Carvin X100B

You probably know the specs so I won't go over them again. This is an old-school classic, reborn. I have to say, as an owner of 2 originals, the new X-100B is every bit as good, if not better, and even better made.

The amp is pretty intuitive and simple, though it has a couple unique features that might throw guitarists at first. The EQ is active, not passive like most amps. As a result, you can get a truly transparent sound, with great fidelity, OR, shape your tone to get whatever sound you have in mind. You can also easily make adjustments for the venue you're performing in, without worrying about the soundguy messing up your tone. ;)

The Graphic EQ is another great feature: learn how to use it and it will become a great tool for shaping your tone. (It also makes a great tool in the studio to craft unique sounds that fit the mix perfectly.)

This isn't a Swiss Army amp, but it is very versatile. It's very simple and straightforward, but it's got incredible cleans, beautiful overdrives, powerful EQ, fantastic reverb, a boost, and handbuilt, American construction: what more do you need?

Carvin makes some of the finest guitars, basses, and amplifiers in the world, easily comparable to the best in the business. I'm a professional guitarist, and have had endorsements with PRS and Mesa/Boogie. I've got a ton of vintage and boutique gear, because guitar isn't just my profession it's my passion. ANYWAY, the Carvin X-100 is one of the all-time classic amplifiers. IMHO, it's a perfect halfway point between the "do-it-all" Mesa's, and the bare-bones, rockin' Marshall's. Unlike almost any other serious rock amp, the Carvin's have an INCREDIBLE clean tone, with one of the best onboard Reverb's you'll ever hear. I play jazz, and country, and the cleans on this amp, (or the Legacy or MTS series, for that matter,) are easily comparable to vintage BF Fenders, or boutique amps like Dr. Z. But the lead channel packs a beautiful crunch, and with the boost, a searing lead tone. If you like classic rock tones of the late 60's through the early 90's, you'll find that tone in the X-100B. It does the fat & squawky Allman/Gibbons/West type of tone, as well as a wonderful "Brown" sound like the first few VH albums. With the 5-band graphic EQ and active controls, you can get the most out of any guitar, while the amp itself is very transparent to the type of guitar you're using. Randy Rhoads fans will want to check out this amp, as should any fan of Zappa, McLaughlin, or Santana: the tones really are that incredible. Keep in mind, the X-100B is a primo, classic rock-style amp. It gets old-school gain, and great cleans, so Country, Jazz, R&B, Blues, and Classic Rock and Metal are covered: if you want super down-tuned modern mayhem, you'll need a pedal, (or better yet, check out the Carvin V3.) For everyone else, the X-100B is one of the most toneful amps on the market, incredibly well-built, and offered at a very generous price. I used to swear by Mesa's and PRS's, but now I swear by Carvin guitars and amps, and I've got the best tone of my career.

Incredibly well-made amps: on par with smaller builders like Mesa/Boogie easily. Heads and tails above Marshalls made in the past 20+ years, (sorry to say, Marshalls aren't made like they used to be...)

Top quality pots, caps, handwired components, everything isolated and ready for a lifetime of use. I've got 2 X-100B's from the 80's that still perform beautifully and look almost new: I'm expecting my new X-100B, (which is even better constructed,) to last just as well.

The guys at Carvin are great. Give them a call sometime. They're eager to help, and if they can't, they'll find someone who can ASAP. I called to ask about special wiring configuration on a guitar I ordered. The guy on the phone wasn't sure if it was possible. He had his boss call me later that day and not only give me the info, but gave me some references of other players who had the same setup. First class guys and gals.

A classic amp, reborn and better than ever. I'd strongly advise any player looking for a versatile amp with a great clean channel to check it out.

Anyone interested in the new Vintage Modern Marshalls should DEFINITELY check out the Carvin first: it's heads and shoulders above in quality, tone and value.

Anyone who's after great tone, and likes the idea of supporting an independent, US company that offers great value should get the Carvin catalog.

