Carvin Vintage 16 112 Combo

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.

I bought this amp shortly after it was introduced. Just your bare bones, meat and potatoes no-frills amp. I personally would'nt call it versatile but it does what I need. I use this amp for practice in my basement.

I'm using a Tele with Lindy Fralins Blues Specials, and a Les Paul with Dimarzio PAF's. I find the tone of this amp to be a bit on the stiff side, and the bottom end tends to flub out a bit too quick for my liking. Granted your only going to get so much low end out of an EL84 based amp that's only 16 watts but I'd like if it was a bit tighter. Speaking of the low end I don't understand the bass knob. From 0 to 2 there is no bass at all. Turn it a tad past 2 and the bass suddenley kicks in and the actual bass response stays the same up until 8. Then from 8 to 10 there is a slight increase that's hardly noticable. So basically the bass knob is an "on/off" switch. I e-mailed Carvin and they told me this was normal. Huh??
Anyway, because I find the sound a bit stiff and cardboard sounding I use a Bass GE-7 EQ to reshape things a bit and it helped out a lot. I keep the Soak knob at about 7 and the Volume knob on about 8 and with the EQ this keeps things clean and smooth with no breakup and it sounds pretty good with both the Tele and the Lester. For distorted sounds I'm using Tonebone pedals. The Tele goes into the Hot British and the Lester goes into the Classic and I'll tell you what, I'm learning to pull some pretty good sounds out of it all. I've got all the volumes at an equal level and it's all just right. Not to quiet, but loud enough to get the point across without rippin your ears off of your head. It might be loud enough for a basement band practice but in a live situation it would no doubt have to be mic'd thru a P.A.. But for my needs at home I find that the combination of my guitars, amp, EQ and the Tonebones gives me what I need. I wish the amp was a bit smoother on its own but again, I fixed that with the EQ.

Seems to be reliable and has'nt caused me any grief although it's due for a tune-up.

I've heard a lot of good and a lot of bad regarding Carvins customer service but if the amp just quit on me I'd take it to a local tech.

I really don't know if I'd buy it again. Offhand I probably would'nt. But then again now that I've tweaked it a bit with some pedals and for my needs at home I think it works okay as a basic base to work from.

Really all you need. Reverb* Switchable power. EQ, and a master volume.

Tried it through a couple P-90 equiped and a Hamer sunburst. Very organic sound. As a matter of fact, just what I was looking for...dirty...not buzzy. Good for grungy stuff, classic rock, blues, etc. Not for heavy distortion. (no boxes). Disappointed in how weak the clean sound was though.

Here's my problem: first one came with reverb not working. It wouldn't change for pentode to triode either. So, I returned it. Very helpful satff sent me a second one that didn't work at all. Now, I'm very impatient. But, a very friendly staffer promised a replacement in three days, so I said "bring it on". I called to get a tracking number for delivery...."on back order...three weeks!" So I've cancelled the order and am very unhappy with Carvin quality.

See above. The staff are very friendly and helpful. But, they couldn't help me in the end. Give me surly and competent and day. Plus, the promise of a three day delivery was just a plain lie!

I wish I could say good things. The price is so right. What I heard was cool. But, the complete failure of quality control has to giv e this the low rating.

Almost everything you need. 12" speaker. It's small. Very portable. 16 watts of tube tone.

But it is missing a couple things. First, it does not have a standby switch. That would have been very nice. I see that as a big oversight. It is not the end of the world but I like to be kind to tubes and a standby switch makes that a little easier. Second, it does not have a line out. That would be nice for playing at place you do not want to take the time to mike the amp (like most of the time). I got around this by using a Behringer Ultra-G. It is a DI box that sits between the amp and the speaker. It sounds good too.

