Carvin MTS3200

This is a 50th Anniversary Edition head which I think came out somewhere between 2001-2003. 50/100w switchable, ohm selector 4/8/16, auto bias switchable EL34 or 6L6, dual channel single input (footswitchable), 2 cab outputs, cabinet voiced direct out, effects loop, footswitch jack. From left to right on front panel:Master Reverb (spring)(footswitchable), Lead 1 presence (unusually useful); then Clean Channel controls: Treble, Mid, Bass, presence push button, volume, channel button; Lead Channel controls:Treble, Mid, Bass, Drive, Volume. This amp has everything a player needs, nothing fancy..just very well thought out and useful.

My main guitar is a Godin LG with Lindy Fralin P90s, TonePro bridge, Sperzel locking tuners and graphite nut. I also play a 77 LP Custom stock and a stock 59 Melody Maker. It is plugged into a 8ohm 4X12 cab with an X pattern of Celestion G12-60/G12-80. I plug straight into the amp.

Once I found the right tube combination for my tastes: Sovtek 6L6WXT quad (these are great tubes..don't let the "Sovtek" fool you) with a full set (5) JJ ECC 83S preamps, I was extremely pleased. Tone is full, creamy, piano like tones that respond extremely well to your pick attack, probably the best response to pick attack I have seen, and felt, in my 40 years of playing. If you've ever felt the sound through your fretboard you know what I mean. This is a very stimulating amp. The clean channel is astoundingly pure and bell like with great push when you attack it. The presence is actually useful and gives a true sparkle to all notes. Fender has nothing on this amp when it comes to clean.
The lead channel..wow. Anyone before me on this database that says this amp has no drive must be seriously challenged. Goes from clean (near the clean channel) to very strong brutal drive that remains totally articulate, you can hear every string tone in a power bar chord. Capable of anything I can throw at it, and just because I'm one of those "old timers" doesn't mean I don't understand or can't play music from this century. This amp will do what you want, whatever that is. Of course you might actually have to play the guitar, if you rely on your amp to cover your inabilities then this isn't the amp for you. It will output the sweetest (or dirtiest) tones you've ever heard but you have input them first.

Also can produce some VERY pleasing blues.

Switching out the preamps with Jan/Philips 12AX7 tubes and an AT7 in the power drive spot (#5) gave a more relaxed type of drive that some people might prefer. I haven't found a quad of EL34 tubes that I like for this amp yet but when I do I'll let you know. They, of course, will give it a more British type of tone. The Sovtek EL34WXT set had a strange overtone that might be a faulty tube and a set of Groove Tubes just didn't do it for me. I'll keep looking.

Hard to say at this point but Carvin makes pretty solid amps. It is very well made.

Don't know

Like I mentioned before. I've been playing a long time. I've owned a lot of amps from Fender, Marshall, Peavey and many others. Mostly vintage tube amps but also some tubeless. This amp compares very well to brown and blackface era Fender amps when it comes to clean, it totally blows them into the weeds with it's drive. The drive is sweeter and can be more brutal than a Marshall tube amp. Hard to describe the difference but it's smoother, creamier and more capable of responding to your picking than either. Understand that I plug straight into the amp and am comparing them in that manner. I would think that a good tubescreamer into the clean channel would be extremely sweet, I just don't own one right now to try it.

This amp is fairly versatile, though it lacks a third (or fourth channel) for the different sounds, but based on its two channels, the uses are infinite. I do wish it also had a master volume control, and also a pair of earplugs to go along with it, but i'll definitely sacrifice those qualaties for an amp that is loud enough for any venue, any situation.

Oh how pretty the sounds are that come through this amp. The stock tubes are not the best, but they will get you some pretty amazing tones. Put some better tubes (JJ's) in and this thing will purr like nothing you've ever heard. Absolutely pure cleans, great, thick blues tone, great rock tone, and metal that will melt your face off. The best I've heard any amp ever is a standard tele in middle pickup position through the clean channel. Makes me want to cry. I play mainly metal, though, with a 7 string ibanez, and believe me, this amp will do metal like you want it to. Personally, i've got it hooked up to a legacy cabinet, and I like the vintage 30's with it a lot. It doesn't sound like any other amp out there, (it sounds better) and it has a character all its own.

This thing has ridden many a time in the trunk of my car, and rattled around with toolboxes, drum hardware, and who knows what else, and it hasn't even got a dent in the covering. The innerds of the amp are like a fortress, too. This baby will take your punishment and love it, though it's always best to take care of your equipment.

