job done.

I use a Gibson sg with 490t and 490r alcino humbuckers and let me tell you that this amps sound is out of this world. It's clean channel is one of the best cleans I have heard, and also one of the most unique. The "dirty" channel is smooth and mellow.

yes.

if it were lost or stolen, i would replace it

The amp is a 2000 year model. It has 2 Celestian Greenback speakers, 2 channels,effects loop,voiced line out and most other features common to combo amps.

This is one tight, smooth sounding amp. Closed back cab adds to that sound. Just installed a new set of JJ Tesla EL 34's. While most combo's have you running for the humbuckers after trying to make single coils sound rich and full,this amp is the exact opposite. It doesn't matter what guitar, what processor, what pedal you use, this amp stays solid with great warm tone. The tone with a Strat on either channel is great, a LesPaul is amazing. I own several amps and this one is definetly unique from any other. Has it's own original voice that is very useable in any style of music. The clean channel is one of the best I've ever heard. The gain channel has a warm, real, sounding sustain to it. Not too over the top, and not that fake buzzing annoying sounding distortion on so many combos. If you want a full on , over the top tone through this amp try a Metal Zone on the clean channel for the best thrash tone you'll ever hear. Add a Boss GE 7 EQ and a DM 2 Analog delay too make it even better.

I own 2 other Carvin amps and they've been very reliable. My 20 year old Carvin X60 1x12 amp has never let me down.

This is a great amp.I own several amps [ Marshall JCM 900 4102 combo-JCM 2000 TSL 122 Combo-Carvin X60-Carvin BelAir 2x12 combo and the Legacy]. Like a selection of fine wines I like them all for there subtle and sometimes overwhelming differences.The Legacy offers great warm tone and drive. Good for all types of guitars, but especially makes a single coil strat sound incredible.

I don't know what year it was made, but I bought it used for $140 and was not working due to being dropped or something. I had a tech(Noteworks in Phoenix- a great music store!!)look at the amp and they replaced the bias filter and resoldered some joints on the board and it works flawlessly. Some people have reviewed this amp and claim it has one channel, well it has two channels and one input(maybe they should look at their amp more closely)and a nice effects loop. It has all the features I need and the independent tone controls for each channel are a plus.Tubes I am using are:12ax7's and JJ EL34s

I am using a Carvin DC-150 and a Ernie Ball Music Man Silouette with Carvin M22 pickups in the Carvin and Seymore Duncans in the Ernie Ball. This amp suits my style perfectly, It can go from crystal clear to heavy saturation with ease.The amp is quiet and does NOT distort on the clean channel, which in my opinon, is the best sounding clean channel I have ever heard. The distortion is almost as brutal as my 5150 and not as harsh.I can get great blues tones out of this amp also.

No Problems so far....

I have called them a few times to ask questions and such and they have always been helpful.

I have been playing for 15 years now and I have owned Marshall JCM 800's, 900's and JMP's,Peavey 5150,Carvin X-100, Carvin X-60,Laney Pro-tube and this amp sounds the best, in my opinion. It has the best clean channel and the distortion is not as harsh as the 5150, better overdrive/distortion/sustain than any of the Marshalls and makes the Laney sound like a toaster with a speaker crammed inside! The other Carvin amps I mentioned were great sounding too but the Legacy is simply better.I simply cannot find anything bad to say about this amp! If it were stolen, I would definately get another one!
More people need to try Carvin stuff, you will be amazed!

The combo that I own was to my knowledge manufactured this year, 2003. For my use the amp is very versatile in that it will make great tone at low volumes as well as high volumes. It has one channel but for me this not a problem as I would only use this amp for my guitar and little to nothing else, so having more inputs is not a requirement for my use.

One great feature is the 50/100 amp split as well as the closed cabinet/open cabinet option. You can really change the tone and also direction of the sound. The cab option is one of those usable, great options to have for small and large rooms.

The effects loop works very well in that any "noise" was lower using the loop as opposed to direct through the guitar input.

I cannot imagine anything else I would want on this amp as I am into function and tone/sound way more than I am bells and wistles. And, I certainly use the effects as it only has reverb which is truly one of the best I have heard as an included feature.

At this stage in my life I have little to no interest in playing professionaly at all. I have a good freind who is a bass player as well as a darn good guitar player and we have a great time renting time at the local practice studio. So for me this amp allows me to go blooooow my ears out when I feel like it, yet sit at home and play at very low volumes with nearly that same sound.

I'm playing a 1983 G&L S-500 with the wonderful stock pickups through the Legacy and the sound shimmers at low volume, especially when you use the reverb. But when you want it to crank, it will hurt you! It would take a good sized hall before you were lost for volume and then I am sure you could add the extension cabnet and keep up in most any situation.

The overdrive channel reminds me of when I used to have a Showman, great ballsy sound, very blusey but when you played an SG through it, it could just whale! This is what I hear coming from this amp.

I don't know yet but if the store in Santa Ana is any indication, I can't imagine I will have any problems.

Same answer again, the folks at the store were great to deal with, a lot of fun, very straight forward about their product and did their best to work a solid price and were just very good all the way around.

I have only been playing with this amp for a short time but I have owned what are now considered the be the GREAT amps and I can say without any hesitation that this is the best amp pound for pound that I have ever owned. I don't know if "Steve" really had anything to do with the design, regardless, a great amp and I am very thankful for the way Carvin does business.

It's all you should need for a trusty tube amp.

I use this amp with a Fender Fat Strat. I play in a band who does mostly covers. We play Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, and a variety of other stuff too. I also play at church. This is more of a rock/blues type of playing. I also play in a jazz band. We do all kinds of jazz styles. I think the only thing this amp can't do would be the mesa sound. To be honest I like this amp MUCH more than any Marshall, except for the plexies. The Legacy has the ability to become very smooth, which is a MUST for the Phish songs I play. But when you need that rock crunch it's capable of that just as well. It definitely has a ton of balls. When ever I play it, I want to bite into the sound because it is so thick. It's great. It can do anything with the help of a few eq adjustments. And for that mesa sound, save the money and just buy the v-twin preamp pedal. The clean channel is nice and full, which is what I wanted, since a lot of the time, I am the only guitar player. I don't want a thin fendery sound. Even though I'd love to have a del. reverb someday. It's a very rich sound. The half wattage swith is nice. It doesn't cut down on volume that much, but it makes tha amp clip at a lower level. The V30 speakers are the best. They sound a little better now that I've broken them in throughout the past few months. I like to have my speakers break up just a hair. Go to www.carvin.com/vai and check out some of the audio clips. You'll be amazed as I was and still am.

I think it will stay with me a couple of years.

Carvin is awesome!!!

I've been playing for nine years. (ever since I was in third grade and I'm in eleventh now). I compared this amp to everything. For a guy/gal on a budget, you can't go wrong. If it were lost or stolen I would consider getting a Vox AC30, but I'd probably end up with this again, because it's such a good deal.

1999 Model, VL212 Combo, ALL-TUBE. I bought this amp used on EBAY.. I was told that the stock Celestion Greenbacks didn't hold up well to the output power, and were damaged. The previous owner replaced them with Celestion G12T-75's. Also the tubes were shot when I got the amp. The previous owner had Sovtek 6L6's in there along with some VERY noisy No-Name 12ax7's.. VERY poor sound!! I had the amp retubed with Electro-Harmonix 12ax7's, and 4) MATCHED EL34's.., WOW!!!

I run this 2x12 combo, with a Carvin Legacy 2x12 Extension Cabinet, and an 8 ohm THD HOTPLATE speaker attenuator. (believe me, you need it!!). The 2x12 cab has Celestion Vintage 30's, and I plan to buy 2 new Vintage 30's for the combo speakers soon.