This amp is amazing. Especially for the price. Great for that blues, classic rock, country or even jazz tone. It has good smooth distortion but not the "metal" sound. To give an idea, here is what I compared it. Fender Blues Junior ($400) - this is what I thought I would buy till I tried it. It sound colored with no life. What a disappointment. Fender Hot Rod Deluxe ($600) - A little colored. Just did not sound right. Riveria Clubster ($900)- This was the one with 10" speaker and maybe 18 watts. The clean sound was great. The distortion sound was not that good imho. It sounded cheap. Riveria Clubster ($1200) w/ 12" about 40 watts - This was a great amp. Perfect clean and such a smooth lead channel. If I had the money, I would have purchased this one. Groove Tubes ($1000+) I tried a few their amps. They all sound great but the Carvin just sounded better than those. Mesa F-30 ($900)- A very good sounding amp with the mesa sound. It could get alot of different sounds. Very comparable to Carvin but capable of more range of sounds. The Carvin won my decision on price.

What really got me on this amp is that it is fun to play. Adjust the settings and jam. That is the most important thing in an amp.

I have not had any problems. My rating is based on the time when I found my 2 year old using my amp as a jungle gym. He climbed on top of it, lost his balance, knocked the amp over, into the wall, and fell on top of it. There was not a scratch on the amp but there was a dent in the wall. Everything powered up fine.

No problems.

I wanted a small, low watt tube amp to use mostly at home and in a studio. I was looking for 12" speaker, under 30 watts, and under $500. To my surprise there are not many good tube amps under $500. This Carvin just amazes me because of the sound for the price. Most the amps I compared this to were over $1k.

It is surprisingly louder than I thought it would be. I used it at a gig in 300 seat auditorium. When I asked the soundman how the amp was sounding he told me that most of the sound was coming from my amp and not the PA. I was shocked.

The speaker takes a while to break in so it sounds better with more use. Some people have complained about the lack of a 2nd channel. That is not an issue for me because I use pedals to overdrive the amp. There are only a handful of amps that have 2 channels where I like the sound of both channels. I rather get an amp I like and then get some good pedals to go with it.

About me, I have played for 20 years. I play regularly and am good enough that I have been asked to sit in the studio for other folks. I play blues, jazz, rock, and sometimes country.

I am rating it a 10 because I cannot find anything that comes even close in this price range.

Its Eq Section is a carving section. Don't think since you get a huge variety, that makes an amp better. Usually it is the exact opposite. How many variables do you need? You want something that adds the frequencies but not to a point of over doing it.

Play '93 PRS Goldtop custom 24 Deep Dish, USA Strat w/single coils Alder, USA Strat single coil Bill Lawrence pickups Swamp ash old guitar. Very quite amp, with GREAT tone. I am a session player and believe me I have played it all. I mostly played "botique amps" but didn't own very many amps. Played Boogie (old stuff is ok but NOT the new) Fender (Good cleans at medium volumes, too colored.) Marshall(Good if you have min. $3000 to get old amps, the new amps I DO NOT LIKE at all!) Dr. Z (very good, but get ready to mortgage your home for one) Snider Amps (Awesome, but they start at $4000) If you like a DRY tone, I really have only ever heard a few as dry. Dry is good, your actual guitar tone will come out, if you have a crap guitar with no tone, don't attempt this amp. Dry will allow pedals and guitars to express better. If you have patients and use HIGH Quality pedals, this amp is an absolute TONE ANIMAL! I have played Rock, Jazz, Funk, Country, & Blues through it, without any tone issues. I don't use alot of effects, just a couple pedals, Jekyll & Hyde, Tonebone hot british, texas ranger, Crowther hot cake, not all at the same time, with a RMC 3 wah and a fulltone clyde wah. It may be small but FIERCE.

If Carvin ships it to you, check the tubes right away make sure they are all seated properly. Mine had one V2 position out of whack.

I have many people I know that do regular business with them and they are easy to work with.

I have been a session guitar player for almost 10 years, and have seen it all. Carvin has stepped up thier quality over the past 5 years in my opinion, most everything is actually very impressive. I tried the other amps, didn't have this tone. You have to break this amp in like all tube amps, be patient grasshopper, your tone will arrive with this thing. And for MSRP of $399, scary cheap. By the way a few of us A/B'd this amp with a bunch of 20 watt "botique amps" and we about crapped ourselves, this amp kicked the sh@# out of many of them, not kidding. We found 2 that sounded better out of 9, oh yea by the way one cost $2000 and the other one $2300. For the money this amps kicks ass no doubt, but it isn't for everyone, I recommend it for an accomplished player with high quality Guitars and Effects, don't throw modeling crap through this, use the real stuff like I listed. Some of the pedals are almost as much as the amp but the tone is versitile and much bigger than it looks. By the way if you are comparing this to a Blues Junior, no comparison, the blues jr. starts to loose its tone fast when pushed and is too colored. I will put this against the better Fenders of this age and still have confidence this will smoke them, even the 2x12 stuff. This amp has a large amount of punch and remains strong even on 10, and play it at a small gig, it has plenty of balls.

