Carvin Vintage 16 112 Combo

OK, allright, I admit it, I don't remember how long I've had this amp. It's been a few years though. All the features have been mentioned time and time again.

I bought this amp (actually my wife bought it for me)
because of the idea of what it's known for being, switchable from Pentode to Triode, whatever all that means! The idea for me is being able to get the sound of an amp being played loud with out being loud.

Well, I havent been dissapointed. I've been tossing around the suggestions of those that mention the Weber Blue Dog and JJ's tubes for a while now, waiting to have the disposable cash to make this purchase deem necessary.

My band has been in the recording studio and our engineer was amazed at what I was getting from this amp. He suggested I leave it as is.

At first I was dissapointed when I tried using the V-16 during a band practice and it just couldnt cut it trying to stand out when it was necessary to stand out. We are not a loud band but we sure seemed like it when this poor little amp was trying to huff and puff it's way through our songs.

But then we purchased a PA with allot more inputs than the one before. I now was able to be mic'd through the PA and I had to turn it down!

At home it's just fine, I can jam along to my favorite songs or just practice on my own and the sound is quite nice, I get satisfaction and almost a zen kind of thing going, I just need to practice more at practicing.

I play a G&L Comanche and Blues Boy, as well I have a MIJ Strat-in-stein
I'm currently modifieng (sp?).

I like the sound of an atmospheric type of guitar. Kind of some James Calvin Wilsey, toss in some Danny Gatton, some Mark Knopfler, Buck Dharma, Carlos Santana, Aqua Velvets, Brian Setzer, SRV, Elliot Easton the list goes on but is also limited.

This amp seems to fit the bill for what I'm doing when I'm doing that geetar thang.

I followed a previous listers settings and have pretty much left them there.

I've used this amp at everything/everywhere since we got a better PA. We played the San Mateo County Fair this past August and I was complimented on what I was getting cutting through the mix with such a little amp.

I've been depending on this amp and it hasent let me down. I don't see this amp listed in EBAY, that must say something.

It hasent broken down or needed tubes changed or anything since I've had it.

I'm seriously thinking of purchasing a second one just to have at home.

I seem to remember that the customer support was very helpfull and very easy to work with when the purchase was first being made. I think I remember an issue coming up and they dealt with it real quick! I think it was tube related and they sent me e new set within days.

I've been playing for a long time now. I took off almost 15 years because I was so messed up from the drugs and dissenchantment of the whole scene, and then all of a sudden being self aware I was really only so-so and couldnt get any better.

Probably the best move I ever made because I came back at it with a vengance! I had forgotton most of the bad habits I had aquired and I learned to listen.

I would buy this amp again if it were lost or stolen. Hell! I'm thinking of doing it anyway just to have another one.

I don't have any negative feedback on this. This amp seems to fit the bill for me.

I live in the Bay Area of San Francisco and I'm planning on going to their new store that just opened up in Sacramento.

This amp,s features have been well listed out. I thought as far as the controls go, it has everything I need. I only wanted one channel in an amp this size that had excellent clean breakup and I could use a good external overdrive to kick it up (such as the tonebone). After using it a while, I do find most lacking a standby switch! Also an effects loop would have been nice, but neither of those are on vintage tweeds either. C'est la vie.

I play a Carvin DC-127. It has coil splitting capabilities, so a good single coil neck and humbucking translation is important to me.

Recently Carvin has apparently taken the advice of these review and put in a lower wattage speaker - celestion vintage 30 instead of the 100 watters in the originals. I felt I was really aking a risk buying an amp I have never played before, but I own Carvin guitars and I decided to give it a shot. In short, I haven't modified a thing yet and this amp is nothing short of excellent. I wanted a "lower wattage" all tube amp and looked at Fender's Blue Jr. and Crates 15 watt palimino. I really wanted to like the fender, but the crate was better. When I received the Carvin though, I immediately knew I made the right choice. The ability to switch the wattage put me over the top. I both modes the distortion is responsive harmonic and envigorating. I play mostly blues, classic rock, alternative. In conjunction with the tonebone, it is just unmatched for the price.

I was really looking for a great blues sound for recording and jamming, but I have recently discovered the Vox - y sound this amp is capable of. I have written some U2 - ish songs an use this with my guitar set on the neck humbucker, running some compression to chorus. Just so lush and full with the touch of break up to add dynamics. Perfect. This amp is very well suited to classic rock and blues out of the box, but that is not all it can do. However, one reveiwer was right in saying if you are craving some good old fender 6V6 sound - you will want a deluxe reverb reissue. But every amp has limits and strengths. This is worth your time and money if you are a serious guitar player. I am giving it a 10 because there have been a few fools giving scathing reviews taking down the average

No Problems. Built well. I use it mostly in the studio, but it holds up for any thing I've needed so far.