Everything you need, and nothing else. VERY, VERY LOUD!!! (no joke)

I have a 2001 Schecter C-1 +, in Transparent Black Finish. I have several upgrades done. Pickups replaced with DiMarzio's (PAF Classic/NECK, and Air Zone/BRIDGE). Push/pull pot installed for coil-tapped bridge pickup. Cheap stock bridge replaced with a TonePros Metric. Ernie Ball strings (.09-.42).. I play classic rock (Black Sabbath/Rolling Stones/Cream), 80's-90's Heavy (Judas Priest/Iron Maiden/Metallica/Pantera/Slayer/Anthrax/Megadeth), '90s-present alternative rock (Nirvana/Soundgarden/Alice in Chains/Pearl Jam/Chili Peppers, I like Seven Mary Three / 3 Doors Down / SevenDust / GodSmack / Monster Magnet. WIDE VARIETY.. Only thing I can't nail is the REAL heavy stuff. Like Slayer, or Pantera. I use my Mesa/Boogie V-Twin, and Kerry King LEAPS from my speakers. Don't turn it above 4 1/2!! you won't EVER need to go any higher than that..

Never Broken Down on me yet. Excellent..

Never dealt with Carvin.. I hear they are great..

Been Playing seriously for around 10 years. Was shopping around, and ran across an ad in a magazine. This is TWICE the amp, compared to a Marshall TSL combo, with out all of the USELESS bells and whistles. Tried all of them (trust me), I spent 6 months looking/trying out EVERYTHING that Guitar Center had to offer..

I use this amp with a Schecter C1+, George L's vintage red cable, Boss Compression/Sustainer, Morley Bad Horsie 2 Wah, ToneBone Hot British 12ax7 overdrive/distortion pedal, Fulltone '69 Fuzz, Digitech Whammy (I only use the octave up, and the Divebomb), Boss Acoustic Simulator, Boss Noise Suppressor. I use the TC Electronic G-Major, in the effects loop. With the noise suppressor, and the gate from the G Major, there is almost NO unwanted noise (very minimal). Overall, I am very happy with my Carvin Legacy Combo.. It CAN'T be beat for the price..

I am a very critical dude when it comes to equipment, tone etc. The features on this amp are a pretty basic (but tried and true) setup. Would have scored higher if it had 2 things on it, a Master volume for the power amp and a reverb control for BOTH channels.

Trust me, this is a very high score. I would give it a 10. But like Harmony Central says, NOTHING is perfect. I play Ibanez RG 570's exclusively. Tone Zone pickup in the bridge and PAF in the neck. I cut my teeth on 80's metal, classic rock and metal. The Legacy NAILS it. In my younger days (I'm probably a few years younger than Vai himself) I searched for razor sharp, chainsaw gain. No more. Tone is the thing. Gain is no good without the tone to drive it. And this Amp is full of tone. I always played with 6L6 tubes. This is the first amp I've played with EL34s and will never switch back to 6L6's. The only thing I HAD to do was to replace the stck tubes with Groove Tubes EL34's. I love the 'verb on this amp, if used sparingly. I never use too many effects anyway. What I do is set the lead channel exactly how I like it, then when I want just a little extra gain, I run an Ibanez tube screamer. The clean channel is awesome as well. It breaks up at just the right spot! Plus, running the tube screamer on the clean channel I can nail SRV's sound. I wish the tubes sockets were of the ceramic type. I run this amp through a Celestion loaded Peavey 4X12 cabinet when I need to move more air. It sounds awesome. Overall, a well made amp. If it's good enough for Vai, it's good enough for me.

It hasn't broken down on me in the 6 months I've had it. I take very good care of my equipment. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

Have never dealt with them for service and hope I never have to. Cause that means something is wrong.

I've played MANY different amps and think this one will stay with me.

Already listed quite a few times so I will skip this part. If you need the specs...go to www.carvin.com. This ones has the older greenback speakers but my 4X12 Legacy cab has the newer V30's. Like most tube amps, they do not have bias leads in the back. All tube amps should have this and this one is no exception.

I use a Peavey Wolfgang Special, a Visual Sounds H2O, Ibanez DE7, and an Ibanez Flanger in the effects loop. This is an incredible amp for clean and distortion tones. I retubed and rebiased myself so mine sounds a little warmer than when I first got it two years ago. I have to admit, it was not what I was expecting from the amp in the beginning...loved it at first and then after a month it just seemed too fuzzy when pushed. Later discovered it was actually the Greenbacks. I think they would have been fine if I had a 4X12 cab but the combo of course only has 2. My Legacy (w/V30's) 4X12 cab makes a huge difference - much deeper bottem end and clearer tone when pushed. Very loud amp but I can get pretty good tone at low volumes. Cranked it is nice! Just don't stand too close to it anything higher than 3 on the volume. Good clean pedals sound great through this amp.

Keep in mind, not a Mesa, Fender, nor Marshall...I would say it is somewhere inbetween all three amps but a little closer to a Marshall JCM800 withouth the harshness. I haven't tried to swap out the power tubes for 6L6's but I did A/B an MTS with 6L6's and liked the warmthness of the Legacy better (not to say that the MTS is the same amp...they are not). The Legacy has a sound all it's own and is not for everyone. I actually thought about selling it when the Peavey XXX's came out...I A/B'd them and kept the Legacy. The Legacy can't get that high gain sound but the XXX didn't have the warmth (would still love to have an XXX though...very nice amp!)of the Legacy. Chords chime well (both channels) and single notes are just sweet!

The Legacy is a keeper...if I want a different sound I will have to get a new amp but keep this one for sure!

Gee...mine hasn't caught on fire yet so I guess it's ok! I know that several people complained about the reliability of these amps but I think they are full of it! I mean...they come on HC and bash the amp but never say anything on the Carvin.com forum complaining about it burning to the ground!

These guys are great! I bought the amp used and they were very helpful with questions and instructions on biasing the amp! Dr. Sound is right on! Very helpful dude. Email...phone...or forum -very helpful.

I think more people would own this amp if it weren't for the mail order thing but that's what keeps the prices down! I have been playing on and off for over 20 years and my favorite artists are EVH, Satch, Vai, SRV, Lnych...a lot of 80's bands.

This is a great two channel amp, switchable 50 to 100 watt power, able to change tubes from EL34 to 6L6 or 5881's. It has a presence knob for the clean channel which I think seems to thin the sound out too much but many people have seemed to find it to their liking. Separate presence chicken head knob for the dirty channel which adds a nice sheen but can again be over the top if over used. I am a regularly gigging musician and must say that the amp is loud, smaller clubs I have to resort to my lower wattaged Fender, but the bigger venues it is great to open it up a bit. Still really have not pushed either channel much past 4 in a live setting. Yes, it's that loud.

The dirty channel is amazing. Being a Fender amp man for years I have found that the 6L6's are great for clean but you can't beat an EL34 to really crunch up the channel. The distortion impresses me more with every show. It clean up well when you lower your guitar volume and Carvin calls this the "Vai Feature" like it was something special but doesn't every amp clean up when the guitar volume is rolled back? Granted this amp does it well but Carvin did not reinvent the wheel here. The clean channel is nice with humbuckers and a little thin and muted with my single coil strat, I retubed the amp with Svetlana power tubes and E-1 12AX7's which are a kind of Telefunken rip off. The amp breaks up earlier than I thought and I lowered my humbuckers a little. It breaks up a little as early as 4 but can stay pretty nice with single coils to 5 or 6. The amp is quiet overall. The reverb is nice but can be over the top and "boingy" if over used. (can't they all) Lastly, and overall it's a great amp and I enjoy playing it, however I just think I am a Fender man and love the 6L6 sound. Maybe I'll swap the tubes again. Also took the optional back off to open it up a bit and cut the midrange.

Amp has no problems, Carvin has been very nice with the exception of some punk know it all that actually knew nothing. I have owned it and gigged with it for about 4 months now without an issue.
I don't gig without extra tubes and a back up, I don't care what amp I am using. Things break, tubes are great but let's face it they are an antiquated technology that happens to sound great so we (guitarists) use them.

First one came shipped and I sent it back because I thought it broke up too quickly on the clean channel. Carvin mailed me a brand new one and apparently it's just the characteristic of the amp...the people that list the amp as breaking up around 7 I think are nuts. First of all if you got the amp that loud you must now be deaf and secondly it starts the break up around 4 if you are wailing.

I have been playing for 10 years, and 4 years in an original/cover band. We gig just about every weekend and I run a few extra distortion pedals before the amp. I have a Boss floor tuner, a Blue Collar Overdrive, a Boss metal zone and a boss delay. I have owned tons of pedals and gear and to date this set up is good stuff. I play mostly strats and teles but have some ibanez. Les Pauls is the next purchase. If broken I would get another amp but only because I am on a quest for new tone. I would not be buying something cheaper though. I am very impressed with Carvin. To end I would love for someone to contact me with their ideas on this amp especially if they swapped out the El34's with 6L6's, I'd like to know how it sounds.

