Carvin Legacy Head

Made in 99 all Tube design, this is a follow up to "bitchy" review I wrote previously :)

See my initial review under the "VL100" catagory near the bottom of the list under the Carvin heading.

I am pleased to say that my problems are over regarding the Legacy & Carvin Corp. Now on my third Legacy head Ive struck gold with this ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL looking & sounding amplifier. Ive used it incessantly for about two weeks & it is scary how consistant this thing is as opposed to the first two that were bad out of the carton.

I had asked Carvin to send me my third Legacy head TWO DAY air UPS to make up for my hassles and guess what....THEY DID!! I was so pleasantly surprised. I think that Carvin being a less visible company than say Marshall or Mesa Boogie are doing a real bang up job in keeping we the Carvin customers satisfied. Bottom line is that they need to be this way to just survive let alone compete with the bigger boys. Some say (Ive said) that Carvin quality has lessend a little, MAYBE a little but Ive heard worse stories about Marshall quality lately too. In the real world, where I reside, Carvin gear is right in pace with my wallet & my quest for tone, real world guitarist...real world equipment manufacturer. Too many people want a sound they heard on a CD or the radio, give it up, effects & mics & studio trickery achieved that sound they heard not one amplifier. Carvin gear sounds good, period.

This is a follow up to a review I wrote under the "VL100" cat. Made in 99, BOTH AMPS IVE HAD!(going on my third) See previous reviews as they are all accurate with exeption of my unique situation.

See other reviews

Im beginning to think that I am cursed or something. I got my first Legacy head & cab in April. The head sounded AWESOME for about two hours then the second time I turned the amp on it started to smoke & emit blowtorch like sparks from under the power tubes, I decided to send it back for an exchange. The second Legacy head did not arrive untill almost a MONTH after I sent the "old" one back. grrrrrrrrrr!! It finally arrived & again it sounded AWESOME, if you were really into clean sounds because I had not just one but TWO clean channels. There was no drive in the drive channel, the lead drive control did not function AT ALL! The knob was broken but I figured it would be just cosmetic so needless to say I sent the second one back as well. Now we will see what Carvin does for me, I requested that they send the third head TWO DAY air or preferably NEXT DAY air at no cost to me to make up for all of my inconveniences. The reason Im sticking it out with Carvin is that the Legacy when it works, is simply a superb amp in all areas of use. I love the tone, the price is right & for a few short hours I was in heaven, it inspired me to play better. My confidance in Carvin gear is shaky at best, lets see what they do for me. I want so badly to give this amp a better rating than a "1" here. Ill follow up at a later date.

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This amp is a two channel 100w top from Carvin. It was mainly designed by Steve Vai and produced by Carvin. It has seperate controls for each channels. (Look at other submissions for further details)This is all I need so I give it a 9.

I have a handmade Stakset guitar. It's built exc. as a 1959 Fender. It has custom made Lindy Fralin pickups. They sound great, but I needed a bit more bite in the brigde position so I swapped it for a Duncan JB jr. It sounds the bomb.
To all you guys saying that the carvin lacks gain: please take the first flight home from whatever far out planet your on. This amp will razor shave any little twirp in no time. With a bang booming bottom and dist. for days it'll make ya ol' granny turn in her grave.
I play all kinds of music, but mainly indie music. That's not some raga shit, think Depeche Mode without the synth, but with loud guitars instead. :o) The clean sound is also very good, but I don't need to embellish that cause everybody else said it before....I think.
It's the bomb. Sounds better than anything I've heard my entire life.

I had a little trouble with the reverb, but that was my speakers fault. This amp rocks so much that it got the shakes.
I just sat the top down on the floor and it worked fined.

The guys at Carvin are great. They are always helpful and if you're wondering of something they answer you in a couple of days. (that's if you e-mail)

Your wallet be a soaking cause this amp a smokin'!!!