This is a new (2004) Vintage 16. I play in a band that does a variety of music -- mostly classic rock, but also current stuff and originals that have kind of a Santana vibe. I have a large amp collection, but find even 40 watters overpowering in many of the smaller venues we play. I had been searching for a versatile, reasonably priced, low-wattage tube amp, and previously owned (and sold) both the Fender Pro and Jr. I found that the small Fenders had a great "lead" tone, but in my opinion, not enough clean headroom to play chords with sufficient definition. The recent review in Guitar Player magazine convinced me to give the Vintage 16 a try. The Vintage 16 is a very basic 1 channel amp: put the gain on or about full, set the tone controls how you like, and use "soak" to dial in the desire volume and crunch. Despite the lack of "features," I find this to be a very "versatile" amp, capable of producing great clean and overdriven tones, and in that respect, I disagree with the GP reviewer who characterized it as a "one-tone" kind of amp. I think this amp can really cover all bases, with the exception of metal.

This is a wonderful amp. The first amp I have ever owned or played that actually allowed me to get great tube tone at lower volume levels, both clean and overdriven. Far superior, in my opinion, than the Fender Pro and Jr. In addition, I tend to disagree with the reviewers who say that you need to swap the tubes and speaker to make this amp really sing. I have experimented with different tubes (Sovtek, JJ, EH), and speakers (Celestion, Weber, Reverend, Jenson). I found the different tubes so close in sound to be barely indistinguishable. Speakers, of course, each have a voice of their own, and changing them will result in a differenct sounding amp, but this is totally subjective. After trying a whole bunch of different tubes and speakers, I ended up putting the "original equipment" back in, and have never looked back. It sounds great.

I have not opened-up the chassis, but from the outside, the amp appears very sturdy and well constructed. I have purchased quite a few Carvin products over the years and have never had a problem. However, I never gig without a backup.

The Carvin sales staff has always been a pleasure to deal with.

I've been playing about 30 years, and have owned all kinds of amps and guitars. I currently rely mainly on Reverend and Marshall amps, but based on my experience with the Vintage 16, may also purchase the Carvin Belair (50 watt 2x12). I play a G&L Legacy, American-Std Tele, LP Classic, Peavey Wolfgang, and Reverend Slingshot. If the Vintage 16 were stolen or lost, I would definitely buy another.

Bought new in 2003. Limited, but very useful within that range.
Wish it had: a standby switch, an ext. speaker jack, A NO-TOOLS-NEEDED 16/5W SWITCH. An effects loop might be overkill

I use an SG90 (usually in single-coil mode), and Telecaster, and occasionally a theremin and an electric kalimba. The amp is respectably quiet, only developing background growl at higher gain settings, although sometimes a hum creeps in that I remedy with a swat to the side of the amp.
Straight out of the box, I hated this amp. I'd gotten used to my '68 Vibro-Champ, and the Vintage 16's cardboard tone couldn't touch it for gritty bite or chime. I almost resigned myself to an immediate speaker & tube swap, but after a few days it sounded better; maybe the tubes were settling in, maybe my ears were recalibrating, maybe both. But I came to admire the amp's roundness and non-brittle clarity. A subtle liveliness. The tone controls seem to operate much differently from my Fenders. Bass and mid add, respectively, depth and "muscle", not mud. I can find very few EQ settings that flat out suck.
Things get mushy when the soak knob gets past 7. I've heard there are some diodes (or resistors, or whatever) that are in the circuit specifically to produce some warmth/distortion. I'd rather have a bit more headroom. In time I'm sure I'll swap out the tubes and speaker, and maybe yank out those mystical diodes, but for now I'm quite pleased with it.

