Carvin MTS 3212

Pretty nice, separate eq's for each channel, reverb, drive, presence that I did not find too useful, etc. 100 watts, but not that loud for so much power. Plenty of tubes.

I have an Epi LP standard. I play mostly hard rock/edgy stuff, and I found a lot of different sounds that I liked by messing with the channels and eq. It had a tiny hum when turned on, but was really pretty quiet. The clean was pretty nice even at high volumes. The distortion was a little harsh, but not bad. Overall I thought it was a bright amp. The big problem that I had was that for 100 watts, it was not very loud. I had it side by side with my Fender FM 210r 65 watt solid state, and you could tell the MTS was a little louder with the right settings, but not as much I expected (note: the MTS did have better tones at high volumes). At practice, I had a hard time hearing myself over the drummer, singer, bassist and other guitarist, even when cranked. The other guitarist has an old Peavey Duece that is a similar setup to the MTS, but the Peavey is louder and just has a more powerful sound. I admit we could turn down a bit, but we like it loud, and I want an amp that can be loud when I want it to, and can stand alone if a PA is not available. That's just the way I roll haha.

It seemed very well built, and I would have no worries about the reliability, but I only had it for a trial period. However, I worked it pretty hard and nothing broke.

Well, I returned it, but they were very nice through the whole process.

I liked a lot about this amp, but it was not for me. It seems to me that a 100 watt tube amp should be louder and have a more powerful sound than the MTS (I realize that this is sort of subjective). I like that I was able to check it out for 10 days and send it back. I have to give it a 6 because I thought that compared to a few other amps I listened to in this price range, the MTS had similar tones and options, but just did not get to and average score for me.

100W, all tube, 2007 model Carvin MTS 3212 2x12 combo amp. It comes with Celestion GT1275 speakers, 5 12AX7 tubes, and 4 6L6 power tubes, with a bias switch if you want to use EL34s instead. It has 2 channels, Gain and Clean, each with a Volume and 3-band EQ. The clean channel has a presence (bright) switch, and the gain channel has a presence knob that ranges from muddy and dull at the bottom to ear-screetchingly bright at the top. It has a spring reverb, an effects loop on the back, a speaker out with a switch for 4, 8, or 16 ohms. The FS22 footswitch has a channel switch button and a reverb/effect loop button. What it really lacks is a master volume, and it could really use 2 separate knobs for low and high presence on the gain channel. A headphone jack would also be nice.

My main guitar is a Caparison TAT-II. It is a neck-thru strat type with a maple neck and alder body. The pickups are the stock Caparison PH-F and PH-R. It's a generally bright sounding guitar. I generally play jazz fusion, in a similar style to Marco Sfogli or the new Kiko Loureiro, or I play straight up jazz. I also do a decent amount of shredding where necessary. The amp is awesomely responsive to pedals, of which I have a Visual Sound V2 series H2O Chorus/echo pedal, a dunlop cry baby original wah, and an ISP Decimator I don't need as much as I used to with this amp.

Clean channel: The clean on this amp is phenomenal. It's really noiseless, super loud when you need it to be, ultra responsive with sparkling highs and really rounded lows, and has some awesomely spectacular sounding breakup around 4 or 5. It will be super loud by the time it breaks up, but it's worth the ear pain, seriously. It's not the absolute best I've used, but it's up there. Clean channel gets a 10/10, which I'm very happy with as I go clean 95% of the time.

Gain channel: Ugh, this is the letdown of this amp. If you're into nu metal and downtuned nonsense, you'll love this amp. Try as I might, I absolutely cannot get a good solo sound out of this amp like I want. It's not super noisy, but it's extremely muddy, and if you turn the presence up it just makes it twangier and AC/DC-er. Even on the best setting I've found, sweeps get ultra muddy in the middle and just sound nasty all around. The best setting I've found is about 6 on bass, 4 on mids, and 6.5 on treble, with the presence being about 7. The gain can be all the way up or around 3 O'clock. Even on the most ideal setting, it still doesn't cut through the mix, which it should, and the channel is so quiet that playing in groups means you have to crank it and really push out the muddiness. If you know how to help this, please e-mail me at schmitzel88@gmail.com . Gain channel gets a 5/10.

Haven't had any problems yet, but it seems to be pretty reliable.

No problems yet, haven't needed to contact them yet.

I have been playing for only 5 years and I'm only 17, but I already teach at a store and have a somewhat steady job as a studio musician at a local recording studio. My other gear is a heavily modded Gretsch G5222 5W tube combo, a Line6 Spider III I won in a solo contest and am trying to sell, a Marshall MG250DX, and a fender 15W solid state I started on. My guitars are the Caparison TAT-II, a Schecter Gryphon, a Warmoth custom VIP, a Gretsch G5120, and a few custom strats I built. The guitars all have the same verdict: clean is awesome, gain is muddy as hell. A master volume would be awesome. I'm considering getting it re-biased and swapping out all the tubes, but it might be easier to just sell it and get a Mesa Lonestar or a Carvin V3. I got this for $350 lightly used on ebay with the footswitch and cover included, and I couldn't pass on a deal like that so I somewhat bought it on impulse. I'm glad I did for the cleans, but the gain channel is so muddy that it's almost not worth it. If you're like me and play clean a lot, get a carvin Vintage series. If you play a lot of distortion, get a Mesa Lonestar.

Just got this amp from Carvin a week ago, so I'm guessing it is a 2008 model. Great amp for the money. Very versitile, many sounds and styles of mucis can be achieved. I play heavy, doomy rock (FuManchu, The Sword, Black Sabbath, Bongzilla, sHEAVY, Orange Goblin, Mammouth Volume, Sleep, etc). The amp has two channels with seperate EQ's. Came with footswitch that switches the reverb on/off and changes the channels. It has an effects loop. But no headphone jack. That would have been nice. I rarely use the reverb because I like a real clean and punchy sound. I down sized to this amp from a Sunn halfstack. The Sunn had a better clean channel, but nothing beats the overdrive channel. Plenty of power at 100/50 watts. I have mine set to 50 watts. Very loud amp! It's got 6L6GC power tubes and 12AX7 preamp tubes. You can also put in 5881's or EL34's in for the power tubes. Just have to change the bias if you use one of these other sets of power tubes.

I am playing a Gibson Les Paul with a 57' Classic Plus pickup in the bridge position and a 490 in the neck position. Also play a Fender Custom Limited Edition Telecaster with DiMarzio humbuckers. It has a set neck and is all mahogony. They both sound extremely good through this amp. Not much noise with this amp. It is the quietest tube amps I have ever owned. It takes pedals exceptionally well. I pretty much use only Electto Harmonix. My Double Muff and Phaser sound great. I have a Bad Horsie Wah pedal that is great too. If I hook all my pedals up, I do use a noise reducer. But it is still not that bad as far as noise goes. The distortion is brutal. When cranked, it sounds similar to a Boss Metal Zone. I back down the Drive knob to about 2 or 3 and stomp on the Double Muff and it has the sweetest sound. Such creamy and sustaining distortion. Love it!

I feel I can rely on this amp. I have owned other Carvin amps in the past and they have never given me any trouble.

The salesman I dealt with over the phone was very friendly and helpful. My amp came with 6L6GC's but was advertised as having 5881's. So I emailed Carvin and told them I would like to have the 5881's, as was advertised came in the amp. They are sending me a free set of 5881's. So now I have two sets of power tubes. Can't complain about that. Plus, I got a free footswitch ($29.99 value). They are great at Carvin!!

I have been playing for over 20 years. I also own a Marshall VS230 amp and a Jordan practice amp. I own a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender Tele, and a Washburn acoustic. I own a EH Double Muff, an EH Phase Shifter (phaser), a Morley Classic Wah, a Morley Bad Horsie Wah, and a Behringer Noise reducer. If it came up missing, I would certainly go buy another. Well worth the money! I do wish it had a headphone jack, but not very many tube amps do. You will not be disappointed with this amp. It is a great amp at a great price from a great American company. How could you go wrong???

I like that each of the two channels has its own eq. That really helps to maximize the use the clean and the distorted sounds. On amps with only one eq, you always have to compromise between them. Not a problem here.

I was expecting this amp to have a good distorted sound, but I was really surprised at how good the clean sound is! It is surprisingly full, and really sparkles. The distortion channel is what I expected--more than enough gain. It goes from a bluesy overdrive to new metal, and anything in between. It also has plenty of bottom end.

I've never had any problems with it. Take care of it and replace the tubes and I think it will be fine. It's really sturdy, and NOT made from particle board! Cheers to Carvin for using real wood (baltic birch I think) for this amp.

Never needed it because the amp never broke.

I've played and owned a lot of amps (several all-tube Marshalls and one Mesa to name a few), and I've been playing guitar for almost 15 years. I know my equipment, and this amp cannot be beat, especially for the money. I strongly recommend this amp.

MTS 3212 with 212 extention cab.

I recently purchased this amp from a friend looking for something to use as an OD/Gain amp with my Fender Twin. Didnt really expect much from Carvin but the price was right and I figured I could get what I spent for it if I needed too. My initial thoughts proved to be correct. The Clean channel was actually pretty good better than I expected, but the Lead channel was poor. The gain stage was dark and had some strang harmonic overtones. Not at all musical. I tried the amp with a Strat and Charvel Preditor. The strat brightened things up a little but the humbuckers sounded horrible. After this I went on the internet to research reviews and other info about this amp. I found several reviews talking about tube and speaker swaps. Most said they had significant improvement with these changes. The most helpful suggestion was to rebias the amp. Appearently Carvin biases these amps low or cold by default to prolong tube life. I measured mine and it was about 110 ma across the standby switch. The mts has a bias adj inside. I researched and found that a better setting would be between 150-190ma across the standby switch. I adj mine to 180ma. The result was definitely noticible. The lead channel is much more dynamic. More musical/usable. I DO NOT RECOMMEND rebiasing your amp on your own if you dont know what your doing. Better to take it to a qualified tech. There is a lot of danger in there if you are not careful. Anyway I would definity say this is a good amp with potential with the right setup. I want to try some EL34 power tubes next.

No experience with this amp, but past experiences havent been good.

Have been playing 30 years or so. I would not buy this amp new from Carvin but if you find a good deal on a used one its worth a try.

I bought mine brand new back in '98. This was my first tube amp, and I was full of hope. Boy was I wrong. It's a 2 channel 100W all tube amp with reverb. Wish the presense control were a knob as opposed to on/off.

The dirty channel is very bad. The sound is everything that you don't want from a tube amp. It's scratchy, rude, and has very loose feeling to it. It lacks dynamics, and I don't know... It just doesn't sound right. I tried to like the dirty channel for 5 years. Never could do it. I've gone through stock tubes, JJ's EL34L tubes, and the 6L6G tubes. They helped, but still wasn't good. There was no subtley, and there was no in-between sound. BUT! The clean channel is very good. It has smooth highs and rounded lows. 99% of the time, I used the clean channel with a BOSS DS-1 in front of it. Did I already say I didn't like the dirty channel?

It was alive and kickin' til the day I sold it. It's heavy, and it's realiable. Carvin builds them like tanks.

I emailed them a couple times, and they wrote back. Helpful people.

I've been playing for about 10 years. This was the amp I grew up with. I wish it weren't part of my life, that's how much i hated this amp. Again, the clean channel is fantastic, but I didn't buy the amp for the clean channel. :(

From the Carvin Site:
MTS3212 COMBO
Reverb???both channels
??? Dual channels (clean & crunch/sustain) with separate level controls
??? 50 /100 watt output switch for tube saturation at lower levels
??? Bias switch for your choice of 5881(matched Groove Tubes???), 6L6GC's or EL34 power tubes
??? Tubes: four 5881 matched Groove Tubes???
??? Five 12AX7 preamp tubes for high gain (V1& V2 Groove Tubes???)
??? The cabinet voiced line output jack delivers the natural ???mic???d??? sound direct to your mixer
??? A 4, 8 or 16y?? switch allows your choice of speakers
??? A normalized Effects Loop is featured for foot effects as well a rack effects
??? The optional FS22 foot switch is for selecting channels and reverb
??? Hand crafted 7-ply poplar wood cabinet
A basic setup that is open to you for modification. There are many options for you to change it up utilizing the tube bias switch, speaker bias switch, effects loop, etc. It is an open canvas.

Alright, this is one person's opinion.
Clean Channel:When I finally played through this amp, I enjoyed the clean channel, but some issues arose. I use a Les Paul and I like a fat warm clean with as little break up as possible. This amp is designed for breakup, and with a high-output low end guitar like an LP, I would start getting overdriven sounds early at about 3 or 4, and any higher would be quite distorted. It was somewhere around concert volume before it broke up, but the fact that it does distort made it not my type of amp. I will say for those who like break up, it was great sounding light overdrive that was not at all unpleasent-it just simply did not suit my style. But people should know what this amp does before they buy it. I didn't rate it low because of this channel. The clean before break up was magnificent-less bass then a fender twin, but nice and fat with much clarity. When I put a Tubescreamer in front of the clean channel for crunchy rhythm, it sounded incredible, nearly perfect.

Distortion Channel- Now this is where I think this amp is weak. I could not get a satisfactory distortion out of it. It has a very deep thunking metal tone that wasn't necessarily a bad tone, but messing with the eq and gain wouldn't get much change. It was really deep and kind of muddy to me and when I tried using it in the context of my band, it WOULD NOT cut through. I just kept cranking the volume up until near the maximum, and it was too muddy to be heard through the other four guys. I couldn't get a nice light crunch with good mids, nor could I get a creamy overdrive. It is a deep harmonically rich metal channel that I did not find to be very versatile.

The first amp they sent me was damaged by UPS-of course. The amp rattled horribly everytime I played a note. It wasn't the tubes, so I had to send it back. UPS SUCKS- They damaged the first carvin my friend ordered(Bel Aire, a great sounding amp, all the tubes were smashed, the cover was jammed inward. They are a very unprofessional company imo. The second amp worked well, however, I only kept it for a few days before I realized it wasn't for me, so I can't comment on reliability.