This is to follow up my previous review. See that for options

I still say this amp has enough gain but after playing it for a week or so ,I found that the lead channel is very inarticulate and flubby. Note defination is very poor when playing power chords and riffs on the low e and a strings. I had been listening to the amp off axis. When I stepped in front of it and listened I noticed the lack or clarity and definition. Also this channel is not very responsive to the guitar's volume or picking dynamics. The clean channel is good. Reverb is Ok but no comparison to the lush verds on my Rocktron Intellifex. I sent this amp back three days ago and stepped up and bought a VHT 100 CL head and VHT 412 cab. It is devastating and I love it more even than my Mesa gear.

Hope they don,t give me any trouble with my refund

Sent it back with no second thoughts. One thing to say if someone wants potent,articulate,dynamic ass kicking sound. VHT!!!!!!!

This is the new Vai legacy amp. It has two channels, effects loop, reverb, direct out, and is powered by 4 el34 tubes. Plenty of power to satisfy and has a half power switch if you desire.

Plugged in my lonestar strat with Dimarzio Evolution pickups and played through the Legacy 412 cab. I like a variety of styles ranging from Larry Carlton to early Van Halen to Satch and Vai. Rhoads,M. Schenker, Malmsteen,.Lynch and Jeff Beck all are among my favorites. After reading some reviews I became concerned that this amp would not offer enough gain to satisfy my thirst. When I plugged in I was pleasantly surprised to find the Legacy had plenty of gain, however high settings of treble and presence are required to make it sear. I have played Mesa gear for years and have a taste for high gain as well as good clean headroom. I play a Mesa Triaxis and Simul 2:90 power amp through a rectifier 412. It is awesome! I must say though that the Legacy has a quality worth hearing. The clean channel is great and offers sparkling highs and plenty of headroom. This amp has warmth and makes me feel right and home. I expected it to feel rigid and require some effects to make it pleasing to the ear but this thing sounds great straight. The on board reverb is nice and useful. ( not too boingy) I like it!!!!!and plan to sell my Mesa gear to pay this amp off and build a fence for my kids with the proceeds.

So far so good. My cab suffered some minor freight damage and the tubes are a bit noisy. Marko at Carvin was very helpful and is sending me some new power tubes and covers for the head and cab to compensate for the damage.

All in all I am very pleased with amp and Iwill tell you more arter I have had it longer. It seems to be a great value at 1200.00 including a 412.

Great features...Just about the best reverb around...Dual EQs for lead and rhythm.

As an addendum to the previous listings regarding this amp, This is Absolutely NOT a high gain amp. I have now owned two of the Legacy heads...I sent the first one back because the lead channel was so muddy and flat I couldn't stand it. What's more is that it obviously had a ground/shielding problem which caused RF (radio station) to enter the circuit and be audible. The second head was OK from a shielding standpoint but was still muddy. I have not been able to run it a full volume in deference to my neighbors but it is still muddy and flat with gain at 7-10 and volume at 4. In the Legacy's defense, the clean channel is absolutely superb. It's one of the best clean amps I've ever heard--If not THE best. Switch over to the lead channel and the glistening highs roll off into oblivion. Too bad!

I used to be a vendor to Carvin and their stuff is top notch... The only recommendation I would have would be to use ceramic tube sockets instead of the phenolic ones. Otherwise, the construction is world class.

Very helpful but not "bend over backwards" helpful

I've played for 24 years. I've owned boogies and other tube amps. I love Carvin guitars so I thought I'd give the Legacy a try.

This review is a follow up to the previous review I wrote. I had the opportunity recently to play this amp for an extended period at high volumes and compare it to a friends amp - a Johnson Millenium 250 watt head running in stereo through 2 - 4X12 cabs. I own the Legacy head and Legacy 4X12 cab. I thought the results would be worth sharing.