First let me say that I have never felt compeled to do a review on a product. But right from the get go this is a profesional amp in all respects. As you have probably read in other reviews this amp is compatible with el34 tubes or 6L6's, wich makes this great for whatever you are looking for in tone. What I found to be a great feature is the open back or closed option. I love both for different reasons, but let me say this, the change is dramatic between the two. If your looking for a work horse that can do the job, this amp is it.

For years I have used a all tube 30 watt amp. I have gotten a lot of great compliments on my tone. The 30 watt amps that I use use 12ax7's with eL84 power tubes. I was a little concerned about a drastic change in my tone with the eL34's. The Legacy provides enough versatility to sound like yourself.....even better. This amp provides the tone I worked hard to find with the added punch I was looking for.

Has not let me down yet!

Overall this is a great amp. I have used everything from Marshall to Fender. This amp is a sweet machine. I do however recommend getting the combo unless you decide to buy the whole stack. I have the combo with the greenbacks and they sound great. I do have a old Laney 4 12 cab that I plugged it into and it rocked also. But I love the greenbacks. Signiture amps in my opinion can be cheezey. But in my long search to complete my tone I am proud to use this amp.

I purchased this amp in 2000, so it came with the EL 34 tubes and the Celestion G12M greenbacks - I think the newer models come shipped with vintage 30 speakers instead...Also included was a footswitch since it has 2 channels - clean and lead. Looking at the back of the amp it has an effect loop,line out for going into a p.a. - Bias switch which lets you run EL 34/6L6 GC or 5881's, a switch which lets you run 2 tubes at 50 watts or 4 tubes at 100 watts, and a speaker ohm switch.As far as tubes it has 5 12ax7s ( 3 sovteks and 2 groove tubes )....interesting - and 4 power tubes (sovtek EL 34)..

The guitar i ran through the amp had a 3 pickup config. ( 2 alinco singles and a JB humbucker at the bridge ). First off the V Leg is really loud so make sure you have the master volume below 3 or your gonna be buying some new windows...no joke - The overall tone of the lead channel with all the knobs set at 5 except for the master volume which was set at around 1.5 was real bassy with some nice high end and lots of midrange - not real crunchy tone...so I tweaked around and found some really nice tones, and if you like to play leads your going to love this amp.The only thing that was pissing me off was the fact that I couldn't scoop the mids out and get low E chunk speed metal thing going with the amp - so i broke out the ole ts 9 tubescreamer set the gain at 5/ bass at 6/mid at 1/treble at 8/pres at 3 ....this config took about an hour to find but once I did it was worth it - now the V leg was kicking out some real serious Slayer type dist.not exactly like a triple recto distortion but really good in it's own way - cool.Each of the guitar pickups character come through really nice with this amp - way better than most high gain channel amps I've played through. Another really cool thing about the lead channel was the it reacts to how hard you hit the strings in relation to the amount of gain thats achieved,if you roll the volume on your guitar back you can get a nice clean sound crank the volume up to 8 or beyond and your into some mondo dist.I was very impressed with the clean channel,it stays clean even when you turn the volume way up....some may not like this since it doesn't break up when you turn it up like a fender or a marshall....since i was running my ts 9 I would kick it on and it gave me some clean break-up - really nice for playing some SRV....sounded pretty close to his tone when I had my neck position pick-up on.I'll rate this category a 8 since the amp couldn't do the death metal tone without some help, but for every other style i give it a 10 for sure - so i guess that makes it 9....lol

After 1 1/2 yrs no problems yet....knock on wood

I've been playing for a long time ...so i'm pretty set in my ways as far as tone goes. I also own an old Laney tube amp and i must say that i still like the way it sounds better than the V leg.As time goes on i must say that I'm staring to like the V leg better and better - that's good because I usually like an amp way more when i first play through it and as time goes on my opinion diminishes.So who knows, it might replace my trusty old Laney as my main amp some day.

The features have been discussed in earlier reviews. 2 Channels
(clean and dirty), 50w/100w switch feature, etc, etc, etc. All that you need to get excellent tone.

First things first, not a shredder's amp!!!!!! I am using an Ernie Ball MM Axis and a Jackson PC-3. I figured that the amp would give me some kind of Steve Vai sound, but it didn't. At first, I was highly disappointed with this amp. It made everything sound like a Telecaster. However, since it's my first tube amp I really didn't know that you had to let those tubes warm up.

I've owned Line 6 amps, Marshall Valvestates, Tech 21- PSA-1, etc. All great amps, but no tubes. After I let those tubes warm up, this beast truely rocked and became very saturated. The distortion was thick and encompassing, but it still remained defined and very colorful. The clean channel was very punch and reacted well with my pick atttacking. Not at "Fender-like" but it has it's own beauty. That's what rocks about this amp. It has it's own sound.

One more thing, this amp is extremely loud, I've never had it past one while I practice. I'm sure that when I rejoin a band, I will not have any problems being heard.

I haven't gigged with it yet so I can't comment on it. Like my Axis though, this thing is built like a tank.

I've dealt with Carvin with one other situation and the customer service rep seemed quite rude. However, when I order something from them, it's always exactly what I want. No more, no less. I have to take a little off in this category b/c of that rep. I used to work in custoemr service and if I ever spoke to any customer the way he did to me, I would have been fired.

I have been playing for over 13 years. I have played them all at one point: Mesa, MArshall, Fender, Carvin, Soldano, VHT, the list goes on. The only two amps I can actually compare to this amp are the Soldano XL50 and the VHT Pitbull. The only thing is that all 3 amps have their own distinct tone. I'm sure there are better amps out there, bu I haven't come across one as great as this BEAST!!!!

I love everything about this amp, it's a keeper!!!!!

This review is for a 2001 Legacy combo. It sports clean and crunch channels, a 50/100 watt selector switch, reverb, power tube selector switch, and an open/closed back option. My tone is somewhere between early 80's Alex Lifeson (moderate crunch with great presence) and 90' Alex Lifeson (heavy crunch with a bit more hair on it) and I can nail either sound with a tremendous amount of clarity. It has reverb, but I don't use it as I get my effects from a TC Electronic G Major processor. I am using a PRS Custom 22. From a features standpoint, the amp is pretty basic: the fact that the rear panel can be removed for open back operation is really nice. I rate it a 9 in this category because I wish it had a switchable effects loop. Other than that, it is what it is; a great sounding amplifier with no frills.

When I first used the amp, I was surprised at the amount of mid range it had. It was actually a concern for me because I couldn't get rid of the mids even with the mid control on zero. Having read another review that suggested removing the rear panel to help "open" up the tone, I gave it a try and was blown away by the difference. The amp became a totally different beast; it sounded fantastic. The mids were cut dramatically and the amp just seemed to come alive. Now, the open back suits me best, but the closed back operation really did have a nice sound as well. It was very tight and focused, but a bit too tight for my preference. The eq offers a fair amount of control, but it could do with a bit more in the bass area. I have it cranked on 10 and it sounds great, but I wish it could go to 11. Despite that one wish, I am thrilled with the sounds the Carvin delivers. The crunch channel can be rich and creamy (sorry for the lame adjectives) or very clean and cutting. Another great feature is the fact that you can dial your guitar volume down to clean up the crunch channel. It really does sound great, as it cleans it up without reducing the volume. I find that I can set the volume of my guitar at about 8 for a light crunch sound and then put it to 10 for leads. It works great in a live situation.
As for volume, this thing is a beast. I gigged with it for the first time a few nights ago (using the 50 watt option) and I ran the crunch on 1.5 and the clean on 5. The beauty is that you don't need to run it on 10 to get a singing lead tone out of it. The tones is readily available at lower volumes. Several fellow musicians at the gig commented on the tone of the amp. The clean channel is equally nice, but if you run it above 5 it can get a little hairy, but it still sounds great.

It is solidly built and will need to be cared for like any other tube amp. It does run pretty hot, but I put a small fan behind it to move some air.