Carvin is known as a company that is great to their customers. I had a coorespondence with Jason Golden throughout my UPS ordeal, and he helped me and instructed me through the whole thing until I finally decided to send it back. They are a fantastic company. I should note that they do have amzing products- the other guitarist in our band uses an AE-185 and a Bel Aire 2x12 and sounds great. This amp just didn't get along with me I guess. I decided on a fender twin 65 reissue and am happy I reconsidered.

The clean channel on this amp wasn't for me, but I could tell it was of high quality. It broke up too early for me and my LP though. The distortion channel was flawed for me however, and I couldn't make myself heard when I used it, and this is supposed to be a 100watt amp man... I couldn't stand the thought of having an amp with all these options, and only playing on the clean channel below volume level 4. The amp was sturdy, compact, not too heavy (compared to the Twin, holy crap!), I am sure it would last a very long time if you care for it. Try it yourself, dont take my word!

2005 or 2006 manufacture, standard Carvin MTS3212 tube amp.

This is the interesting part. I ourchased it in eBay and when it arrived I tried it out, clean sounded pretty good but lead was metal-suitable only. I swapped out the G12T-75s for Vin30s, also cahnegd the 5881s for SED 6L6s and put EH 12AX7s in the preamp stage. It helped, so I started using oit for rehearsals instead of my Hot Rod Deville, just to see what it could do. I could not get a good smooth lead sound out of it - even with the drive almost to zero I would still get a raspy, odd-order harmonic-rich sound which I just could not get rid of no matter what I tried. Our bassist even said that it sounded OK, but not as good as the HRD. So, I was looking at the schematic last night and it turns out that some genius put two pair of stacked 1N4745 Zener diodes between the second and third preamp stages in the lead channel (D1 through D4), connected opposit to each other so as to handle both phases. They are obviously there as clipping diodes. A 1N4745 limits at 16V, so two in series limit to about 32V,which sounds like a lot, but the gain of the preamp tubes is such that at that point a 0.01V signal would end up being over 50V, which would defintiely be limited to 32V - it would end up being a square wave, whcih is NOT tube distortion. Tubes distort slowly and don't yield square waves unless they are saturated. Anyway - the point is that someone tried to put a hard clip circuit in there, for Lord only knows what reason - it does NOT exist in any Fender or Mesa products that I know of (and I have some of both). And since the gain is so high it starts working at low input levels into the amp. Anyway, I am am reserving judgement on this until I remove those diodes from the circuit, then I will be able to get and give a more acurate idea of what it should sound like. In the meantime I will go back to the HRD, and I would strongly recommend to Carvin that they take the little hard clip diodes out, I haven't yet tried it but I expect it to sound quite a bit better after the diode removal.

N/A

N/A

Based solely upon removing the diodes - about a 2 or 3 for the lead channel. Clean is nice, 8 or 9 (almost as good as my Lonestar). I'll get back to you on this...

This is a 2005 Model.
I ordered it back in July, haven't reviewed it yet, so here it goes:
This amp has 2 channels...you can get a footswitch that switches channels and turns the reverb on and off. Has an effects loop as well.
Its features are perfect except for a few small things...I wish it has a master volume, I wish that the footswitch had a led to tell which channel you were on, and that is about it.

This is 50/100W of full tube power.

This is flat out a ballsy amp. This thing roars. It works well with all pups. This amp can get anything from shimmering cleans to screeching leads. Very versatile. THeir is a huge variety of sounds.

THe distortion is incredible. And by turning the drive to about 1/2, and the volume cranked way up, you get that tube overdrive AC/DC tone. I love that...it sounds so great like that...anyway, this amp tweaked the right way can cover just about anything.

This amp is built like a tank. I feel 100% comforatble giggin w/o a backup. It has never broken down, however the tubes that were shipped in it, were not perfect. Because it was shipped from California to Boston, one of the tubes had internal problems, but htat was a quick fix

Did not have to deal with Carvin on this purchase

I love it. Great amp...

and can you beat the price?

$700 for a 100W tube amp? THat is unheard of!

All in all awesome deal!

This is the 50th anniversary edition (or so it says on the front) made in 04 or 05. It has two channels (footswitchable) and reverb (also footswitchable) This is a straight up rock and roll amp with no extra crap - other than a bias switch (changeable 6L6s to EL34's) and a Power cut switch which changes the amp from 100 watts to 50 watts (4 tubes - 2 tubes in the power amps section) This sucker has an armload of tubes in it and it comes in a nicely compact 2X12 package (smallest 2X12 I've ever seen) very nice work on the engineering of this little beauty.

This is where this bad boy shines. If you read in any other review that this amp doesn't have a good lead gain sound, you are being misinformed. From the moment I plugged in my 94' Les Paul Standard I was blown away by the sheer power of this little atomic reactor. The lead channel is blistering with the gain at about 11 o'clock, and when you crank it up it just keeps getting nastier and narlier. I have never been so impressed so quickly with an amp - and I've owned a 5150 II and a Mesa Triple Rectifier (I got off the stack idea after having to haul them around every where). Carvin has super value in a box with their MTS 3212. The clean channel gets loud in a hurry, and at about 1.5 it is already at concert volume. Once you start cranking the volume level, the clean will start to break up (because we're not dealing with a Roland Jazz chorus) but that is of no concern to a rock and roll player such as my self - Clean electric always needs a little "personality". For the price of this amp, I refuse to believe that you can find a better unit - With 4 power amp (5881's) and 5 12AX7 preamp tubes, 2 Celestion G12T-75's, and its compact size - This is the apex of 2X12 Combos. Sure Marshall, Mesa, Bogner, Soldano, Tophat, etc. all make great products that kick ass in the tone department - but the Carvin holds its own - and at a 1/2 to a 1/4 of the price as some of the others, why look anywhere else. Besides, this one is made in the USA!!!

I have only just got my amp, but it looks really solid and well constructed. I always try to bring my pod just in case I lose a power amp tube, but I really have no concerns in this area at all

I ordered the amp through carvin on the phone. Customer service was very friendly and knowledgable. Shipment came before they said it would - Perfectly packaged and ready to rock.

I've been playing for about 13 years and have owned a variety of amps in my day, tone has always been an issue until now - convenient size for gigging and a tone beast at that. If this amp was lost or stolen, I'd take my home-owner's insurance money and buy another in a heart beat.

If you want a killer amp with distortion to spare at an affordable price - GET A CARVIN MTS 3213 combo!!!!

Read the reviews or Carvin's website for the features. Lets just say you get a nice variety, good solid features. Could use two inputs, but other than that...

Sounds so awesome. Get it! I've used 4 different guitars through it now, SG, LP Jr., Strat, Blueshawk. All sound great. Distortion is superior to the Rat II 3-way Keeley distortion I had been using with my old setup. Huge range of sounds are possible with this thing, and it all sounds f-in' great!

don't know yet, so far so good sitting in my living room!

Amp arrived damaged, bad UPS shipping job. Carvin's people went out of their way to rectify the situation (although they should just dump UPS, the worst, slowest, and most expensive shipping comany that exists!), and they gave me $50 credit to buy extra toys, nice!

I've played guitar for about 16 years. I've had a Peavey, a couple of Fenders, a Sunn concert lead, this thing makes them all sound silly by comparison. It has the best range of features, best sound in its price range, I can't think of anything that seems like a better deal. Love it, spent way more than I should have on it and don't regret it one bit!

2004 MTS 3212 combo. This suits my music style to a T. I like Van Valen, AC/DC, good hard rock. I would like to see a light on the reverb channel so when using the foot switch I could glance and see if the reverb was on or off.I use this amp at home, at music practise with the band as well as gigging. I also have the VL212 2x12 extension cabinet, this really adds to the amp's tone. I highly recommend the extension cabinet.

I use play a 2004 USA Strat as well as a 2003 USA Tele, and a 2004 Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I must admit I love the sound of both Fender's however I think the Epiphone sounds the best with this amp. The knobs to adjust the sounds this amp can produce work great for me. I get all the different sounds that I like. The distortion (gain dial) can be adjusted from clean to over the top. At setting 5 the crunch is wicked. The clean channel is excellent as well.

I have only owned the amp for about a month, no problems as of yet. I choose not to rate this reliability catagory.

Dealing with Carvin was a pleasure. The amp was promptly shipped as promised and arrived from San Diego to Canada in only 4 days!

I have been playing since I was 9 or so, currently I'm 33. Would I replace this amp? You bet, this is a keeper. I have perviously owned Fender tube and solid state amps, as well as peavy. So far this is the best I have played. I chose this amp based on the feedback I have heard from other Carvin amp owners. Carvin has a great reputation. I mail ordered this amp without ever seeing or playing a Carvin product. I never doubted my decision. Carvin rocks, around here in Canada it's rare to see one. One of the best kept secrets out there.

This has all been covered by other reviews and well. In short though, 1 clean, 1 ovedrive channel with separate tone controls. Clean channel has a bright switch but no presence knob. Overdrive channel has a presence knob. Optional footswitch controls which channel to use, and reverb. Effects loop, but no bypass for it. 100w/50w switchable (50w uses 2 tubes instead of the four), switchable biasing if you change out from 6L6 to El34 power tubes. 5 12AX7 preamp tubes. Manual tells mainly which is for which. V1 is input, V4 is reverb,etc.

First off, I LOVE the sound of this amp. I bought this used, it has 5881 power tubes installed. The sound is fantastic. That said, I don't like the EQ knobs here...I expected from reviews and the manual that I could get tons of different sounds, that they used 1M ohm pots so you could really tweak. Well, I don't notice that it is as responsive as other amps I own and have owned....but the main sound is fantastic and I am getting used to it still. I have owned this for almost a year now. I play mostly blues, I use it with a strat, telecaster, and ES-335 and I love the sound from all of them.

Note to anyone thinking about getting the VE212 speaker cabinet! Make sure it matches the impedance of the built in speakers! My built in speakers are 2 8 ohm speakers in parallel, giving 4 ohm impedance. I bought the 2 x 12" cabinet, and it sounded terrible. Looked closer at it and found out that they sent me one with 2 16 ohm speakers parallel, which means 8 ohm impedance. ( for a total load on the amp of 2.6 ohm impedance...but they state that the 4 ohm setting will handle 2 ohm loads also). Problem is the speakers are lifeless, and have way less volume than the built-in speakers. Put your head near the cabinet speakers while playing and you STILL hear the built-in speakers more. This makes sense as there is about 3/4 of the power going to the built in, about 1/4 going to the lower cabinet.

Contacted Carvin where I live and they are going to trade out the speakers for me. Send me two 8 ohms, I pull out the 16ohm'ers and send them back. This ought to work.

Since owning this amp it as always been noisy (see solution in the next section "reliability") with buzzes and static-like noises.

Still, I love the sound. I have become really attached to this amp. My previous "big" amp was an Ampeg VT-22 with 4 10" speakers.

Here's the thing. Since I have had this amp (bought used a year ago) I hadn't used it much til I joined a blues band some months ago. Used it some, but it really isn't a bedroom amp. No master volume, etc.

AS I wrote above, was a noisy amp though I liked the sound. All the time I've had it, makes buzzes, etc, also the clean channel volume control I thought was going out because it was really scratchy when I turned it...not always at the same place though (this was a CLUE...if the pot was bad it would be bad at the same points in the taper!), also when I switched over to standby it made a huge POP that was unpleasant. Didn't happen every time, but I got used to wincing when I turned it to standby. When I bought a GE-7 the noise became an issue (for more on this see EFFECTS->BOSS->GE-7 in user reviews for my review) because that pedal is self-noisy but at acceptable levels in other amps, but in mine it was so bad it was unusable.

SOLUTION: If anyone else has this problem, or similar, here's one possible answer. I changed out the preamp (12AX7A) tune V1 which is the guitar input tube (well...the one half of it is).
V1 is located: If you turn the amp upside down, lookind into it the first small tube (back row) on the left. I put in a Sovtek tube.

VIOLA! My amp is like new! The noise went WAY down to practically nothing even at higher volumes. The noise with the GE-7 is now okay. The volume pot on the clean channel makes NO NOISE when I turn it. And so far (fingers crossed) no POP when I go to standby.

If you are experiencing any problems like I described, try that.

I am seriously considering trading out the 5881's with EL34's but will wait on that. This was great! It made a world of difference.

2002 all tube 100 watt amp.
I use this amp in my living room, so it has plenty of power.
I usually play with all the controls of equipment to get a feel for the performance envelope. I am pleased with the EQ and the gain of this amp. It has a characteristic tone (as all amps do) that is prevelant throughout the settings, but I like it. Of course the last amp I had that I liked was the Carvin X100B stack. I rate ten for versitility in a guitar amp providing the user knows how to set up sounds.

Rock/blues/jazz/classical styles mainly with humbuckers here and there, single coils here and there, and also my Ovation! It has an occasional hum that I think comes from the wall outlet. I dont think it has a polarity switch. Very crunchy gain and very powerful clean sounds without mud available through the EQ's. It sounds good to me. Honestly I dont know what all the hubbub is about Marshall, well maybe its because I dont have a need to sound/look like someone else. They do sound fine, but for that price, it better play the guitar for me. This amp will do just fine thank you.

I am confident in carvin gear and so I dont worry about it breaking down.

Carvin seems to be overall agreeable to deal with however can be smug at times, but they're in San Diego California so maybe the moody guy wanted to hang ten and shoot the pier instead of going to work or something. The warranty is about a year. So I guess that means I'll be doing my own repairs. Im thankfull to have had an old retired Air Force electronics guy teach us tube theory in high school, because colleges do not teach that stuff anymore.

Played for 22 years. I own and use the following: Ibanez RG570, Ovation Elite, Yamaha Motif ES8, Boss GT-6, and thats the big stuff. Over the years I have owned many other items, like the X100B noted above, but for this unit it is comparable to most anything else, that is until you get into the muti effects, bells and whistles modeling fluff thats out there. I am happy with this purchase. I would probably get another if stolen. I really wish it had a line filter or power regulator built in. For that price, you cant touch another brand new 100 watt all tube 212 amp with fancy chromed metal knobs!

Got this amp in 2000 and it has the "British Series" speakers that I don't think are even made anymore.
2 channels, reverb, cabinet voiced direct out, 100W tube, 2 x 12
Many newer amps have more features, but it's always stuff that I'd never use. I give this a 10 for features because it works for me.

