Carvin MTS3200

This is the 50th anniversary edition of the Carvin MTS3200 head. I play various types of metal and some jazzy stuff when I'm in the mood and this amp can take it all! Has none of that unneeded effects and knobs and you can dial in a tone you love right away.

Wow. This is where amp rules. The cleans are amazingly glassy clear and the distortion just rules. Even with the 6L6's it's amazing. If you're going for a more pure metal sound though, I recommend getting some EL34's and re-bias the amp.

I don't know about this one. I mean I love the amp and all but for some reason the amp kept getting messed up. The stock tubes in there getting going bad within days, and that's something that should never happen. It's happened with my previous head and I got another head in exchange but the problem happened with the tubes again. I don't know if it's the head or maybe Sovtek produced a batch of bad tubes and they happened to go in there.

Exceptionally good. They helped me out with everything, no questions asked. I would definately deal with Carvin again.

Overall, I gave it a 9 because of the reliability problems. I chose this amp because I've always heard such great things about it and when I tried it at NAMM '06, I fell in love with it! This is the first tube head I have ever owned and I can see why everyone loves that clear tube sound. If it was stolen, I would find the guy and destroy him! Nothing will keep me from having this amp. :)

2002 model, pretty straight foward, two channels, 3x eq on each channel. 100 watt model, I only run it on 50, plenty loud enough. Stock 5881's. I like simplicity, this amp is like that. I wish they would come out with a three channel version, I'd give a 10 if it had the third channel, a lead boost channel. Nothing a SD-1 won't take care of, it seems to like the Boss SD-1

I don't know why people aren't kicking down doors to get this head, Carvin got it right with the MTS 3200. Like all said before me, this is one of the best, if not the best clean you are gonna find. I let my Super go on Ebay a couple years back cause the Carvin outcleaned the Fender, hands down. Great reverb, good bass on the clean. Very workable. The distortion channel is great as well, I generally run it between two and four, great classic overdrive ala ACDC, Stones etc. Drive it above four and you pretty much can dial in any metal tone you're after. Very harmonic and responsive to your playing. To my ears this amp works well with the Boss SD-1 for a lead boost, tend to lose a little bottom end with the Boss but its the best matching I've found for a lead boost with the MTS. I use it with a Gibson Les Paul Standard DC with a JB bridge and 59 neck, bootiful. I also use a Gibson Les Paul Special DC with P-90's and a 40th Ann Fender Strat with Lace Sensors. If you can get past the hum of the P90's you can dial in perfect Stones in the 2-3 o clock postion. This head is damned near perfect, if it had a third channel I'd give it a ten. It has pretty good low end thunder as well, but I goose it just a little bit with an MXR Blue Six in the effects loop. Whatever your style, you can make this amp work for you. Someone a few threads back pointed out that this amp will bring your flaws foward and thats very true, it is very articulate and will expose you, especially with the Duncan JB and 59. I guess you get out what you put in. Its as good as anything out there, cept maybe the drake drive early 80's Marshall 2203's, thats tonal heaven. Oh I almost forgot, I use a Marshall 1960a cabinet with the MTS.

Hadn't taken a $%^& yet, I'll give it a ten.

Havent had to deal with them on any issues except getting me the head, hopefully I will never have to.

I've been playing 23 years now, been around and played thru alot of amps, Randalls, Marshalls, Fenders etc. I'm not gonna say its better or worse than any of the others, tone is subjective. I will say it can't be beat for the price, you will find the tone you are looking for with this head whatever your style, and you wont have to drop 2000 for a Mesa to get it.

Great little head... bought it to have as a "knock about" amp and it is turning out to be a real favorite!! My other amps are Marshalls so I liked the idea of 5881's as a change... but soon got sick of the "sloppy" sound so checked in a set of EL34's and WHAM... very Marshall :-) Plenty on features for a real guitarist... clean and dirty... there's more? Can plug into any speaker box, inject any main valves into the head, quiet FX send and return, simple and quick lay-out, solidly built!

