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Carvin Micro-Bass 250


Wylie
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Took possession this week of this Carvin BX250 Microbass 250-watt amp (at 4 ohms). D-class amp, quite compact, about three pounds, $298 US delivered. Carvin gear is made in San Diego, don't know how available it is in the UK. (P.S.: reduced by $40 a week after I bought mine.)

Can't say enough good things about this amp. Using instrument volume, 'drive' (gain), contour, and master volume, you can get any tone you want, from a very pure neutral tone (with the gain rolled off) to an overdriven aggressive tone. The parametric EQ allows you to increase or reduce specific frequencies within the midranges; a reduction of the higher frequencies within a middle range results in massive bass tone all over the lower and middle ranges. The parametric EQ is a [u]big[/u] plus. Separate bass and treble dials boost the top and bottom.

Contour set at about midway produces a nicely scooped tone. At about 4 on master volume and 5-7 on 'drive' a loud and very pleasing, full, and aggressive tone emerges. There are also toggle switches for mute and active-bass use as well as ground lift and a pre/post EQ. DI out on the back, two 1/4" speakers out, headphone jack for silent practice. Compression dial.

Some Carvin gear is available in UK, but is quite expensive (Bassgear.co.uk for example); I don't know if Carvin ships from its US store to UK, but their great prices might make the cost of shipping and taxation worthwhile.

Edited by tedgilley
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  • 7 months later...

Nice looking amp but we don't see many Carvin amps over here especially in Scotland.
Difficult to judge an amp when you've never really seen one in the flesh.

Not sure how they would support the amp over here if you experienced a fault ?

Shame cause their gear does look pretty smart.

Dave

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Bass Gear stock a good range of Carvin amps and combos:

http://www.bassgear.co.uk/product-category/bass-amps-and-cabs/carvin-amps/

They are great value for US made kit but the shipping and taxes make a significant dent in the prices. This is especially true if you're shipping just one unit. The shipping cost for an amp or combo is a fair bit and then the customs guys whack 23% on top of both the unit price and the shipping cost :(

I really like the two big power heads. £499 gets you the 1500w with lots of tone shaping options and my fave is the £625 B2000 which has a really muscular powerful tone and will pump our 2050w!

They had a few of these in stock but sold them all. Not sure when the next delivery will be in. Carvin hold the smaller combos at a UK warehouse but the big power heads ship directly from the States and need to be brought over in batches simply to hold the competitive pricing (I checked the cost of brining over a single BX1500 recently and it came in £55 higher than current sale prices!).

Carvin customer service is great. They even have a guy in San Diego who starts at 6AM every day so he can be online for more of the European working day :)

Edited by molan
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  • 3 weeks later...

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1372778347' post='2129850']
Nice looking amp but we don't see many Carvin amps over here especially in Scotland.
Difficult to judge an amp when you've never really seen one in the flesh.

Not sure how they would support the amp over here if you experienced a fault ?

Shame cause their gear does look pretty smart.

Dave
[/quote]

It's too bad; I wondered if there was much availability for these in the UK. Your reply and Molan's make it clear that the added fees and taxes make it all but impossible to experience these great products.

W

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I got a BX500 from Bassgear.co.uk for under £400, it absolutely destroyed my Genz Benz Shuttle in terms of tone, versatility and it is seriously LOUD! Couldn't be happier with mine and considering the price of the 600w Shuttle I had before they are a bargain.

It's also the closest I've got to that all-valve immediacy and bounce from a hybrid / solid state amp.

I think the BX250 is pretty much the same front end, without the graphic EQ. And from the review above I would say the experience you had was similar to mine.

So don't rule them out, check out the price you can get one for. I think they are very well engineered pieces of kit, Carvin don't spend much money on marketing (unlike other manufacturers) so I think this is why they can keep the prices down.

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[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1374598559' post='2150735']
I got a BX500 from Bassgear.co.uk for under £400, it absolutely destroyed my Genz Benz Shuttle in terms of tone, versatility and it is seriously LOUD! Couldn't be happier with mine and considering the price of the 600w Shuttle I had before they are a bargain.

It's also the closest I've got to that all-valve immediacy and bounce from a hybrid / solid state amp.

I think the BX250 is pretty much the same front end, without the graphic EQ. And from the review above I would say the experience you had was similar to mine.

So don't rule them out, check out the price you can get one for. I think they are very well engineered pieces of kit, Carvin don't spend much money on marketing (unlike other manufacturers) so I think this is why they can keep the prices down.
[/quote]

I used one to rehearse with last night and really liked it. Had to play with the mids a little to get the sound I wanted but once I'd got those sorted it sounded really smooth and punchy :)

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