I use this with my Carvin AE185 to play blues/jazz/funk/rock/punk & bluegrass.
It has the most ballsy clean tone I've ever heard. Spanky and tight with great bass response. Picked notes are big and articulate. Playing with my fingers, I get a great "snap" to my doublestops that gets non-guitarists excited. My Tubescreamer really makes the clean channel sing when I'm soloing--lyrical and expressive.
The dirty channel is outrageous--really more grind and distortion than I need. I am, however, a minority amongst guitarists my age and I get the feeling that heavier players would have dust settling on their distortion stompboxes if they were to purchase this guy.
The 5% of the time that I need a big, heavy sound, I step not on the TS-9 but on the channel select of the FS22. After a bit of tweaking (read the other reviewer's comment about turning the gain down), I found a tight, chunky sound that I really like.

I don't even own a suitable back-up amp, so I trust this beast to come through at showtime. That said, I have had a few issues.
-the first amp they sent me took a crap on me. despite my recently expired warranty, they sent me a new one in a big hurry...free of charge. how cool is that?
-I later had to change the tubes when it went schizo, but I guess that's normal for an abused tube amp
-one day I noticed that the center cap of the right speaker was inverted--completely concave--and making ugly, unwelcome distortion sounds. Damned if I know how it happened, but I just unplugged that speaker, adjusted the impedance, goosed the bass ever so slightly and havnen't concerned myself since. It's been two years since then.

These people went well beyond what could be reasonably expected or unresonably demanded. They turned my problem into an opportunity to make a customer for life...and they have one.

I've been playing almost eleven years. I am completely dependent on this amp to achieve my sound. Everything else seems anemic to me. I have many friends with "it" amps (Fenders, Marshalls, Peavys, Mesa Boogies). I can tell by their faces that they're silently cursing themselves: "$700? I could have had a backup guitar AND a better sounding amp for what I paid!"
This is a great amp. Although most reviewers praise its dirty channel, this amp trumps all comers in terms of clean sound. Your bassist's rig could short out and only the soundguy would be the wiser.
It only misses the perfect ten because of the aforementioned reliability concern.
I don't care if I had to fix it once a week, I'd still use it.

I bought this amp direct from Carvin about 3 months ago. I played through it first at their store in San Diego, and was really impressed, so I decided to take the leap and have it delivered to me in Phoenix. 100 LOUD, I MEAN F****** LOUD watts!!! (Did I say it's loud? What?), switchable to 50. Switching to 50 watts doesn't really affect the volume more than about 3db, but it does allow much more saturated sounds at low volumes. It comes with 5881's, which have their own charm, and was really a cool thing to play with for a while, but I'm always experimenting, so I'll switch out to EL34's and try that for a while too. I needed an awesomely-voiced tube amp, with reverb, direct out, and clean/gain channels. Got all that. Seperate inputs for the clean and dirty channels would have been really cool (I like to blend channels with a volume/pan pedal), but it's pretty easy to see that would be an oddball item for most users. The Direct Out is a little noisy (see later in this review about the fiasco THAT produced), but this is one spankin' amp!

I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio, Two Brawley A-122s, and a 65 Gibson j-50. My effects vary depending on what I'm playing, but I usually run a Digitech GNX3 (effects only, no amp/speaker modeling), and a variety of analog stomp boxes (MXR, Boss, Danelectro). This is an incredibly versatile amp, giving me everything from slash-and-burn modern grind to blues grit and country twang. This amp is without exception the best sounding clean channel I have ever heard! The tones are fantastic, which is the reason I bought it (Duh. After 25 years as a writer and performer, this ain't exactly my first rodeo). I was a little surprised by the versatility of the tones in this amp. Adjusting the master volume has a HUGE effect on the overall tone of both channels, and they are all musically useful. I have yet to hear a sound out of this amp I did not think was really impressive. This is by far the best-sounding EQ I have ever found on a guitar amp. One piece of advice: I bought the VE212 cab to put under it, and that increases the swat of this amp ten-fold! It is so unbelievably fat with 4 12s, it's amazing. The tone of the speakers is fantastic as well. It's a high-gain amp, so it gets a little noisy when you're right up against it (especially with the Brawley), but nothing that would deeter mee in any way from using the amp in any situation.

This is a stout amp, with excellent craftmanship. But, being a "plan-B" kind of guy, I still make sure there is a route to the board with my Digitech just in case. The reason for the rating here is due to my short time having the amp. Nobody gets a glowing benefit of the doubt.

Here's where Carvin is gonna take a few swats on the nose... Their customer service folks are really exceptional, but I question some of their decision making in the shipping and packaging departments. The first amp had a badly humming Direct Out, so I returned it. When the replacement showed up, the box was badly damaged (I'm thinking maybe the UPS guy's girlfriend works for Fender or something), and the clean channel did not work at all. After three amps and two weeks (they were at least very prompt), I finally got one in great working order. Since working that out, I have been happy as, well... something that's really happy! Overall, Cravin's customer support was great, but their choice of shipping vendors (as well as really inadequate packaging) draws blood in this case.

This rig replaced my Marshal JCM900/Fender Showman multiple amp rig. I would replace it immediately if I had to. this amp is MY SOUND, and it just SPANKS! Great amp. Real heavy. Casters (locking would be cool, as would the ability to request what tubes it ships with.

This is a 2003 model I picked up to day at the San Diego Carvin Store. You guys read the other reviews so you know what this thing has. I was mainly looking for an amp that would get a good dual rectafier sound without spending the cash on a boogie (which was also too big - needed a combo). This thing has power to spare.

Holy shit! 600 bucks for a new combo that can crank a boogie rec sound (among the myriad of other sounds). For the heavy sounds back off the gain. Listen up - all these guys that say it doesn't have enough gain are either deaf or completely f*** up the controls. This thing has more gain than I've ever played. In fact that was the problem at first. I'm used to turning the gain up at least 3/4 when i want to play something heavy (godsmack for example). For a half hour I played and messed with the eq and gain before i got the sound i wanted. Heres the deal, the brutal heavy sounds require you to turn DOWN the gain. No shit - turn the gain down to 1/2 and then scoop the mids and back of the presence to just over half to darken it a little and I swear this little combo is unreal the bass is the tightest bass I've ever heard in a high gain amp. Before i figured out how to dial in the rectified sound I was jamming on some old EVH riffs and this puppy sounded just like it came off "1984" - awesome plexi sound. I looked at a lot of amps - marshall mode 4's, jcm's, dual recs, etc. and regardless of the price this thing matches them all. I have an amp that sounds as good as a f***ing boogie or marshall and i paid 600 bucks for it NEW at the carvin store. Dont listen to the snobs that say this thing cant put out some tone. Ive heard that some guys put in el34's and soften up the gain - dont cheat yourself the gain with the stock 6l6 tubes is unreal. Just play with the settings a while - this thing has so many sounds in it that it can take some time to dial in the one you want.

Dont know just got it.

Very friendly. It has a 10 day return policy and 1 year warranty.

10. Kicks total ass. Ive never played a combo i liked as much, and the only amps ive played i like as much cost 2 and half times more. The gain is super versatile and gets a great recto and plexi sound which is what i wanted. I'd definately do it again. For the price there is no alternative.

Our new guitarist in my punk band just got this from a buddy of his. Now feature wise, this thing is pretty nicely set up for a 2 channel amplifer. Channel 1, clean... very wide range of tones on the eq. Shimmering highs all the way to gutsy blues lows. The reverb is very smooth, not choppy at all. And it has great depth on it. Now, my favorite part. Channel 2, holy crap. Easily the most versitile amp on the market for distortion. VERY DYNAMIC EQ
Tube set up... 4 6l6's.. 5 12ax7's. Can be set for EL-34's and power setting from 100 to 50. 4-8-16 ohm output jacks, line out, you know the basics. Really great amp.

I was using my Fender Fat strat through it, but i also did manage to use my stock fender strat as well to see how single coils ring through it. It really shows what kind of guitar you use and the type of electronics. It isnt noisy at all.. if you have a quiet guitar... as in your guitar doesnt feedback. It didn't feedback at all with my fat strat. It did with our cheap dean we used though.
Now mind you, i dont own this amp. I have a sovtek Mig-100.. which they say sounds like a marshall. Well the carvin replicated my amp to the bone. No doubt it gets that great marshall high gain. But it doesnt stop there. Im sure some of you have heard System of a down, well its the same amp he uses. Not on stage, but in the studio. This thing gets beyond recto low end. Id say the recto low end hits in when you turn the bass nob somewhere around 6-7. It gets even heavier to the point where, i dont think its safe to put that much low end through guitar speakers. And for all you fender fans, yes i've owned fenders before... It hits them right on the button.

We can't say for sure... its a few years old and no problems.. but we haven't gigged with it yet to find out.

Can't say.. never dealt with carvin... But i've heard great things.

I've been playing for 8 years. I own a sovtek Mig 100 that runs through the matching cab.. and I own another Sovtek Mig 100H that runs through a Peavey XXX cab. I have also owned a Fender Hotrod Deville, a Sunn T50C, and an Ampeg VL501. All great amps. This Carvin is by far the heaviest of them in tone, and also the cleanest in tone. I would buy one if i wasnt broke from buying all the other stuff i have. It would be nice if id had a 3rd channel.. but you know we can't always get what we wish for.

See other reviews... I wish the footswitch had indicator lights - in a loud stage I can't tell if the reverb is on or off.

Awesome marshall like sound once I changed the tubes to Electro Hamonix el34s! This thing is loud. The clean channel is great - one of the best I've heard on any tube amp. But the lead channel (with the new tubes) can't be beat for the price. Don't waste your money on Marshall. Get it right here. Buy this amp! (then change the tubes!)

No problems except fs22 footswitch - they sent a new one in 3 days!

The best in the biz as far as I'm concerned!

As I said... buy this instead of the extremely overpriced Marshall, change the tubes and rock on!

I believe this amp was made just a few years ago. It doesnt have the British series speakers. It has the 16 Ohm Gt12's. It is a 2 channel Amp which really isnt cool. I wish 3 channels. I guess i will just have to get a overdrive pedal or something. THe style of music i play is in the emo rock - to more of a screamo. I like bands like The Used, Glassjaw,Poison the Well, and of course Thursday. But mostly we lean towards more a Taking Back Sunday sound, But with a Thursday Influence. It works ok for my style of music.

I use this amp with a Schecter C1 elite w/ seymour duncan Pickups. I have A duncan distortion and something else in it.(I bought it used and i cant remember). Like i said i play screamo emo stuff and it works ok for that. Its really got a "mesa" sound to it. I bought it used and i looked in back at the tubes and sure enought there mesa tubes. 6L6's. It got really deep low end and it works real good for that modern distortion. Which is cool. And the Clean Channel is PIMP. I love the clean channel. That is really good clean. And it comes with reverb and it gives a nice crisp sound. I really like it.

Yea i guess we will see.

I emailed carvin and they had nothing to say to me. I guess since i bought the amp used. Screw them.

This amp is an overal good Amp. I mean there is nothign absolutely special about it. It puts out a good modern distortion which doesnt suck, and it puts out a good clean. Nice for all those emo pickin moments. I really wanted it to sound like a marshall, but its a carvin so i guess i get what i pay for. But i think that it can get me by with a decent tone until i can upgrade to something else. And if it were stolen i would by one again. i mean its cheap, and thats a good thing for a poor white kid like me.

Carvin MTS 3212 Combo Bought mine new in summer of 02. Came with FS-22 two-button footswitch for channels and reverb. Two channels, long-tail reverb, effects loop, presence control, very wide range of sound for each pot (Carvin uses 1 Megaohm pots), tube bias switch (comes with 5881s, can switch to EL34s), 50/100 watt switch (doesn't lower volume any noticable amount, makes power tubes distort earlier). For a basic tube amp with "the bases covered," 10. Compared to a Line6, 4 or 5. With that in mind, I'll say 8 because most amps don't have power select or bias switches, and the presence control is subtle but helpful.

I use an Epiphone Del Rey, suprisingly nice for an Epi, PRS body style, flamed body, coil split toggle, volume treble-bleed mod. I put DiMarzio Evolutions in it, and it's sweet. I play classic rock, blues, Santana, Joe Satriani, modern rock, hard rock.

The amp came with 5881 power tubes, and Carvin says in the manual that these are chosen for their "soft clipping." They sound good, but it's not what most people are looking for. My advice: Change the tubes! People comparing this to a Marshall should be aware that the tubes have a huge effect on the overall tone (The "Marsahll/ Brown Sound" is based on an EL34-equipped amp). I put in Groove Tubes E34Ls (that's what they're called, but it's the same as EL34s). The sound is amazing!!!!!! Crunchy and tight midrange and plenty of bass and the tone controls work wonders! As one reviewer said, great "modified Marshall" sound!

I can't stop playing Van Halen, Santana, or anything that's crunchy and thick and powerful. The amp can be so dirty and at the same time so clean just by playing harder or softer, or rolling down the guitar volume. The clean channel is warm and vibrant, very very nice. Some people say that at high volumes it starts to "break up." Well, that's what a tube amp does, and that's what sounds desirable. Turn your guitar volume down and it cleans up while retaining loudness. Wonderful versatility of sounds, great great tone!

I had one microphonic tube that I noticed a few weeks after I got it. That's all, and it wasn't the company's fault. Very sturdy and solid, should last a long time.

I called Carvin about the microphonic tube, and three days later 3 groove tube 12ax7s showed up on my doorstep, no questions asked! Great service on the phone too!

I've been playing for 6 years. I have the Del Rey, a Marshall Valvestate 265R (which the Carvin replaced), Buddah Wah, Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, Boss DD-5 Delay, Visual Sound H2O Chorus/Echo, MXR Dyna Comp, and a DOD Stereo Phaser.