Only a year old, so I'll make an estimate.

Too many salesmen, not enough repairmen. (A universal truth?) The amp shipped with the wrong fuses, and it took the company three days to properly field my question. They sent me replacements, but I'd rather have spent the $.55, gotten my questions answered promptly, and spared them the postage and excessive packing.

I didn't especially need another amp, but when I won a $250 Carvin gift certificate, it seemed like the best use of the funds. No regrets. Two thumbs up.

This is a great amp, I think it sounds above average with stock tubes and speaker, I put euro tubes JJs EL84 and AX7s that Bob from euro tube recomended that help alot, I already had a 30w weber alnico blue dog, But it was still missing something, So I called and talked to (Ted Weber) and He told me to get the 15w Alnico Blue Dog and WOW HOT I can't tell you how good this amp sounds,I have a 83 Fender Telecaster,A 68 Gibson Les paul Custom Cherry Sunburst, A Music Man Albert Lee Translucent Red Cherryburst , And a Carvin ae185-12 string electric semihollow body Guitar. The tube and speaker change cost around $240 dollars.This Amp dose everthing great I really like the 5w mode best but the 16w mode is great to.With my Les Paul its Led Zeplin meets Aerosmith,With Albert Lee its CCR,Albert Collins,Texas Blues ZZ Top,With the Telecaster its twang heaven,With the Carvin ae18512 its the Birds,Eagles, The tone is fantastic,This Amp does everything.I live close to the Carvin Covina store after I put the speaker and new tubes in the amp I had to show it off the staff was in awe of the sound they thought the stock Amp was good but with the changes WOW even the customers were asking where they could buy the speakers and tubes.This is not a one horse pony,this amp is hard rock,blues,soul,breath,buttery brown sound,I love this amp I own a fender twin with two JBL E120 speakers that is a great amp two and a Carvin vintage 33 with the same tubes and speaker as the vintage 16 but with 30w alnico weber blue dog but theres something about that class A 5w mode in the vintage 16 amp,like I said its awesome it sounds like a 30w amp

10

The Manager and staff at the Covina Carvin store is the best

The basic amp is a awesome product but with the speaker and tube change it out fenders a fender,and out voxes a vox,and out marshalls a marshall I have been playing for 35 years I have owned a lot of amps a 65 vox ac30,Boy was I dumb my ex wife needed tires for her car so I sold that amp,I taken this amp to the rude dog in covina and other places and played,every one who has heard this amp loves the buttery clean and brown distortion sound

Basic features: volume, bass, mid, treble, reverb and soak controls.
Single input. Bought it for use in small venues, ie. coffe shops, etc.
I play mostly country, classic rock, and blues. For what I wanted it has the features I need.

With this amp I use a PRS McCarty and a G&L ASAT Classic. When I purchased it, the tubes had alreday been changed to JJ's, so I can't say anything about the stock sound of the amp. Keep in mind that I am comparing this amp to a vintage '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb I've had since '65, so any negatives and positives about this amp should be taken accordingly.

When I first plugged in to it I was a little disappointed in how thin and tinnish it sounded. So I sat it next to the Fender and plugged the Fender's speaker (Celestion G12 vintage 30 watt) into the speaker jack in back of the Carvin. That immediately lit it up! So I bought the same speaker and put it in the Carvin. Before, it was hard to get much of a clean sound, even with the soak turned way down. Now it has a lot of clarity up until about 6 on the soak knob, then a nice warm blues tube breakup kicks in. The Celestion also gives it quite a bit more volume, which is nice. With the soak knob on 10 you get all the distortion any blues song would ever need. Nothing a metal head (is that the correct term?) would like. No need for any kind of distortion pedal for me. Others have not been too excited about the reverb, but to me it sounds fine at low settings, 2-4. Anything over that and it loses something.

Have not had it long enough to comment on the reliability but it seems to be built like a tank.

I've been playing for 40 years and have owned lots of different amps. Nothing compares to a tube amp. I'm totally satisfied with the "Sweet Little 16" after the speaker change. Doesn't compare with a big amp but if you're looking for something to use at home or smaller gigs I don't think you'd be disapointed with it after the tube and speaker change. I'd definitely buy another one if anything happened it.

