Carvin MTS3200

Two channels, One clean and one dirty. No master volume :(
blah blah blah You know by now what this amp has. Bought it used with Carvin 2x12 Br cab for $400.

Great clean channel. Sounds as good as any I've heard, Fender included, stays clean unless cranked at 10 in 50W. Lots of gain in lead ch., too much for my taste, but it sounds real good cranked. Not cranked it sounds too "fuzzy" thanks to diode clipping after the first drive stage. What never gets mentioned is the sounds this amp gets with low lead drive. I love to play this thing with the drive between 1 and 2 and different combo's of single coils, emulates Ric/Vox (Romantics-what I like about you) type stuff real well. My only problem is that the drive is touchy in that small range and its kinda hard to set it up sight.

I've only used this amp to jam with friends and play at home so it hasn't been abused. I haven't had any problems with it. I've had lots of Carvin stuff and it's all been very reliable.

Bought it used so can't comment on this experience. In the past they've been great to work with.

My wife let me buy a Carvin DC135 for fathers day. I bought this amp shortly after. If it were stolen I'd be bummed because I'd only get to play my guitar unplugged on the couch. I used to play bass in differet bands in the late 70's, early 80's (used a carvin bass amp then). People seem to either love this amp or hate it. I think it's hard to beat for the price. I'd like to mod the amp a little, I'd like a switch that makes the lead drive pot less sensative so I can dial in those different crunch tones, maybe I'll remove the diode clipping, but as is it is a real good amp that can do anything I need it too.

Only the clean channel sounds good. The distortion sounds like a you're in a farm with annoying bees buzzing around your head. It lacks what Marshall, Mesa, Laney, and even Line6(yuck)has in there distortion. I've spent one year noodling with the tubes, speakers and EQ tweaking and never got a good sound.

The thing crashed on me almost near the end of it's warranty.......i had it sent back to carvin and they said it was the tubes....bullshit! I swapped the power and preamp tubes to test it out and it was something else. After they repaired it I quickly sold it and am I happy as hell!!

Great customer support

everything that i've ever bought from carvin has turn out to be something i'm very disappointed within a 3 months. There stuff is overrated and by no means as good as advertised...maybe the legacy and a few other stuff. I've gotten the cyclops, bass, strings and a couple of other accessories and not to mention the MTS and after a couple of months of smelling the coffee.....their stuff is just crap! Never again will i ever buy their stuff. Go for what the pros go for the real stuff like Marshall, Laney, Mesa and etc.

Already covered in numerous reviews. No repetition necessary. Only feature think should be added with the exception of being able to switch out/ in the loop or just do away with it altogether but some like them sooo.

Guitars are a Tradition soulster w/ kent Armstrong Pickups (213 & 214k), An SG deluxe copy with Kent Armstrong Pickups and Recently a Carvin DC135 stock pickups which will remain in the guitar.
Effects, occasionally use a old digitech 2101legend but mostly none unless needed they are out of the chain.
Amp is quiet for a high gain amp especially setting next to a 5150 then it becomes glaringly obvious how quiet and good this amp sounds.
Grind, Death, Noise, metal core etc.
This amp can hold up against anything on the market and the clean sounds are likely the best available in todays market at any price. In the studio it was remarked by the recording engineer that it sounded "like" a Mesa rectumfrier (it definately does sound better in my opinion and while it can be described as similiar, they aren't the same), I can only assume those reviewers who thought the MTS sounded like crap had problems with the amp or just don't know what they are talking about, I have even heard people bad mouth Mavin Peele or Matchless amps so it really could be they just did not like the sound, each to his own but not liking the amp personally doesn't mean it sucks except to that individual) The distortion is rich and sounds really nice but it doesn't come alive until you get this thing cranked (like most)so if you live somewhere that you can't play loud, get a smaller amp. If you want to hear this amp go to mp3.com and look for _quell_ , you will want the 1 with the songs "requim for purity", etc.. The MTS can easily be heard in most of the percussive parts as well as any others, with close listening and the above info you should be able to hear the amp from the others if you have decent ears.
The 50watt switch on this or any amp is not going to give enough of a volume drop for apartment level playing unless you have some really cool neighbors, the spl diff between 100 & 50 watts isn't much.
Clean!!!! You just will NOT find a better sounding clean channel on any amp at any price, I could buy 1 of these solely for the clean channel and be very satisfied. This amp can cover virtually any sound from pristeen to brutal but it does take some time to get used to setting the controls. check it on mp3.com site or listen to the canned sound samples on Carvin site.
I did do some minor mods, (not necessary at all) in first bank of filter caps increased the capacitance and added a brute force filter circuit (torres), paralleled the preamp filter caps with oil caps and doubled the bias cap. This tightens up things and improves the bass response a little and the oils smooth and sweeten the tone. These are mods I do on most amps I own as well and they do not really alter the basic sound of the amp, as a matter of fact some could not tell an audialbe difference in the amp, some can but these type mods mostly come into play when an amp is dimed out anyway except the oils, you can hear that at most any level if you hear it. Minor Mods are subjective anyway so don't get hung up on that, others will tell you these mods are useless and for them they are right. Changing tubes is again personal preference, I recommend some NOS philips, rca's or tele if you can get them, and JJ' or svet output tubes if you can't get some NOS RCA 6l6's etc but the stock tubes are generally ok. Personal preference again comes into play but at least tube amps give you the options of altering your amps personality a bit easily be changing tubes, just don't ecpect miracles as some would have you expect unless the tubes you are replacing are defective or substandard.

