Carvin SX100

I bought it in 2005 as a new amp. Dual-channel SS 1x12" 100w combo with built-in DFX. Additional speaker output & headphone jack make it usable for nearly ANY type of musical situation. I also purchased the footswitch and cover with it and the footswitch itself is a great piece of design - smooth switching and a very ergonomic shape. A great feature is the ability to store a particular effects setting for the channel and recall it when you switch. For example, I can have a chorused clean sound and add a nice slap-back delay for my distorted tones. VERY handy!
I play a great many styles, particularly jazz, rock and blues in bands, and I also play guitar in an orchestra for Broadway shows. This Carvin provides perfect tones for all of these uses.
The only drawback is something of an ironic one: since the clean tone is SO good, you may want to use it at a REAL clean setting, as that is where it truly shines. Therefore, you have the option of: (i) having a clean channel and a crunch channel, (ii) having a crunchy clean sound and a distorted lead sound or (iii) having the extremes of a pristine clean and a high-gain tone. Depending upon your own application, these may be fine and cover all your bases, but I would love to have either a third channel or a footswitchable extra boost for one or both channels. The 100w of power is plenty, really. I've used it in some reasonably big venues and never needed the master above 4 (being miked through the PA).
The DFX, it must be said, are kind of limited (just time-based FX: no tremolo here, for example) and not very tweakable. You also can't combine effects within the same channel. However, they sound very, very good for what they are.
I believe it does have an FX loop, though I've never used it as of yet. Good to know it's there, though.
I'd rate this a 9 and a half for features.

I use this with lots of different kinds of guitar, mainly my Fender USA Telecaster, my Epiphone Dot, my various Hamers and my home-made Strat-style with DiMarzios. It never fails to produce great tones. Cleans are beautiful with a glassy shimmer, particularly with the semi-hollow Epi. It's surprisingly quiet (noise-wise) on the high-gain settings and the very high-gain tones are warm and loaded with a harmonic complexity exceedingly rare in this price range. The inbetween crunch tones, lacking in many solid-state amps, are absolutely there and are extremely appealing: they exceed many tube amps I've played in terms of "on-the-edge" snarl and responsiveness. You do have to spend a little time dialing those in, though, as the amp's versatility means you can make it sound bad as well as incredible. This is not as much of a "turn it all up and go" amplifier as many tube jobs - do that and it'll sound brittle and harsh - because it's capable of sonic extremes, should you want that, but if you're careful and take a little time to experiment and listen, you can find some absolutely AMAZING sounds.

Two true stories involving this amp:
1: I recently used it on a session for a CD, playing 2 of my Hamers and my Tele into it. I did find the Digitech Clapton pedal on the "Reptile" setting actually combined with the SX100's clean channel to add a certain "slight bite" that offered a sweetness which improved the amp's bare tone slightly. I was one of the guitarists on this session - the other was playing a Hamer through some boutique pedals into a vintage '70s Boogie. Not only did the Carvin hold its own with such prestigious company, it actually garnered a great many compliments and was, in fact, the preferred tone to many "in-the-business" and "lay" listeners alike.

2: Playing a big theatre show two years ago, I had the opportunity to use a rare, collectible Vox AC30 instead. As would most amp fans, I accepted and duly relegated the SX100 to off-stage when the AC30 was delivered. The sound engineer, a well-respected and experienced professional, duly asked me to switch back as (direct quote) "your amp sounds way better." As a Vox lover, I had to ask him to repeat this - twice, in fact - but he felt that, through the PA and out in front-of-house, it was a superior tone. I had to admit in the end, he was (as he usually is) right.

It always receives favourable comments at live shows, including more than one person telling me it's obviously a tube amp as "solid state just can't get that sound." It's always amusing to inform them that, actually, it did. "Warmth" and "clarity" are words that often crop up, as is the rather ambiguous term, "organic".

I've been playing for 22 years, professionally for 18, and have used all the major brands and more besides. While nothing quite sounds (or feels)like a Bassman except a Bassman (etc etc) this amp has become the go-to unit for just about every playing situation. It works great set flat (all at 12 0'clock) with other preamps and FX going into it (for example, the Digitech Brian May sounds better through this than through any other amp I've tried it with) and the tonal shaping capabilities mean you can make it fit almost any musical situation. The one thing it never does is sound generic and sterile - a very good thing, I'd say!