The feature set is about right for a small amp - Lo, Mid, Hi, Vol, Soak (Drive) and Reverb. The 16W power output and triode (5W) modes are great for small venues and recording. What's missing is a Standby switch and effects loop send/return.

The sound is underwhelming - tone controls have a limited range, the amount of drive and reverb are limited too. In fact, adjusting any control from 0 to 100% is like adjusting the controls on a Fender or Marshall from 0 to 25%. It's not impressive at all, even after I re-tubed it. It can't compete with any of my other amps - Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Supro 15W practice amp, Crate 25W solid state amp.

It seems to be built pretty well - Carvin makes god stuff.

I've dealt with Carvin before and found them to be responsive.

I wanted this for playing inside the house without breaking all the windows. This amp sounds cheap and you really can't get a very wide range of tones out of it. I'm dumping it and buying a Marshall.

Brand new I had to wait a few days extra for it!! Made in 2004!!!It does just what it is made to do and it does it well. For the price though it should have tremelo. Great all tube amp.

Fender American Strat and Gibson sg. Greta sound very quiet all the time!!

Too new don't know yet

Well I have not need support yet but.. They did not tell me it was on back order I had to find out myself. They did not tell me when it was shipped I had to find out for myself. The emails and phone conversations I had were not very pleasant.

Playing for 40 years. My first good amp was a Fender Bandmaster reverb. I just bought a Blues junior with a jensen c12n It sounds better/different that the V16 but I really like both of the sounds. The v16 looks very cool and I love the front mounted chicken head knobs. I also have a fender stage 100 dsp and a kustom quad 2x12. A hammond keyboard with a motion sound amp. Feel free to email me with question about the stuff i have.

Purchased in 2004 from the factory. Features are as listed in the other reviews. The review by Armstrong pretty much hits everything dead-on, in my opinion. I did not have the reverb trouble, though. A stand-by switch would be a welcome addition.

I think the key element here is right in the name of this amp--"Vintage". If you are looking for a vintage tone, you will be extremely happy with this. If you want a more modern sounding amp and reverb, you probably won't think much of it. My single coil older Ibanez sounds great thru this, as does my humbucker equipped guitars. I agree that the 16 watt setting sounds somewhat better than the 5 watt mode. I just set it to 16 and left it there after experimenting a little--the 16 watt setting sounds fabulous. I've also run various vintage pedals thru this, which is entertaining and sounds cool for the most part. Other than the distortion pedal, I would have to say effects might sound better thru a solid state amp, but it is still fun to experiment. I also agree that the reverb could be a little more dynamic, so I knocked off a point.

Just got it, so I'm not much help here, although I'm not sweating it either, as I know Carvin will stand behind this should I have a problem. My rating is based on reputation.

Again, I am confident Carvin will stand behind this if I have a problem.

If I were to lose this somehow, I would go right out and get another. I bought this at a suggestion of a friend, who has a Hot Rod Deluxe. I would love to have that as well, but my buddy made a very good point. The HRD gets so loud so quickly that it is hard to get it to sound its' best unless you've got the space to crank it up. The Vintage 16 still sounds great at low volumes, and sounds even better cranked up. Thanks for the tip! Give this a listen if you are looking for a vintage sound. This amp has a great tone and surprising volume and power.

Purchased new in February of 2003.
This is a single-channel 16/5 watt switchable vintage-styled tube amp.
Soak, Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Reverb knobs are all cream-colored chicken-heads.
3 x 12ax7, and 2 x EL84 tubes.
Spring 'verb.
12 inch driver.
that's it, and its just what I want.
Ratings, being as subjective as they are, mean little here. That said, I give it a 9, as I would very much welcome a standby switch.

First, I am a Strat-guy.

I bought this baby just over a year ago. My main signal path is Strat -> cable -> amp. Sometimes, though, I add a DD5, Dano Tremolo, Ibanez MS10, or Dunlop Wah depending on my mood.