While this amp is reliable there have been a few issues over the last couple of years. I have seen less problems with this amp than several which costed significantly more.
1, the effect loop jacks were bad. Carvin sent replacement parts right out and stated they had apparantly gotten a bad batch of jacks. I changed parts and no more problems there since. (the loop doesn't see much use anyway.)
I needed to resolder the preamp tube sockets (not uncommon for any newer mass produced amp) because the heater voltages were screwey and the occasional sound/ volume drop. Note the amp had been used extensively for over a year and dropped several times. No more problems. I have no doubt if this had been a 5150 it wouldn't have held up this well and I base that remark on experience

Excellent, called talked to tech,sent schematic and parts since I told them I could easily fix it and needed the amp.
Face it a lot of the complaints from dissatisfied customers is because for even for minor probs most people have to send the amp back to carvin. If you bought a Marshall from the local dealer and had a prob you just drive back to the local store and get taken care of and you're happy... If you had to pack it up mail it out and wait.... you would be pissed.
In spite of the above fact I give Carvin a 10, but if you ever need to call them about a problem "DO NOT" talk to a Sales rep or a customer service rep. ASK for a service tech, You will be much happier, they will know what they are talking about whereas the sales service rep likely won't know too much more than you and generally these peoples responses are scripted to some degree.... talk to a Service Tech...

I service this amp and have played it numerous times. I do not personally own it. If this amp were stolen it would be replaced in kind no doubt. This amp is not some techno amp loaded with bells and whistles, if you want that look elsewhere. It is a basic amp that does what it is designed to do extremely well, it is not trying to be a Marshall Boogie or anything else. I would recommend this amp to anyone. I love the clean and distorted channels and in between sounds, it really is versitle. It is not a toy but a basic professional amp.

100 watts through 4, 8, or 16 ohms, all tube. Made in 2002. The features of this head are great. Two independant channels with independant tone controlls, direct out, etc. The best feature of this head, and one that you won't find anywhere else, is the bias selection switch on the back of the head that allows for use of wither 6L6 (5881) tubes or EL34 tubes. Only thing missing is a master volume, but I like it loud, so it's not a problem for me.

My primary guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Studio with a Gibson 498T in the bridge and a Gibson 490 in the neck. My only complaint is that the stock tubes are cheap. It comes with Sovtek 5881 power tubes which are a little thin and not too powerful. I switched them out for Groove Tubes E34Ls tubes and the amp came alive. The pre-amp tubes are decent (5 groove tubes 12AX7 R) but I switched the V1 tube for a groove tubes 7025-Y. The 7025 has more high end and a brighter sound with more gain. With this setup, the amp is amazing. The clean channel is pristine even at the highest volumes. The dirty channel is full and round. It cuts through the mix of my band very well and has more than enough gain and power. I get no feedback, unless I want it. At lower gains the sound is perfect for any rock or blues, and at high gains you can shred with the best of them.

I haven't had any problems. It seems to be built well. The cabinet is made out of plywood, not particle board, so I would expect it to last.