Carvin is always very good and prompt in delivery and help. Their online forums are a great place to get advice about your gear.

To give this amp any less than a 10 would be a freakin' shame. I've had mine for about 2 years now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Couple it with an eq pedal for lead boost, and this thing is perfect. Again, I do wish it had a master volume control, but perhaps a THD hot plate would work better anyway. I like this MTS better than any marshall I have ever played, and its versatility puts it above all but the Mesa Road King head, which costs vastly more. For the money, and for the tone, there is no better amp.

super versatile! epiphoneSG korina thru this AMAZING head with 6L6's in it into a marshall 1960 cab with vintage 30's. between neck/bridge pickups and a little tweaking i can get any tone from jazzy clean with good reverb,attack-sensitive crunch,hear-every-note-yet powerful distortion, all the way to balls to the wall metal type distortion.
i like to keep it simple:guitar-cord-head-cab. nothing in between, no noise or hiss,not even fully cranked up. feedback when i want it,otherwise quiter than a mouse. useful 50watt switch. i like the full tone/power better tho.
only feature i wish it had is a master volume.

i play in a punkrock band, no chugchug, mainly good clear distortion, sometimes darker bluesy-QOTSA tones for leads,sometimes crunchy open chords.
i like to play everything tho. i can get into a jazzy chord progression or switch to screaming metal with just a bit of tweaking. this thing does it all,granted that you got a decent guitar and good speakers and,well know how to play. the clean breaks up at higher volumes but then again it's VERY sensitive to how you play, which is key in a good amp. stays clean for arpeggios and then breaks up nicely in a warm creamy crunch tone...
if you're into hardcore-metal tones (not really my thing) you can get those too no problemo, but for MY tone i don't scoop the mids by all means (wouldn't make much sense to have vin30's and then scoop the mids no?) they're actually just as high as the treble and keep the drive between 2.5 and 3. then crank the volume to 10. you gotta hear it.

bought it used, never had any problems yet. it's heavy and sturdy (is that a word?) backup is always nice if it's an option. it's not for me and i don't go to sleep thinkin "what if it dies on me?" i go to sleep with my ears having mutiple orgasms. if you're on tour just bring an extra set of tubes. i give it a 10. it's a tube amp. tubes WILL need replacement but that's no reason to complain.

bought used,so..

been playin guitar for 11 years,piano for 6. this beast has the tone,the volume,the gutshaking tone i had in my head, plus everything else i might want. i have this grin on my face as soon as i plug in, it just makes me happy. when and if i have the $$$ i'll buy a lespaul or a 335, don't need any FX,racks,preamps,screw all that i don't need anything else. screw paying 4 times as much for a name. like i said keep it simple with quality gear. if stolen i'd buy TWO more. try one if you get a chance, i recommend a 4x12 cab with celestion vintage 30's. you won't be disappointed. btw,i'm not payed by carvin, i just happen to be enamored with this damn thing so much i wanted so show some LUV.
talk about value? you just can't beat this.

-50/100 Watt Switch (I personally prefer the 100 watt)
-5 12ax7a Preamp Tubes (Sovtek's Stock)
-4 5881 Power Tubes (Made in China, but are switchable for 6l6GC's and EL34's <--Marshall Tube Amps use the EL34's to the best of my knowledge, but I'm too lazy to google that in.)
-4/8/16 Ohm Speaker Switch (2 Speaker Inputs)
-Footswitch input/Effects Loop (Goofy in my opinion)/Line out
<-Power-->Standby-->Master Reverb-->Lead Presence<-->Treble-->Mid-->Bass-->(Presence Switch for Clean Channel)-->Volume<-(Channel Selector Switch)->Treble-->Mid-->Bass-->Drive-->Volume<-->(Guitar Input)->
I own a 2005 Model of the Carvin MTS3200 Head and am still constantly tweaking knobs in search of a sound that I like for more than 10 minutes. I play a lot of different artists music and am always able to achieve their sound if I play around with the knobs enough, guitar volume/tone, speaker types, my hands. If you know how to manipulate all of your equipment, yes even your hands, then there shouldn't even be a complaint about this amps "versatility", maybe just about your playing ability.