My three main gigging guitars are my beloved Ibanez JEM 77FP, Gibson Les Paul Junior Special and an Ibanez Roadstar... I can dial up almost any sound/ style with this amp from jangly clean rhythms to full blown death metal with the big bottom thump. I mainly play blues/ hard rock and this is the "ducks nutz"... Even at extreme volumes it's not noisy and it stays clean all the way up! The distortion can pierce ears at 100 meters!

Although this amp doesn't appear to be as industrial as Marshall amps it still is going... I have absolutely flogged it at a jam with some friend out on a farm where I played bass through it into a 4x10" box where I ran it on "8" for seven hours... and when the 4x10 box crapped out we hooked up a 4x12 box and on it went... this was into the middle of an Australian summer (bloody hot) in a tin shed :-) Then the fatal error of running the impedence @ 4ohms instead of the required 16ohms... it god hot... very hot... but it is still going... being gigged every week end.... that's pretty reliable in my books!

Not very helpful... from the US side when I emailled them and asked about converting a Belaire to 240 volts... and the local blokes had no idea what I was tlking about when I contacted them about the same issue... they couldn't remove a 110 tranformer and replace it with 240 volt version :-) I've worked with amps since the late seventies and they would let me do it so I wouldn't kill myself :-) So no support really!

I've been playing live since 1975... I own Ibanez JEM's, Roadstars (a personal weakness for the upper models) and a Gibson LP Junior Special... I have a series of Marshall 50w combos (jcm800/ 900/ TSL 2000) If it was stolen I'd track the bastard and break his legs. I like this amp because it's a great live amp in any venue, sweet to grind tones, good reverb, LIGHT WEIGHT! (for a 100w head) I picked it up at a Cash Converters secondhand shop for 500 bucks and it has been money very well spent. I use it with a 500w 2x12 JBL AXE box and it can be heard at ALL times :-) All I wanted was a cheap loud amp and picked up a diamond of an amp!

Bought new in 11/2005. I feel this amp is versatile enough for the styles of music I play. I am in a cover band and also an original band.Features are just what I need simple and to the point.I thought that it sounded great right out of the box.

I have a Gibson Les Paul Standard, Carvin SC90 and a Jackoson soloist. I think that they all sound great with this head. I play Rock to hard rock. Nickelback to 80,90's metal.I was blown away by the sound of this amp. I thought that it had the compression of a Mesa Boogie and the tone of a Soldano. I am not saying this amp sounds like them but that the tones I got out of this amp are that good and I didn't have to go broke to get a kick ass amp.

I have only had the amp 3 months no problems yet. I would gig with this amp without a back up.

Any time I have spoken with them they have been friendly and helpful with my questions.

I have been playing guitar since 1986. I own some Boss effect pedals,Morley wah and Ernie ball volume pedal. If it were stolen I would get another one. For the price paid and the tones available from this head it's a great deal. Unless I got lucky with the one I received I would replace it for another one.

2 channels with separate EQs and vols for each. I found the knobs to function just as described in the brochure - the function of the presence knob and button are cool and useful just as designed. The clean channel stays clean all the way up. the drive channel is very versital. Mine was fitted with Mesa 12ax7s and 6L6s prior to my purchase. The 100/50 what switch is usefull. It has all the features a working guitar player needs and non that I don't see me using. Perhaps one nice-to-have-but-not-necessary addition would be a separate effects loop for each channel.

I play 2 Schecter CETs one with singles one with humbuckers - high output versital quality guitars. I play Rock, Blues - Deep Purple to Eric Johnson (well, I try). I had been playing a HR DeVille but was never happy with the clarity and punch. Was looking for a used 65 deluxe but to cheap to purchse. Found this used at GC and even-traded the DeVille. The clean channel could produce the fender sounds I was looking for, and then some. The drive channel gets all kinds of please rock lead tones. I spent 3 hours at the store experiementing with the head and comparing it to others and was never dissapointed. I find it hard to get a sound from the amp that I can't like and be inspired with - at quiet and loud volumes.