It's never let me down. I take good care of my gear, but never had cause to worry. Having said that, I did once accidentally smack this thing into a rock outside a recording studio late one night. I was woried, but it exhibited not even a mark.
I use it without a backup all the time. I do make sure to have a DI option just in case something goes wrong, but in 3 years, it never has. Fingers crossed (!), I don't see that changing.
I feel a bit strange giving all 10s so far, but - seriously - it's proven itself as utterly dependable and trustworthy.

I talked with Carvin prior to purchase and they were extremely friendly, knowledgable and helpful, but I have never had the need to deal with them post-purchase. I can't really comment on support after the fact and I hope this will continue!

This thing is just what I love in an amp. Versatility, warmth, clarity and reliability in one easy-to carry package. I wonder what it sounds like with a Celestion, but what it has works so well I don't want to tamper! No need to fix what ain't broke, I suppose. Perhaps I took a bit of a chance ordering direct, but it certainly paid off. I had played a Carvin Legacy prior to that for some shows in Michigan and knew the company offered quality product as a result, but if anything I prefer the SX - it has a smoothness the Legacy's inherent "spikiness" can't capture.
It does exhibit a lot of the sonic and "intangible" characteristics often cited by tube nuts as desirable, and regularly gets mistaken for a tube amp by listeners, but to be frank, I don't much care what's "under the hood". Tube, Solid State, Digital............blah blah blah. A great sound is a great sound. Period. And the SX100 sounds, and feels, stunningly good.

I purchased this with footswitch and cover in 2007 from Carvin's eBay store. It was a "blem" having a small indentation on the back of the amp. I got the whole package for $215 + S&H. As other reviews have stated, it has two channels, with the gain channel also have a "Blues" switch. Built-in digital effects for each channel. 100 watts, one 12" Carvin "British" speaker.

I play a Gretsch 5120 archtop with humbuckers. Lately, I have been patching through a Digitech GNX 3000 guitar workstation. I play jazz, blues, country, and jam-band rock; you know, stuff that actually requires some chops, not just a string a distortion and mod pedals. I've been playing guitar for over 30 years. I took a 20 year hiatus from playing on stage professionally to pursue my other passion of drinking and druggin', but now that I'm clean & sober, decided to get back into playing live. I needed a cheap amp with enough power to play clubs, and I've always admired Carvin, so I went ahead and got this little combo. Not very impressed. The cleans sound solid-state, the overdrive and effects sound cheap, and the "blues" switch is fairly useless, at least on mine.

I had this amp about 6 months when I tried to use the line out to the PA for a large room. Suddenly, the effects didn't work for the clean channel, and when I switched to the drive channel, it howled like a banshee, practicaly deafening everyone in the room. Very embarassing. I turned the amp off and on, and the effects started working again, but the drive chanel has been hit-n-miss ever since. I finally bought a used Digitech GNX 3000, which I like, to get a passable amp tone.

Well, when I placed the order for the amp over the phone, they sales rep got my ZIP code wrong, so the shipment ended up having to be rerouted. As for any warranty work, a cheap amp is a cheap amp. I'll buy a good amp and pawn this off on Craigslist to one of those metal-head mirror-stars who seem to think this is a good amp.

As stated, I've played nearly 35 years, many of those professionally. Back in the early '70s, I played through an all-tube Wards Airline twin, which I still have and am refurbishing. In the late '70s, I switched to a Traynor tube head and Traynor cabinet loaded with 2x12" Cerwin Vegas. It was designed for bass, but was tubes, so worked great with the Kramer aluminum-neck axe I was using then. Throughout the '80s, I played a variety of humbuckered axes including Les Pauls, an ES335, and even an Ibanez double neck, all though a Music Man RD 1x12" EV combo. Now THAT was a great amp!

Not only would I not buy another Carvin SX100, the poor sound quality and reliability issues make me question whether I would ever buy ANY Carvin amp.

From this whole process I have learned three valuable lessons:

1) No matter what marketing literature may say, a solid-state amp sounds like a solid-state amp. Now, if you're talking about a Roland Jazz Chorus or a Mini Brute or something like that, a solid-state sound isn't so bad, but when you're talking a cheap little Carvin SX100, it's bad.
2) Just because something is made in the USA doesn't mean it's made better or sounds any better than something made in China or Mexico.
3) Don't put too much stock in the reviews you read, especially when they're written by those whose music "experience" is mostly comprised of playing along to Pantera in their bedroom or tormenting their neighbors by playing heavy metal full volume with a bunch of other wannabes. Perhaps there should be another forum for those reviews, something like "Cacophony-Central".