Carvin customer support is consistently excellent! That is a factor in considering an amp choice. While I have not used them for this amp, they have always treated me well.

People have noted that there is not much difference in the 5 watt to 15 watt modes as far as loudness. 2 comments on this. First, this makes sense because of the rule of 10. (Check out www.guitarnuts.com for comments on amp wattage to loudness). In short, you have to multiply the wattage by ten to only perceptably double the output volume of the amp. So a 50 watt amp fully cranked will only sound twice as loud as a 5 watt amp running the same cab. So in reality, a 15 watt amp is plenty loud for many applications. I use this for jamming an live play.
Secondly, (and this is the best part) I bought a behringer GI100 for 20 bucks and that means I can run this thing to the board and record or go through the PA and be as loud as I need. An excellent alternative to mic'ing. This behringer device is a DI box which runs between your speaker and the amp. It has a 4x12 cab sim built in and sounds unbelieveable.
So this amp is may main practice, recording and gigging amp. The only thing I miss are the features noted and that fender sound. But that's what second amps are for. I am also going to try a Tech 21 GT2 before the amp and see what that does. But even with out it I am beyond satisfied. Kudos Carvin!

My V16 is a 2004 model. I mainly play blues and classic rock and for these styles of music this is a very good amplifier. It is a one channel amp with Soak (gain), Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Reverb controls. The controls work well and it is very easy to get good tones from the amp. Also, this is an amp that lets a guitar's tone come through. I use this amp jamming with my friends and it is plenty lod for that.

The guitars I use with this amp are: 2004 Gibson R7 Reissue with Burstbucker Pros, 2004 Gibson R7 Reissue with P90s; 2002 Carvin Bolt with two AP-11 single coils and a CT22 humbucker; 1987 Fernder '52 Reissue Telecaster; 1967 Gretsch Corvette.

This amp really allows the different character of each of my guitars to come through. All that it really takes to get a ggod sound from it is a little attention to the controls. As an example, when using humbucking pickups I ease off on the Soak. When using single coils I boost the mids. This stuff isn't rocket science--it's simply a bit of knob tweaking to get a good sound.

This is a quiet amp. I did two things to mine, however. Mine cam with the 100 watt Carvin speaker and I replaceed that with a Weber 15 watt Alnico Blue Dog. This speaker is much better suited to the amp's power output and gives it a much more refined sound. The second thing I did was swap in some JJs tubes. Now it has a tighter sound. SInce this amp now come with a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker I don't think a speaker change is necessary and, with this speaker, maybe the tube change isn't either.

This amp suits the style of music I play and the settings I play in. All of my friends love the tone of this amp.

Reliable. It has never broken down. I would use this without a backup but I would take spare tubes with me just in case.

N/A

I have been playing for 26 years. My other amp is a Marshall JCM900 50 watt Hi-Gain Dual Reverb that I love except for how much it weighs--I'm tired of lugging that big bastard around. The Carvin V16 is easy to carry and delivers great tone. Recently I compared it to a Fender Re-Issue 40 watt Twin that costs over $2,000. That Twin is a great amp. It's hand-wired, has Weber designed speakers, and delivers the "shimmer" that only that type of amp can. That being said, my V16 with its Weber speaker and PCB internals sounds just as good, although different because it doesn't quite have the "shimmer", as the Twin which costs four times as much. It can also bring on its tone at lower volumes than the Twin.

I chose this amp beause I figured for the price I had nothing to lose. It has exceeded my expectations. It is a simple and straightforward amp for people who desire that in an amp. It's nothing fancy but the more I play it the more I love it.

If it was lost or stolen I would immediately but another.

Great amp value!

This is an update, I have had the amp for 9 months.

The V16 that I got had the 100 watt speaker in it. I see in the Carvin catalog that they are now putting a 30 in it. Good move Carvin! Anyway, what I wanted to pass along is that I changed the speaker to a Weber Bluedog 15 watt vintage alnico and absolutely love the sound. (thanks to some earlier reviewers for the tip). I also swapped out the tubes for JJ's, then I put the stock tubes back in, then I went back to the JJ's. Both types of tubes sound good - just in different ways. The JJ's are smooth and round. The stock Sovtec tubes are edgy and crunchy. So that's just a matter of style to me. The Reverb was always too strong too soon and was difficult to like. That started me on a quest for a reverb pedal which I ended taking back because it was not the sound from Heaven, in fact it was noisy and tacky. Then I discovered that by putting a JJ ECC82 (eighty-two) in the verb tube slot (V2) that it smoothes out the verb and gives you a full range of usable sound. Now I love the reverb. It is not the best reverb there is but it is now very usable and smooth! Because the 82 is very low gain it makes the tank less tangy and brittle. The reverb tank itself is not a bad one for the type amp it is installed in.