Down sides: Compared to the 65 Deluxe (which is what I was doing) The reverb is great, but could be deeper. The bass response on the clean channel is great, but could be deeper. I am happy with both these feature nonetheless, and really only is apparent in side-by-side testing. I have a Vintage JCM800 2203, and it can't quite nail the crisp clean-distortion, but not an issue for me. The distortion can have that clean top-end note definition though. The drive channel can get noisey when drive/volume/presence knobs are pushed - but I think this is what pushed-tubes do and does not degrade the usefulness of the drive channel.

Playing for 35 years. Have a nice but small vintage fender and a vintage marshall. I feel this amp is in the same league as these with its own unique sound and features. I plan for this to be my all-around workhorse amp because of its sound, features and construction. I hesitated getting one of these because I could not physically try one out without ordering it, even though the price was alluring. My chance to check it out at Guitar Center sold me. I love this amp.

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.

This is pretty much explained in all other posts. Its a 100 watt RMS all tube driven head with outstanding tone and sound. It has two channels - clean and crunch, reverb, normal ther settings and truly exceptional gain. I play it through a matching 4x12 Carvin Cab. Feature I really like is the ability to switch from 100 to 50 watts....gives tube saturation at lower volumes. Don't believe the negatives you might hear on that feature. The amp is still loud but the saturation comes at noticibly less volume.

The sound is great. The clean sound is very good and it goes all the way to simply brutal distortion ( a good thing!) I read some folks did not think it was loud or had enough gain. Unbelievable...the amp is pro quality and sounds fantastic.

I play a Gibson Les Paul DC Standard, Mex Standard Strat and a Ritchie Blackmore Signature Strat through it right now. I also have a Carvin DC 127 and EVH Wolfgang that I have not tried through the amp yet.

You can play any style through this amp. I compared this amp to a new all tube Marshall (which was twice the cost) and a more competitively priced 100 watt solid state Marshall and this amp blows both away - no comparison. I was originally after a Peavey 5150 but this is just as good at half the price.

NO Issues...I've had a week and the amp worked perfect out of the box.

No issues...amp arrived on time as promised.

Can not beat this amp. I hate to say for the price because it is truly as good or better than the pricier marshalls or peaveys. Bottom line is this is a world class pro qulity all tube driven amp that is solid, versatile and has great tones accross the entire sound spectrum. It is a great amp and the price (about $1000) for an all tube american made half stack is awesome. In comparison...I tried out the 100 Watt Marshall solid state (new) half stack ($750)and it is a good amp but when I evaluated it against the Carvin I immediately took it back to Guitar Center - no match.

I also own a Line 6 AXS 212 combo...Bought it new 8 years ago. Thats a good amp and I've been happy. Again, no match for the carvin - this amp is at the next leval.

I've been playing seriously for 8 years. I play hard rock and metal mostly - Deep Purple Family( Purple, Whitesnake, Rainbow), Led Zep, GNR, ACDC, Scorpians, Van Halen Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi etc...and this amp easily delivers.

If stolen I'm calling Carvin for another the same day!!

I love the sound, the killer looks, and the quality of this amp. Nothing beats all tube power - don't kid yourself and this baby is the most affordable.

One last point: I like buying quality and most of the gear I own sounds good and does what the manufacturer says. For example, that solid state marshall I compared to the Carvin did sound good and worked well...same with the Line 6. The Carvin just sounded better. The sound improvement is worth the additional $200. I read in amazement how many really negative reviews I read about amps and top quality guitrs like say a Gibson les Paul Standard. So be careful when reading reviews....many of the real negative ones about the sound come from hackers who can't play. Likewise....watch out for the infactuated buyer who says all is great.

I?m writing this review in Portuguese to brazilian guitarists.
Amp de 2004, anniversary edition, comprado diretamente na loja nos EUA. Comprei usado o cabe?ote e a caixa 4 X 12. Confesso que comprei totalmente sem conhecer o som desse amp pois o pre?o estava imperd?vel (mesmo!). O amp ? vers?til o suficiente para v?rios estilos. Eu diria at? que ? vers?til para TODOS os estilos. Tem todos os recursos que eu procurava num cabe?ote: 2 canais com equaliza??o independente, footswitch (? opcional de f?brica, mas o meu veio com o foot), loop, chave 50/100 W (eu uso em 50W), chave para 6L6/5881/EL34.
Usa 5 v?lvulas de pr? e 4 de power. Reverb de mola tipo "tail" (pelo que eu pesquisei ? um tipo de reverb mais longo). Tem ainda uma chave de presen?a para o canal lead (que varia os "mids" para mais grave ou agudo)