I ordered the amp and it was delivered in less than a week. The sales person answered all of my questions over the phone. Carvin is a great company to deal with.

I've been playing for 8 years and I've covered many styles. I've played in bands from death metal and hardcore to Grateful Dead and Beatles covers. I own many guitars, Gibson, ESP, Epiphone, Dean, Tackamine, etc. I also play bass, Dean 5 string with EMG HZ's through a Hartke HA3500. I use the Carvin MTS as my main amp, but I also own a Marshall AVT 150H half-stack, a Peavy bandit 100 watt combo, and many practice amps. The only effect I use is a Cry-baby wah, but I own many, from boss stomp boxes to rack processors. If this amp was lost or stolen, I'd replace it with another one immediately. The only problem I had with it was the cheap Sovtek tubes, but after retubing with #5 E34Ls, the amp is great. It's also a great bargain. Even with re-tubing, it still costs much less than a 5150 (the Carvin clean sound blows Peavey away!), a Marshall TSL or DSL, or a Mesa-Boogie. With better stock tubes, it would be a definite 10.

50th anniversary carvin amp with 2 channels.

I can get more gain from a distortion pedal. I sent it back thinking it was broken and they said that's just the way it sounds. It only goes from clean to clean with a tiny shred of distortion. And the clean sound doesn't have much shimmer at all.

I sent the amp back to them because I was so disappointed. I even invited some guitar playing friends over to play through the amp just to laugh at it before I sent it back. You can't rely on Carvin amps either because I had an AG100 and the power transformer went after only 3 years of very sporadic use. They refuse to send a replacement part to me or any other repair person because they're greedy and they want all the repairs sent to them and they charge a flat rate of 135 no matter how small the problem is. I would avoid this company at all costs in the future.

They will not send replacement parts to any local repair person because they're greedy and they want all the repair jobs themselves. They charge 135 no matter how small the problem is. They're no help at all. Ask any local repair person who has dealt with them and they'll be happy to tell you all about it. I work for a pro sound company and we refuse to stock any of their gear anymore because they will never send our repair guy a replacement part to fix anything and we can't afford to spend 135 bucks every time something small goes wrong.

This is by far the lowest gain head I've ever heard. They should be ashamed to call this their 50th anniversary head. I don't think it has enough gain even for blues or alternative players. I'm happy it didn't work out though because I know carvin will never send a replacement part to me if something goes on it.

Features, same as every other one. I like all the features on the back of the amp: impedance switch, half power mode, etc., but I wish it had a 5 or 6 band eq like the old x100b's did and a master volume in addition to the independent volumes. When you switch back and forth between clean and dirty a lot in all your songs it's nice to have a master volume to bring them both up or down the same amount. I'd also really love it if there were a footswitch to bypass the effects loop.

My setup: Ibanez RG3120, Ibanez AS120, Fender Texas Special Strat > Q-Tron, Boss OC-2, Whammy, Crybaby Wah > MTS3200 > Legacy cab w/ V30's. This thing sounds pretty damn good clean and dirty. I play punk/hardcore with some funk and other rock elements mixed in. It does the job. The only knob I can crank all the way is the drive on the dirty channel. I would've liked a little more gain and crunch, but I'm happy with what I've got. The bright switch really livens up the clean channel. This amp sounds great across the spectrum for me. Only stuff I don't play is country. The one complaint I have here is the effects loop. All of my effects sound like crap when played through it. In the manual they mention a "loss of a few db." Well, lose 3 db and you've lost half your output power. So I'm forced to run everything on the front side. Not a major complaint, but why include the feature if it doens't compliment the amp well? I'll knock off one for the overdrive and another for the useless effects loop. I did talk to Carvin about the effects loop and they said it was a problem with mismatched tubes. Hmmm, I wonder who put those tubes in there, could it be the company that made the amp??

I bought this used and it arrived in beautiful cosmetic condition only a year old with the stock tubes, but the dirty channel didn't work. After a few conversations on the phone with Carvin I discovered accidently that one of the preamp tubes wasn't making contact in its socket. They were very helpful, although they didn't actually fix the problem and provided me with a schematic for the amp. They've always been helpful before, it's nice to actually talk to the people that work on the amps, not some dude that works in a guitar shop and doesn't know crap about how the product is made (just about every other guitar company) Would I use it without a backup? Of course not, who would? That's just asking for it. I'll bring my crappy old combo around just in case. I just wish they could fix the effects loop issue. Maybe when I put new tubes in I'll see a difference.