I wish this category also went to 11!!! I am a first time Carvin customer, having been referred by a friend of mine who has bought from Carvin for many years. I was lucky enough to hook up with James, a nice guy who also uses the Legacy. I told him what sound I was after and he nailed it with this amp. I had almost forgotten what good customer service was like, having spent the last few years buying from all of the regular web music sites who employ people who really don't seem to know much about the products they are selling. Carvin does it right and if they can't get it right the first time, they will bend over backwards to get it done as fast as possible. Please know that I am not affiliated with Carvin in any way. I am simply a musician who was tired of substandard amplifiers and crappy service. By calling Carvin, I immediately upgraded to first class in both areas.

I've been playing for 17 years and have owned all kinds of amps (Vox, Boogies, Marshall, Seymour Duncan). In fact, I went through 3 different Marshall TSL amps last month (they sounded nice but all 3 were defective in one way or another). I had reached the end of the line when my buddy mentioned the Legacy. Having nothing to lose I gave it a shot and ended up with a great amp that will be the heart of my rig for many years. I would replace this amp in a second if it were lost/damaged. The fact that this amp costs $999 also blows my mind. It just sounds so great that I would expect it to cost far more. The tones are rich and complex, but setting them up is very simple. It took me about 10 minutes to dial in my tone.

A basic tube amp. Two channels, clean and overdrive. Footswitch controls channels and reverb. 4 power tubes, 5 preamp tubes.

I play a Rg 570 with a Tone Zone in the bridge through this amp. I can't awesome tone out of it. This amp has tremendous bass, which isn't bad if you use a lot of bass. This amp is also tremendously LOUD!!!!! If your looking for something in your bedroom, look someplace else because you won't be able to turn this thing up above 1. This amp is great for blues, rock, and jazz. When I say rock I'm talking about Vai,Satch,Johnson, Malmsteen. Not Limp Bizkit or Metal bands if your into that sort of thing.

So far I only play in my bedroom (hopefully that will change) so I've never had to see if it is durable. The only problem I've ever had. Was when I got it the tubes got damaged and some pretty loud and annoying crashes and squeals came out of it. But to make things better, Carvin sent me a free set of tubes to change. And that fixed everything.

When I was first looking to buy an amp I found out that you shoudn't call Carvin's stores for advice. The guy there made me feel like I was asking the stupidest questions.(And trust me they weren't stupid questions.)After that though I called Carvin to talk to someone about the amps and they were really friendly and helpful. However I asked the guy if you get get Metallica and Pantera sounds out of it and he said you could. Well let me just say, you can't. So if your into that kind of music go for a Crate Blue Voodoo or some tpye of other high-gain amp. The warranty is 1 year.

I have been playing for about 5 years. I play and Rg 570 and one or to other pedals through this amp they all sound decent. Sounds better without multi effect processers. If it were lost or stolen I would miss it for awhile but eventully get a Rocktron Preamp and just play that through a 212 cabinet. However if you like Vai's tone and don't play real high-gain stuff then this is best amp you will be able to find new for around a grand. However I suggest you play everything that is out there before you choose an amp because it's not fun being stuck with an amp you don't like.

If you're familiar with Carvin, you know the specs of this amp. Bare bones; all you need and nothing more.

The amp sounds very good overall. I play just about every style, from straight ahead jazz to hard funk to blues.
I primarilly purchased this amp for its closed back feature. Since I play a lot of outdoor gigs on large stages, open back combos allowed too much of the sound to escape from the back of the cabinate, so I figured this would be a smart choice instead of purchasing a seperate head and closed back cabinate.
The amp sounds very good. It is what it is. When I ordered the amp, it arrived with the greenbacks installed in it. At louder volumes the clean channel would give that very slight musical breakup that I wasn't 100% sure that I wanted from this amp, so I called Carvin and told them that I would like to try the amp with the vintage 30s' in them. After I installed the vintage 30s in this amp, the amp completely lost all musical elasticity, vocal quality, and responsiveness that it had before. I'm much more critical of an amps clean sound than anything else. I personally feel that if an amp has an amazing clean sound, you can work with it and get your overdriven sounds where you want them. The response of the amp became almost digitized and detached with the Vintage 30s. I replaced the greenbacks and all that was lost was found. I still wasn't sure about switching back until I played a seven string Bennedetto archtop through the amp, and the greenbacks simply purrrrrred as I struck chords and ran single note lines. It doesn't sound like a Fender, but the breakup was simular to that clean overdriven Twin breakup. The clean sound was cleaner and punchier with the Vintage 30's; mellower and more vocal with a little breakup with the greenbacks.

The overdrive sound in the amp is thick and full. With a strat running through the amp, it wails withthe best rock and metal tones of almost any amp that I have heard. This, once again, is with the Greenbacks installed.
Not quite so with the Vintage30's, which gave the amp a harsher overdriven edge that didn't work well with single coil pickups. I pluged in my PRS McCarty and still couldn't get a driven sound that I liked. Something odd seems to happen in the midrange response of these speakers when teamed up with this cabinet that I just couldn't figure out. If you still can, order the amp with the Greenbacks. Trust me!

This is my second Carvin amp. My other amp I purchased in 1986 when I was 15 years old. It survived the great flood of 1993 and still works to this day, even though it is basically a Mesa Mark I copy. I am worried about the footswitch that comes with the amp, as it is a little flimsy, and it should have L.E.D.s on it for easier monitoring on dark stages. Sometimes the footswitch wants to work, and sometimes I have to beat the hell out of the attached cable that comes with it to make it work properly. I've had this amp for three months, and I think I'll give Carvin a call about this problem.

Customer sopport is excellent. Name one other amplification company that would mail you a set of speakers free of charge to try out in your amp to see if you prefer the way they sound!

I'm 30 years old, and I've been playing since I was 13 years old. I might replace it if it were stolen, and for the money, there's not much out there that can touch it.

Guitar wise, I own an American Standard Ash Strat with EMGs, a G&L S-500, a PRS McCarty, a killer PRS Artist III as well as a PRS Archtop, Gibson ES-335, Gibson L-5, and a Moll Custom 7 string archtop.
Amplification wise, I own a Matchless 112 Cheiftan, a Tech 21, a Mesa Boogie MarkIV, and that's it!

2000 model, but still in production, although newer models have vintage 30's instead of greenbacks like mine. This amp is quite versatile, it has the best "clean" sound I've heard in an amp. This is a two channel combo, with clean and drive(distortion) channels. Channels can be switch via a footswitch or on the front control panel. An effects loop is present, and is also switchable. Although no headphone jack is present, there is a voiced line out. This amp has tone controls (bass, mid, treble, presence) that really work well. A presence switch on the clean channel brightens the channel just right. The amp also has reverb, but I can't stand amplifier reverbs so I never use it. I bought this for a practice amp, but quickly switched to use it as my gig amp. One of the best features is a switch that cuts the power in half, very useful for driving the amp when you don't need all that volume. This amp screams. At practice, I'm usually running at 3 or 4 volume. That's with the switch in the "50W" position. Other features include the ability to change speaker impedance loads, from 4 to 8 to 16, so you can use it with the built in pair of 12" speakers, add another 2x12 cab, add a 4x12 8 ohm cab, or just use the combo as a "head", and run two 4x12 cabs. You can also change tubes if you would like, with a tube bias switch.

I use this with multiple guitars, and get great reproduction of guitar sounds. The strats sound like strats, the humbuckers full and loud. This amp suits my style well, and would suit ANY style utilizing electric guitars. The amp has the usually tube background sound, but I think that adds character to the overall sound. It's not overbearing. As I said above, the "clean" sound is the best I've ever heard. The distortion tends to be full and "just right", and if you want to "shred", this is not your amp. As I said above, the built in reverb is awful, but aren't all of them? I use a chain of effects via the effects loop.

Carvin has a reputation for reliability. Plus, the have great customer support.

Great.

I've been playing for over thirty years. I've had or played through just about every amp out there, and this amp is really great. And for the money, the best. I'm sold on it, so I'd get another. It's not too big (but it's heavy as all combo's are). I can have as much sound as any half stack, but not have to haul all that gear around. Everyone else who plays on it love it. I did compare this amp with other combo's but is sounds as good or better than any others, and the price cannot be beat. Also, I've had alot of experience with Carvin (PA stuff), and the quality is very good. They back their gear up with great customer service.