Inicialmente o som deixou um pouco a desejar. Eu gostava do clean. Bem claro e limpo, principalmente com strato. Testei o canal lead com strato (american standard) e les paul (Epiphone standard). Testei com pedal, testei com pedaleira e n?o me agradava. Embolado demais. Graves demais. Sei l?. Troquei ent?o as 5881 que vem de f?brica por 6L6 (pretendo colocar EL34 mas ? que eu tinha essas 6L6 de outro cabe?ote Giannini). A? a coisa mudou! O som sujo ganhou mais defini??o e punch! S?rio! S? posso pensar 2 coisas: ou as 5881 que vem com o amp s?o muito ruins ou as 5881 n?o s?o o tipo de som que me agrada. O amp n?o faz muito ru?do nem com o ganho quase no toco. A distor??o ? brutal, por?m eu me arrisco a usar at? o n?mero 5 mais ou menos. A equaliza??o ? muito sens?vel. Uma mexidinha de nada no bot?o de agudos e fica agudo pra kct. Ele tem muito TUDO: Muitos graves, muitos agudos. Coloco por exemplo os graves quase no zero e ainda assim sobram graves. Isso ? um problema, a dificuldade de timbrar. Mas a partir de um momento que voc? acha uma configura??o confort?vel fica tudo uma beleza. O canal limpo N?O distorce com volume alto (talvez quando eu colocar as EL34 ele distor?a um pouco). Eu dou nota 6 com as 5881 e nota 9 com as 6L6. Espero poder dar nota 10 com as EL34.

N?o tenho como ter um "backup" e acredito que para a maioria dos m?sicos brasileiros, ter um outro equipamento pra servir de segunda op??o caso ocorra algum problema com o equipamento principal, ? quase imposs?vel. Os impostos e a falta de vergonha na cara das lojas aqui (digo falta de vergonha na cara pois mesmo quando o d?lar est? em baixa os pre?os de instrumentos mant?m-se altos e ? muito comum nessas ?pocas de baixa do d?lar os bons equipamentos ficarem em "stand by" pelas importadoras, ou seja, guardados at? que o d?lar suba e eles possam colocar a venda e obter lucro maior).
O amp nunca deu problema comigo (estou com ele h? duas semanas) e pelo estado geral eu diria que nunca deu problemas algum com o antigo dono, j? que nenhuma pe?a foi trocada da configura??o original de f?brica). Me parece ser muito bem costru?do. Bastante s?lido. Tudo em compensado e pe?as em metal. Me passa mais seguran?a que muito Marshall por a?.

N?o sei. Moro no Brasil.

Toco h? uns 10 ou 12 anos. E j? tive alguns valvulados: Laney, Giannini. E alguns transistorizados: Meteoro, Peavey. Esse sem d?vida o equipamento mais profissional que j? tive. N?o poderia comprar um Marshall cabe?ote e caixa que aqui no Brasil sairia, usados, no m?nimo uns 6000 reais (um JCM 900, que nem ? l? essas coisas). Portanto fico extremamente satisfeito de ter tido essa oportunidade de comprar um amp americano em estado de zero, por um pre?o muito em conta. E, ainda por cima, de excelente qualidade sonora e de constru??o. Recomendo.

Se fosse roubado o cara teria que vender esse amp pra outro pa?s, simplesmente porque n?o existem muitos Carvins por aqui e eu reconheceria o meu facilmente. Se fosse roubado eu n?o poderia comprar outro porque teria dificuldades de achar. Aqui nas lojas brasileiras ? oito ou oitenta: Ou s? tem solid states ruins ou hibridos. Os valvulados, em geral s?o cabe?otes de 8000 reais ou mais. N?o h? uma pol?tica de mercado aqui que valorize o m?sico com renda de classe m?dia. Ou voc? compra um solid state barato ou s? vai encontrar um cabe?ote car?ssimo. Ou um combo valvulado mas com pot?ncia baixa e ainda assim caro. ? por isso que os hand mades aqui tem se proliferado. E eu desejo boa sorte a todos os hand mades. Eu mesmo vou encomendar um hand made personalizado em 2007 (o cara tem tanta encomenda que o meu amp est? agendado pra ser constru?do daqui a 2 anos!)