Playing a Gibson Les Paul Junior Special Plus with a 490R in the Neck and '57 Classic Plus in the Bridge. This guitar angers me to no end but I love it nonetheless. Some days we get along and other days I just want to quit play all together. This amp sounds pleasing to my ears especially on the clean channel and this is before I've even changed the tubes. Currently have it mickey moused up to a solidstate Marshall 2x12 cabinet with some sort of celestions--vintage 30's or greenback's but some less known model. The amp still sounds great but the wattage on the speakers is only 25 watts a piece and they're both connected individually so there is a lot of early breakup that annoys me, but that will be fixed when I plug it into my cabinet with Eminence Legend 125's. Cheap speakers but what's the point in paying $100+ for celestions when you can get your own sound through a different less popular brand. I paid $160 and have no complaints besides the fact that I don't even know how good they could sound if they were in a real cabinet rather than one I made myself. I play every style of music that my brain can transfer to my fingers. This amp does fine with it all.

I've only had the amp 2 weeks so I don't know about reliability yet. I hope to rely on it and not have to send it in for repairs. I want to keep it in pristine condition. Might hook up a fan to blow on the tubes to increase air-flow and just cool the electronics down.

Never dealt with them. 1 year warranty. Hope I don't need to use it.

I've been playing for 10 years and hate that gear costs so much damn money. How the hell did Townshend, Clapton, Page, Vaughn, Hendrix get all of their shit. They either bought it cheap as hell back in the 50's, 60's or had it handed down to them. I would do anything to be able to live when all of the great music was being made and just watch some of my favorite bands play and watch them to help learn how to refine my abilities. Unfortunately music today is disappointing to say the least and all I can say is that it's only going to get worse, until it inevitably rises to an extreme high like it was back then. I hope I live long enough for hear the change in people's opinions of what good music is. So overall this amp is going to be my tool to try to recreate music that is soulful and moving like it used to be.

I bought this one off ebay its a 2001 model, However it is my 2nd one that Ive owned the 1st was new in 2000. I got the bright Idea that I always wanted a Marshall, so I sold my carvin and got a JCM 900, What a mistake. I owned the marshall 8 months and then went back to carvin. Awsome and I mean AWESOME clean channel and reverb. 2 chanels clean and od make operation simple. It will do country, jazz,blues,80's style. rock duties very well .I dont know about metal ( new Metal) though.(possibly).

use fender, prs,wolfgang,axis also kramer and carvin guitars. I play christian praise and worship these days and its clean channel will just shimmer especially with a strat. Its not as noisy as my marshall was and some of that is just the nature of tube amps. I actually prefer the distortion channel over my line 6 modeler

NEVER had any problems.

Once I had an AG 100 D acoustic amp and it was solid state .It had a part go bad in it and had to be sent back to carvin. they were on it imediately and were professional and curtious.. The only down side to owning a carvin is.if you need it fixed You have to ship it to california and it will cost you shipping both ways. I emailed them and asked why they dont set up stores in dallas / denver,/nashville / atlanta or some where where the east coast and midwest could have better access to them. they said it wasnt in their plans.

I have played over 30 years and owned several makes of both high end and cheap guitars and amps. To me Carvin is KING. NO one has a better value for your hard earned $. Especially their guitars, they blow away PRS and Gibson. If youve never played one an Ibanez Wizard is probabally the closest neck feel that I can describe. Yes I am A CArvin user for life...

Bought new in 2005. I play 80's shred and heavy metal. 2 channel amp with loop and a killer clean and killer distortion channel. The amp came with Sovtek 5881's and Sovtek ecc83(12ax7). The amp has a bias switch so you can use either EL34 OR 5881'S. I bought Groove tube EL 34's but they sounded wimpy so I tried Svetlana's from my Marshall dsl 100. The amp sounded killer but a bit dated for me so I put the 5881's back in and all the beef came back. I also put JJ 12ax7's and the sizzle was there. The amp really responds to tube upgrades. I also removed the front face plate and cut it out and added a open grill to increase airflow. It serves two purposes, cool factor to see all those valves glowing and to cool the inner electronics and tubes.

I use a Fender HM that was signed by Greg Howe with A Gibson humbucker open coil from a Les Paul classic and a Warmoth strat with dimarzio pickups. I play the shred is dead stuff and some newer music such as Tool and Disturbed. My Krank handles the later of the two better but not much especially on the leads, this amp has a killer lead tone with tones of harmonics that literally jump off the neck. You have to play with the knobs alot to tighten up the bass but just crank it up and it starts to smolder. The amp rally blazes. The clean channel is killer with a single coil neck pickup. Very responsive and alive. However with the EL 34's it looses some of the fenderish tone but to be expected they are brit style tubes. The distortion is really nice but next to my Krank rev 1 the brutality factor of the 3200 goes away but for lead playing and nice fast riffing the Carvin hold ground.