This is a 1999 Carvin Legacy 2x12 combo. This amp was designed by Steve Vai with Carvin to allow him to produce the wide array of sounds he is famous for. This two channel amp with footswitch has a clean and drive channel (both can be driven to give crunch tones, but this amp is built for drive and power). The amp has the features mentioned ad naseum in other reviews so I won't elaborate here.
I wish this amp had a 1/4 power switch as well since it is so LOUD!!!! The amp cranks at between 1-2 on both channels and 100 watts is pretty painful in this amp. I found it was too much for my needs and needed to sell it so that I could remain in my neighborhood and still talk with my neighbors without the police prestn. The amp is all tube and allows 6L6 and EL34's to be auto biased with the snap of a switch.

This amp is pretty loud and brutal. I play a McCarty and Relic Strat primarily and this amp drives both well. This amp seems more geared for shred and distortion than clean tones and I found that it was not 100% suited for my more blues rock oriented tastes. My garage mates (not in a band) always were begging me to turn it down when I was at two or three and we play pretty loudly. The amp is reviewed as pretty versatile by others, but I didn't find it particularly as versatile as say a Bogner Shiva or even one of the Torres Modded amps. The clean channel distorts at higher volumes and does a nice job for rhythm, but again this is not a Fender sounding clean and it is not to my tastes.

I don't know in this regard about reliability. My cohorts have the head versions and they have all had repairs done. The few folks who have had the combos have had less complaints. I haven't needed any work, but I would have to rate it as a 6 on reputation alone. Also since Carvin is in California and I'm in Maine...this thing is not going to travel easily (it weighs a ton!!).

Carvin has been pretty nice to deal with but again...direct sales are harder for me to deal with. No one local and no authorized service places for me. I do think they are good folks though.

If you love to play loud shred rock and high gain distorted stuff this amp may be for you. I still prefer my Marshalls and Fenders and especially the Bogners for true tone. This amp is reasonably priced and can do a lot with the power it possesses. I was more hopeful that these Celestion Greenbacks would be too sweet for words, but this amp overwhelms it with power and really is not to my liking.

The main reason I decided to try this amp was the features. Bias switching, 50/100 watt switch, 2 channels, reverb, effects loop other amps should add as much to their products.

OK basically one of the worst sounding amps ever made. I play a strat with a duncan JB humbucker in the bridge. I work 5 nights a week in a cover band and I knew after one set how bad this amp was. No crunch to the distortion a very nasally midrange sound. Similar to a boogie but nowhere near as good...NOTHING like a marshall. Clean channel was nothing to speak of. It has plenty of gain that's the only plus I found.

Returned the amp in three days.

Returned the amp in three days

I've been playing the club circuit for 14 years. I've owned marshall, Boogie, Gallien Krueger, Peavey, and ADA equiptment. Without a doubt this was the worst amp I ever heard. I don'at know how Steve Vai puts his name on it. I went out and found a used marshall combo for $500 that puts it to shame. thank God for Carvin's 10 day free trial or I'd have this baby on ebay.

'99 El-34 tubes 2channel amp, clean, overdrive, footswitch reverb, greenback speakers, removable back, 100 watt-50 watt switch

Carvin DC 127 (stock) no effects use both pu's, Like SRV, ACDC, Satch Vai stuff, Very smokin settings on the gain on 2-3 SRV , 5.5 it'll start feeding back for the least amount of gain for sustain, sweet spot at 7 with the volume on the guitar backed off alot on the neck or bridge pu. Not a Chainsaw Triple Rectifier Drop "C" Riff monster..........But a browner or creamy sound that lets all the notes come thru. Tried the 5881 tubes for sh@ts and Giggles but it laked body and was too bright and edgy. I had the EL-34 tubes afterwards turned up on a sinth-o-graph(spelling is way off I guy who builds amps has one it looks like a heart monitor....way more accurate than a multimeter reading on 125 or 130 ma readings) It made the tubes sound alot less "grainier" Vai has them set at 100Ma which is pretty cold for EL-34's.......recommened settings are 125-130 Ma (Thats what I was told I dont want to come off like "Know-it-all" I just like to tweak with the tone and with this guy for $15 I went back 5 times. I forgot what the original 100 Ma setting sounds like .......it was cool I just obess with tone or did there for a while. Almost drives you mad doesn't it?

Great it's a CARVIN

Anyone at Carvin treats you with integrity, They are a true benchmark for professional service

Amp is great very smmmooooth overdrive .....alotta sweet spots......Carvin is cool to deal with.....great product for the money .....very organic amp....... LOUD.....U will sound like U but thru a unique amp with alot of personality

I got this amp in January 2000. I waited a long time to write this (almost nine months)so I am very sure about what it does and that I like it. I have gone through too many amps in the past five years that I thought I loved and got rid of in a month's time.The features have been discussed thouroughly in past reviews so I wont get into them here. This is a very versatile, two channel amp with a lot more personality than you might expect. I like the fact that you don't have to sound like Steve Vai if you don't want to. I play a lot of different styles, blues, jazz, southern rock, and funk fusion and gig with this thing a lot. This is a loud amp, but I wish the speakers could handle more power sometimes, though I think the tone of the greenbacks is phenominal. In a three piece, this amp cuts through like crazy; in a band with another guitar player playing super loud, I have to push this amp. This is when it sounds best in my opinion but I worry about the speakers blowing. No problems yet, I have probably played between 60-70 gigs with it so far, as well as a ton of rehearsals.

I use two Strats with this amp, an 88 American Standard with dimarzio singles (two Class of 55's and an FS1 in the bridge) and a 97 California model with 2 Duncans (two vintage staggered) and a custom bridge pickup. Both guitars have beefy bridge position sounds. I guess you could say my lead style leans more on the Robben Ford, Larry Carlton side of the tracks, with a southern rock tinge there too. I only use the gain on about 5-6, and hit it with a tubescreamer for leads. This amp is very dynamic, most of the time I only use the lead channel, and switch to a cleaner pickup and turn the volume down for rythym playing (called the Vai feature by Carvin). I only switch channels for jazz, and the clean is very nice, not quite Fender but close enough to do some Wes style octaves and other jazz stuff. It stays clean all the way up, with only slight compression on higher settings but that is way to loud for me anyway. They didn't really try to mimic a Fender and Marshall anyway, that's what's so cool about it in my opinion. It is a very good amp with a great lead sound and clean sound. That's all there is to it. If you want those amps buy those separately. I like to take one amp to the gig, besides my backup, a little Tube Works amp that I use in the real small clubs. I actually agree with a former review that said it sounds more like a nice Mesa. I tried a Boogie Rectoverb before trying the Carvin and I am just as satisfied with the Carvin, and I saved about $500 in the process. I liked the Heartbreaker too but it is way more than I could afford and too damn heavy. I get a very similar sound to the Boogie, and I like the reverb a little better on the Carvin. This is really way more dynamic than any Marshall I've tried recently except for the old ones. I would say that the distortion on the Carvin probably would not compare to the gain range on the Mesa, but there is a lot of gain available, it is just super smooth and not chainsaw heavy. The Boogie probably edges it out in the metal department, but for the sounds I like to hear I'll take the Legacy.

So far no major problems, I have gigged a lot with it and had only one problem with the preamp tubes getting microphonic, I just put in some new ones and it went away. Easy change. Also the handle is ripping, but that will be an easy change also, but Carvin should use a better handle that won't shred under the weight. The power tubes are actually stock, and they sound great. My tech checked it out and said everything was runnning smooth. I will probably replace the power tubes soon though, they have a lot of miles on them. I never go to a gig without a backup, I have two guitars and two amps at all times. I am usually overprepared for everything, but thats because I have had bad experiences in the past with amps blowing and guitars acting up. Shit happens. I trust this amp to do what it's supposed to, I think I got a good one.

I have shopped with Carvin for years but never ordered an amp or guitar from them before. Just mainly parts, pickups and things like that. They were very helpful on the phone and answered my many questions. I was very nervous about ordering such an expensive (and big) piece of gear through the mail, but it went great and arrived on time. They assured me that I could send it back hassle free if I didn't like it. Unfortunately I would have to ship it back to Carvin for any warranty repairs, which is kind of a drag, I wish they had an east coast outlet. Warranty is 1 year, but I probably would take it to my tech anyway unless it was something I could get done for free under the warranty. I think the warranty should be a little longer, and the lack of a local service center is a drag, so I'll give it an 8 in this category.