I would definitely buy it again if it were stolen or lost. What a great value! $699!!! That's less than my harsh, nasal, trebly, biting, poorly constructed, solid-state-except-for-one-stupid-tube Marshall Valvestate (which is no longer sold, but when I got it, it was available from Musician's Friend for $729. What a ripoff.) Buy the Carvin now!

standard tube amp features...clean and lead channels...seperate 3 band eq for each channel...with presence control for lead channel. incredible spring reverb w/ level control. independent level controls for clean/lead channels and no master level control, but it is not as big a problem as i thought it would be...

ill save you the rest of the features as they've been covered all in previous posts...but over all basic features.

one word: incrdible. this amp sounds just as good as my friends mesa triple rectifier half stack. (not as loud, but we're talking about a combo compared to a half stack here...) the lead channels is very very customizable. the presence control allow me to get an extremely wide variety of overdrive. i play through a budda phatman tube overdrive pedal and the built in overdrive blows it away. anyone want to buy a phatman? haha...

sturday, durable...no problems as of yet...knock on wood...

only had one dealing with them...i had a question about tube compatibility and the help was extremely quick and to the point. very knowledgeable and willing to help despite the simplicity of my problem...

incredible amp...highly recommended. it's pretty heavy (63 pounds) but it's worth lugging around. man is it smooth!! and the overdrive blows me away everytime... if someone stole it i would not hesitate to buy a new one...

I bought this amp used, so I'm not positive what year it was made. I would guess within the past 5 years. For the most part, I play straight-up rock & roll and pop music, with a dash of blues & jazz on the side. It fits those styles pretty well.

All of the other reviews give details of all of the specs, so I'll keep my answer short. All tube (5 12AX7's & 4 6L6GC's), 2 channels with separate EQ's & Volume Controls. There is an effects loop, but no Headphone Jack. It has two 12 Inch speakers. I originally started using this at home, but it is really way too loud for that. I put the volume at 2 and had complaints from my roommates. I took it to our studio and cranked it, and it really put out a wall of sound that I hadn't felt before from smaller guitar amps (Marshall DSL401) or my bass amp (350W Crate head through a Hartke 2x10 and an Ampeg 1x15).

I play a Hamer Archtop Solidbody (LP knock-off) with Flatwound strings and Duncan-Designed Humbuckers. When I crank the reverb up and scoop out the mids, this has a good mellow jazz tone. If I flip down to the bridge pick-up, I can get a great surf-rock sound out of the amp. I really dig this part of the sound. The reverb isn't really long, but it makes everything sound nice, fat & warm.

The distortion on this thing has a pretty good Van Halen sound if you crank it and play a guitar with humbuckers. I tried a single coil strat and it killed a lot of the distortion. Using my Hamer, it sounded like a jet engine anytime I got the Drive (Gain) above 5.

All in all, it has a great sound. I would have liked to be able to get that Fender Texas Blues wail from it, but I haven't been able to get that.

I'm not going to give a rating on this one yet. I bought the amp used for 200 bucks knowing that a fuse had blown and that a power amp tube was cracked. I swapped out all of the tubes and the fuse and it still didn't sound right. Within a day, I had cracked a pre-amp tube and blown another, so I knew something wasn't right. I replaced those and cracked another pre-amp tube while driving the amp to the studio. I took it in to Guitronics (Hal rules!) to have it fixed. Apparently, there was a loose solder joint on one of the floating capacitors that was causing a nasty buzz. Since I got it back, it has been going without any problems, but that has only been a few weeks.

As for the cracked tube issue, I don't really like the way they have the tubes placed. They are placed in two rows with the preamp tubes hidden behind the power amp tubes.
1) This makes it a pain in the ass to swap out pre-amp tubes.
2) The pre-amp tubes are really close to the power amp tube retainers. It exposes them to a sharp metal object. When you have brittle, hot glass tubes so close to a sharp metal object, you are inevitably going to crack your pre-amp tubes.

Hopefully, my issues are just one time things, but I don't know for sure. Right now, I would give this a 5 at best. Over time, I might regain some faith in the reliability of the amp.

I haven't dealt with them. I bought the amp used and had it fixed by a local guy.

I have been playing for about 9 years. I started on crappy solid state practice amps and switched up to a nice Marshall Tube Combo (DSL401) about 3-4 years ago. Comparing it to the Marshall, I prefer the Carvin's clean channel, but the marshall still has a better distorted channel. If it became lost or stolen, I would buy another one assuming I could get a good price and make sure that it worked well. Otherwise, I would probably switch to a Fender Twin Reverb or Tweed Deluxe. I have a good crunchy sound in the Marshall, but I'd like to find something a little bluesier.

All in all, I love the sound of the clean channel and the reverb, but I hate the way the tubes are placed and the fact that it weighs more than my car.

From a gigging standpoint, the one thing I really like is the metal grill covering the speakers. I hate the fact that most amps only have a layer of cloth covering the speakers. Bands play in bars. Drunks hang out in bars. Drunks have poor balance. That combination doesn't bode well for most speakers.

This is a brand new 2002 all-tube combo amp. 2 channels, clean and drive, EQ on both channels, reverb and presence, footswitch with channel and reverb controls. Pretty basic. One things for sure, it's LOUD. 100 watts!

I used the following guitars with this amp: Gibson Les Paul Classicand Gibson ES-135. I usually play jazz to classic rock to some hard rock. I guess you could use this amp for jazz, country, or light rock. Hard Rock is out of the question.

Clean channel was nice, but the EQ was incapable of getting me the sound that I was looking for. It had that tube warmth to it and the notes rang very well. However... even with constant adjustment, I could only get a sound that was too bassy or too screechy. It was not pleasant.

Drive channel was all mud. I understand that a LP with humbuckers has a lot of bass to it, but Jeez... After almost three days (and several pairs of earplugs) of constant adjustment and tweeking, I couldn't get a good overdriven sound. Distortion itself was light, not very heavy.

Although I didn't have this amp that long, I would assume that it is as tough as a tube amp could be. The case was solid wood, covered with black vinyl. It looks really nice! Anytime I would move it, however, you can hear all the little internal sounds of the reverb springs and tube buzzing. But that's a TUBE amp for you.

It appears solid and well-built. I figure I would have to drop it pretty bad to break it and it is HEAVY 70 lbs!

When I called up to order the amp, the guy I talked to was very nice. He politely confirmed their 10 day return policy, but that I would have to pay for shipping if I returned it.

It came with a 1 year warranty, but I certainly didn't have this amp for long enough to test it out.

I've been playing bass and guitar for about 5 years. I directly compared this amp to my Marshall AVT 275 combo. (See the review that I did on it). I sat both amps right next to one another and would play the same passage over and over, switching from one amp to the other.

The Marshall blew this thing away. The drummer, bassist, and my mom :) all agreed: the Marshall had the definite edge.

Although this was a good value for the money, I found that I could not get the sound that I wanted. I am now thinking about taking the money I would have spent on this amp and looking into a Fender Hot Rod Deville 212.

I wanted to like this amp! My sister is a Berkelee College of Music grad and she swears by Carvin. I tried her 60 Carvin tube amp and it was pretty good. But Carvin dropped the ball on this one. I'm sending this one back to get my money back.

I LOVE the clean tone of this amp and the warm tube tone and I HATE the crappy EQ and extremely muddy or extremely screechy sound that I got out of it. I compared this amp with my Marshall AVT275.

After hearing so many good things about Carvin, I thought "A 100-watt all tube amp for less than $1000?! That's f**ckin' fantastic!" But it's really not. I was very disappointed.

As a final note, I further endorse the Marshall AVT275 I have. I still haven't been disappointed.

All tube, 100 watt, 2 channel amp. Reverb. One effects loop. Would have liked to have had a third channel. A configuration more like a Marshall TSL 122 would be nice. Also, the footswitch only turns the reverb on and off. It does not switch between Lead and Clean channels.

I play a Strat Lonestar with 1 bridge humbucker and two single coils. While the clean channel sounded good (although somewhat sterile), the Lead channel sounded horrible. This amp may be good for classic rock but for any kind of rock from the 80's or newer you will be lacking. I found that the amp had a nice sound for crunchy chords but lacked the ability to provide a cutting lead sound. Lead is very fuzzy, very dissappointing.

The amp arrived with bad preamp tubes. A quick call to Carvin and new ones were on the way, free of charge. Only had the amp for 7 seven days so I can't really comment on longterm reliability.

Customer support was good. Very fast response time with my replacement tubes. Extended my 10 day trial period due to the bad tubes. Please be aware that if you send the amp back to Carvin you are responsible for shipping. I just sent my amp back and it is costing me $90.00 dollars. That kind of sucks!

Been playing for fifteen years but don't gig. Just have fun with friends. For my needs I am going to skip the whole tube thing and get a modeling amp. I get a great sound out of my old Fender solid state amp and a POD. THat's good enough for my "bedroom" concerts! I am more intersted in max amount of sounds to tinker with and not have to worry about maintanence.

I was wanting to get a fully functional two channel amp so I tried out the Carvin 3212 used in a guitar shop. I was thinking about replacing my Carvin X-100B with EL-34s. would be more versitile than the older version and has just about every bell and wistle.

For my money I think the older X-100 is an all around better amp. The distortion was "processed" sounding to me, sounded artificial and didn't make the 4x12 resonate at the right frequency. I know Carvin makes a good amp but I like the older amps clean sound better too.

There are always problems with wave soldered curcuit boards. The gentleman that bought this one had to have a tech solder some things up.

The Carvin phone people act like you need them more than they need you. I have delt with them for years and it didn't used to be like this. They may have out grown courtesy. I did have to have a 10" mid driver from my PA system replaced and didn't have any problems there although my idiot Bassist was using a shielded cable for a speaker cable...I got lucky!

I kept the older amp and if given the choice between the older or newer, I'll keep the old dog. Sometimes simple is better. I use a Twin reverb for club dates w/o a master vol controll. But I wish they could make an amp that switches from class B push/pull to Class A rather than how the Carvins do the half power option.

Bought new in July 2002. 50/100 watt 2-channel tube amp. Has line-out jack, 50\100watt output switch, el34\5881 bias switch, presence knob, OK reverb. No master volume. It's well built and VERY compact (smaller than my Fender Ultimate Chorus solid state 2X12 combo). Very loud, relatively light weight. Awesome tube tone. (2) 100 watt Carvin British Series speakers. No casters. Had to buy loose from Carvin, drill 3/4" holes and install them. Also, I wish it had a stereo chorus built in as my previous solid state Fender Amp did. It would add a nice bit of color to the sound.

Using new (2001) Fender Fat Strat Texas Special. Been playing (recreationally) 20 years with almost no gigging. Seeking the all-purpose setup (play 70's & 80's metal on rear Humbucker and Sultans Of Swing on pos'n 4). Not too anal about tone (yet!). I am very happy with the sound in both cases with one exception. The reverb is not that of a black faced twin. It lacks the warmth and is a little buzzy. The buzz/hissing it makes seems to take several seconds to decay when it is only set on maybe 4. Not a huge problem but sometimes a bit annoying. Amp is VERY loud. Clean channel begins to break up at about 6 on pos'n 4 (OK the middle and neck are overwound single coil Texas Specials). I wish it would stay clean as I turned it up.

Amp showed up w/ a bad 12AX7 (V1). It was a bit microphony. Carvin dropped a pair of new tubes on my doorstep with 4 days N/C. Problem solved. Only owned for two weeks now so have not had time for any failures.

Carvin support is great. Have called w/ several questions and spoke w/ very knowledgeable people who were eager to help. Also, amp showed up w/ a bad tube, they promptly sent me replacements w/ no need to return the bad ones.

I highly recommend this amp to anyone. For the money, you can't beat it. I suppose I could drop another grand and buy a Bogner but, why? If this amp was ever lost I would replace it. NOTE: Since these amps are bought via mail-order, you cannot hear it prior to purchasing (unless you know someone who has one). Carvin does allow a 10-day trial period from time you receive it (not when it is shipped) to test the amp out.

Has everything you need, and nothing you don't.

I use a Les Paul running through a handful of pedals (haven't really used the effects loop at all) and this thing just sounds great. Superb clean tone, nice AC/DC crunch, it's happening. The Overdrive Channel isn't great for scooped distortion (i.e. sevendust, metallica). So if you want an amp that can do metal by itself, this isn't it. I replaced the stock speakers (while they had great bottom end, the sound would break up before the amp distorted) and put in a couple G12T-75's. I hooked it up to a Mesa 2x12 3/4 back cabinet (The Black Shadows were weak) which also has a pair of G12T-75's and this thing roars. The amp came with 5 Sovteks in the preamp (which I'm not really a fan of) so I put in groove tube 12AX7's instead. Much brighter sound, and it seems much more.... balanced I guess you could say. Great sound, thumbs up.

I've had the unit for about a month. I bought it used in like-new condition. I haven't really put it through real abuse but it seems quite solid. Tube amps can be quite fickle though so you really have no way of telling. The footswitch is a whole other story. The switches themselves are very quiet, and there's no loud CLICK when you push them in. But it weighs close to nothing, and there's not even rubber feet or what-have-you on the bottom. Something I'll have to work on in the near future I suppose.

I didn't buy it new nor has it coughed on me so I don't really know. I've e-mailed them a couple times and ordered online from them before and I've always been very pleased. Some people have reported bad experiences with Carvin before but as far as I'm concerned they've been very helpful and will continue to get my business.

I haven't been through a ton of amps in my lifetime (all 6 years I've been playing). I've had a couple Valvestates and a Line6 AX212. But for the money, this amp is rock solid and will take good care of you and your sound. Unfortunately if you don't live in southern California you probably can't try one of these out, but I'm very happy with my choice and don't anticipate needing a new combo anytime soon!

This has been listed extensively. No need to elaborate.