I have a 2001 MTS 3200, Which is stocked with sovtek tubes(I checked). I bought the amp before I ever had used one, so I was taking a gamble. I was shocked by the clean channel. I know that can be a bit of trouble on some tube amps. I must say the lead presence on the head works great for getting the spanking clean I love to use. and being able to disengage it from the clean channel is great for my style. I do like the fact that each channel has its own EQ. Im glad there is no preset resonance. It has enough bottom end for me. and then some. I play through a cab loaded with Vintage 30s. I would love to see the amp have a low and high mid knobs. But I will say the midrange and all setting on the EQs of both channels work great, no extreme volume or gain jumping like some older marshalls do. I would buy another one if I lost this one. I have not replaced my original tubes, they sound great to me and I will when the old ones die, put groove tubes in the preamp section Electro Harmonix tubes for power, I am very happy with the features on my head. I sound like MYSELF and not trying to copy anyone else. I gave up the hero worship when I was 18. I do not run my effects loop, only for my decimator. I am happy with the features of my amp.

I use a range of sounds, I like the fact I can back off and get a sort of JCM 800 sound, but the amp has more gain than most Marshalls I have played through. I use a MichaelKelly Patriot Phoenix, loaded with a seymour duncan Jazz neck and a Screaming Demon(hate the name) in the bridge. all of my guitars from my Telecasters are loaded with duncan customs and a 59 at the neck, a tele with emg tele pickups and a korena explorer with a dimarzio Norton at the bridge and a PAF Joe in the neck. I have had no problem with noise out of my amp. Ive rarely used the decimator on my head. I play alt rock and metal as well as some classic rock, and I can get all the sounds i need out of my head. I learned from my 18yr old days. of not jacking the gain, you loose definition. I run medium gain pickups, then I can kick in the gain a bit and come up with a better sound. no chainsaw here, but you can get it from the head by jacking the gain all the way up, its versital to me, Ive never had my clean chanel distort at high volumes. And after 5 years of owning one Ive tried them all. It may not be for everyone who wants to sound Scooped, but if you want that horrible bedroom metal tone with no mids. You can waste a good head doing that with the MTS. Recorded, the amp is full of bite but nice and smooth through Vintage 30's Its has the snarl, but it is a totally diferent beast when recorded, dont be fooled. Im very happy with the sounds, I get, Im running a line 6 MM4 only for modulation effects. and it works great. I let my head do the work, like anyone should instead of a processor. I have never needed to use a distortion pedal with this amp. its has the balls you need.

I have not had to have my amp fixed yet. When I do play out I keep A Vamp on for backup. its never given me any problems. Im sorry if it seems to be that good , but Its never been serviced and I have used this amp for some pretty long marathon sessions. But I must say I am VERY careful when transporting my head and taking care of it. So I have had great success with reliability. and I have loaned it out many times for people to use as a backup and when there heads are down, seem to make them want to buy them.

I have only had to deal with carvin once, they sent me a legacy booklet with the amp,but I found out if you put el34in the head it basically is a Legacy and thats coming from a Carvin tech. my head had the one year warranty. but I work with a guy who is an engineer he fixes all the amps in our area. so I do not have to send it off to be repaired. alot of people in West Virginia play tube heads, and our guy can fix them all. so I never have sent it off to Carvin, but thier Customer Support is great and they are very patient with me. When I have dealt with them.