For the record,I don't have an endorsement or affiliation, (maybe in the future, ;)) but I just want to help them get the word out on their incredible musical instruments and tools. Keep Playin'

Looks like you guys have let the cat out of the bag. I have been buying and stocking as many of these away as I can. But now you guys have ruined it for me. Now I see these Vintage amplifiers going for no less than $800.00 to $1200 The upgraded carpeted version is going for the most money. Because it just has better tone with the El34 tubes.

The sound quality of these amplifiers are awesome. They get a fender blackface clean with more punch than a fender and marshall tones, no problem. I have collected tube amps my whole life, and this amp blows away any amplifier I have played other than a bogner or orange amplifer. you can't get those tones from this amp, but soldano, mesa boogie, fender, marshall, hughes & kettner, Rivera, VOX. You get all these amplifier tones with ease These amplifers will go from Country to blues, classic rock to metal and the gain still goes up more for thrash metal.

Built like a tank. I run mine four nights a week fours hours a night and have never had a problem. I have changed the power tubes out once in three years just because I thought they needed it.

Only had to use them to get some manuals. they sent them to me for free.

Purchased in 1983. Two channels with 5 band EQ. 100 watts. Plenty loud.

This is (was) a tube amp yet sounded like a transistor amp. Absolutely brittle high end and very sterile. The distortion was grainy and just horrible. The clean channel did not distort. A friend and I both bought these as they seemed to be a great value compared to a new Mesa Boogie (my huge mistake in passing that up). The ads made the X-100 seem like the best thing in the world. He sold his X-100B first and I then sold mine later. These have active tone controls which makes me believe it had a lot to do with the awful tone.

Didn't have it long enough for problems to appear. The build quality is excellent as is most things from Carvin.

Never had to use customer support.

I had been playing 11 years when I bought it in 1983. If I had insurance for it, I would have somebody steal it then get something better such as a Boogie or Marshall. My idea of great tone is Marshall, Boogie, and Rivera. If you want a very loud, grating Death Metal tone, then this is your amp. If you want a smooth and creamy tone, stay away.

5 band graphic EQ, Dul Channels-Clean and Lead, 25/50/100W out-put switch, 4-EL34's and 3-12AX7's.

THE BEST OUT THERE...DUH!!! the clean tone on this amp is SOOOOO crisp and clean. it like god just gave you TONE IN A CUP! dood you can have your 4 year old kid move all the nobs all over the place and plug it in and you have TONE for Years.

Nothing has Stoped my MONSTER X100B YET.

IDK

If you want tone the best way to go is the Cravin X100B. Plug this bad boy into your Stomp Box of any kind and man you got tone that will make any dood ***** his pants. Trust me it happend to me!XD

Others have already run down the features ad infinitum, so I won't go into that terribly much. Mine's an '89/EL34, with Electro-Voice power tubes and no-brand (best as I can tell) preamp tubes, purchased summer '08 for $320 (used, obviously), complete with original footswitch (and in mint condition to boot - not even any dust inside to speak of).

I find the graphic EQ to be useful for recording using the clean channel - helps to get the crystalline, bell-like highs that I like out of a strat or other single-coil. I use the active 3 band for EQ on the overdrive channel, finding that just nudges above 50% for bass, treble, and presence give me precisely the sound I'm after (with the gain dialed at about 8 or so).

Have noted a few people on here whinging about there not being enough power. I can only surmise that their amps are in dire need of retubing/rebiasing, as mine - with the seemingly-new EV EL34s - seriously threatens to blow my 4x12 Carvin cabinet with the volume anywhere above 3 or so. I play in a very LOUD band, opposite a distortion-soaked bassist jamming on an Ampeg through an 8x10 cabinet, and can render her completely inaudible if I so desire. LOUD.

I typically play a Gibson SG and a Kramer Focus 3000 onstage, occasionally using a strat as well. the X100B sounds magnificent with all of them; both the Gibson and the Kramer sound massive through the O/D channel (the fender significantly less so). The amp appears to be 100% hum-free, which is a damn nice change.