Reading these posts has prompted me to write my first review. I've been playing since i was 8 for 26 years. I live near great music stores all of whom let me demo equipemnent extensively and in private. The MTS is the 3rd different Carvin amp I've owned. I also currently own a Bel Air. More on that at a different location. I've owned Laney's, Marshalls, Fenders, Vox 30s, Dual Rectos(which I still have) and demoed many more either at stores or on stage when asked to sit in. To compare this amp to a TLS Marshall, or a Soldano or a Recto (dual preferably) is simply unrealistic. My amp of choice now is the TLS 112. These amps make the MTS sonically challenged. It's not a "bad" amp, especially for the money, but it's not what these owners say it is either and this section is on sonic quality. The clean sound is pretty good, I'll admit, but it lacked something.. oh ya.. warmth of any kind. No matter what guitar/pickup combo i used, the volume in which I played, or the endless tonal adjustments tweeked, I could not get what I would consider a "great" clean sound. Just good. A subtle lack of warmth and texture but there none the less. Souless and a bit brittle. This is no fender clean sound and admittedly, I think that's what I hear in my head. The TLS I have is superior in this department. Now the Bel Air has a much nicer clean tone than the MTS. I'd give the clean sound b/c of its headroom a 6 here. The distortion side is harsh as well. Souless and inherently tweeked at a frequency I don't find pleasing to the ear. Again, cominations and experimenting are a given as I've been doing this a LONG time. It doesn't sound like VH and if you wanted to sound like that you wouldn't bye a 5150 either. You'd by a MARSHALL. This amp has NONE of that brown sound. Plenty of gain, but all put in the wrong place. No comparison to the TLS I have and no comparison to the saturation of a Soldano. I can make my dual Recto sound much more soulful and it's not known for that. The mid driven sounds also lack the roundness needed to pull it off with authority. SRV no...sorry.. it just didn't happen for me. Played in both cover and original bands with 2 cd's out. I love all kinds of guitar oriented music from spanky clean to heavily overdriven and am very critical of these tone shapes and everything in between. The amp should inspire the particular style you're coppin' and if this one does for you, there are a host of others that will truely kill you. It did not inpire me and have since returned it.

Built well but didn't have it long enough for it to crap out. They honored their policy of exchange.

NA

Been playing a long time as I've stated and of course i wouldn't replace it if stolen. FOR THE MONEY, it IS a good value, but just an Ok amp. Sorry for the simple adjectives but.. Just know you're not going to get the browness of a Marshall or the high end cut of a Soldano or the tone of a Dual (Don't like the triples). Nor will it really even get close to a Twin clean. It's bright ya, but not with the Fender sparkle and roundness I think is totally infectious and which puts you in that "zone". I've been more disapointed with Carvin amps than I've been satisfied though I have no ax to grind with them. Gigged with a X-100B for a couple of years but always wanted the drive to go to 13 or something. Some of these guys had to mod The MTS to sound "right" realizing it didn't to start with. Probably the guys with the more critical ears. I don't feel you should have to do all of this and most of you won't if you get any amp so... I think I've given an honest, informed review here but take it for what it's worth. 7 for the price/value.

I purchased this amp in late 1999 new, so I'm assuming that's when it was built. This amp can produce a wide variety of tones. Has 2 channels, reverb, and an effects loops. The lead channel is able to produce a variety of useful tones at different gain levels, unlike some amps that only really sound good maxed out. The 50/100 watt switch is a nice feature, but I've never actually had to use the 100 watt setting as it's plenty loud at 50 watts.

I typically use this amp with a Gibson Les Paul studio with stock pickups. Occasionally also use a Carvin TL60.
Now, this amp has a lovely basic sound. The tones are wonderful. It's rare I find an amp that has both a clean and distorted channel that I like, and this one fits the bill here.

HOWEVER.

There is a major, major problem with it. When I use the distorted channel at a volume anywhere above 3 and have the bass EQ knob up at all, I get this horrible bass feedback. If I play a low E chord and then cut it off suddenly, the amp makes this THUMP sound that's even louder than the original signal! I've talked to several people at Carvin about it and they think there's nothing wrong with the amp, but that's just how it is. Lame. The fact that I play a Les Paul (a rather bassy guitar) probably accentuates the problem; with a guitar with less low end you could probably get away with having the bass control below 5 and not having a problem. I like having the bass control up a bit to get a full, meaty tone, so this makes me quite unhappy. Other than that, I love the way this thing sounds, but that one problem is a pretty major problem! It's also rather noisy... the tone stays good at low volumes but it hisses too loudly for low-volume recording.

I've never had a problem with it, but I've only gigged with this amp a few times, so it hasn't taken too much abuse yet. It barely left my apartment for the first year I owned it. I've used it without a backup and not been too worried about it.

Carvin people are typically pretty helpful on the phone. I've emailed them a couple times and never gotten any sort of reply.

I've been playing for 13 years. I've owned a couple Crates (soundman: "turn down the treble!" me: "it's on 1!"), a Hughes & Kettner ATS120 that I still own (would be my main amp but the clean channel sucks), and a Line6 (good for what it is, but just doesn't have that certain SOMEthing you get from a "real amp"). I will probably replace this amp with something else. If it were lost or stolen, I'd be kinda bummed, but I'd get over it. ;o) As I said, the basic tone is great, it just makes horrible thump sounds when using the dirty channel that make it pretty much unusable unless you turn the bass controls really low.

This is a 100watt 2-channel tube amp. It is somewhat basic in construction. Has line-out jack, 50\100watt output switch, el34\5881 bias switch, presence knob, good reverb, and 1 imput. Doesn't have master volume. It's well built and very compact. Very loud, relatively light weight, and has a good black and silver look. It has a great tube tone, and I can play just about anything on it, however, this amp really kicks in the lead soloing stuff. More than enough power. 2 100watt Carvin British Series speakers.

I'm using a Mexican Strat with stock pickups. This amp is solid at just about everything. It doesn't have tons of bells and whistles, and it doesn't need them. The clean is clean and warm. The distortion is versatile. Good blues sound, light rock, heavy rock, lots of sustain. Great for Steve Vai, John Petrucci style of smooth high gain distortion. It packs a nice bass punch, but the truly impressive part is the highs. This amp sounds incredible past the 12th fret, I think they designed it with a very high frequency handling, and it shows. The sounds are very smooth, detailed, and responsive. You can play anything on this amp. If you're going for a harsh sound you can get it, but in that case something less warm would suit you. This amp can produce a sounds like Van Halen's Eruption and Steve Vai's For the Love of God. You can smash power cords on this as good as anything else, but it's lead sound is exceptional. The clean has never broken up for me, although I think I'd hurt my ears if I got to that point, I don't think it would break up unless your making your own ears bleed.

It is very well built. The tubes are protected and it is solid in construction. I would gig without a backup. Of course, I can't afford one, so I have no choice. But it has worked fine for me without any problems. Time will tell though.

I've heard people complain, but from talking to them they were very friendly and did a good job. It has a warranty of one year. Have never needed any repairs.

I haven't been playing to long, only 2 years. But I've played Mesa's and Marshall's and I researched ALOT before I bought this amp. Right now I don't own much other gear. I've got an Takamine acoustic guitar and a CA30 crate acoustic amp, which sounds good despite it being a crate, and a Dunlop wah. I'm not into effects, solid distortion does the job for me. I'm not some kid who plays Blink 182 all day and thinks he's a rock star, I play alot of things, and I know a good sound. This amp is comparable to anything you can buy, and for the price it is a great deal. If it was stolen I would get another, if I could afford it. The lead sound can't be beat, and everything else is rock solid. It sounds like something twice it's cost. If you need a good tube amp with power and tone, I'd look into this amp, I'm very happy with it. It's more than you could ask for for the price. I'm not saying it's the best thing money can buy, but I am saying that it's the best thing a reasonalble ammount of money can buy. You'd have to at least top 1000 to get something this good from another company.

This is a review of a 2001 Carvin MTS3212 Combo. Basic two channel setup w/ 5 12ax7's and 4 5881's. Has an effect loop and reverb. Got a free footswitch (Channel Select and Reverb On/Off) from an online order promotion. Otherwise Carvin Charges 22 Bucks. After going from a thousand amps (it seems) including Silverface Twin, Marshall VS102R, Roland JC-120 (First Series), Yamaha's, etc... I must say this Carvin is absolutely incredible! The Clean channel is pristine and extremely glassy. The Distortion Channel absolutely pumps! Blows away anything I have worked with before. With 100 Watts of Juice (Switchable to 50 Watts with a minimal 3dB Loss) this amp is plenty loud. Also You can change out the Main tubes with a bias change. Took a chance on Carvin (Direct Order Only) but am sure glad I did. Now I know why they have been in business for 50 years. This is a clean striped down amp; no frills, no built Digital Effect. For my work, this is perfect. The versatility of this amp will work will most everything.

I play a '83 Les Paul Standard and a '79 Strat (3 Bolt). Play a variety of stuff from Jazz standard, motown, R&B and Classic Rock. This amp covers everything very well. One nice thing about the amp is that is is QUIET!...extremely. Clean Channel doesnt distort, albeit slightly,at high volumes. The Distortion channel is absolutely incredible....Goodbye Pedals. Covers everything from Delta Blues to Hard Rock without a pause. Both channels are very smooth and silky. sustain is incredible.

Can't really say. This AMP is new and hasn't been out much. From what I've read these amps are extremely reliable.

Haven't had any problem with it as of yet so no need to call. Warranty is only one year (bummer) and to get replaced means sending back to the factory in California. All transactions were done through the web, so no human contact. Extremely quick shipping tho'!

Definately would replace this amp, especially for the price. For me, this amp covers everything I do, its loud, its clean, it screams, and its small (smaller than my VS102R) and its Light. with Carvin's 10 day return policy, I recommend you take a shot on this amp. Its well worth it.

Carvin really hooks it up. They gave me a free footswitch with my mts. the reverb is one of the best that I have ever heard. This amp has two channels, each having their own Bass, Mid and Treble swithches. Both channels are nothing short of AWESOME.

This is probably the best sounding amp I have ever played. Before buying this amp, I also checked out the Marshall TSLs and Fender's Hot Rod Deville. Neither the marshall's nor the fender sounded nearly as warm and smooth as this amp. The gain channel on the fender sucked. The Marshall's gain sounded good, but after playing the MTS, I would never buy the marshall. MTS has a great and versatile gain channel. It seems to growl more than the Marshall did.

The clean channel is probably the best that I have ever heard. The fenders and marshalls could not hang with this tone monster. it is very smooth and glassy.

I play all kinds of music. I have a punk band (you know I need lots of gain), I play lots of blues and classic rock, and I play worship songs at my church. the mts fits all of these styles. It doesn't do metal very well, though. just buy a pedal (Marshall Jackhammer is a good choice) and you'll be fine.

I just bought it about a week ago, and haven't gigged with it yet

haven't had to deal with them as far as repairs go. However, the techs at the Carvin store are ver knowlegable and friendly

If you love warm tube tones, THIS IS THE AMP TO BUY. It can fit any style, except for metal. At 700 dollars, it is a great value. However, even if it costed as much as a marshall of mesa bogie I would still buy the amp. For those of you who don't live in california, and don't have the opportunity to test them out, order one. YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED. THIS IS A GREAT TUBE AMP AT A VERY LOW PRICE.

Before I say anything...I just wanted to restate from my last review about the Combo that I'am now keeping it. I was stupid for not giving it a chance in the beginning without a fair evaluation. I'm so glad I did...I will explain more later.

Let's get down to business first....this is a no frills amp ....just just your basic two channels... clean and distortion along with reverb, which is just great for me. I could get into the details but other reviewers have already got it down in a nutshell, so there will be no need for me to explain any further.

I play mostly alternative hard pop rock... Like Goo Goo Dolls, Foo Fighers, U2, Collective Soul, Blink182 and The Cure. This amp can handle all those styles and some more with ease....except for heavy to death metal....which this amp wasn't design for. It is an exceptionally versatile amp for anything else. With 100 watts of pure tube power, it has more than enough juice to handle just about any situation..if you need more sound dissipation just hook it up to a 4x12 cab, but more importantly is that it's loud enough to handle your band rehearsals against hard hitting drummers! No problem here!

I use a Fender Deluxe Strat with Noiseless pickups, This guitar sounded great with either channels! When I first got this amp it sounded ok....the clean was the best i've heard from any amp I've tried, it was quiet as hell and when you turn it up higher it doesn't break up like a fender would..until you get around 6-7.....the distortion had alot of gain but was kinda grainy and sterol sounding...that was my biggest hang up and most of all I thought it sounded lackluster. That's why I was going to return it, because it didn't sound as good as I thought it would. But before I was going to return it I wanted to take a gamble to see how much of a difference would changing the tubes make.......I've never own a tube amp so this was the first and I was skeptical about replacing the power tubes because it was pretty costly and biasing would be an additional cost...so I said....let's try the preamp first and if it improved the sound then i would certainly go for the power section next.

I ordered some sovtek LPS and when they arrived I replaced all 5 12ax7's and powered her up for a test drive. When I strummed my first chord...this amp sounded so much better. There was less graininess and the mids was smoothed out . There was also a sparkle in this amp that i had no idea it had.....I said Wow!! The Clean was just blissful!! I couldn't stop playing this amp now! Imagine how much better this baby would sound if i changed the power tubes....and I did!! I replaced and rebiased them with JJ EL34L..it sounded fantastic!!! It was thick and creamy!! with more midrange....sounded like a modified marshall with a different attitude! I tried this for an experiment ...changing the BR12 speakers to Celection Vintage 30s to make it even better sounding......bad idea. The cleans broke up sooner than it did before and it was kinda muddy sounding as well..but i will say that the distortion of the Vintage 30s sounded great!.....after changing them back to to BR12......I was in love with the amp again!

I'm giving it a 10 now because of changing the tubes....if it was stock...i would give it a 7.

Hard to say for now but I've had no problems whatsoever with her....so far so good.

the warranty is 1 year....that really sucks cause alot of companies now are offering 3-5 year warranty. They provide great service if you are buying the amp but if you want to speak to a tech for repairs or returning it back....you would have to wait a bit.

I have been playing guitar for 5 years but i know what sounds good and what doesn't. After spending many weeks researching, playing and test driving manys amps out there and at home... I have found what my ears wanted to hear. I've brought home a Line 6 Flextone II....sounds excellent in the store at low volumes but when you take it home and crank it up to about 4 or 5....it sounded thin and artificial......I returned it after 2 days of tinkering with it. Then it was the Fender tube family......you name it i've takened it home for a test drive...the Vibrolux, Twin, Twin Reverb, Blues Deville and etc...the cleans sounded pretty good but it breaks up too soon....IMO..not rich sounding compare to the carvin. I think the clean from the Carvin sounds way better than the Fender!!!The distortion wasn't anything to brag about...except for the prosonic but I was still wasn't impress. Then came the Marshalls....their distortion sounded kicked ass as would expect!! But their clean sound was lifeless and thin.....I have to note that the AVTs are excellent amps!!! I love everything about it except that it wasn't loud enough and also the affects aren't very flexible to tailor your sound......If they had a 2x100 watt combo that is suppose to sound as loud as it should...I would definitely get it! Mesa Boogies sound great but just too pricey .....i would consider owning one...but not anytime soon.. For sheer value in quality, sound, performance, and price. The Carvin is clearly a real winner!! I would lost it, I would certainly get another one!
Everytime I play through this amp....I have always have a smile on my face

I will make this short and simple...this is a Fantastic all tube amp for the features, quality, sound and money. Unfortunately, the Carvin is not the sound I'm searching for. I will need to do some more soul searching before I buy another amp.