My main influences are The Beatles, Byrds, Animals, Stones, Zeppelin, Smiths, Police, REM and U2. This guitar/amp combo goes from the uber-compressed "Sunday Bloody Sunday" growl to the sparkle of "Feel a Whole Lot Better," with little knob-twidling. Zeppelin is a bit of a stretch for this thing with the Strat alone, but add the MS10, and I can get passably close.

Like others, I also prefer the 16 Watt mode. Its very hard to describe, but it sounds a tad more like the soothing reddish-hue of one of those extraordinary farm-country sunsets, versus your everyday nice sunset.

Regardless of the setting (5 or 16 watts) this baby is loud! Attribute that to the seemingly very efficient speaker. (Remember kids, 5 watts is way more than 1/3 the volume of 16. In-fact, the difference is negligible.) The two settings do have slight differences in dynamics, though.

The Reverb? The 'verb on the first one I received was as dead as fried chicken. I called Carvin. They went through the normal troubleshooting steps, and sent out a 3-pack of new pre-amp tubes (the verb is controlled by V3 I think.) The new tube did not help.
I received an RMA #, and sent the thing back for an exchange. They sent me a pre-paid UPS label, so it cost me nothing to send.

Anyway, a week later, I had a new one. The Reverb is great, contrary to previous reviews. It does get a little shrill at 10, but that's what you get.

I did replace the tubes with a new set of JJs.

I give this category an 8 in 5-watt mode, and a 10 in 16-watt mode.
-remember that this is a subjective review. So, from the extremely complex algorithm I use to calculate a rating, we end up with a 9.03729.

My initial reverb woes notwithstanding (not a reliability issue) I have not been let down by it yet.

I play with the band at least once a week for 3 or so hours, and goof around at home/practice at least twice that.

Ahhh, hamburgers, the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast...
Oops, sorry. I meant to say, "Customer Service, the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast." Wait, nevermind.
Anyway, Carvin has extraordinary customer service, in the music gear industry it is second to none!
My reverb problem was handled in a very professional and expedient manner.

I will buy from Carvin again.

This amp is a one-trick pony, but oh what a remarkable friggin' pony it is!
I love this amp. The only things i changed were the tubes and the lame-looking plastic "carvin" badge on the front of the grill. I now drive a Carvin civic, and the vintage 16 looks more like a Vintage 16 now.
This amp gives me what I need.
After my complex algorithm, I give her a 9.0.

Single channel with eq and tube driven reverb. EL84 power tubes and a 12 inch speaker.

Great vintage crunch. I play guitar>cord>amp. The amp is cranked and the guitar volume control is used to control drive. There isn't alot of clean in this amp at gigging volumes.

Quiet amp. Sweet tone. I threw a pair of NOS Teslas (not JJ) along with a JANGE 12AX7A into this little beast. I also bought a Weber Blue Dog to replace the stock speaker. The changes cost less than $175.00 and are well worth the investment.

If you're looking for a small amp with lots of character - this is it. Loud enough for small venues, small enough to fit in the passenger seat.

I've had this amp for about a year. No problems so far.

Never used it.

I bought mine used.

I guess that makes me an "idiot." (he says as he rolls his eyes)

I've read the previous posts and have found a couple of them rather disturbing.

First of all - the posters who feel they need to resort to name calling should grow up. We are dealing with the experiences and opinions of others. They are offering their recommendations concerning usage. If you disagree - fine. Don't resort to immature and petty acts of retribution.

As a 20 year veteran in the music industry - I tend to agree with those who feel that this amp is not a good choice for metal. Yes you can put a pedal in front of the amp....etc. You can do that to any amp. Like one person said - we're not rating pedals. I find it interesting that the one post that started it all didn't rate anything - they just blasted another poster's seemingly honest review. Looking at it from that context - they probably don't own one. If they don't own the amp, how can they give an honest review? It's amazing how a couple of trolls can ruin a good thread.

Rated on it's own merits - it's a great blues amp. Better than average build, with a circuit that isn't based on any type of a Fender.

Nice features. I like how the front has the controls and not on the top in the back. Same features described in the other reviews.

"If you do put a distortion pedal in front it (shame on you), you'll get some sweet high gain drive".