No problem other than a hum at idle that was fixed when I swapped the v1 1st gain stage preamp tube. It all works fine and the channel switching is quiet.

I have dealt with Carvin for 15 years and have never had any problems. They aim to please and offer killer bang for the buck.

Been playing for 30 years and have owned Marshalls,boogies,tophats,soldano's and Laneys. For the money this amp wins hands down, it has alot of features and good tone. It also has a internal bias pot so you can tweak it in perfectly. I ran the tubes a tad hotter and the tone just got better so if you want to tweak you can just make sure to ground everything cause things can kill ya.Check out Gerald Weber tube amp basics and bias meters, they taught me all I needed to know to tweak on amps and do minor repairs and tube swaps. The only thing I did not like at 1st was the hum and the flubby bass but new tubes fixed that.

Bought new in '04. 2 channels yada yada. Built in reverb but I use my G-Major for all my effects. I have only used in 50 watt mode (more than enough umph since I always mic it) I play rock. Everything from the Beatles to Alice in Chains and Metallica. It will do all of this and more. Changed the all the tubes to JJ's and use E34L's.
Play all types of venues. Last weekend we did a huge Harley store grand opening for bikers and such, packed up, drove accross town and played a show at the double tree inn for 250 blue hairs. We went from Man In The Box to Stand By Me in 40 minutes and the Carvin did it all.

My main guitars are a '76 les paul custom and a '91 prs with stock p\u's. I run a '76 crybaby and a TU-2 tuner in front and a TC Electronics G-Major through the effects loop. My cabinet is a straight front Carvin Legacy with Celestion Vintage 30's.
First of all I bought this head after reading the reviews here and did as everbody said and changed the tubes to EL34's. That made this amp a hot-rodded Marshall with more clarity. Then after going to eurotubes.com I took Bob's advise and changed all the tubes and went to E34L's. Now this thing just rocks! It really has it's own voice. I can't really describe it but it IMHO is the perfect sound, the one I have been looking for. Now tone is like cars, there is an ass for every seat. But my ass loves this seat. Great clean channel. The gain channel goes from dirty to nasty and everything in between. I don't really try to copy the tones from the artists we cover, but I do need a amp that can chunk and scream and this does this. I can play Johnny B Good with the gain at 3, then kick some Guns and Roses with the gain at 6, and then rock some Enter Sandman with the gain at 8 without changing the eq and never losing clarity, never getting muddy in the mix, and always great musical tone. I have played everthing from small crowded bars to the big stage opening for major acts with this head and it never does anything but impress me and everyone else. I even played a gig last weekend for a convention that the average age was 50 (what were they thinking?), turned the volume down to 2, gain to 2, and with my PRS in the single coil mode, played Beatles and Brown Eyed Girl type stuff very quietly and we sounded like a lounge band. Wow. Now they want us every year. Let's see you do that with a Mesa.
I owned a modded 5150 and a Marshall JCM2000 DSL when I bought this. Both great amps but didn't nail that sound in my head. When I got done with the tubes in this, I played a weekend show. Monday the 5150 went on e-bay and I sold the Marshall to my bass player. This cut through the mix so well that even this ego driven guitar player couldn't complain about the guitar being buried in the mix (well maybe every once in a while lol). And the tone, well you know.
Noise has never been a problem.
Now this amp will not hide shitty playing. It will stick out. This is a very articulate amp. That's probably why Vai plays Carvins. This doesn't have the Mesa mud to cover up flaws. I cuts through the mix so if you screw up, not that I ever do lol, it sticks out. But that isn't a bad thing. That to me is part of the reason I like it so much. If your chops are honed, it sounds like it.

I don't gig with a backup and probably never will. Solid as a rock for this weekend warrior.

Haven't had a problem but I have purchased pa speakers since because of the helpful service. The guy I talked to really helped us with getting the perfect speakers and amps for our arena. Now we have the best pa in town. The sales reps are musicians-big difference

Been playing for a few years. I have owned all kinds of effects and amps.
I have never played a Framus or Bad Cat or whatever else, but I dare you to put any $2000 amp up to mine and justify the difference in money. But until I'm rich and famous, who really cares.
If it were stolen, I could take the insurance money and have another at my doorstep in 5 days, and I would without a doubt. I do wish this amp came with roadies lol.