I'am selling one for $650.....brand spankin new! Had it for one month and rarely used! It's all in it's original box, paper work and receipt.

Go see www.carvin.com for the features, for the price, its a great deal for a solid tube amp.

I mainly play rock, fusion, jazz, funk, a lil blues here and there.... this is amp is versatile enough to cover all of them, and i've been quite satisfied with that. i dunno what the whole deal with the 5150 comparison is, i've never played through one... anyhow, the gain channel for lead playing is great, very focused, and sustains incredibly well. Its articulate and detailed, and goes from petrucci esque type of tone to a nice mellow santana tone to a very lovely overdriven tone that sings...the fusion enseble i play with at school were VERY impressed with the tone for lead. for rhythm playing, its also great, it cleans up well with the volume rolled down along with the tone (i use a les paul dc studio) and its clear enough that you can hear the notes of a complex chord very well, and can take from a heavy chunk to more of a 70s hard rock kinda sound...the only problem is that if you want to go from a very high gain lead to a significatly cleaner gain sound, its pretty hard to do(i intend on getting a volume pedal to solve this problem), but overall the gain channel provides a very nice crunch and very nice lead voice tones. The clean channel is great too, i can play funk very well on it, and to my pleasant surprise, the amp provides a very nice jazz tone as well... it took me a while to find the sound i was looking for, but i finally did, and the amp's clean channel is definetly a winner.... the reverb is kinda weak, but it does provide decent amound on "fattening" to your tone that works... the presence control is useful as well in higher volume situations.

Well... one of the volume pots got bent, so i got kinda scared about that, only cuz the car hit the breaks very suddenly and the amp hit a metal edge on the car...other than that, it seems to be built like a tank, very solid, and the tubes seem well protected... i've used it in gigbs and it asn't failed me at all, very realible...

Carvin guys are very chill, and pretty helpful... i asked them about the volume pot problem and they were helpfuly about giving me information about repairs.

Its definetly a stela for what i got it at (used) but even new its a damn great price for what you get, i recommend it if you are in the market looking for a tube amp that delivers great lead tones and clean tones as well.

Brand spanking new amp, just got it in the mail a couple hours ago. A 2 channel all tube 100W amp. Two independent EQ, presence, and reverb. It's a real nice amp. Controls are Lead Volume, drive, bass, mid, treble, CLean volume, bass, mid, treble, LEAD Presence, Master Reverb. The back panel has Speaker out 1 and 2, Impedance switch, 50W/100W switch, 5881//EL34 bias switch, Cabinet Voiced Line out, Footswitch, Effects send/return.
This is plenty for me. Very very versatile, lots of gain, and still has a very pristine clean channel. I play pretty much everything, but my main bag would be metal/punk. FOr punk, these 5 12AX tubes are just perfect for me for the sound. But for metal and hardcore, you might wanna use a pedal, like metal zone or something.
I am very very pleased with the amp, but one thing i wish it had was a head phone jack. This amp is a monster, it's really really loud, one of the loudest 100W i've ever heard. I usually play it with only 2 tubes on (50W), but still real loud for my room, but for gigs, you won't ever get buried. This bad boy can scream loud, you can actually drown out the drummer, hee hee.

I have a Fender 50's reissue and an Ibanez RG with dimarzio TONE ZONE and PAF. What can i say? The guys at Carvin really know what they're doing. Clean channel will tell you what clean is meant to be. Very clean with my fender, but the ibanez with the tone zone pushed hard, kinda gets a little fuzz at the top volume. Distortion channel is a bad ass too. Real fatty distortion, none of that paper thin crap you'd hear on crate stuff. I think this amp is one of the cleanest i've ever played. Cleaner than Marshall JCM800, Fender hotrod, and crate blue voodoo. But if you crank up the Lead 1 Presence, it does get a little noisy, but not a big deal at all, 'cause it only does it at high volumes. Amp is very versatile, you can play country to hard hard rock. the only thing you can't do it heavy metal and hardcore.

Looks very sturday, but the amp gets pretty hot, i already put a fan on the back. But carvin guys are usually real good with their stuff, so i'm not worreid about it at all.

I heard there are some pricks there, but i think they fired all the pricks, 'cause i've called carvin about 7 times since i placed an order to check up on my order, and everytime i called, they were really nice, and very patient with me. Warranty's one year, but this bad boy will last you. One bad thing is that if there's soemthing wrong with your stuff, you gotta send it back to San Diego, CA =( I live in IL

I've been playin' for about 6 years, my band usually plays punk and metal. THis amp is perfect for me. I compared this to a marshall jcm 800 half stack, and to me, this carvin sounded nicer and louder, so go figure. If it were stolen, i'd probably buy another one right away. I love this amp, for the sound and for the quality. Carvin is a very good company, i trust em. One bad thing about em is that you can't really test it out before you buy it unless you live in CA. But take my words for it, these are quality amps.

I just have to say that everyone here who THINKS that the distortion channel on this amplifier sounds and feels like a Peavey 5150 has got to be kidding and needs to stop right now! I do not understand how anyone with even remotely musically attuned ears can say such a thing. My guess is that people are just swallowing the hype that Carvin catalog ad tries to make for it and I beg those people to listen to what they are comparing it to. If you need a distortion channel, the one supplied by this amp will probably do for most people. But noone should say that this amp has a 5150 type gain amp. The two are not even close!

Please read the other reviews, or visit Carvin's site.
I use it mainly for Rock and Blues.

I use a Yamaha Pacifica 1421 (great guitar) and a Carvin (DC-400 I think) made of Koa. Sometimes I also use a Strat. The amp is clean, and the amp is LOUD. I love both channels. I was impressed by the clean channel, and the lead channel is also very good. I sometimes use a TS-9 reissue and/or a TS-9DX, both modified by AnalogMan (Excellent work).
On the last band I was on, we played stuff from Zeppelin, AC/DC, Queen, John Cougar, Whitesnake, Dire Straits, Tom Petty, and a bunch of others. I wish I had this amp at the time. It is versatile, and gives you great sounds for different types of music. It has great bottom end, without sounding muddy. I haven't really played it at volumes past 4 (the neighbors wouldn't like it, and I am currently not playing in clubs), but I can get a wide variety of very pleasant clean and dirty sounds. I can only imagine how this would sound at higher levels (and someday I'll find out), but trust me, 4 (even 3) is pretty loud (or maybe I'm getting old). Currently I am not in a band, so the actual loudness that I perceive might vary when you take into account bass, drums, or other instruments playing together, but still this amp is LOUD.

Bought it 6 months ago, and waited until now to give a more objective review. This last couple of days I started playing a little louder (went from 3 to 4) and got a nice feedback going on. Unfortunately, the feedback turned ugly, and didn't go away. I could not fix this, and today I called Carvin. In a couple of minutes they told me what to do and the problem is gone. (I just had to switch a couple of tubes). So far it hasn't given me any trouble, other than the strange feedback issue. Tube amps are delicate beasts and require care. They can be temperamental, but so far I am very pleased with the MTS 3212's performance.

I've dealt with Carvin before, and I am very pleased with their products and their service. Since I am living in California, I went to the factory, and played a couple of amps for maybe two hours. The salespeople were friendly, and let me really explore the sounds and give the amps a good try. Also, as I mentioned, customer service was great with the feedback problem.

I've been playing for 13 or 14 years, and this is one great amp. I sold a Marshall JCM-800, since it was a hassle to carry it around. I was looking for a combo and checked Marshalls, Boogies and Fenders (all of them make some great amps, and Fender has the sweetest clean tone), but considering the price of the Carvin, and its features, I think this is a great buy. It is not the best amp in the world (if there is such a thing), but it represents a great value, and I would definitely replace it. I might change the power tubes, but for now they'll do. Also, I would want a light indicator on the footswitch.

I'm not going describe the features in detail, just read the other submissions. It's a 100 watt amp with two 12" Carvin British Series speakers. This amp is quite powerful, and is louder than I think I will ever need it to be. I play a lot of different styles of music, ranging from jazz to metal. This amp is quite capable of covering most of those styles, with the exception of hard core and metal. The distortion just doesn't fit the heavier stuff. So, I just use distortion pedals for those applications. The amp has 5 12AX7's and 4 5881's. The amp came with Sovtek tubes and I replaced them with Groove Tubes because I'm very fond of their sound. This amp is cool because you have the option of using 5881's, or you can flip a switch and replace the 5881's with EL34's. Overall, this amp fits all my needs.

I run a Les Paul Custom and a Strat Standard through the Carvin. Both sound great, especially the strat. The clean channel in this amp is absolutely astounding. I haven't played an amp yet that beats out that great clean tone. I can crank the clean channel and it doesn't break up at all. Some of the other reviewers said that their MTS 3212 made a lot of noise but mine is dead quiet. Either I'm lucky or they were unlucky! The distortion in this amp is quite nice. It's great for almost all rock applications, but as I said earlier, it's not too good for metal. I really like the effects loop, which is a big statement for me because I usually hate effects loops. For some reason the effects loop on this amp just sounds a good deal clearer than any other amps that I've tried out. The reverb is quite good too. There isn't a huge amount of reverb on this amp, but that's fine with me because I don't use a whole lot anyway.

I've only owned this amp for two months so I can't really speak for its reliability. I play it often and at high volumes and it has held up fine.

I've dealt with Carvin before, and most of the time they are pretty friendly and helpful. However the guy that helped me out with my order was downright rude. But my amp arrive at my house right on time so I guess I don't have too much to complain about. The warranty on this amp is 1 year limited. The problem is that you have to pay to ship the amp back all the way to the carvin factory in california to get it serviced. I've never had to do that, but I can imagine that it would be a pain.

I highly recommend this amp to anyone, no matter what their budget. I've played through quite a few amps and I am really satisfied with my carvin. If this amp was ever taken out of my possession, I would definitely replace it as soon as possible. A word of caution: since you can't try this amp out before you buy it, carvin allows the buyer to have a trial period to test the amp out. Do just that... test it like mad. Put it through its paces to make sure it satisfies your needs. If it does, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

The features of this amp have already been covered by prior reviews, so I'll try to be brief. Dual channels, (5) 12AXA7A pre-amp tubes, (4) 5881 power tubes (std), bias switch for 5881, 6L6GC or EL34 tubes, 50/100 output switch, master reverb, separate eq controls (and presence controls) for each channel, effects loop, cabinet-voiced line out, foot-switchable channel & reverb.
There are a few additional features I would like to see on this amp. First, a foot-switchable effects loop. Second, a two-stage gain (similiar to the Fender Hot Rod's "more gain" foot-switch). Third, separate reverb controls for each channel. Otherwise, this amp is a fairly well equipped.

I own a number of guitars and amps, but have pretty much settled on using a Gibson LP Special, Carvin TL60T and a US Master's (strat) through my Carvin MTS3212. This amp is probably used 80 percent of the time, which is saying a lot.
I am currently playing in a surf-rock band, however my taste's are more towards the hard, bluesy rock sounds. I have found that the amp covers these music styles (and more) very well. At the time I bought this amp, I was dabbling in the sounds of Van Halen, and actually sold my 5150 combo to get the Carvin (the 5150 had a nice gain channel, but the clean channel was rather suck-worthy.)
Out of the box, I found the Carvin's high gain tones to be good. The eq allows for pretty good versatility, going from scooped mids to heavy mid-driven tones (which is my personal preference). For my favorite mid-driven sounds, I set the bass at 1 o'clock, midrange at 11 o'clock, treble at 1 o'clock, gain at 40-50 percent, and let a good overdrive (i.e. Fulltone Fulldrive, Stamps Drive-O-Matic) drive the amp over the top. There's something about using these pedals with *this* amp that really enhances the high-gain tone. One thing worth mentioning, the 50/100 switch is pure crap. (The switch is supposed to allow for tube saturation at lower levels.) I didn't find any noticable difference in switching from 100 to 50.
The clean channel is the real strength of this amp. I previously owned a mint 1965 Fender Super Reverb, and will go on record as saying my Carvin's clean sounds are as good. Granted, the reverb is not as deep, but the nice round bass this amp puts out, coupled with nice crisp highs (magnified by the presence switch) is wonderful. It does start to break up a bit at higher levels, but I NEVER found the need to actually play at those levels. This amp is LOUD and there is a LOT of headroom here.

I've owned this amp for 2 years. So far, it's been flawless.

Other than ordering, I've never really had to deal with the folks at Carvin. I suppose this is a good thing, since the only other contact I can think of would be for repairs. With that said, this 'average' rating is reflective of limited contact.

This rating is NOT suggesting that this is the best amp money can buy. What I am suggesting is that, for the money, this is probably the most balanced package of clean/overdrive tones you will find. Would I buy another one? Assuming I'm not going to spend $1500, then the answer is yes. At $700 (new), this is one helluva bargain.

1998 100 WATT TUBE COMBO. 2 12" CARVIN BRITISH SPEAKERS. 2 CHANNELS. ONE MASTER REVERB. SEPARATE BASS, MID, AND TREBLE CONTROLS FOR BOTH CLEAN AND GAIN CHANNELS. PRESENCE KNOB FOR GAIN CHANNEL, AND PRESENCE BUTTON FOR CLEAN CHANNEL. BUFFERED EFFECTS LOOP. CABINET VOICED DIRECT LINE OUT. OPEN BACKED COMBO. THIS AMP WAS MY MAIN AMP FOR SMALL GIGS AND SOME STUDIO WORK PRIOR TO PURCHASING A BOGNER SHIVA HEAD. THE ONLY THING THIS AMP IS MISSING IS A STANDARD FOOTSWITCH (CARVIN CHARGES $22 BUCKS). ALSO, THE CARVIN FOOTSWITCH DOESN'T HAVE LED LIGHTS TO INDICATE WHETHER THE REVERB IS IN USE. AMP ALSO HAS A 100W/50W SWITCH FOR HIGHER GAIN LEVELS AT LOWER VOLUMES, ALTHOUGH IT'S REALLY HARD TO PERCEIVE ANY DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO SETTINGS.