I have been playing for 16 years and play semi professionally, freelancing with anyone who needs me and with my own band, a funk fusion trio (think Jeff Beck and the Meters). I have a small slew of effects in my board, a tubescreamer, an MXR phase 90, a crybaby wah, and boss dig. delay and tuner. I mainly use this amp, but I have a little Tubeworks amp that sounds great for small clubs and small studios. If the Carvin were lost or stolen I would probably check out some other amps just to be sure but would most likely end up with the Legacy again. I love the wide varietey of sounds, I generally dial up a Robben Fordish tone with it easily but can go to Satch and Vai land if I want. It does the old Van Halen sound well too. I also love the weight, it is only 60 pounds, not super lite by any means but about 40lbs less than the boogies I liked. I put it in my back seat with ease. Like I said I compared it to a few Boogies, also a few Marshalls and a Fender Evil Twin. Anything I wish it had? Sure. It would be cool if it could switch down to 25 watts for the studio, this amp doesnt sound good until you work the tubes and speakers, then it's a flame thrower! In the studio sometimes I can't get the sound I want because it gets too freakin loud in there to get it. I can't really hear too much of a difference in the 50 watt mode excpet for a little less headroom. It doesn't seem to lower the volume much. I think it's wierd also to have a 50 watt speaker compliment with a 100 watt amp, it will eventually take it's toll on the speakers but for now it sounds great. Also, casters would be cool, but overall that's just nit picking. I think this is a great amp unless you want to play death metal or clean country. Maybe some country pickers would like the clean but to me it sounds more jazz than country. It's probably just the way I play.

Two Channels, separate eqs, effects loop, 100 watt - 50 watt convertable, 2X12 25 Watt Celestion Green Backs, removeable back cover...Looks cool!

I'm using a few Fender 60's Reissues and a Peavey Wolfgang. I'm playing Blues, Blues-Rock, and Jazz styles. This is the thing. This ain't no practise amp. If you plan to set this thing up next to your bed and noodle every once in awhile forget it. This amp wants to be heard at stage volume! Lower volume settings (around 1 or below) can sound a bit muddy on the distortion channel but as soon as you crank it up you get the beef and all the colors of it's tonal range. Luckly this amp doesn't have ridiculous saturated distortion like a 5150. It gives you all the sounds you need within reason if you play music with taste, tone, and subtlety.

This is not a Death Metal amp. It's basically a great inexpensive boutique style Rock amp with a reasonable price, that could also be used for Jazz and Blues depending on your settings and what kind of guitar you're using.

It has a versatility that something like a Fender Bassman doesn't have. But the Legacy can get close to the Bassman tone with careful tweaking.

I've heard people compare it to a Marshall but it doesn't sound that way to me. To my ears it sounds like a real nice Mesa Boogie except that it's easier to tweak. It's got a hell of a lot of bottom too! So for the first time I'm finding that I'm boosting the highs more and dropping the lows to get a good balanced tone.

What sold me on this amp was that it had a real bold and warm sparkly character to it. Warm and Bluesy, but the sound pops! For the Blues stuff and my Strat I get all the SRV chunk I need and even more if I needed it. With my Wolfgang (with a stop tail piece!) I get these cool, thick, rich tones that are a cross between Santana and Steve Morse.

The Clean channel is very nice but nothing mind blowing. It's good enough for what I'm doing. It's not as lush as some other amps I've heard like a Fender Super Reverb or something, but it varies from room to room. I can get the Jazz clean, the Blues clean, and even the country spank just by switching pickups. What I like about it is that it's not wimpy or sterile. It's right there in your face, fat and crisp with a personality all it's own.

The other good thing is that this amp has what is called "The Vai Feature". That is, when you're using the distortion channel you can turn down the volume from your guitar and get other tones that are cleaner without it getting muddy. So you can play cleaner stuff using your distortion channel and just crank your guitar's volume up when you need some chunk.

One other thing I noticed is that it has a over all dark quality to the sound. It's not good or bad just there. In this respect it reminds me of a Mesa Boogie.

I've only had it for a week and have played two gigs with it. We will see. For a hot second when I turned it on last night for the second gig, the "On" light didn't come on immediately. But a nanosecond later it came on. I don't what this was but it worked fine all night long. I did Four one hour sets two days in a row and had no problems.

We'll see!

I've been playing for over 20 years but that means nothing. I've always been a late bloomer and all I wanted was a #1 Amp so that I could use my Peavey Classic 50 4X10 as a back up. I just had to have me a Channel switching rock amp without the price tag of a Soldano 100 watt combo. I needed to satisfy this craving so I could shut up and play my guitar. I'm done now!

I'm diggin' it but like a new girl friend I'll find out more as I go along. I'm waiting for the skeletons to jump out of the closet.

On the back of the amp you can adjust the amp to 50 or 100 watts. In the manual they say the volume is only a 3db difference. I couldn't hear it. In my studio it was incredibly loud. Almost too much. I was afraid I had purchased some uncontrolable beast at first.

At my first gig I kept pushing up the volume. But that's when it was in the 50 watt mode. I got it back to 100 for the second gig and the levels were fine. Every room is different. I use a Fulltone Drive 2 Overdrive in my floor board and never even needed it. The amp handles all my distortion and clean needs.

At home when I first plugged it in it had a kind tight slightly compressed tone. Then I took off the back cover and the whole sound opened up. It really breathes now. Take the back cover off! It's a damn good amp and does what it's supposed to do. Great price! I'm sure if I A-B'd this amp with the Soldano 100 watt combo the Soldano would win but then again I don't have two grand to toss around.

I would really like to get out of this whole anal retentive gear obsession that so many people are into (I'm in recovery) and just play what I have and let my fingers to the talking.

PURCHASED FEB, 2000 FOR AT CARVIN STORE IN SHERMAN OAKS, CA.
IDEAL FOR CLASSIC-TYPE ROCK (ZEP/WHO/EARLY CLAPTON/BECK/TULL,ETC ETC) OR BLUES OF ALMOST ANY KIND, BUT ESPECIALLY HARD ROCK-BLUES LIKE ZZ TOP, S.R. VAUGHN, ETC. GREAT FOR FOR FUSION GUITAR ALSO. CLEAN CHANNEL IS THICK, MEATY AND SPARKLY WITH NOTICEABLE "VINTAGE" CHARACTER. DISTORTION IS EVERY BIT AS CREAMY & SMOOTH AS CLAIMED, AND SUSTAIN GETS PRETTY INTENSE AS DRIVE CONTROL APPROACHES 7 (I ALMOST NEVER WOULD WANT OR NEED DRIVE OVER ABOUT 7 1/2, EVEN IN MOST EXTREME CASES).STILL, DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE THE REAL HARD-DRIVING/HARSH FUZZ/SUSTAIN OF METALLICA/MEGADETH TYPE 90'S BANDS. FINE WITH ME, SINCE I DON'T PLAY THAT STUFF ANYWAY. A FRIEND CAME OVER WHO HAS OWNED & PLAYED ONLY MARSHALLS FOR 25+ YEARS AND HE PLAYED & APPRAISED IT FOR QUITE A WHILE. HE WAS IMPRESSED & VERY COMPLIMENTARY. HE SAID WHEN HE CLOSED HIS EYES HE WAS ESSENTIALLY HEARING (IN THE DRIVE CHANNEL) A CLASSIC 1970 MARSHALL, OR DAMN CLOSE TO IT. I PLAY A CARVIN DC-127 GUITAR (I'VE REALLY GOTTEN TO LIKE THIS CO. OVER THE YEARS). THE GUITAR HAS COIL SWITCHES SO I CAN GO BACK & FORTH FROM SINGLE COIL (STRAT-LIKE) SOUND TO DUAL COIL SOUNDS (NEARLY IDENTICAL TO CLASSIC SG STANDARD SOUND). AMP SOUNDS SUPER AT EITHER COIL SETTING (OR COMBINED).
HAVEN'T TAKEN IT OUT YET FOR A GIG OR JAM, BUT IT SURE SOUNDS SPECTACULAR IN MY LIVING ROOM. THE LOUDER IT GETS, THE MORE IT OPENS UP AND REALLY SINGS IN FULL-BODIED FASHION. WANT TO ADD A 2-12" EXTENSION CAB TO HELP PRESERVE SPKR LIFE (100 WATT AMP IS A BIT HARD OVER THE LONG RUN ON 2 SPKRS RATED 25 WATTS EACH; 4 SPKRS SHOULD HELP BEAR THE WATTAGE LOAD BETTER). PLENTY OF POWER FOR AT LEAST A CLUB WITH 2 12'' SPKRS THOUGH. BY THE WAY, THE CELESTION GREENBACKS SOUND WONDEFUL!
REVERB IS JUST OKAY, NOTHING SPECIAL. SOVTEK EL34 TUBES SOUND JUICY. I'M TOLD SVETLANAS MIGHT ENHANCE HARMONICS AND PRESENCE EVEN A TINY BIT MORE (?) . EFFECT LOOP WORKS GREAT AND ALLOWS ME TO USE DIGITAL REVERB, NOISE GATE & NUMEROUS OTHER DIGITAL EFFECTS ON MY ROLAND GT-5 PEDAL. THE LEGACY'S DISTORTION/DRIVE MAKES THIS ADVANCED "DIGITAL MODELING" GUITAR PEDAL'S DRIVE SOUNDS SEEM THIN AND BOGUS BY COMPARISON. TUBES STILL SEEM TO KICK ASS ON THE DIGITAL MODELING VERSIONS OF MARSHALL-TYPE/CLASSIC GUITAR SUSTAIN SOUNDS. I USE ONLY *THE AMP'S* DRIVE SOUNDS, AND DISABLE ALL DRIVE/DISTORTIONS ON THE PEDAL. GREAT SOUND!