This SX100 was made in 94, maybe 95.It is the fuzzy grey one. 2 channels. One channel with built in distortion and one clean channel. Solid state but you'd swear it was a tube amp! Effects loop which is very nice because this amp sounds much better running the effects within the loop as opposed to direct. Headphone jack if you need that (I dont) Extra jack for another speaker which is very handy so you can run another cab on the other side of your stage setup. I never had a footswitch (kinda cheap not to give you one) so I use a Rolls pan pedal which is better anyway so you can ease into either channel. Used it both on stage and in the studio. Very powerful but not advisable to push it beyond 6 for my ears or quality.

I am strictly a Tele and Strat person. Sounds very good for either. Whether you want that chicken-pickin Roy Buchanan tele sound or you need the standard strat sounds ala Mark Knofler/Eric Clapton woman tone. All the sounds of a tele and strat are obtained with proper tweaking and patience. I am a pedal only guy so I never use the onboard distortion but I use that channel to run my Rat and TS-9 through. Wish it were ultra clean like the B channel but it adds a slight amount of distortion on its own so you need to compensate accordingly. But if you have no distortion pedal(s) then the onboard unit is very pleasant and with proper tweaking you can go from SRV to Zepplin to Metallica, or close enough to suffice. Not as noisy as some units but I use a noise gate so its never a problem with me.

For 9 years this amp has been a workhorse and has seen its share of accidental falls, bumps and bruises. I always carried a back-up (only a fool doesn't right!)Fender 185 with me but this bad boy never left me stranded or needing the 185 so it only served as my extention cabinet. But over the last year I have noticed a decrease in power and a deterioration in the quality of the pots. Alas..all things wear out and I accept that and have no complaints about that. Maybe some contact cleaner will remedy the situation.

Now comes that bad/sad part. I wrote Carvin and asked if I could send in my amp for a service review and was willing to pay a fee to have this done. Unfortunately I now am the owner of a "disposable" amp as I have been informed that they will not and or do not service these amps anymore due to product changes. Though they were polite the only remedy was for me to send in my old unit as a trade in on the new version. By the time you figure in the price they want, shipping of both units, the final trade in value of my amp is $10.00. Not a very good deal if I may say so myself. I don't want the new amp because a professional quality amp for a professional shouldn't have built in distortion and effects to begin with. I understand their purpose but they have decided to make one size fits all. So now the quest for a replacement begins. I have a 65 Deluxe Reverb that never leaves the house and it never will. I'm going to search ebay with the hopes of picking up another one of these and if that fails then I pull out the Fender 185 and it becomes #1 amp, but that will take time to make it what I need to hear. I would love a tube amp but the costs and reliability factor make that a no-go unfortunately.

As a 20 year veteran club and studio musician I have had my share of quality amps...Ampeg, Fender, Marshall...blah blah blah.....Hate losing this amp but alas..........

I bought this amp in '94, it's the gray fuzzy one. This amp is solid state and has two foot switchable channels, the first is the lead and the second being rhythm. Channel one can be played clean or switched to overdrive while channel 2 is a clean only channel. It has a headphone jack and a pre amp jack, as well as a second cab jack. I have never used the effects loop, but it's there. I use the amp in my buddy's basement and have never had a problem with it not being loud enough

The distortion on this amp is smooth and creamy. I play a Squire strat with EMG's, an Epiphone Les Paul standard and a PRS Santana se, and love the way they all sound through this amp. The clean sounds are crystal clear with plenty of volume. I play mainly blues and rock with this setup. I also run an RP2000 by Digitech for effects.

The only problem that I have ever had is that the reverb stopped working around '98. I didn't use reverb much at that time so I never addresed the problem.

I have talked to customer service a time or two, and they have been eager to help me resolve my questions and concerns.