I give the amp a 9 overall. if it was stolen I would buy another one in a heartbeat. It is the only amp I own, besides the Vamp. I chose the amp for price for once but doing my reasearch, it was worth it. I wanted a 5150 back in the day and a marshall, but now im glad I found another company that was as good as Carvin. I have found my tone, Im not trying to copy Zack or Randy or Eddie, I wanted my own tone, guess it comes with age but get over the hero worship and play for yourself, you can buy your favorite players gear down the the last pedal , I wont make you as good or sound like them, its in thier hands. and for God sakes, Scooping out your MIDS SOUNDS HORRIBLE, as well as cranking your gain, doesnt make you heavier, just an ass. use your ears. PLEASE

Mine is the 2003 Aniversary Head.
5 12ax7's
4 5881's
2 channels the regular for the head.

I don't play metal, but this amp was good enough for me to buy.
Played on tour with a friends, and loved it.
Out of the box the tone was kinda tame.
The power tubes would not let the amp sing like it wanted to do. IT was frustrating to get it to the full 100 watts, no headroom

Changed the tubes to this.
1 EH 5851 in V1
3 EH 12AX7's in V2 - V4
1 EH 12AT7 in V5

4 power tubes JJ 6l6's

now the amp sounds like a mix between a vintage fender, and marshall.
it's amazing to get those high gain tones with a vintage tube screamer.

One thing that i love about this head is the reverb. One of the best amp reverb i have ever heard.
It was noisy, and microphonic when i got it... but i changed the tubes and all teh problems went away.

Never had trouble except the tubes.

never had to use.

I've been playing for 8 years or so. In a few bands touring and not.

I'd definately recomend this amp if you're willing to put some time into finding an excellent tone.
With some tweaking, this amp is lovely.

IF it was stolen, i'd buy another.

Mine is a 2003 50th Anniversary Edition.
It is an all tube amplifier. (4 power @ 5 preamp tubes)
This amp suits my styles of playing extremely well. I play classic rock, jazz, contemporary Christian, and heavy Christian rock. This is a two channel amp. Clean and Lead channel. It has a switch on the back so that you can use either 5881/6L6 or EL34 power tubes. It also has another switch to change it from 50 to 100 watts. Very versatile. I tried several other amps before purchasing this one.
(Mesa's, Fender's, and Marshall's.) Each one had it's strong points but over all the Carvin just covered it all. It has a very sweet clean like the Fender is known for and a distortion that I feel is much more soaked and sustaining than a Marshall or Mesa.

This amp sounded very, very nice right out of the box. Carvin did an excellent job when they designed the MTS3200. I did however make a change that made an incredible difference in the sound of this amp. Like so many major amp companies do, they also used a less expensive tube in their amplifier. I changed the power tubes to Svetlana ("Winged C") 6L6's and the preamp tubes to Electro Harmonix 12ax7's. I know music is so subjective. What one person loves in sound, someone else doesn't. I am just giving this information to try and help. I tried so many different combinations of tubes. I mean countless. When I tried this combination, it blew me away. I have had so many people comment over how sweet this amp sounds, clean is distorted.

So far I have had no problem.

I have called Carvin for several things over the years from guitars to amps to sound equipment. They have always been very helpful and courtious.

I have been playing for about 25 years. The guitars I use are a Taylor 410 CE Acoustic and a Fender American Series HH Strat Hardtail. My effects consist of a Boss CU-2 tuner, Boss CH-1 chorus, Boss Mt-2 distortion ( Modded by Keeley ), Boss DD-3 delay, and a Boss NS-2 noise suppressor. If it were stolen I would definately buy another.

I bought this amp used on Ebay, according to the seller it needed new tubes, but was in over all good condition. its your pretty standard set up 2 channels, reverb, etc.

its Rebiasable which is nice, it can use EL34, 6L6, or 5881 type tubes, i put in a pair of E34L tubes which are cleaner EL34s with more bottom end, and it plays them fine in the EL34 setting without needing a manual bias job.

it can switch from 4 power tubes at 100 watts to 2 power tubes at 50 watts as well if you want.

ill give it a 7 because i feel its about normal for an amplifier as far as features go.

im not sure how it sounds stock with the 5881 tubes but from what i hear it has a lot of bottom end and a really good clean with those tubes (people say comparable almost to a fender twin clean)

like i said above i put in E34L tubes which are EL34s with approx. 20% more headroom and a tighter bottom end.