HAVEN'T HAD IT LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW DURABLE IT IS, BUT CARVIN GENERALLY MAKES TOUGH, ROAD-READY EQUIPMENT. AGAIN, I SUSPECT ADDING THE ETRA 2-12" CAB TO THE COMBO WILL EXTEND SPKR LIFE CONSIDERABLY FOR ANYONE WHO USES THIS AMP AT HIGH VOLUMES OFTEN. "8" RATING IS, I HOPE, A MINIMUM (JUDGING FROM OTHER CARVIN AMPS & EQUIPMENT I HAVE). HOPEFULLY, IT'S 9 OR BETTER(?).

ONE YEAR WARRANTY ON AMP/PARTS. 90 DAYS FOR TUBES. cOMPANY IS KNOWN FOR POLITE & EVEN RATHER "SUBMISSIVE" SERVICE TO SINCERE CUSTOMER DEMANDS/COMPLAINTS. IF YOU HAVE A DEFINITE, VERIFIABLE GRIPE, LET THEM KNOW IN CLEAR & POLITE TERMS WITH AS MUCH INFO/TECHNICAL DETAILS AS YOU CAN GIVE & THESE GUYS ARE REALLY FLEXIBLE, HELPFUL, AND REASONABLE
IN THEIR RESPONSE.

I LOVE IT. BEST GUITAR AMP I'VE EVER PLAYED. IF IT INDEED PROVES TO BE TOUGH AND DURABLE THRU THE YEARS, IT'S A FANTASIC VALUE! i'LL BE CONSEVATIVE AND PUT "9".

My amp is a 1999 model and does what i call 80's metal well, DOKKEN,VAN HALEN, you can actually get a great Van Halen I & II sound with it. i play all styles of music and the only one i can't seem to get is a scooped mid sound with just the amp. It's your basic 2 channel amp with switching, mono effects loop,no headphone jack. the only improvement i can think of is an added third channel with a different mid voice for that chunk rhythm tone. I use this amp in a bar band situation and it's perfect for me. this has got to be the loudest amp in this category, 100 watts, in the clubs 1 to 2 in volume is loud enough, the drummer actually complained, and we all know how loud drummers are! An all tube amp that will please you if your into a thick Vai tone , if not you probably won't like it.

I use the Vai JEM the white one with the vine inlay and evolution pickups and the amp absolutely screams with it. It suits my style which is based on the 80's metal sound. It's not really noisy although it does have audible hiss at high gain settings, above 7 on the drive, but not any more than any other amp i've heard. To me the amp does great things on the distortion channel, with the drive on 2 or 3 you can get a great SRV to jammin country drive, even that great AC/DC rhythm tone depending on which picup you use. And if your into a 70's sound ala FREE or STYX it's in there. If your into Coal Chamber or SEVENDUST, or ZOMBIE it's not in there. But i wouldn't expect that from a Steve Vai amp, after all he doesn't do the real heavy kinda sounds now does he. the clean channel. I find it to be very nice, very warm and thick and clean at all the settings i've used it at. I've had the volume up to 7 with the bass, mid, and treble at 5,5,8, and it stayed clean with my guitar in the middle position and the 4 position. Again the distortion is not extreme but it is plentiful, i can sustain for days with the volume on 2 and the drive anywhere from 3 to 7 but you won't find that over the top fuzz as on a lot of the newer heavier bands.

I purchased this thing new at the beginning of the summer of 99 and have had no problems to date and I have been buying CARVIN products for 10 years with no problems. I've always played without a backup, lack of funds to afford more than one rig at a time and I've never had a gear failure. I treat all my gear like i treat my kids with loving care so neglect will never be a reason for a failure.

CARVIN has got to have one of the best customer service departments anywhere. I had to call about a power amp once and they overnighted me a new one with no charge to me and i received it the next day which was saturday! I could'nt believe it. No questions asked and they are always very good about helping with trouble shooting and things. Unfortunately you must send gear to them for repairs but they are always quick. In this day and age of big warranties forthe money the warranty could be longer, you get a year, most now give 3,5 and of course SOLDANOS liftime.

I have been playing for 10 years and have owned ADA,ART,BOSS,CHANDLER,MACKIE, and everything Carvin has made. I would have to have it if it were stolen. This amp has the creamiest lead tone I've ever heard, that Gary Moore Parisienne Walkways kinda creamy. the clean is great. the only thing i hate is the lack of a scooped mid rhythm channel but i knew it was two channel when i bought so i can live with that. And if you use your volume knob on your guitar you can get other amounts of distortion with the same tone. I had considered a 5150 and tried it out and liked the rhythm channel it's got that scooped mid sound but i found the lack of a clean channel and the extreme gain on the lead channel no for me. If you love Vais tone buy it you'll love it if you need more variety don't. I think some people don't realize that what you hear on tape or CD is not always what that players actual rig sounds like, effects eq's and the board all play a part in the final product. i bought the amp and went to Carvins site where they have Vais personal settings and thats how i am running mine but to me it doesn't sound like what i heard on CD, refering to ULTRAZONE, the way he plays, his hands, his really great effects all play a part in the final tone so keep an open mind to that if you purchase one. After all the amp set just like his with his guitar has to sound just like what he sounds like at his house, right.

2 channel with separate EQ, clean and overdrive, Spring Reverb. Sadly, there is no boost of volume for the lead channel, so i had to customise the amp.

Great clean channel, very clear. I use many guitar from the telecaster to the les paul or modern guitar. The lead channel is very good till 7. Over 7, the distortion is muddy. The lead channel is very responsive to the attack, it's great!! If you plug this head in a cabinet with greenback HP, wnoderful!!! One of the better amp I tried. Not good for big metal!!!

Problems with the reverb, it's sound even when it's cut!! Tips: Open the back and sighly unscrew the reverb, it's better!! Another problem with the presence pot, it doesn't work after one month!! Boring...

I'm in France, so the only contact was by e-mail... Very fast!!!

I think this amp is the one I was looking for for the sound!!! But now I start to think I should have bought a Bogner Ecstasy (ther one used half price near my house!!) cause there too much break down on this head... Too much problem, but a very nice sound...

The Amp was a 1999. 2 channels, separate eq's, pretty basic features. loads of power. it was a friends that i tried out. Very versitile for clean playing, but not for the gain channel.