I have been playing for 14 years. This has been my main amp for about 10 of those years. I recently got a Peavey 5150 combo for christmas and love it, but it can't beat the Carvin when it comes to ultra clean chording, not to mention it weighs about 50 less than the Peavey. I would definately buy this amp again. It is an exceptional amp for the money you spend

It says '82 on the inside. I have the original grey fuzzy 45 pound beast...very cuddly. This amp is the best 1x12 ever, and it is not one of those "most affordable" amps. If anything is "more affordable" you are getting a piece of _____. This amp plays any style of music well. I use this for smooth Jazz, but mostly I just crank it up and play shred metal. The distortion on it is used to use, but then I bought an rp300, and found the perfect sound with that. Though if i go through a distorted patch through my pedal, and turn on the overdrive to "0" on the amp, i get a PERFECT Black Sabbath sound.

It has 2 channels, has a footswitch using an XLR plug, i don't use the effects loop, and yes it has a 1/4" headphone jack, but don't use that much either. In my opinion, if you are looking to buy an amp with many built in effects, you are going to get the biggest piece of _____ ever. Amps should only have reverb, and overdrive...just like this one!

I use an early transparent green ESP LTD M-2...i haven't ever seen a guitar like it anywhere. This is more than perfect for metal, rock, jazz, etc...I was about to mention classical, but for an acoustic guitar, you need a tweeter. This isn't noisy at all compared to other amps i used. The clean channel, well i don't think i ever cranked up my amp past 4 ever, because it gets really _____ loud. I think it could distort if you slide your finger accross the pannel so everything's at 10...well you'd be deaf, so you wouldn't know.
The distortion is like a hendrix fuzz, or some old deep purple sound.

This amp i have no worries ever. It only broke once on me. I was trying to plug in the amp directly into the computer...I took a 1/8" cable with a 1/4" adapter, and through the speaker output, straight into the line in jack on the sound card...big mistake, as i begin turning up the volume until i hear something through the computer. Well i did hear stuff, but it wasn't what i wanted... I heard a pop, my computer screen moniter begins flikering, and i smell smoke, and the next thing i know, the room is grey. It ended up I fried a couple transistors. It only costed me $100 to replace, but that was all my fault. Don't hook up a 100 watt amp with a 1/8" headphone wire from the speaker output, into the computer. (and turn up the volume)

Well other than that episode, i haven't had any problems with it ever.

N/A, but Carvin is one of the best companies, so i give them a 10!

I've been playing music for 9 years. I don't have anything else besides my rp300, this amp, my 1 of a kind guitar, and some sewped up computer for recording...(i'm glad my amp fried rather than my PC so it's also a superhero...it sacrificed itself for another machine; I LOVE IT!).

I think the amp was made in 86 or 87. It is definitely versatile enough for all the styles I play. The overdrive is very good for a solid-state amp. As usual, two channels,the first with optional overdrive (there is a button you can press to turn the overdrive off if you want two clean channels.) Headphones an deffect loops and a preamp out. I dont think there are any extra features I wish it had, and I use the reverb a bit. It definitely has enough power.

I use a godin sd perfomance series guitar with the bridge pick up for the overdrive and the neck pickup for the clean channel, and I get some really good sounds out of it. It can get noisy if I am near a computer (which I usually am for recording) but other than that it is pretty controlled. The distortion is something like 80s metal (metallica-like. probably because it was made in the 80s.) Clean channel distorts but my friend did it so I dont know the settings for it.

I can depend on it. I have more problems with cables than my amp, as long as no one comes by and makes it fall flat on the ground (it had wheels, which i took off because my brother was rolling it and it fell. that is the only reason i ever had to get it repaired.

Havent dealt with the company.

i have been playing it for about 8 months now. I own a yorkville 50 watt bass amp which i sometimes use with the preamp out jack and it makes a sweet heavy sound. If it were stolen i would probably buy another amp because this one would be really hard to find. I like it a lot, nothing i hate about it.

purchased 2001. still has the tan finish. New ones are black. This amp is so versatile that I can sell all my pedals. It has an effects pedal included. It has 2 channels but the mechanics are a little confusing. I think they corrected this in the new model (?) I just play with it with a friend who does small gigs (in a church!) and he got tired of lugging around his peavey tube, so he heard my sx100 and loved it so much , bought the sx50.