My band plays our own style of laid back Alt/Rock with songs requiring a glassy clean and a warm marshall esque crunch as well.

This amp feels like its inbetween a Marshall and a Mesa...more bottom end than a marshall but not as much bottom end as a Mesa and a bit higher gain than a marshall but not as high gain as a Mesa.

As far as the music i play goes, it falls in pretty perfectly with the sound that i wanted, i play it through a Hartke 4x12 cabinet with Celestion G12H80 speakers.

The clean is really good sounding, really glassy with a lot of headroom and the crunch can go anywhere from Weezer (around 3-5 gain at about 3 volume) to 80's shred metal (high volume high gain, but back off the bass knob a bit)

over all the sound with the E34L tubes is what you would expect from a boutique amplifier, that costs 3 times as much.

it seems solid enough, was gigged a lot before i got it, inside was dust free and clean, very well built, tubes are held TIGHTLY, TIGHTLY, TIGHTLY took me forever to jiggle them out.

it seems like a very simple amp on the inside, pretty basic and probably pretty easy for a tech to fix if it ever had problems.

I've dealt with Carvin before having bought from them a lot over the years, although i wouldnt deal with them online or over the phone unless you have to. if you live in california and have the luxury of going in person you will probably get the best customer service.

if i ever had problems with it and lived in another state, id probably just take it to a local amp tech instead of ship it cross-country to get looked at.

great great amplifier, from what i hear though change out the Sovtec 5881's that it comes with for a better tube type, its easy and i hear that people like the sound a lot better. I'm using JJ ECC83s in the preamp and JJ E34Ls in the power amp, sounds great.

I'd recommend this amp to anyone who is looking at buying one used in good condition.

My buddy brought his Soldano over yesterday and we jammed for most of the day and he thought the amp was a killer deal at $300.

If i were to put its worth alongside other amps, id put it next to a marshall JCM 800 and Mesa Dual Rectifier. It really is that good.

Bought used on a pawn shop I don't know the year it was made. Features were already described here. But anyway, it's a 2 channel amp with reverb.

Clean tone is very good, very clean and bright. Overdrive is a little fizzy and thin with the stock tubes (5881). I hope EL34s and a rebias helps it. Good for nu-metal tones, but not much else.

I don't know yet. It looks reliable. No opinion.

I never called the phone support. I checked their website and it's scary to say the least. They have a discussion board to ask questions..but you cannot say anything negative about their amps or mention other products or they kick you out. It's just praise, praise praise...LOL A nazi company. I was there for one day and my comments were deleted because I said something about the distortion being really thin and shitty.. they didn't like it LOL ... how about making a better amp then???

If I ever have a problem with this amp I will take it to my local tech in NYC. I wouldn't want to ship it cross country to CA anyway..

The amp is pretty good. It needs some tweaking, probably some new tubes. I bought this to be a back up for my Marshall 1987.
I won't even bother comparing it to the Marshall it doesn't even come close but the Marshall costs over agrand. This is more of an entry-level amp, for nu-metal kids who want to rock. LOL The legacy is more of a real amp. The X100 is very good also.

I use it with a Marshall 4x12 and a Guild SG copy. I'm trying to get a 70's heavy rock tone like old Sabbath, but so far everything coming form this amp is too scooped and thin. Maybe EL34s will help. The clean is great and the reverb is good too, so hopefully I will be able to tweak the distortion or I may just add a pedal to the clean channel.
Great for the price, but buy it used, save some $$ (they sell for real cheap used) and avoid dealing with Carvin at all costs.

So here's the bottom line about this amp:

THIS AMP SOUNDS GREAT CLEAN BUT THE DISTORTION NEEDS MAJOR IMPROVEMENT!
IT IS NOT A MARSHALL KILLER, MAYBE EQUAL TO THE 900 BUT A REAL PLEXI WILL EAT IT FOR LUNCH!! EVEN A 2000 WILL BE BETTER.

oh and also:

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE AT THEIR ONLINE BOARD. IT'S MANIPULATED BY THEIR EMPLOYEES BUYERS BEWARE!!
GO THERE AND TRY IT IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME!! THE RUDE CARVIN EMPLOYEES WILL KICK YOU OUT.
WAKE UP CARVIN, THERE ARE OTHER PLACES WE CAN TELL THE TRUTH
THANK YOU HARMONY CENTRAL

this amp is really clean, and the distortion gets mean!! i crank the gain to full, scoop the mids to about 2, put treble at 8 or 9, and put bass at 8 or 9. without a boss ns-2 though it gets pretty noisy at high levels. but the noise supressor solves that. and this amp can wail. kinda wish the clean channel would break up a little bit. but all aside from that its pretty damn sweet

i use a gibson sg standard with stock pickups and the amp sounds sweet and i also have an old 80s kramer beretta with emg hzs in it which are slightly less noisy but it really doesnt matter with a noise supressor. anyone who doesnt have one should get one they are the greatest invention since slice bread. i play mainly hardcore/metal so i would really say im kind of biased on the variety cause i pretty much just crank this thing. but sometimes ill play along with metallica and the clean sound they have is easy to acheive with a little reverb on the clean. the presence switch also makes the amp sparkle but i feel its a bit much, cause ill hit low e and its pretty loud, but as soon as i hit a high e the volume seems to double which is somewhat unnatractive, but who cares i hardly ever use clean. honestly lots of people look for the sparkly clean and this amps clean is definately crystal clear, but i would like some breakup

i would never use any amp at a gig without a backup, especially a tube amp no matter how reliable, thats just asking for it... but ill say ive never had to resort to my back up... thank god... its a crate blue voodoo 120. i have literally had no problems and ive been a proud owner of the amp for about a year and a half now. carvin seems to make quality products. especially PA equipment. and their basses are sweet too. however i would probably never purchase a carvin solid state head.

only time ive worked with them is to buy stuff, and of course they are friendly... they want my money right? when i ordered this head though they accidentally shipped me a 300 watt club loudspeaker. that was supposed to go to someone in texas, he probably wasnt too happy with carvin... supposedly the only way to get stuff serviced is to send it to carvin... so hopefully tube maintenence is the only service itll need, cause i dont wanna pay that kinda shipping since i live in georgia

ive been playing 8 years. i own a gibson sg standard and an old 80s kramer berreta and i used to own an epiphone les paul standard (sold it too my other guitarist) i also use a shure wireless, a big muff pi ( too bring out solos) a dunlop crybaby wah 535q, an ibenez delay pedal, and a boss ns-2 noise supressor, and a boss tu-2 tuner, however im seriously thinking of going all rackmount, and just using the wah, and maybe the big muff for extra volume/gain. i love the distortion on this amp, and the fact that it brings out notes, instead of hiding them like other high gain amps. this amp is real sensitive, so boys, if you buy this learn how to work the intonation of your guitars, and dont play sloppy cause both are pretty obvious. i only wish this amp had a master volume. but the 50/100 switch kicks ass cause tube saturation at low volumes helps a bunch when writing songs in the bedroom. this is a solid amp to buy new, and i hear that on ebay you can find some pretty kick as deals on them as well.

mts3200 1987
no.style Ray von van halen pop metal 80 rock
2 channels switchable, effect loop, line out
effects loop input pod to control the volume so
effest don't effect over all out put volume.
tube amp. I have two diods burnt out on preamp
which gives me no volume and breaks up at five on master volumes



need to fix before I can really tell if it will work
for my needs

can't tell yet

ebay

30 years.
many out board gear, old ada 2fx, me-6,beringer delay
zoom gfx 707
i need to find out rating on the diods that blew up to
replace them.

I posted a review before...many have listed the features. It could still use a master volume...perhaps a 3rd channel...nothin' a boost won't take of though. The reason for the repost is that I changed the tubes.

I replaced the 5881's with JJ E34L's. This amp is much better than I thought it was before. With the E34L's the amp warms up big time. Seriously a huge difference. The sound is somewhere between a Mesa and a Marshall...seriously! I love it...unique, with tons of gain and growl. If you love rock and roll...try some E34L's in it. So good for leads.

tubes!

People at Carvin have always been good to me.

If you like a JCM you'd really love the sound of this thing E34L's.