Like the one guy said... people will buy a tube amp for a clean channel to boost then overdrive with their favorite metal pedal that uses the real harmonics of the amp. Sometimes a digital pedal is also wanted. Also, just because they say it can do metal this way doesn't mean they don't use the natural overdrive of the amp. For the guy who wrote 'he obviously doesn't own one'. What kind of stupid response is that? Sounds like you need to take a chill pill. It's not like he LIED about the amps possibilities!??????????

No problems have arrived. I bought mine new. Only an idiot buys a used tube amp.

answer questions usually.

Great amp for the price. Screws over Fender Pro junior, and blues junior

Single channel amp with reverb and eq. No more, no less.

What an awsomw amp! Set the Soak to 8, the volume to 8, bass to 7, mid to 6, and treble to 8. Add a little reverb and stand back. This amp does vintage tones to a tee. I love the sustain and the dynamics. To be honest, putting pedals in front of this amp is a sin. The eq controls operate independently of each other letting me get all kinds of sounds out this thing.

It won't do death metal, nor heavy metal for that matter but will do that 80s crunch thing. If you do put a distortion pedal in front it (shame on you), you'll get some sweet high gain drive.

Tone nirvana!!!

Just bought it so I can't say.

They were great over the phone. What more could you ask for?

Not only would I replace it - I'm getting another one!

One channel with reverb. It's pretty straightforward, besides this has been covered in the other reviews.

I have to say this is one great sounding amp, although, just as a previous poster mentioned - NO HIGH GAIN TONES. Sure, that can be done with pedals but we aren't reviewing pedals - are we? I'd ignore the last "review" (if that's what you want to call it), he obviously doesn't even own a Vintage 16.

Nice vintage style crunch when cranked. Excellent sustain.

I've only had the amp a short while - so far, so good. I did buy it used. The guy that I bought it from had it for a little over a year. If my experience with EL84 type amps is any indicater - you'll be swapping tubes regularly. The EL84s just don't last.

Never dealt with them before.

Just what I was looking for. Anyone want to buy a used Pro Junior?

I'm hip to putting a Weber Blue Dog in this amp. Excellent speaker! That and some nice NOS tubes would probably change my rating to a 10.

QUOTE: "I've read some of the other reviews. If you're looking for some kind of high-gain death metal tone - DON'T BUY THIS AMP!!! If you're looking for a responsive, vintage type tone - you'll love it."

First off....Only an idiot would expect this 'vintage' amp to have high gain metal capability right out of the box. Don't mislead amateurs either! Just because it doesn't have a high gain channel doesn't mean it's NOT suited for metal heads! Many people look for a nice clean channel to throw their distortion pedals on.. especially clean tube channels. You can't tell me it's NOT for metal heads.

16 watt, single channel EL84 amp with reverb. Controls include Soak (gain), Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Reverb. 12 inch Carvin GT-12 speaker. All enclosed in a Tweed covered poplar cabinet. The reverb is tube driven - great touch in this age of electronic buffered reverbs.

All of my guitars have humbucker type pickups. I mostly play 80s style rock.

Right out of the box - this little amp rocks. I'm not crazy about the tube complement but very few amps come stock with NOS tubes anyway. Nice cleans with an excellent grind when cranked. What surprised me was how quiet this amp was. I'm so used to my Fender and Marshall amps with their noisy gain channels - I couldn't believe my ears.

I've read some of the other reviews. If you're looking for some kind of high-gain death metal tone - DON'T BUY THIS AMP!!! If you're looking for a responsive, vintage type tone - you'll love it. The reverb isn't the greatest but it's every bit as good as, if not better than, what's in my other amps.

I've only had it for a short while so I can't really comment on the reliability.

Carvin customer support is second to none. Very friendly and quick to respond.

I give it a 10 because it's exactly what I've been looking for in a small amp. It won't break you in half money-wise and it has tone to doe for.

I'll be giving this guy a workout in my studio and on stage. Plugging into a 2X12 gives great volume.