I use a Fender squire standard double fat strat, and an Ovation Pinnacle Deluxe. I'm a relative beginner and I even sound good on this amp! I can use the effects to full advantage. I don't have speedy fingers, but with the echo and some pull-offs I can fool most of my neighbors... then lean in to get some awesome feedback that makes them wax nostalgic for some Hendrix ( or makes then want to move!). With my limited experience (and my experienced friends say so) this amp is very clean sound. The distortion sounds pretty even to me, but you have to push the volume past 5 to get full effect. A jeckyl/hyde pedel may be called for here.

Developed a problem a few minutes (well weeks anyway) after the warentee expired. Sound cuts out. seems like some internal connection. I tried different jacks, guitars etc same problem. Sometimes kicking it helps, but not for long

Well, here's the catch. Just about 1 year after I purchased it, it started to cut-out on me. I emailed and then called carvin (the guy on the phone was snotty to me "if you already emailed aren't you being redundant by calling to?" he asked. I asked him to repeat that and after he did I called him redundant too!! He was nice after that but wouldn't answer my question. almost like I was being penalized for sending the email! Next day recieved email with possible solution (using a solution of contact-restore spray ) or go see a local tech.

Nothing sounds like a tube amp, but this is about as close as you can get for the money. Very versatile and sounds great. They use real wood (not particle) so it's lighter and better sound. In spite of the problem, I'd buy this amp again

This is the old model around 1990 with the fuzzy cabinet. It's 100 solid state watts into a Carvin British 12" speaker, two channels each with reverb and 4 band EQ. There is an efx loop and headphone jack along with a preamp output. The main channel has built-in distortion controlled by a footswitch. The circuit is tube simulator and has a very good overdrive tone for a solid state amp.

I use both the A and B channels on this amp. The clean tone is good for a solid state amp and when overdriven it has a real good sustain, better than some tube amps I've played. I play a fat Tele, a Strat, and a G&L S500 through this thing.

The distortion circuit is great and no pedal is needed to get a decent sustaining fuzz. This amp sounds good about halfway to three-qtrs up on volume with the EQ boosts at about 75%, then adjust the volume with your guitar, but not pegged at 10. This amp sounds closer to a tube amp than it does to a transistor amp.

Construction is rugged. In 10 years of use it has never broken down but I've not hauled this thing around much. The pots are developing "static shorts" and need to be cleaned or replaced.

Carvin is easy to work with. They seem to want to make you happy even years after your original purchase.

I bought this amp ten years ago. It was an outstanding value and still sounds as good as it did new. Carvin was ahead of their time in making transistor amps sound like tube amps. This one has the sound. Carvin does not make this amp anymore but I would not shy away from buying a used one. The replacement SX-100D has digital effects and such.

THIS AMP IS VERY VERSATILE FOR A SOLID-STATE AMP.IT HAS CHANNEL-SWITCHING,REVERB,EFFECTS LOOP,AND TWO CHANNELS.THE FIRST CHANNEL HAS A BUILT-IN DISTORTION CIRCUIT,AND THE SECOND IS JUST CLEAN.IT HAS A GREAT SOUND WITH A SOLID BASS AND AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF DISTORTION FOR A SOLID-STATE AMPLIFIER.IT ISN'T THAT LOUD COMPARED TO OTHER 100 WATT AMPS,BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS HOOK UP AN EXTENSION CAB.

GREAT FOR ANY TYPE OF MUSIC WHETHER IT IS COUNTRY OR HEAVY METAL.THE CLEAN CHANNEL STAYS CLEAN EVEN ON TEN AND THE DISTORTION GIVES AN EXTREMELY SOLID CRUNCH ON 10.ON ABOUT 3 OR 4 GIVES A GREAT BLUES TONE THAT COULD COMPETE WITH ANY TUBE AMP.THERE IS ALSO NO NEED FOR A NOISE GATE,WITH THE DISTORTION ON TEN THERE IS STILL VERY LITTLE NOISE.

I HAVE OWNED THE AMP FOR A YEAR AND I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT ONCE.THE AMP WITHIN THE YEAR HAS HAD TO ENDORE EXTREME SETTINGS AND DID IT EASILY.

IT COMES WITH A YEARS WARRANTY ON ALL PARTS.HAVE NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH THE COMPANY.

THIS AMP WAS DEFINITLY WORTH BUYING.EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS TOP-NOTCH AND IF I NEEDED A BACK-UP I WOULD DEFINITELY BUY ANOTHER ONE.