I keep banging and schleping the amp around and it works perfect.

I have not had to contact them. That means they are doing their job.

This has turned out to be a great little office / practice amp for me. It is so much easier to pick up the guitar and relax when you know you are going to like the tone of the rig!

Features per other reviews here. Decent feature set
for the price.

Wanted another flavor to go with my various older Fender amps, and
something for low volume recording. I play mostly single coils through
all of my amps, w/ few if any effects. I'm not sure this is the flavor
I wanted, or maybe I'm just married to the Fender sound.

Like all EL84 amps I've used, it's more middy and muddy than
I really like. The treble's diffused and the bass compresses and
smears when hit hard. The overdrive doesn't do much until it hits
about 6.5, then instantly goes over the top. The clean sound isn't
bad, but newver seems to get very loud -- probably because it's
a poor match for the 100-watt speaker. This cost-cutting measure
means that the speaker never really humps until the thing's cranked.

I have had it out of the house twice, and it has seen only
the lightest of light duty. One of the chicken head knobs has
already gone AWOL, and the reverb has ceased to work. Carvin quoted
me $160.00 plus shipping (!)to fix it. The guy on the phone
sounded like he did not even know what a spring reverb was --
he may have been the sweeper -- so naturally I did not feel
confident.

I ended up finding someone who worked fo Accutronics. He told
me how to trouble shoot the tank to determine whether it was
the source of woe. It wasn't, so the problem's internal.
I did change the tube identified as the one which is part of the 'verb circuitm and NUTHIN'. I'm just going to say screw it and buy a Holy Grail or something. The reverb kinda sucked anyway, even before it went dead. Oh, and the (proprietary) tank, which Carvin wants to replace for me at $160 plus shipping, can be had directly
from the manufacturer for less than $30. All you need is the code stamped into the tank, and if your tank really does fail, then call it in to Accutronics. It's two screws, and 2 RCA plugs, to replace.

The chicken head falling off just pissed me off, because I'm not a knob twiddler, which means that someone just did not tighten the
set screw properly. All it took was gravity for it to fall off.
Quality control at Carvin must go on siesta fifteen minute after
the screw-tightening department comes back from their liquid lunch.

I'm seriously unimpressed w/ Carvin after several dealings over
the phone. They ought to put a schematic into the back of everything they sell, so you could bypass their lame service.

BTW: Price below is price + ship + cover. Amp itself is
$399 per the catalog.

Basically a low-priced amp with a few compromises (no channel
switching, 100-watt speaker.) Some people might like theirs (assuming
better reliability than I've had) but I now use it only to
amplify my Korg simulator.

Although this amp isn't by any means worthless to me, I have to say that after this and their piss-poor "Vintage Wah" I won't be
buying anything else from Carvin. The price and the features look
attractive, but without local product support (or even competent
or co-operative phone support) what are you really buying??

Just recieved the amp a few weeks ago brand new from Carvin. Knobs and functions have been listed plenty of times in other reviews. Single channel, soak, master volume, reverb, etc. Three 12ax7 and two EL84 tubes. 16 watts in Pentode mode, switchable to 5 in Triode mode. Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. Gorgeous Tweed poplar cabinet.

I've tried this amp with my Carvin AE-185, my Squier Standard Stratocaster that I've upgraded with all Carvin electronics, my Agile Les Paul gordtop with ceramic P90's, a Johnson "Vegas" hollowbody, and a 1966 Burns/Baldwin electric 12-string.

I have never been happier with my sound. With every pickup setting on every guitar I can find very useful sounds with this amp. My big brother (age 51... I'm 42... we've both been playing forever) brought over his 70's Fender Princeton Reverb so we could A - B them. I've long considered the vintage Princeton Reverb to be the holy grail of clean tone. While the Vintage 16 did not sound like the Princeton, it still sounded fantastic next to it. Its clean tones held their own very well. And when we started playing with the gain knob the versatility of this amp began to shine. It can go into territory where the Princeton could not.

It is not for heavy metal. It has a lot of usable distortion sounds but they are vintage sounds, not shredder sounds.