I reviewed this amp some time ago and believe that I may have done it a diservice. I, like the most recent reviewer have a Weber Blue Dog, but have yet to install it. It sounds like possibly I should install it but the amp has really grown on me. I have a Fender Blues Jr and it is a great little amp but this Vintage 16, in the 5 watt mode, is tasty. I play at home, and not often enough, so I think the 100 watt speaker needs more time to break in, especially if you are only using the 5 watt mode. I have played the Blues Jr and the Vintage 16 side by side and I like them both, each has its attributes. I was very disappointed at first but now, if it were stolen I would definately replace it. In fact I am considering buying another, just in case. Give it a try, I think you'll like it.

All Tube (Dual Gain stage 12AX7 with a 12AX7 driver Tube, Two push pull EL-84 Power Tubes). Single channel. I would have paid an extra $50 for a clean channel, but oh well that is what my new Roland Cube 30 is for. Has a Reverb. It is switchable to 5 (True Class A -Yeah! or 16W Class AB). Looking inside this things reveals a BMW approach to design-Over engineered. I like it. It is very close to being a point to point wired amp. Very little circuit board stuff.

I use it with many humbucker guitars, solid and semihollowbodies and always in the 5watt mode, because you can't tell much difference in loudness, but you lose that class A purity which is something special.
To sum up the sound when I first bought it-Honky cardboard without alot of gain.

I researched and put a Weber Alnico blue dog in it. That gave detail and shimmer like you hear in your dreams.
Then I put in some way hot JJ EL84s from Eurotubes. That eliminated the cardboard sound, and gave way better definition and sweeter less shrill highs.
Then I put in a Svetlana 12AX7 (Responsible for a vast improveness in the sweetness) in the Main Gain Stage position, and a Electroharmonix 12Ax7 in the secondary gain stage. This had so much more gain that it was screwing with the bias and liquifying the Power tubes. So to tame it down I installed a 12AT7 Electroharmonix tube and PERFECT!

So, $150 later I have a world class sounding tweed. I have gain equivalent to a JCM Marshall on the overdrive channel with the gain up about a third (Pretty Stinking good considering). And it sounds awesome. With the power tubes maxed I get that blues distortion, but it is different from a marshall in that it is not a creamy smooth it always has an edge to it and sounds alot more huge and expansive. sounds hugeObviously a tweed amp isn't the purest clean of sounds. It will always have a littl browness and honk to the sound. But it is so airy and huge sounding. Live with a band (Mic'ed obviously) it would be a hard combination to beat. Not to say it isn't a great studio amp. Looking back I would not recommend this as your ONLY amp because of the tweed tonality. On those days when you are looking for a sweet american tube sound (6L6s, 6V6s) you won't be able to find it. Cause that not what this amp is about.

THIS AMP CAN GET VERY CLOSE TO A VOX AC30 now with the gain maxed and the volume kept down enough to prevent the power tube distortion from dominating (Less than 2 on the volume which is still pretty loud! because there is so much gain coming from the preamp as a result of the tube swap).

It is chimey and sparkly despite it never quite being clean. I can't say enough for the range on the tone controls. They allow so much tone shaping it isn't even funny.

The reverb has no spring whatsoever and is very washy. This helps contribute to the Vox AC30 vibe when used. I like it. I never use the reverb with power tube distortion because it is WAY too honky and sounds like crap (much more so since I changed the tubes)-not a big deal since who uses reverb when playing the blues?

I rate the Amp's sound a 10 now with the above changes. With hindsight moneywise, I could have nearly purchased a Mesa Boogie heartbreaker which has an incredible variety of tones but, wouldn't have a single one that could match this baby in class A 5-watt mode.

Oh well I've also solved that dillema the expensive way too! More amps!

Judging from the construction it should be pretty reliable. The transformers aren't as big as they could be but it is put together very well-Made in the USA baby! Tubes always suck so I guess if I was going to count on the amp I would have spare sets of tubes hanging around.

Good customer service. I'm not to worried if I have problems other than the shipping cost because they only do the repairs at the factory in California

Its an increadible amp to have in the arsenal now that I have modified it. By itself there is no way I would purchase a tweed again. If you can't afford to do some of the changes I mentioned above you might consider just getting a Blues Junior which sounds better out of the box and has a little bit more flexibility.