I PLAYED THIS AMP USING A PRS CUSTOM AND A 57 RI STRAT. WHEN THE AMP ARRIVED IT SOUNDED PRETTY GOOD, ALTHOUGH THE SOUND QUALITY QUICKLY DIMINISHED (SEE RELIABILITY COMMENTS). I AGREE WITH THE OTHER REVIEWS THAT THE AMP HAS A GOOD CLEAN CHANNEL. WITH THE OPEN BACK, THE AMP HAS FULL BASS RESPONSE ON THE CLEAN SIDE, ALTHOUGH IT CAN GET A BIT FLABBY AT HIGHER VOLUMES. I SELDOM TURNED THE CLEAN CHANNEL VOLUME ABOVE THREE. THE DISTORTION SIDE OF THE AMP IS A COMPLETE CATASTOPHY. THE LEAD CHANNEL LACKS DISTICTION. IT CONTAINS DIODES IN THE TUBE CIRCUIT AND HAS A FIZZLE ABRASIVE LEAD TONE. I THINK THAT CARVIN WAS TRYING TO MODERNIZE THE X100B LEAD TONE TO MORE OF A MESA/PANTARA SOUND, AND FAILED MISERABLY. I PREVIOUSLY OWNED A PEAVY 5150 AMP AND ANYONE WHO COMPARES THE LEAD CHANNEL ON THIS AMP TO A 5150 HAS EATEN FAR TOO MUCH ACID. PLAYING IN A BAND ENVIRONMENT (AND NOT A BEDROOM) THE LEAD CHANNEL TOTALLY SUCKS. IT COULDN'T CUT THOUGH A SLICE OF CHEESE. CHORDS MUSH OUT AND LACK DISTINCTION. MOVEOVER THE TONE IS ABRASIVE AND UNPLEASANT.
ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THE NOISE FACTOR NOTED BY OTHER REVIEWERS. CARVIN REPS THEMSELVES ADMITTED THAT THESE AMPLIFIERS HAVE HAD GROUNDING PROBLEMS RESULTING IN EXCESSIVE 60 HZ HUM. AT TIMES I WAS UNABLE TO USE THE AMP IN VARIOUS STUDIOS BECAUSE THE NOISE LEVELS WERE SO HIGH. IF YOU PLAN TO USE PRIMARILY THE CLEAN CHANNEL WITH PEDAL EFFECTS, THIS AMP MAY BE A GOOD CHEAP ALTERNATIVE TO A FENDER TWIN, ALTHOUGH IT'S LESS SPRINGY. IT'S NOT QUITE AS ABRASIVE.

THIS AMP BECAME A THORN IN MY SIDE ABOUT A WEEK AFTER PURCHASE WHEN THE POWER TUBES BLEW. CARVIN SENT OUT A NEW SET, BUT THE AMP NEVER TRULY SOUNDED RIGHT AGAIN. ABOUT THREE MONTHS IN, THE FOOTSWITCH DIED. AFTER A LONG FIGHT, THE COMPANY SENT OUT ANOTHER SWITCH. THEN THE AMP BEGAN BLOWING TUBES EVERY PRACTICE. I SENT IT BACK TO THE FACTORY (SPENDING $50 ON THE PACKING AND SHIPPING). THE FACTORY SENT IT BACK SAYING THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG - ALTHOUGH ANOTHER POWER TUBE HAD BROKEN DURING THE RETURN SHIPPING. ONCE I RECEIVED THE AMP AGAIN, IT BEGAN TO MALFUNCTION ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. IT'S NOW BACK ON THE BENCH AT THE CARVIN FACTORY WHERE THEY'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY THE LEAD CHANNEL KEEPS DYING. I GAVE UP ON THIS AMP AND BOUGHT A BOGNER. IF CARVIN CAN FIX IT, I'LL KEEP IT AS A BACKUP - ALTHOUGH MY BOGNER HAS YET TO FAIL ME ONCE.

THIS AMP HAS NOT FUNCTIONED CORRECTLY FOR MORE THAT A TWO WEEK SPAN IN THE YEAR AND A HALF THAT I'VE OWNED IT. TO TOP THIS OFF, THE SERVICING CAN ONLY BE DONE BY CARVIN OUT IN CALIFORNIA (ENJOY THE 4 WEEK WAIT) AND YOU'RE RESPONSIPLE FOR SHIPPING THEIR POORLY MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS BACK TO THEM. ALSO, I'VE HAD TO TALK TO CUSTOMER SUPPORT MANAGERS AND SCREAM TO NO END TO GET THEM TO HONOR THE REPAIR OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE ONE-YEAR WARRANTY. AJ IN REPAIRS WAS COOL THOUGH. IN SHORT, IF YOUR CARVIN BREAKS, REST ASSURED IT'S GOING TO BE A MAJOR PAIN IN THE ASS UNLESS YOU LIVE IN CALIFORNIA NEAR ONE OF THEIR 5 OR 6 STORES. OTHERWISE OWN A BACKUP.

AT THE TIME I BOUGHT THIS AMP, I WAS JUST BEGINNING TO GIG A LOT AT SMALL CLUBS AND I THOUGHT THAT THIS COMBO WOULD BE AN ECONOMICAL WAY TO GET A GOOD CLEAN CHANNEL AND A GOOD GAIN CHANNEL IN ONE CHEAP PACKAGE. THE KEY WORD IS CHEAP! WHILE THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS PASSABLE, THE GAIN CHANNEL IS AN ICE PICK TO THE EAR AND SOUNDS TOTALLY SUCKED OUT IN A BAND CONTEXT (CAN'T CUT THROUGH THE DRUM AND BASS). ALSO THE AMP IS TOTALLY UNRELIABLE AND OBTAINING SERVICE IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUGH A PROLONGED WAIT. AFTER OWNING THIS AMP FOR 1 YEAR, I STRIPPED THE CARVIN BUMPER STICKER OFF MY CAR. I SAVED $2000 AND BOUGHT A BOGNER SHIVA HEAD AND THE DIFFERENCE IS LAUGHABLE. YOU TRULY PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET. I SUGGEST THAT ALL THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE MAKING A $700 INVESTMENT ON THIS AMP INSTEAD OF SAVING A LITTLE BIT MORE FOR A QUALITY MADE TONE MACHINE.

You can read the other reviews for features. It has almost all the features I care about.
I agreee with others, it seems to be versatile enough to do jazz, country, blues, hard rock, but probably not really heavy stuff like Pantera, Godsmack, Metallica.
I give it a 9 because I would only give it a 10 if it had two switchable levels of distortion and some nice tilt-back legs like my Fender Twin Reverb

I play a Gibson SG that I modified to coil tap. I also play a stratocaster. The clean sound is very good. Unlike most amps I tried, it has a nice warm bottom end like my Fender yet has more punch and clarity than my Fender. It gets a crystal clear sound without without piercing treble that is sometimes caused by my Fender bright switch.
At first I wasn't really impressed with the distortion. It doesn not have as much gain as the Carvin folks would lead you to believe. I agree with others, it is somewhere between a Marshall and a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier. It will work for most everything except harder metal stuff. I also find the distortion a little too fuzzy. But it sounds better at louder volumes.
My major complaint about the amp is the loud buzzing noise it makes when the lead channel is on. I've read reviews where people say the amp is very quiet, while others complain about it being to noisy. Maybe I have a slightly defective one. It is so loud that I decided not to use it for gigs. I expect some noise from a high gain channel, but this seems ridiculous. If this is normal, I will return it. If it is not and can be fixed, I will keep it.
I disagree with a previous review that said the lead presence is pretty much useless. It doesn't seem to have that much affect at low volumes, but at higher stage-level volumes, it really does make a difference. At high gain, 6 or above, the amp is bright, so I turn the presence down. At lower gain, 1-5, the sound is muddier, so I have to turn the presence up.
I wish I could get more reverb if I needed it. The Carvin's reverb at 10 sounds like my Fender's reverb at 3.
I give it a 8. I would give it a 9 if the noise on the lead channel went away or was fixed. I would bump it to a 10 if the distortion was a little smoother and not so fuzzy.

I haven't had it long enough to express an opinion.

I've been playing for about 15 years. I've been playing in bands for about 3. I was looking for a backup amp for my (74-76?) Silverface Fender Twin Reverb. I was also thinking that maybe I could use it as my main amp since it had an overdrive channel. You see, I'm not totally happy using my distortion pedals even though some of them are highly regarded: Fulltone Fulldrive 2, Barber Electronics Burn Unit. Amp distortion just seems more ballsy than my fulldrive 2 and burn unit, and more natural sounding than my Metal Zone.
The clean sound is punchier, clearer, and more focused than my Twin Reverb. I really like it. The only clean sound I probably like better is the sound from some of the reissue Twin Reverbs and Vibroluxes.
The distortion is OK. Better than my pedals, as good as some of the Marshalls I tried, not as smooth and high-gain as a Dual Rectifier. I actually think I like the distortion my lead singer / guitarist gets from his Crate G130XL? It can get higher gain and is somewhat smoother and less buzzy.
If it didn't have a noisy lead channel, I would definitely get it, again and again.

This amp was bought new on 4/13/99.I play everything from country, blues, jazz, soft rock to hard rock.The amp is very versatile. You can go from a nice bluesy distortion to an all out Van Halen solo. This amp is a 2 channel tube 2x 12 combo.It has channel switching and an effects loop. It needs a master volume since it gets real loud. Even though you have a 100/50 watt switch in back it still is loud on both settings.I use this amp for practice and with my band. It's able to get all the sounds I need

I use a G&L S-500 and a Les Paul Standard and they both sound awesome through it. It has a real "glassy' tone. The clean is in between a Fender Twin and a JC 120.The distortion is between a Marshall and a Boogie. I owned a Boogie Tremoverb but sold it due to space and it was too heavy. It's a great amp but I didn't like the "nasal" tone that boogie's are known for. So I took the money I got from the Boogie and got the Carvin. I like this amp better than the Boogie. IT has awesome bottom end without a recto cabinet and it does not have the "nasal" tone at all. It is the sound that I was looking for. I was always in search for an amp that is great clean and high gain in one. This is the one. It stays clean on high volumes and it can get overdriven for a Doobie Brothers sound and it does the Marhall thing with tons more bottom end.I tried the new Marshall TSL combos and I found them too bright with no bottom end. I thought for the price they could have done better.Carvin offers a great amp at a great price. A 100 watt combo with awesome distortion and glassy clean for $700, it's unheard of. Boogie lovers can buy a ton more gear with the money they save and be happier in the process.I like the reverb a lot. It's lush.It's very quiet even withe gain all the way up. My Fender Twin is real noisy especially with reverb. The Carvin is a lot quieter.

I am a little nervous since my first amp they sent was no good. The drive knob was broken and I was highly disappointed since I had to wait a week to get another one in the mail. Normally Sam Ash would have another amp in stock to switch no questions asked but that's the risk you take with mail order things.It seems like it's built like a tank though. But tube amps could be tempermental so I bring my Twin as a back up to gigs.

Carvin is like any company in my opinion, you have to search for someone you like. Aaron the salesman was real helpful. I was annoyed though when I orderd the amp initially, my new credit card had a credit limit that I forgot and they didn't process the order. Aaron never called to tell me. I called him a week later and he told me the news. He took some money off the price and sent me 3 day air. I was expecting that he would do that or better but he had a good attitude so it calmed me down. When I finally got the amp broken I was real annoyed. I was going to return the amp and that was it but I fell in love with the clean channel so I decided to try again which I feel was wise.

I have been playing for 18 years and I have played through Boogies, Marhalls, Fenders, Ampegs,JC 120s,Tube Works, and I could say that I feel real happy that I have this amp.If it were lost or stolen I'd get anotther. I love the fact that it can do all that I need it to do without feeling I have to add cabinets for bottom end or effects to alter the tone. My delay through the effects loop make it sound unreal.The thing I don't like is the fact that Carvin is so far away and I feel if anything went wrong I may have to wait and put up with a lot of aggravation. But that's the price you pay for an underpriced amp. When I think about the $1000's of dollars I foolishly spent on Boogie's amps and cabs, I can kick myself. Now realizing that I can get the sounds I was longing for at a fraction of the price taught me a lesson in hyped up advertising.I would have like to have seen a master volume and a mix control for effects. But that would bring the cost up I know.I am real happy with the amp.

Bought the amp new in Jan 1999.
A rugged 100 watt all tube combo (really all tube) with a 2x12 speaker enclosure (British Series speakers) featuring 4 power tubes, 5 12AX7's, 2 channels (with footswitch), effects loop, mono input, power switch (allows a toggle between 50 watts and 100 watts), bias switch, etc. The amp is extraordinary in its versatility. Many different sounds can be easily dialed in with only slight EQ adjustments. The lead channel has an awesome tone saturation and power soak that is great for most types of music (although it may be a bit lean for metal its more than enough for classic rock, blues, etc.). The clean channel is absolutely the cleanest you will find.

I play mainly blusey music (SRV, Hendrix, ZZ Top), some alternative, heavy metal, and classic rock. This amp is great for any style of music I play. Both channels are whisper quite. The clean channel does distort a bit at very high volumes - but I'm usually not pushing it that hard anyway so it doesn't bother me. Hoever, if the slight distortion is not desired then just back off the volume a bit and your in clean heaven. The distortion is very good when pushed. As a result, I've scrapped most of the distortions I used to use. My only effects now are a bit of chorus and some delay, I just twist the power soak and let the amp sing. The low end sounds are nothing short of incredible with this amp (it has elephant balls). Even my Strat is punchy and ballsy. When I plug in a guitar with humbuckers I'm damn near kicked out of my shoes. With all that deep bottom it would be easy to have a muddy sound, but the folks at Carvin saw to it that the lows are crystal clear at all volume settings. Up top, the amp just sings with very long-lasting sustain. Mids are equally clear and sharp.
In short, the sound of this amp has relegated my Peavy and Kustom to the closet.