I used a Fender Jagstang. The clean channel was excelent. Very warm and dynamic, with plenty of headroom before breakup. Suitable for all styles. The gain channel was less than I expected. Strong mid voicing but still good dynamics, reacted well to playing. Couldent get a scooped out sound, it was to mid-voiced. Overdrive didn't really sound that good at lower gain settings. I can see why Steve Vai would like it because the gain seems voiced for soloing, which is most of what he does. Despite the shortcomings I stll have to say it has a pretty good tone.

Seemed to be built strong.

Didn't deal with them but from what I've heard they're very accomodating.

I thought it was a very nice amp, but not for heavier styles. Overall it had a good tone with plenty of balls. Carvin makes nice gear and their prices are great. It's tough to commit to buying anything though because you can't try it out first. It would be nice if they had sound clips available or a CD you could order to hear some of their stuff before you sink any money.

The amp was made in 1999. The styles I play are rock, blues, some jazz, and I'm venturing into the prog-metal world. This amp seems suitable for playing classic rock, blues, and jazz (the clean channel is nice -- muddy without the presence button pushed in, at least with my guitar). The amp is warm-sounding on both channels (clean and lead), with plenty of volume. Tubes break up nicely at around 4 or 5 on the clean channel's volume dial. Looks like a normal effects loop on the back of the amp... no headphone jack, but there is a voiced line-out for going straight to the PA/mixer/computer/stereo/whatever else. The features of the amp are pretty much like most other amps -- separate EQs for each channel, pre- and post-gain dials, presence, and reverb. Nothing out of the ordinary, here. A few things I wish the amp had, are more drive, and a parametric EQ -- but I suppose you could fix that with an EQ pedal. I was planning on using this amp for practice and small gigs. It has plenty of volume, so there are no worries there. Since the amp doesn't really suit the harder side of my music, I'm sending it back. If I wasn't into heavier stuff, I'd keep the amp. Unless you're willing to hook up other pedals to get the sounds you want, you won't get a heavy sound out of this amp. It's not bassy enough (might be if you used the EQ pedal) and I am searching for an amp which has a distortion channel I like. I'm going to give the MTS3212 a shot... that's a heavier-sounding, bassier amp from the reviews I've read. Also, the amp is pure tube, and has a speaker out for an external cab... the back of the cabinet is removable, though this didn't change the sound at all, unless you put your ears behind the amp -- no change in the bass output, no real change in tone at all. I'm giving it a 7 because of it's limits -- too many people give 10s or 9s on this section of the amp review, but I think they're over-estimating. :)

I'm using an ESP Horizon, with heavy bottoms/regular tops for strings, and a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge, a stock LH200 in the neck. These are both humbucking pickups. As I've stated before, the amp can handle most of what I want it to do, except the heavier stuff. And when putting a heavier-sounding pedal through it, it still just doesn't produce it right. This is not an amp for playing metal (of course, you wouldn't consider Mr. Vai a metal player, would you?). The amp is pretty quiet, I was surprised. On the drive channel there is a hiss but it's quiet, and at one point I was getting a radio station through the amp, but ever amp I've owned has done that (btw, for those of you that think it's the guitar's pickups making the noise, it's not. I turned my guitar volume down completely, the hiss was still there, radio noise was only for part of the time) and of course you'll get noise from whatever your pickups pass to the amp. To sum up the sounds then, with this amp you can dial in blues and jazz tones, rock sounds, and a GREAT lead tone (again, it's not THAT distorted....) The clean channel is warm and clear, and breaks up at around 4 or 5 (depending on how hot your pickups are). The distortion channel is NOT brutal. It's overdrive.

Seems dependable, but I haven't owned the amp for very long, and I'm sending it back... but I hear Carvin gear holds up pretty well...

I've dealt with Sean at Carvin, and he seems really willing to talk you through anything you need, and he's got boatloads of patience. Talk to him if you want to order any of the Carvin stuff.

I won't belabor any points I've made before. This amp is not for me, but my roomate said he loved the sound of it.. he plays rock. To give you an idea of the heaviness of the amp... it can ALMOST get a Pumpkin-esque sound, a la Quiet, but it's not there.. has a ways to go before it snarls enough. The amp does very well at the other styles I've mentioned, though.

This is a new model, made in 1999. Designed by Carvin, signature Steve Vai model. I recently played one for about an hour at the Carvin Factory sore in San Diego, CA.
This all tube amp, (4-EL34's and 5-12AX7A's) is very versatile for the rock /blues/ jazz original music I play. It has exceptional lead/ overdrive tone, and the clean channel is also quite nice.
The 100 watt Legacy has 2 channels, (lead/ clean), which are footswitchable. The lead channel controls include: master volume, drive, bass, mid, treble, and presence. The clean channel has a master volume, and its own bass, mid, and treble, (there's also a presence button). A single reverb control covers both channels. The power and standby controls are located on the front panel as well.
Other features include a 50/100 watt output switch, "cabinet voiced" line output, an effects loop, and the ability to remove a back panel to switch from closed back to open back. Nice.
The combo features 2x12 Celestion 25 watt Greenback speakers. Steve apparently did a blind test of several different models and he preferred these. I agree.
The amp has enough power for most studio or small club settings, and Carvin makes an optional 2x12 extension cabinet for settings where you want to push more air.

I have only played this at the Carvin factory store, using a couple of their guitars, (a Bolt SSH, and a Holdsworth H2T).
The Bolt is basically a strat type guitar and I was able to get convincing stratty tones from the neck pickup and neck/ mid in between position. This setup is very suited to blues and jazz, and the clean channel would break up nicely at louder volumes and harder pick attack. The tone controls were useful, but there wasn't a lot of change in volume when I switched from 100 to 50 watts with the switch on the back side of the combo. Compared to other clean sounds from ither Carvin amps I've played, this sounded the best. Probably the Greenbacks, (they are not available on their other amps).
The lead sound is what sold me on this amp. Steve Vai played a big role in making sure that this amp sounded the way he wanted, and for him, the lead sound is the one that really matters. This amp is excellent for the lead soloing style Steve is known for. I played the Holdsworth, and starting with relatively low drive settings, and gradually adding more, moved the tone from a slightly overdriven, tubey blues solo sound to a rich, (not brittle), fully overdriven sound that seemed to have virtually endless sweet sustain. WOW.
I like a more mid range solo sound compared to the mid cut "V" type, and this amp can really do it. Having seperate tone controls for the two channels is a valuable feature. Even at low volumes, the lead sound was full and rich, and I was able to get some great sounding feedback. I wasn't able to crank it up for very long, I was in the sound room... but it is a very loud amp at 100 watts.
Overall the sound of this amp is impressive especially if you are interested in overdriven lead solo tones. You can go straight in to this and throw away your distortion stomp boxes!

This is a new amp so it's hard to judge reliability, but it appears to be well made, and Carvin has a reputation for quality. It comes with a one year warranty, (I wish this was longer).

I've dealt with them in regard to their guitars, and I have always been treated well. I don't think they have factory authorized service anywhere except their factory, so I would bring a backup set of tubes and maybe a backup amp if I were traveling. Again, only a one year warranty.

I've been playing for over 20 years and I've owned numerous amps, mainly Marshalls and Fenders. My current amp is a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and while its clean sound is a bit more "Fendery" to my ears, the lead sounds in the Legacy are far superior. I have a variety of guitars including a Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat, a Les Paul Standard, a PRS Standard 24, a Carvin AE/185, a Tele, and others.
The guys at Carvin told me Steve was really picky about this amp, (The Carvin engineers had to bring amp changes up to him from San Diego to LA on a frequent basis), and they said he now uses the 100 watt head and cabinets stock for his rig. The combo is more realistic for me, and I like the fact I can run it at 50 or 100 watts, with or without the back.
I think Carvin is going to hit a homerun with this amp. It looks cool, sounds awesome, and has the best ideas of one of the great players behind its design.
On the downside, most people won't be able to hear it for themselves, (until Steve's next album), service is going to be long distance, (which is true for any of their amps), and at around a $1000 for the combo, this is not an inexpensive amp. But if you are willing to pay to get a really great sounding, well designed amp, I think it's worth it. I've played all of the current Carvin amps and this is the one to buy IMHO.
I plan to have mine within the next 30 days, and if I have additional comments, I'll add them here...