I am especially impressed with the X100B as my other amp is a '74 Hiwatt DR103, which I have been in love with for the last seventeen years. Now that the Hiwatt prices havve really gone through the roof, I can't justify taking an $1800 amp around to crap bars, what with the risk of theft/accident/deliberate vandalism/spilled beer, etc., hence my purchase of the Carvin. To my unmitigated delight, it sounds very nearly as good as the Hiwatt, and occasionally (when I need that marvelous Accutronics spring reverb) even better. Count me amazed.

To my ears, the EL34 x100B does an excellent job - especially considering the price - of performing on a par with the DR103 in a live setting. Nuances of the Hiwatt's tone come out in a recorded context, and the Carvin can't live up to that, but pumped through the typical venue's PA system, the two are indistinguishable for all practical purposes.

Rock solid, like all Carvin stuff. Haven't had it long enough to say for sure, but my expectation is that I won't have any reliability issues.

Never dealt with 'em - never needed to, over the course of owning three different carvin heads and two cabinets.

I've been playing professionally since 1988, through a series of Ampeg V4s, Marshalls (blech - got over that quickly), Carvins and my trusty Hiwatt. Loved the V4s (will get another sooner or later), and the Hiwatt rules uber alles, but the Carvin takes second place in a walk. Were it stolen, I'd buy it again ASAP. Can't imagine getting by without it now.

I bought mine new in 1983, 6L6 tubes- Series III X100B,,,WOW. More power than anyone needs, and I know because I've A-B compared side by side with every thing out there and it is LOUD ENOUGH!! Not a hi-gain head on the lead channel,, medium at most. Clean channel is the most deceptive thing on this amp. Smooth, warm and rich or hi-end, bright, and crisp with bass response that never gets flabby or muddy. Until you have turned active tone controls like these, you'll never understand what I mean. Anyone that thinks this amp has no balls and dumped it, lost out from not knowing how to use this amp.

The lead channel can be dialed in to make a wide variety of great sounds if this is all you are willing to do, BUT the clean channel is how this amp destroys others in its path. I play a strat with a Duncan Distortion in the bridge position and a Floyd Rose. Plug in a killer distortion pedal or like me a multi effects board ---digitech, Line 6, ADA-MP1 or any good pre-amp. My Digitech GNX2 with my own amp settings through the clean channel completely blows every one away that has heard it. These amps are dead quiet in comparison to most anything out there, with thick articulate distortion and a bottom end thump that Ive only heard from big-dollar heads. This amp moves air,, lots of it,, through my 2 4x12 cabs,,,,1 with celestions and the other with eminence speakers. The lead tone is fat and violin like, with single note bass strings having that Zakk Wylde agressive thump that breaks up beautifuly!!I am having a tough time plugging in to anything else at a music store because I can't find this kind of response, even at bedroom volumes.I am now hunting down more X100b's to buy because these are still gonna be killer sounding in 2028.

Never been on the bench since 1983 for anything but tubes. No scratchy pots or EQ sliders. I cannot ask for anything more from this amazing tube head!!

Carvin is a great company to deal with.

If it was stolen,,,I would find them,,, and wait till they were sleeping,,, and hurt them real bad!!

This is the 6L6 power tube version. Built in mid to late 80's (not sure what year). 2 channels, effects loop, switchable from 100 to 50 to 25 watts, switchable from 4, 8, and 16 ohms, 5-band EQ, active controls..pretty much anything you would want in an amp.