I've only had it for a few months and so far no problems. But because I've had the amp a short time, I won't rate its realiability. I will say that I have no problem playing gigs with this amp without a backup amp.

The only call I made to Carvin was to order the amp and the rep I spoke to was very nice, helpful, and efficent.

I've been playing now for 23 years and plugging into this amp was a religious exerience. Every sound I've ever dreamed of playing was at my disposal. I especially love a deep bottom end and this amp has the best I've ever heard. Also, the clean channel is totally awesome. You simply won't find a better clean channel on any other amp. I play a Strat Plus with Gold Lace Sensor pickups, a Peavy Vandenberg, and a Les Paul. All sound incredible with this amp. With the Strat I can go from a thick, distorted, ballsy sound to a thin almost country pickin' sound (if desired) just by toggleing between the channels. The Vandy and Les Paul will rip your head off on the dirty channel when cranked but they also sound clear, punchy, and smooth running through the clean channel. I use a Digitech Valve FX rack effects unit and preamp and since I bought this amp I've turned off every distortion available. The natural distortion from the amp is great and not using it would be a gross injustice. For the price its a no brainer as its a better amp than the 5150 combo or any other I've heard. If it were lost or stolen, I'd replace it in a heartbeat. The only problem I've found is that the amp gets damn hot really quick as its not ventilated with a cooling fan. However, a small fan affixed to the back of the cab will take care of that.

The mts is a pretty straight forward basic 212 tube combo. it has a distortion channel and a clean channel that are very simple. The clean is simply a 3 band eq and volume (with a little presence button) and the overdrive channel has vol, gain, treb, mid, bass & treb. There is no master volume but unlike other reviews I don't miss that at all. The mts is super versitile - it has one of the fattest, chunkiest and warmest distortions ever. There is a lot of drive, too - I have never felt the need to go over 6.5 on the drive knob and I play mainly Van Halen and other equivilent styles. That leaves the clean channel - for me the clean sound is probably the best I have ever heard. It isn't quite as sweet as a Fender but it is very clear, warm and musical. The amp is rated at 100 watts with is really too loud. Also a warning - it is just as loud on the 50 watt setting! However you can still get good low level sounds out of it for practice.

I have a Carvin DC135C and an Epiphone LP100 with gibson pickups and both guitars give me a great Van Halen/hard rock tone and a clear, fresh clean sound. The amp is absolutely noisless (even with drive on max) except for when I occasionall pick up radio frequencies at high volumes! If you are looking for an amp that can produce anything from muddy blues distortion all the way up to razor cutting metal tones and everything in between this amp's for you! The clean sound can be used for any style - add a touch of chorus and you are seriously in guitar heaven! I haven't yet been able to make the clean sound break up but I assume at high volumes it would. In general every sound in this amp will exceed your predictions.

no problems yet - I have had it for about 5 months and use it everyday. I give it a nine because things can still happen!!

They were great - they made the arrangements and when the freight company stuffed up (as they always do) Carvin drilled them and made them make a special delivery on a Saturday - very impressive!

There is no other word to describe this amp but simply "unbelievable" That's it!

All tube amp with clean and distortion channel. Reverb built in. Effects loop. Other than that...not many features...it's just a tube amp.

I play a Paul Reed Smith Custom 22. This amp is awesome!! I used to think my friend's Fender was good until I got this thing. Talk about LOUD! All the power I would ever need on stage in an amp you can carry in one hand. I play blues and this gives an excellent nice warm tone. Other reviews talk about tweaking the bias...I'm not into customizing amps, but I know about guitar features. All I did was plug my guitar in and it sounded awesome. I've played a Carvin DC135T, Fender Roadhouse Strat, and my PRS through it. They all sounded great. This thing can get so loud it makes my wife put earplugs in....yes...it's really that loud. You can use it for home practice as well though. I had to lower my pickups a little bit and that actually improved my tone and gave me better volume versatility. No noise like you expect with tube amps. The sound distorts just a tiny bit on the clean channel at high levels, but hey...that sounds cool. The distortion isn't death metal quality but then again I don't play death metal. I've played a Zvex fuzz factory and Snarling Dogs Distortion Wah through it and it sounded great.

I've had my amp for about a month now so I can't really judge this. There's a 1 year warranty and the people at Carvin have been really great so I don't forsee any problems. Their products are high quality and this thing is sturdy as a rock.

See above.

I've been playing for 16 years or so and let me tell ya....this amp was the best I found for the money. I played the Marshalls, Fenders, and even the new Line6 Flextone. The other tube amps were very expensive and the Flextone didn't give off the warmth you can get with a tube amp. I do wish it had a fan for the tubes, but that can always be added. The footswitch slides around, but you can put feet on it to correct that for under a buck. I would buy it again in a heartbeat. For the money, I think it's the best buy...which is why I got it. With other amps this size, I was worried about being overpowered by another guitarist, the drummer, etc. But that will never happen with this. I could play an outdoor gig and still overpower everyone in the band. Great amp, great buy.

1998 Carvin MTS3212 100 watt combo. Two channel, (clean-distortion).With reverb and effecs loop,50/100 watt switch, bias switch for EL34 or 6L6/5881.Voiced line out for direct recording. Seperate volume and EQ for each channel.4-8-16 ohm selector,two speaker outs. Reverb and channel switching (can be done with optional foot switch).My primary purpose for this amp is for home recording, practice, and some live playing. More than enough power(more than I would ever need). All tube amp,five 12AX7A and four 5881s(all sovtek)

I have a 1985 Charvel strat with a Seymor Duncan (custom pickup).I play mostly Rock, Hard Rock and some Metal.The amp is very quiet even at high gain settings.The amp can make just about any sound you could think of.But with tube amps, the tubes make all the difference. The distortion is very powerfull especially the throaty bottom end. The sound of a closed 4x12 out of a small 2x12.The clean channel is very clean, but will break up if the in put is pushed aka. humbuckers. In my opinion the distortion is very versatile fom vintage to modern pilliagingness.

I can not rate in this category. But as a past owner of carvin equipment, I don't expect any problems. I have owned many tube amps and as with the nature of tubes they require matinence. Tubes wear and the bias drifts as the tubes age.

The customer support was very helpful. The amp has a one year warranty. I have delt with Carvin in the past and was allways pleased with the customer support.

I have been playing for 14 years and this us one of the best sounding amps that I have owned so far. I would by another one if I had to.It would be perfect if it had selectible gain switching on the distortion channel for rythym and lead.I chose this amp because I research it quite a deal and heard many great things about it, and as a previous Carvin gear owner, I was not worried on quality.I replaced the 6L6/5881 tubes with EL34 wich I prefer(Svetlana) and replaced the 12AX7A with U.S.NOS Phillips 12AX7A tubes. This made a great sounding amp even much better. You will have to adjust the internal bias, even though it as a bias switch if you change tube types.If you are unfamilliar how to do this DON'T, let a quallified person do it.Overall I am extremely pleased with this amp and I love it.

2 channel, 100/50W, all tube*, 2-12" combo. Footswitch for channel select and verb on/off. FX loop, impedance select switch (4,8,16), half power switch (50/100W), bias select switch for either 6L6 or EL34, Line out, and ext speaker.
*Solid-State diodes used for distortion circuits.

Initially I was VERY impressed with the tone. I use a custom made guitar with stacked hums on neck and bridge, and middle single holdsworth. Position 2 has the most sparkling clean punchy tone I've ever heard. I play mostly blues and R/B and the clean is outstanding. Beware...it is extremely difficult to turn it down! Even at the lowest setting it is still too loud. I added a master volume in place of the Lead presence control (which is pretty much worthless), and it works perfectly now. The lead channel actually uses the same first stage preamp tube as the clean channel, so it's not truly and independent channel. Also, it uses solid-state diodes as the source of distortion. This upset me at first because it's touted as an "all tube" amp. The tone from the diode distortion is not too bad though. For grunge and punk and thrash it is excellent. For blues and R+R, it's not. I modded the amp to be able to blend between the diodes, and true tube overdrive. And the tube overdrive is superb now. Goes from SRV "Riviera Paradise" to Robin Trower "Bridge of Sighs" in tube mode now. A little tweaking in the tone circuits, and it has every sound i could ever want.

At first, I added Fender tilt-back legs cause that's how i would use it in most clubs. At the first gig i used it on, before i put the fan in, it was so hot, I thought the thing was gonna melt. I added a fan to the rear panel to cool things down. After the fan, it is totally cool...literally!
The footswitch is cheesy. No rubber feet to even keep it in place. I added 6 little square stick-on feet and it's fine now.
Some of the mods i did to this amps circuitry that i think Carvin should do are: Basic tone and gain tailoring. (Carvin uses the same identical CK circuits for every gain stage...pretty boring.) Remote 9Volt power thru the footswitch, to power stomp boxes without any wall wart. Line-out adjustment. Master volume. Gain blend from solid state to all tube.
This is THE amp I would use for any and all gigs we play. I've never had anything go wrong with it...knock on wood. Carvin uses premium 6L6's and I'm pretty certain they are Ruby tubes for the 12AX7's. I did change them around to find different combinations that sounded good.
I highly recommend adding a fan...even if it's a little one...especialy if you tilt it back on stage.
One last point, the overall construction is very good...every bit as good as the old Twins or Boogies. I also recommend doing a bias adjust as mine from the factory was off about 13%.
The chrome knobs are totally impossible to see...period....there's a little dent in the knob to show its position...totally worthless unless u are inches away from it.

I called and asked for a schematic and it was sent to me immediately...and free...not like Peaveys $2.50 each!!! I called one of their techs and asked a couple of very technical questions once i got inside the chassis, and the tech i talked to was VERY helpful. I was quite surprised. Other than that, I haven't had anything to call them about.

I've been repairing and modding amps for 20 years, and have been playing guitar since 1964. I've been in bands for 20 years and have played just about every kind of guitar and amp u can think of. I own 14 guitars (2 of them Carvin), and have used lots of different Carvin gear over the years. I have a boogie MKII, a 67 Twin, a Classic 30, even an old Ampeg B-15N, and many more too weird to mention, and the MTS 3212 is the best sounding amp I've ever owned. It does everything from mild to insane... Wes Montgomery on Ludes, to Jeff Beck on acid. If I lost it, I'd buy another immediately...in fact i keep my eyes open all the time for used ones. I plan on sharing my amp mod ideas with Carvin sometime, or anyone else that is interested. I really think with a few simple changes, this amp could be the ....dare i say it.... the "Holy Grail" of amps.

100 watts in a 2-12 enclosure. All tube amp (5 12AX7 preamp tubes and 4 5881 power tubes) Effects Loop, Line Out, two footswitchable channels, Bass Mid Treb for each channel. Can be switched for 50% output too. This allows for more "soak" of the power tubes at a lower volume. Real strait forward features. Nothing fancy, just stuff you need. My prior amp had too many ways to change the sound. It made it hard to get a consistant sound.
I play this amp at home and with a cover/original band. It has more than enough power. Technicaly it has too much power but that's better than not enough.
It only has one instrument input and the footswitch is not very heavy duty. No indicator lights on the footswitch.
Very small enclcosure for a 2-12 combo. It almost looks dinky until you hear the sound that comes out of it. Also relatively light. I may not put wheels on it. (it's so short I'd have to bend over to push it anyway)

I LOVE Eddie Van Halen's tone so of course I was very interested in the 5150, combo or head. As I looked into it however I came to the realization that the 5150 does not have a real good clean channel. As much as I love to crank up the old tubes and let-er-rip, I need to have a clean channel to play stuff like Chris Isaak and other similar stuff with my band. As much as I wanted to go 5150 I needed more versatility. However I still wanted an amp where too much gain was an option.
For what I play (classic rock, VH style guitar rock, some alternative and originals, if I like it I try to play it - you know what I mean) this amp is quite good. It has as more than enough gain (a lot of gain!) and the clean channel is clean.
The most impressive aspect to this amp overall is the nice round low end punch. It is indeed impressive and it translates from the clean channel to the lead channel.
Think "Marshall" distortion and make the low end rounder and more full, then let the sustain vibrate your chest cavity. All this from a 2-12 that you can carry in one hand with your guitar in the other and an equipment duffle bag over your shoulder.
The clean is somewhat comparable to a Fender Twin. True Fender people wouldn't be satisfied but it is pretty close and the overdrive makes up for this possible Fender short-fall.
It is very warm. May not be able to "scoop" it enough to satisfy discriminating thrashers but anyone wanting warm tube sounds with more than enough overdrive would be impressed with this amp.
I rate it a "9" only because I don't know what the "perfect" amp would be.

It's been just fine except for the footswhitch. One of the buttons isn't working right. The whole switch only runs $20 though.

I've been playing since about '73 but more seriously for about 8 years now. My previous amp was a Carvin XV-112 that I grew very tired of. In fact, I didn't even want to get another Carvin. I just wanted something else period but the MTS series really impressed me.
I can't tell you there are no better amps out there because I couldn't obviously play them all but this one is very good. It responds very well to picking dynamics. It has an open back but the speakers have a very "present" sound like sealed enclosures tend to have.
I play a guitar I built with a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and it rocks. I also have a Music Man EVH model guitar - Rocks! Played a Strat through this amp and the pickups actually lose some of their harshness (to me that's good). Hit the neck pickup and you can vibrate books off the shelf.
I've read other reviews on the MTS series and a couple of guys said theirs had real bad gain or a real thin sound. All I can say is they either got a complete dud from the factory, their guitars were real crappy or perhaps their impedence switch was set incorrectly. Whatever the case, I don't know how you could listen to the overdrive on this amp and say it was bad, even if you preferred something else.
Here's the real kicker in my book. I paid $375 used for this thing. That is an awesome value. Full price is $675 or something like that and if you paid that I doubt you would be upset with it. If you can find it used like I did you'll probably be pinching yourself.
Overall, this amp is very versital and powerful. I'm sure there are better amps available but for the price (even from the factory), features, and performance, this MTS-3212 is a REAL value!