See above

Great amp for the money, clean and dirty. I'm glad I went through with the purchase. To everyone who complains about the overdrive not having enough gain... make sure the preamp tubes are making good contact in their sockets (while the amp is off of course.) It probably could use some more gain, but it doesn't sound bad. I play a lot of hardcore and this does the job. It basically sounds like the clips on the website just not quite as cruncy. It'll do the job until I can afford a Rivera, and I'll still keep it for a sturdy backup then.

Just came today,checked it out tonight with my drummer.It needs to be a lil louder,KT66 tubes perhaps it could be modified?Love the longtailed patented reverb,footswitch nice.100 watts of all tube power,seems a little bit less in my opinion.However the crunch is there if ya know what i mean you'll like it at the very least.FX loop,reverb on/off via footswitch,50/100 watt switch,EL34/6l6 switchable powertubes,some of the very best features in this box-o-crunch

The clean channel is the best i've heard in my 21 years of playing.I am killing a JACKSON DMKG and a ESP LTD Explorer,the jackson has EMGHZ pickups with an adjustable gain boost on it to push the CARVIN even a little harder and the ESP is housed with the SEYMOUR DUNCAN SCREAMIN DEMONS neck and bridge.For cabs i hurt the following with this amp,a PEAVEY cab with GL 35-watt celestions and a RANDALL cab with VINTAGE 30'S.No other fx but an old MORLEY WAH PEDAL.I am very capable of getting the sounds i need to play all the music i play which is heavy metal,funk,blues.This amp has a tone all of it's own not like a RECTUMFIRE,or MARSHALL,PEAVEY, or that over priced peice of junk they call UBERSHIT.I am very happy with my new purchase,all my friends gave the nod of approval so i'm siked

I slammed it hard into the wall as soon as i took it out to my truck by accident,I was very shocked to feel how solidly built this thing really is.So like i said just bought it tonight,so we'll see.I'm sure this will do fine

Let me assure you when Nick from their customer service department told me the amp would arrive today....He was not fucking around,great bunch of guys over there and i look forward to dealing with them in the future if neccessary!!!

I also run a small studio,motu,2 pc's,behringer board,condensor mikes,all monster cable,v-amp2,4-channel headphone amp,alesis ra-300 watt amp,2 pairs of monitor 1's,Randall half stack,ibanez bass,alesis drum machine so as you can see i am a busy boy.Have evrything i need to make music alone without having to rely on others.I would definetley buy another if it were lost or stolen.I did compare it to a Peavey XXX and the amp was awesome,but a 1,000 for an amp with no reverb? NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!Esecially a Peavey for that matter..I do wish it had either a master volume or 3-channels,other than that this amp has got it all.If you don't have alot of money or even if you do for this kinda price range you will absolutley not do any better,I have also heard amps like the bogner and some others that are alot more cash and do not crunch like this bad larry does.If your looking for a new versatile amp that does the crunch thing execptionally well and a clean sound to die for look no further CARVIN has the answer.

See previous review.

See previous review.

This is an update from my last review. I said I was having some problems with the amp's volume. Well, I took it to the Carvin store and it turns out the problem was not my amp but my home's power circuit, they were too many fluctuations on the power at my home and that was affecting the amp. I'm plugging the amp into a power conditioner now and the problem is gone. So let me move the reliability note up to 10 since the amp was not broken.

Well, as I said before, Carvin is a great company to deal with. When I called about the problem, they put in touch with the amp tech directly. Nice. Then when I took the amp to the store, the guy didn't say "leave it there and we'll check it" he said "let's plug it in right now and see what's going on with it". That's the kind of atittude I like. So we plugged it in and the amp worked fine. So we discussed about the wiring in my house and found out that was the problem. Very cool service indeed.

I've been using the amp for 4 months now and I'm very happy with it. I also noticed that this is not a very loud amp compared to a Marshall or Boogie. I just noticed that recently when I jammed with a loud drummer. I had no problem being heard though

50/100W all-tube head. 2 channels with independent eqs, Reverb and fx loop for both channels, auto bias EL34/6Lp, cabinet-voiced line out. Good enough for me. If you need more than that in an amp, you should get a programmable preamp.