I've gigged with it twice now. First thing I discovered I had to do was leave all of the effects pedals at home. They only get in the way of the tone of the amp.

I've ended up leaving it in the 5 watt triode mode both times I've performed with it. It's just so rich and warm. And it's really not much softer than the 16 watt mode. I'm actually amazed at how loud 5 watts can be.

The vintage distortions are wonderful, but in our oldies band I'm mostly after the vintage clean sounds, and this amp delivers amply. I don't remember ever before being 100% happy with my tone. I am now. I know we're not supposed to give gushing reviews but I have to be honest here... the amp is everything I hoped it would be.

I haven't worked with it long enough to comment intelligently here. Tube amps are a little more fragile, obviously. But Carvin seems to have built it like a tank.

Carvin's customer support can be great depending on which rep you talk to. The amp showed up D.O.A. It powered up but had no sound whatsoever. I called customer support so say I wanted to swap it. The guy I spoke to said he couldn't do that unless I talked to one of the techs first and we went through a trouble shooting procedure. Unfortunately, all the techs there go home at 2:30 (that's what I said, "What?") and I'd have to call back the next day when they were there. I explained that I had a day job and couldn't take the amp to work and call from there, etc. Could we just start an exchange please? He wouldn't budge. I hung up frustrated.

I started looking over the amp myself and noticed that one of the 12ax7 tubes was a different color than the rest. I decided to remove it to inspect it and then I tried it came out in pieces. I called Carvin back and got a different guy named Marco. He was great. I told him I had one spare 12ax7 I could try but I was afraid that the amp would just blow it out immediately. He told me to go ahead and do it anyway. I asked, "If it blows the tube will you send me a replacement?" He said, "I'm going to send you a whole new set whether it blows it or not". I put the tube in and the amp worked great. He hasn't yet followed followed through on the promise to send me tubes.

So I guess I'm giving customer support a 6, since the amp left the factory unfunctioning and because only 50% of my customer support experience was positive.

I'm giving the amp an overall rating of 9... not a 10 only because of Carvin's customer support buffoon that I talked to when I first called and the fact that it was D.O.A when I got it. It delivers on every promise the manufacturer makes. It sounds fantastic. And I understand that if I ever swap out these Sovtec tubes for something better like JJ Tesla, the amp will be even warmer still. I love it! If I ever lost it I would be heartbroken.

Back in the 70's I used a Peavey Pacer 45 watt 1 x 12 combo with a lot of effects. I ended up in the 80's and 90's just running a lot of effects into the PA when performing and skipping the amp altogether. For this oldies band I'm in now that wasn't quite cutting it, I needed vintage sounds, so I bought an Epiphone Galaxie 10 tube amp. I reviewed that one on this site as well. While I really liked it for what it was (an extremely affordable Class A tube amp), the Vintage 16 blows it out of the water. When my brother/bandmate came over with his Princeton Reverb he kept saying, "Not only is it beautiful to look at, it sounds wonderful!"

As others have said, just soak (gain), volume, tone, & reverb controls. They are shipping with Celestion classic 30 speakers now.

No effects loop. Switch to change between 5 & 16 watts. It is plenty loud enough for me, but if you regularly play with a drummer, you may want more power or use a mic.

I wanted an all tube amp that was portable and at 30 lbs, this one does the job.

I am playing Ibanez guitar with SSH pickups. The amp has a nice blues/classic rock sound. With a distortion pedal, it handles Scorpions, GNR, & other 80s hard rock sounds well.

Out of the box, the amp sounded good and worked well with distortion, delay, chorus and other pedals. There is no effects loop, so you have to keep the soak knob on a clean setting to for delay and chorus to sound good. I usually just set up a good clean sound, and then use a Jekyll & Hyde distortion pedal when I want more drive.

If you want more of a 'cranked amp tone,' I'd recommend reading the EXCELLENT articles at www.amptone.com. An eq pedal ($30 Danelectro fish & chips) and a power attenuator ($75 mini mass from Weber) really helped bring out the best in my guitar and amp. The power attenuator allows for power tube saturation in addition to preamp distortion at lower volume levels. With the EQ pedal, you can tailor the tone to your liking. This setup yields everything from AC/DC crunch to a great classic rock lead tone for wailing solos when my kids are asleep.

Works great as a practice amp and in church on Sundays. No problems after three months.