Most folks complain that the 6L6 version of this amp has less gain than the EL34. I wouldn't know, I haven't played on an EL34 powered x100b. I play punk/thrash/metal and this suits me fine. I use two Epiphones, one with stock humbuckers and one with a Dimarzio Super 3 in the bridge, and also a BC Rich with stock pickups. All sound uniquely like their own, this amp has a way of letting your guitar's natural tone shine through. This amp has plenty of creamy distortion, I'm talking Marshall JCM 800 to Mesa Mark Series. If you play something a little harder, might I suggest a slight boost pedal in front of the gain channel? Just enough to give it a kick in the a$$, I wouldn't want to ruin the already awesome distortion this amp creates on it's own. Tone to boot! Very easy to dial in "your tone" with the active controls, every millimeter on the knob changes the sound. I never use the clean channel, but have messed around with it: Sparkle, sparkle. No trouble with noise at all on this amp, quiet as a mouse and it's almost older than I am!

Have had absolutely no trouble what so ever. I carry a backup amp just in case but have never had to use it.

Never had to call them.

I've been playing about 9 years. I have own solid state after sh!tty solid state amps, a Sovtek MIG50, and came very close to buying a Marshall JCM 2203. This amp has more features, is more versatile, and is less noisy than all of them. I am very pleased with my decision. If this were stolen, I would buy two more! Ha! You can't beat these things.. and CHEEAAAPP! You don't have to pay a grand for awesome tone!

I just want to point out that "X100B" is the model name for a series of amps Carvin built for over ten years from the early 80's to the early 90's. You'll find lots of all vintages on eBay and elsewhere, selling for around $300. The earlier amps, identifiable by a cursive, curvy Carvin logo, and covering that looks like Tolex vinyl, use a quad of 6L6s for the power tubes. The later ones, with an italic Carvin logo, usually "carpet" covered, are EL34 based. Most need adjustable bias added for best sound.

All of them share the same basic schematic. They have many op-amps and FET switches in the circuitry for the graphic eq, tube drive/receive, and even in the main signal chain of both channels. These are used for transparent switching and buffering. The distortion sources are all tube circuits.

The footswitch is a three-button affair with a DIN connector. Most used amps don't have the footswitch, which appears regularly on Ebay for lots of money, or you can get something compatible at tonejones on the web.

There are also cute combos available, with a 50W(XT), a 100W{XV)112, and a 100W(XV)212 made in most years. I really like the fuzzy grey 112s.

See carvinmuseum on the web for more details.

The 6L6 based amps, like most 25-year-old amps, usually need a good overhaul. Control pots, tube sockets, and reverb connections usually need cleaning. Once restored, these amps have an amazing Fender-like clean channel that can run at full power without break-up. It feels like infinite headroom. HV sag is moderate to low. The result is a really good amp for your tele or pedal-steel. The high-gain channel is less appealing. I prefer a tube-screamer up front driving the clean channel.

The later EL-34 based amps are still 15 years old, and can usually benefit from an overhaul. These amps give a more Marshall-like tone, with overdrive that gets really carried away if you turn the lead drive past 3. Again, the clean channel is still the high-light. These amps are good for blues and classic rock.

The circuitry is basically reliable, but these are vintage amplifiers with lots of connectors and knobs. They do need a bit of love.

You can find all the schematics at www.carvinmuseum.com.

Hey, what do you want for $300? If you like to mess with amps, and know enough to avoid getting killed, these amps are great fun. I've got 5, plus an X50B, an XT112, an XV112, and two XV212s. I guess that makes me partial.

i bought my x100b used at a local music shop. it's a carpet-covered later model. same features as previously mentioned in other reviews. the guy at the shop told me it was a metal monster. like mesa or marshall at less than half the cost. all the features were a little overwhelming at first, but i've had an easier time since downloading the manual on the carvin website.
he was right about the metal monster part. i don't know about the other reviews contradicting this fact. they probably don't have the right axe and cables, and can't dial-in the right settings. totally don't need any external effects. it's got everything covered. unless you want your axe sounding like a synthesizer.
this thing can get loud and sound like a freakin' chainsaw. setting the graphic eq and pickup selector to rhythm, pulling the rhythm channel to bright, and turning up the lead drive to like 9 produce face-melting deathgrind tones. the rhythm and master channels and presence control don't even make it past two before i can feel the immediate tremors on the hardwood floors!!!!
i'm really a one genre kind of player. but when i'm dialing in my tone, i can hear the other possiblities before arriving at brutality. for metal, this thing is friggin' awesome!