I use it with a Warmoth custom strat with EMG SAs and mid-boost and an Ibanez Les Paul copy with an EMG Zakk Wylde set (81/85). The clean channel is pretty good. It doesn't have the punch of a Fender clean, but I don't care about that. I normally use the clean for soft arppegiated parts. It is pretty good for that. For clean blues solos that are better choices out there. The distortion channel is awesome. Pretty tight bottom and lots of gain. I use my gain at 6 for rythms and use an OD pedal for leads. I basically play heavy music and I play my songs only. So I don't know good it is to emulate other people's tone. But I like the tone I get from it anyway. Very heavy and focused.

I've been having some problem lately. When I use the amp at performance levels it works fine. However when I use it at bedroom levels (like between 0 and 1) the volume keeps going up and down, very weird. I will take it to the Carvin store to see what they tell me about it. I don't think its anything serious, it's just annoying. Other than that everything is fine.
right now I don't have a backup but I plan to buy a cheap solid state head as a backup just in case something goes wrong with the tubes.

Carvin is very helpful. I'm lucky because I live in the LA metro area so if I need anything I just drive to the Hollywood store. They have a great staff there. The website is cool too.

I've been playing for 19 years. My other gear is Warmoth custom strat with EMG SAs and mid-boost and an Ibanez Les Paul copy with an EMG Zakk Wylde set (81/85). I will buy either a Dean EVO or a Gibson Les Paul DC soon. Effects are a Boss OD1 pedal and a Dunlop Wha. I'm considering buy the Boss programmable EQ pedal now. I like my gear to be nice and simple.
When I was shopping for a new amp (to replace my old Laney head that I have to sell when I moved to the US) I tried all the amps under $1500 and this one was my favorite. Carvin is really good value for the money since they sell it direct from the factory. I'm really happy with the distortion tone, which is what I use 90% of the time. Maybe in the future I'll change the tubes and experiment with different tube types. But I'm happy with the way it sounds with the stock tubes on it, so it's not a big deal. What I like the most about this amp is that it sounds very unique. It's hard to compare it with any other amp. Sounds kind of like a 5150 but not really. It definetly does not sound like any Marshall, Mesa or Fender. This is a good thing because it gives me a lot of room to create a personal tone. And the fact that a full Carvin stack costs less than a Marshall head doesn't hurt either. Overall a great amp

50th anniversary Carvin MTS3200 head, 2002 model. As others have stated, one of the only major flaws is the missing master volume. I don't know how they could forget a feature as important as this, but whatever. Besides that, the only thing I could think of is possibly more ventilation. This thing can really heat up with the think black cover, and the little 3x10 inch space in the back isn't quite big enough. Otherwise, everything is great for the amp.

Ok, the first thing that I noticed about this amp was the clean. HOLY CRAP! I put my 450 dollar Epiphone through it, and wow, it was huge. It's one of the roundest, biggest cleans i have ever played through. I just love it. It's got a lot of highs, and a lot of lows. It takes a while to work out the tone, but theres a lot to work with. As for the distortion, though i have to keep the gain up to around 8 or 9, it drives very nicely. I play mostly rock and punk, and I love how the sound fits in with my band. It definately stands out.

I have also used the amp for jazz, and the sound is great for it as well. That's one of the major things that I love about this amp; you can use it for jazz, rock, metal, fuck, etc.

I haven't had any problems, and I have had it for about 5 months. I did manage to rip the coil out of the foot-switch cable...but thats because of my stupidity. Otherwise, everything has been great so far.

Whoa. I live in NJ, and I have to call CA. I thought it would be a big deal at first, but it was fine. I called to ask about certain specifications, and about some other products, and i didn't wait very long at all, and the guys are very knowledgable of the product. Carvin has some of the best phone support I have used for any type of product. When I messed up my pedal (all I did was pull the spring out) they sent me a brand new one, and didn't even ask for the old one back.

Overall, the amp has turned out to be even better than what I hoped. I would buy this amp even just for its clean. You can't beat the price. If you're looking for an origional sound, for a great price, go for the Carvin, you wont be sorry.