Ordered online and it was shipped quickly. No problems

I've been playing 15 years, off and on. I wanted a tube amp, but as a hobbyist, my playing environment and budget could not justify expensive or powerful gear. This little amp sounds great and is an outstanding value. I looked at amps in the $800 - $1000 range, but ultimately decided to buy this one and spend the difference on a power attenuator, eq pedal, and other gear. I am very glad I did.

this is mainly a blues amp.not very versatile but if you are looking
for a good vintage tube tone,this is it.it is a i channel amp.with
a good overdrive pedal it is loud enough for small gigs.

i use it with a 70's reissue strat,it works great.it has a very
specific sound ,it does not sound like a classic peavey nor a fender hrd. it has it's own personnality.hi's and low's are so pure.
i use it with a boss od-3 (GREAT PEDAL TRY IT!)for blues that's all
you need.i forgot to mention it is not noisy at all.i have other amps
fender hrd peavey delta blues and honestly i prefer the sound of
this little thing!.i just wish it were 30 wattsor so,nothing is perfect i guess.if like me you have been looking around for THE
BLUES SOUND give it a try.....

I have had it for only a month,it seems fine to me.

all i can say is i was on the phone with carvin twice and they
were very nice.

i have been playing for 12 years and i have been like others
looking for that perfect sound i have other amps of course
fender hrd twin classic peavey,but as i said this little thing
is in a class of it's own.i will probably try carvin nomad 112
50 watts if it is anything like the vintage 16 ,at 50 watts it
will be fantastic.

Single channel, soak.vol,bass,mid,treble,reverb. One 12" speaker. Very portable.

I have many guitars to use, mostly I use a custom made R&B stratelli w/fralin singles, and an R&B standard for slide-PAF buckers. I like the way this amp sounds now, since I've played with it's speaker and tube configurations--a lot! I play mostly traditional and electric (eclectic) blues. Pretty quiet with amperex nos 7025;s in it....JJ el84's. The amp sounds very smooth now.....let me explain....first, I put in the new tubes. Good idea. Then I put in a 30 watt celestion, because out of the box, the amp was waaaay too stiff. The highs still sounded a bit harszh tho. Then, as I sometimes do, I got a silly idea to put the chassis into a mojo 2x12 bluesbreaker cab w/2-12" greenbacks....The guys in the band kept telling me to turn down! LOLOL! EXCELLENT bass response then...mids warm, highs still a bit scratchy....so THEN...I put the chassis into a mojo MINI bluesbreaker cab w/2 jensen mod 10's 35watts...a little less volume, a little less bass, great mids, and the highs smoothed out. Then.....LOL...I put the chassis back into its original cabinet, but I had sold the 12" that was in it. I got a JBL e120 in a trade with a guitar-geek friend of mine and.....HOLY CRAP! I put it in the carvin cab, and alla the sudden my little V-16 turned into a monster that will poke yer eyes out!....Still not all that much bass, but girthy....smooth mids....clear as a bell, smooth highs...very silky & not harsh, and the JBL is sooo efficient, that it's now plenty loud enough to be a very portable gig amp. This amp now can get very loud for it's size and wattage rating. The only pedal I've ever used with it is a durham sex drive clean boost pedal...I don't even need that any more...you might think me crazy, but the tubes doing the distortion, and the speaker being clean really...REALLY sounds good...very smoooooth...and loud.

Had it for 2 1/2 years now....no issues.

I've never had a problem to deal with from Carvin.

I'll rate this thing high, because I just haven't found anything close to this amp for the money. I'm having a lot of fun with it. I also own a Cage Corsa 18/30...it would be silly to compare them. I do use the carvin for smaller gigs and teaching tho. I'm thinking about buying another one and seeing what kind of warped cofiguration I can contort it into to get a different sound.
Kerranggg!

Has everything I need.

Guitars with P-90 pick ups and regular single coils. This amp delivers an accurate reproduction of your guitars ability. It is exactly the sound and tone I desired. For recording, home office practicing, small jam sessions. It's great clean and overdriven.

When I received it via UPS, the shipping carton was beat up. When I opened the box the styrofoam corners were all broken to bits (note to Carvin: maybe a little beefier shipping packaging..). I figured there might be some issues, however the amp was in perfect condition - no scratches, dings or dents. I plugged it in, checked the tubes for snugness and started rocking. Considering that the shipping box looked like the amp was 'rolled' from California to Miami and still was in perfect shape and working order I have to figure it's pretty reliable! I have had no problems at all over the past 2 months.

They sent me tracking #'s and got it to me in exactly 1 week from ordering. I have had no reason to contact them. So they are doing a good job so far

Like many I also did a lot of looking. Now that I have it I don't know why I waited so long to make up my mind. It's sweet.