this thing does heavy and loud (my two favorite things) clearly and perfectly. although, i guess it helps playing a les paul with a pair of emg-81s run through monster cables.
turning up the lead drive produces gain that feels like a drill running through your ears to your brain. i recommend wearing earplugs if you value your hearing. also, the pull bright on the rhythm channel produces crazy mesa tones at (can't emphasize this enough) less than half the price. just gotta make sure everything is set to rhythm and all your pickup and eq settings are turned up.
you can get about any sound considering the multitude of controls on the amp and your axe. and with active circuits it doesn't take much knob turning to alter your sound.

i've never had any problems with it. but i've only played once in public at a local park amphitheatre. worked great for me. everything else is confined to home. i get it looked at for tube replacements etc. every couple years. so that probably helps too.

only used the website to download and print a user manual so i can't say much for their customer support

i've been playing for about fifteen years and owned the x100b for ten years. it was my first "real" amp and i've never had the desire to replace it. mainly cuz of the performance versus value aspect. it's always worked fine for me, and i can get the same sounds as other high performance amps for way less money. so there's never been any reason to change. not to say i wouldn't play the "high-end" stuff. i just ain't paying for it....

My model amp is an 89 model which i Bought new - with the "carpet covering", "EL34s" and "hotrod 1b factory mod".
As already indicated this amp has 2 channels, and for me the amps only problem is that there is no preamp control on the clean channel.
The result is that the clean channel stays very clean even at high volume, at times a slight bit of overdriven sound on the clean channel would be nice.
All the other features that others have already mentioned are very good (and useful).
One point on carpet covered amps - some people hate them but i love them, sure it does look a little ugly but its far more practical than Tolex. I must have played hundreds of gigs with this amp and it looks as good now as it did when new (however it is always transported in a roadcase). Carpet is hard to tear unlike tolex and velco sticks to it very well - Therfore, I have velcro under my wireless transmitter, tuner and anything else i sit on top of the amp while playing and never worry about things vibrating off.

I have read many reviews and couldnt be bothered writing one myself until now, as i had recently gone through a process of trying to replace this amp.
I simply could not find anything that was exactly what i wanted and did A~B testing with this amp and others including TsL100, 5150, Marshall 6100 and Mesa MkIV as comparisons.
I found that i could make the Carvin sound so close to every other amp (but with only very slightly less gain)and without having the 2 amps side by side i dont believe anyone could tell them apart.
The reason for this is the EQ sections on the carvin, - no amp came close to the control of its active tone and Graphic EQ functions.
The Carvin has more than enough gain (And i do like lots of gain) for myself so i couldnt justify spending thousands of $$ to get an extra channel or gain on the clean channel. As others have stated if you want a loud clean sound this amp is hard to beat.

As i have already said, i have done hundreds of gigs with this amp, i have replaced the valves a couple of times and had no problems at all.

never needed them but their website is good and you can download manuals and schematics.

Ive been playing for 26 years, and always plug straight into amps (no effects) and have many guitars of all configurations, all sound good (and different) through this amp.
My biggest revelation is how i have been setting up my tone more recently (since i decided not to buy another amp).I generably keep the tone controls reasonably flat (equal) and boost the mids and lower mids on the graphic EQ.
Like all tube amps, they just sound better when the power amp is turned up. Here is where the carvin trully excels.
Turning up a 100watt amp can be way too loud for certain venues, however as the carvins EQ is so powerful you can run the power amp to nearly full and drop all the tone controls down to about level "2" or less.
In other words you can get that highly sought after power amp overdrive at low volumes by using your EQ controls to control volume.(maybe at the expense of wearing out valves quicker).
Running the amp this way I now can also have that overdriven tone on the clean channel too. Yahoo.