I played a Carvin DC-135 and Ibanez Joe Satriani model - both with stock pickups through both the Legacy and the Johnson. We also jammed together through both amps. First - the Legacy is without a doubt the loudest amp I have ever played through. Even with the Legacy set on 50 watts it blew the Johnson away. There was not much more volume to be gained by the 100 watt setting and we thought the amp sounded better to our ears at 50 watts. Also, the louder the Johnson got the worse it sounded - solid state and all. I also want to say that the overdrive channel is absolutely killer when the Legacy is played on 5 or above. The Celestion Greenbacks rock when pushed. With the volume on 10 the amp is in its element - although admittedly that is not a practical volume to play at most times. The cab has a lot of chunk and bass response without being muddy. In contrast the Johnson always sounded thin and processed at any volume. The Johnson is a good bedroom amp but we both agreed that it would be no match live for the Legacy. Although I think the Legacy has plenty of gain for my playing style I stand by my previous opinion that it is not an extremely high gain amp. The clean sound remains clean until 4 to 5 and then starts to break up nicely. The channel switching is totally transparent and quiet with no audible pops. Also, the amp itself is very quiet with little hiss at high volume. As for guitars, the Carvin sounded awesome through the amp. I thought the Ibanez didn't sound quite as ballsy but still sounded good. The pickups seemed to be fairly low output. The only advantage the Johnson had was the killer effects. You will have to spend a lot of money for a rack of effects to duplicate those on the Johnson - but I wouldn't trade my Legacy for one. You can incrementally add effects as you can afford to and not sacrifice your tone, which is much more important. All in all, in a test of tube tone versus modeling tone the Johnson was beaten in every way.

No problems yet.

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Although my reviews might sound like an ad for Carvin I have no allegiance to them and I would tell you if I thought this amp was a piece of crap. But I can come up with only positive things to say so far. It's worth ordering and taking the 10 days to try it - even with the risk of having to send it back if you don't like it. I just don't think you can do better for the money if the amp characteristics I described suit your playing style.

I want to preface this review by saying that I have only owned this amp for about a week now but due to the lack of Legacy reviews (since this amp is so new) I wanted to contribute my opinions for those thinking of buying one. This all tube head is new from Carvin for 1999 and was made with the assistance of Steve Vai. It has 2 channels - clean and overdrive. The footswitch has buttons to switch the amp channel and reverb/effects loop. The head is switchable from 50 to 100 watts by a switch on the back of the head. This amp can get extremely loud if you want it to but still sounds good at low levels - although it was definitely designed to sound best when played at higher volumes. The amp has 4-EL34 power tubes and 5-12AX7 preamp tubes. Construction is solid and it looks good. The 4X12 Legacy cabinet is loaded with 25 watt Celestion Greenback speakers. There are separate volume controls for each channel but there is no master volume - which keeps me from giving it a 10.

I play primarily 80's rock and blues (Journey, Dokken, Ratt, NightRanger, SRV, etc.) currently using a Washburn guitar and this amp is killer for my style of playing. However, be forewarned - if you are looking for massive gain like a 5150, then buy a 5150. What this amp does very well is give you very crunchy, tasteful distortion, a killer lead tone, and an awesome clean channel. The closest overdrive comparison I can think of is a Marshall JCM800. I play the head through the Legacy 4X12 and it sounds awesome. Why not just buy a Marshall you say? Because unlike a Marshall or 5150 this amp has an excellent clean channel. I would go so far to say that you could use this amp for Country and Jazz on the clean channel - it's that good. If you want more gain for serious thrash then I would just use an overdrive pedal - which I plan to buy soon. If you want the ultimate in versatility then you should be very pleased with this amp. If you just want massive gain and a good clean channel is unimportant, then you will likely be disappointed.

Hasn't given a problem yet - but it's too early to tell.

So far my dealings with Carvin have been very positive and they have been helpful and delivered on time. I have not had to have service work done so I don't know how they are in that respect.

I have been playing (off and on) for about 14 years. I have owned a Marshall JCM800, Peavey Classic, Fender Prosonic, and played numerous other amps before I decided to order the Legacy. I would say that for the money and the versatility that this amp offers you will find few contenders. I have played other amps that equal this one in one aspect or another, but none that gave so much overall value for the dollar. I feel that with the proper use of effects that this amp could be used for any style of playing and sacrifice nothing in doing so.