OK, everybody knows what this is by now... 2 channel all tube, reverb, bias switch, 50/100 watt switch etc. It is LOUD though, in a studio, I had it on 50 watt and couldn't really crack it over 2. Granted the only time I used 4 recording we were playing heavier stuff and that sounded good. But it neds a good amount of volume to really saturate it.

Lets get this out of the way first... I work in a very large music store. No that does not make me better then everyone else but I have had constant bombardment of gear for 2 solid years now. Tube heads are like sports cars. Stock, they're good, tweaked out a little bit, they can get real nasty! I have had a chance to play Soldano's, Bogners, tons of Marshall Mesa, Peavy, VHT, Bad Cat, Top Hat all these "boutique" amps that cost stupid amounts of money, and I do tell you, the Carvin is a GEM when it comes to a damn good platform. The stock tubes do make it a bit fuzzy, el84's sound better; I like 6L6's in mine. Personal Preference. DONT SCOOP YOUR MIDS!!! Sounds shitty no matter what you do, what amp you play, what guitar you play, etc. my eq is like B:8 Mid:6 Tre: Varies. Just roll it up from the bottom until your sound opens up. I use an Ibanez SZ w/ gibson p/u's (490, 490T), A old Gibson explorer, and a RG, and I can easily get that sweet singing sustain, just need a little volume nudge. Oh, the clean is sweeet out of the box too.

It's Carvin, kinda like Peavey.... Drop it off a building, it'll work.

Dealt with them once on a PA Cab. Left a message, they got back. Went well.

This amp best compares to a XXX or a 5150. It doens't Compare to those platforms like a PittBull, or a Tri-amp, but it's not meant to. It kicks a Mesa's ass. Anyone ever actually heard those things...? They really rely on their name! Anyway, always remember that you can tweak it to get any sound you want out of it, and that being said, it's a true badass.

The MTS3200 I have is used with EL34s tubes in it. The two channel all tube head is all I really need. I was thinking about buying a Peavey XXX, but I am in love with Carvin equipment and a die hard Carvin user. A third channel would be a bonus (I have ask Carvin to consider this on their next head) since our band does covers I need a less distorted crunch tone to go along with the full distortion channel, but I make due turning back the volume knob on the guitar. A lake of a master volume doesn't make me regret buying this head. I plug in a GNX3 (using it just for effects)into the fx send and return of the amp and use the output level on the GNX3 for a master volume and this works wonders.

Playing thru many guitars (loaded with Carvin C22 pickups...best sounding pickups ever used) the MTS3200 is oooozing with some the best sounding clean tones and warm, chuncky, thick distortion. Put the distortion channel gain between 6 and 7 and this will turn any bad day into a sweet, I can't put the guitar down even though the wife is screamin and the kids are turning dinner into some type of floor art... type of tone!!!! I was thinking about buying a B-52 head, because of the price, and a third channel which is almost useless (from what I have read) I decided to stick with my boys at Carvin and pay almost $300 less than a B-52 for a quality built head that sounds as good or better than a $1200 Marsh... !

I can only say that all of my other gear from Carvin has never failed.

Never had to use the support.

I have been playing guitar for about 15 years and I have owned almost every piece of Digitech and Peavey product out there (minus any Peavey tube head). I use to play through a Digitech 2112 (another great peice of gear)going into a MosValve amp and that was an awesome sound. Now, the MTS3200 simplifies my life buy not having to carry a rack full of gear to try to get the ultimate sound. I can tell you all one thing...I will never own one of those big company name tube amps. I love Carvin for what and who they are. I can only hope that Carvin doesn't go and get big heads and think that they can sell something just because their name is on it.

Holy s@#t! This thing could power (4) 4 x 12 cabs easily! I got this MTS used off of ebay and I couldn't be happier. I have been wanting this head for years. The distortion is as good as anything I have heard. I play in a cover band and I add alot of fx here and there. The fx send/return input/outputs help out in this department.

I play though a Carvin Tele with humbuckers and Epiphones Les Pauls. The amp only wants to feedback (at my choice) at extreme gain settings. I have a Peavy Classic Chorus 212 and this is uncontrollable at high gain settings. Just go to the Carvin site and listen to the samples.

I just got this amp so I don't know how reliable it is, but I can tell you that every Carvin product I own is as good as they claim. I own subs, and guitars, and many DCM amps that Carvin makes; they all make me a very happy user of Carvin products.

I never had to use the support.