NEW CARVIN V3 AMP REVIEW
WOW! 899...a lot for the money!
Carvin V3- a three channel powerhouse! 100 watt head and you can select tube variations of El34's or 6L6, 5881's. All tube signal path.
Channels 1 OD, 2 OD, 3 Clean ( very clean)
2 channels can be assigned as they are identical unlike most 3 channel amps that have different EQ voicing. What I like about this is that you can take the same exact settings and beef a gain for solo without changing the overall tonality. From Dirt to Grit to an ENGL like metal tone..it's there. The sound samples at Carvin do no justice. What i like most is the amount of sustain and articulate picking tone.
Master preamp has Master vol ( all 3ch's are controlled )
master preamp zone has BOOST, BRIGHT, MID CUT, DEEP and these are global to all ch's as well.
Boost- bumps up to 9db on lead tone 9 you can adjust the vol boost.
Bright- tone shift mid to high ala marshall
Mid Cut- CHhhhh Chunnnkkk metal zone centers freq at 450hz for nasty dark Mesa meets Engl type tone.
Deep- This gives a nice boldness to a Strat and balls to a LP. Blending this with the right amount of Mid Cut really delivers a Randall Warhead or Diezl tone. Add presence and you are in metallica MOP zone!
CH 1 CH2 gains are great. Moderate levels react well to picking attack sort of SRV ish. 2/3 the way up and you get a nice Legacy type tone. Fat bold and Dark. The louder, the better! No breakup...and I maxed this thing out!
EQX Switch, switches eq Q points for dramatic tone shifts ala Road King.
Intense/Thick switch- Name says it all.. Insane gain/eq points, to nice marshall 900 tone. When you set to insane..keep the guitar away from the cabs..whhhhhhhheeeeeewwwwwwwww feedback!
50/100 Wrms operation is selectable.
Midi footswitch capability to change CH's, lead, boost, and Loops.
Smart loops efx loop. This is really cool. Smart loops will recall settings on independent channels.
Loop 1- Series efx loop but select tail feature and efx are not cut off, but fade out which is really cool.
Loop2- parallel loop- mixes efx signal with dry guitar signal ( you can set how wet of dry you want it) NICE!!
GNX4 looped with EFX only direct was best served as I could add just a bit of efx mix but maintain amp distortion or clean tones. ( for those who love the amp dist/clean) .
OPINION- a true keeper. This replaces my X100B that blew up a month ago. many a plus!! I preferred the tone of the Marshall 1960A cabinet than that of the Carvin ( X100b with V30's). Now the new Carvin Cab has Gt1275's and the mounts are routed on 3-5 degree angles. I didn't get the cab so I can't comment. Is it a Mesa? NO, Soldano? NO...But, it serves to create many of those tones we seek so often and a dedicated clean channel that is as pristine as the JSX' clean channel. From Blues to Metal High gain, it's all there.
Drawback- no reverb tank. Who cares..we have Lexicon verbs in GNX4.
Overall, a winner in my book. Made in USA and built very well. Shielded, speaker output compensation for mixers, monitors, in ear monitors.
g3456
Carvin V3- a three channel powerhouse! 100 watt head and you can select tube variations of El34's or 6L6, 5881's. All tube signal path.
Channels 1 OD, 2 OD, 3 Clean ( very clean)
2 channels can be assigned as they are identical unlike most 3 channel amps that have different EQ voicing. What I like about this is that you can take the same exact settings and beef a gain for solo without changing the overall tonality. From Dirt to Grit to an ENGL like metal tone..it's there. The sound samples at Carvin do no justice. What i like most is the amount of sustain and articulate picking tone.
Master preamp has Master vol ( all 3ch's are controlled )
master preamp zone has BOOST, BRIGHT, MID CUT, DEEP and these are global to all ch's as well.
Boost- bumps up to 9db on lead tone 9 you can adjust the vol boost.
Bright- tone shift mid to high ala marshall
Mid Cut- CHhhhh Chunnnkkk metal zone centers freq at 450hz for nasty dark Mesa meets Engl type tone.
Deep- This gives a nice boldness to a Strat and balls to a LP. Blending this with the right amount of Mid Cut really delivers a Randall Warhead or Diezl tone. Add presence and you are in metallica MOP zone!
CH 1 CH2 gains are great. Moderate levels react well to picking attack sort of SRV ish. 2/3 the way up and you get a nice Legacy type tone. Fat bold and Dark. The louder, the better! No breakup...and I maxed this thing out!
EQX Switch, switches eq Q points for dramatic tone shifts ala Road King.
Intense/Thick switch- Name says it all.. Insane gain/eq points, to nice marshall 900 tone. When you set to insane..keep the guitar away from the cabs..whhhhhhhheeeeeewwwwwwwww feedback!
50/100 Wrms operation is selectable.
Midi footswitch capability to change CH's, lead, boost, and Loops.
Smart loops efx loop. This is really cool. Smart loops will recall settings on independent channels.
Loop 1- Series efx loop but select tail feature and efx are not cut off, but fade out which is really cool.
Loop2- parallel loop- mixes efx signal with dry guitar signal ( you can set how wet of dry you want it) NICE!!
GNX4 looped with EFX only direct was best served as I could add just a bit of efx mix but maintain amp distortion or clean tones. ( for those who love the amp dist/clean) .
OPINION- a true keeper. This replaces my X100B that blew up a month ago. many a plus!! I preferred the tone of the Marshall 1960A cabinet than that of the Carvin ( X100b with V30's). Now the new Carvin Cab has Gt1275's and the mounts are routed on 3-5 degree angles. I didn't get the cab so I can't comment. Is it a Mesa? NO, Soldano? NO...But, it serves to create many of those tones we seek so often and a dedicated clean channel that is as pristine as the JSX' clean channel. From Blues to Metal High gain, it's all there.
Drawback- no reverb tank. Who cares..we have Lexicon verbs in GNX4.
Overall, a winner in my book. Made in USA and built very well. Shielded, speaker output compensation for mixers, monitors, in ear monitors.
g3456
Comments
In the meantime, can we expect to see a GNX4/3K supermodel emulation of the V3 channels ?? 8)
I was thinking the same thing. Also, how about the Gambale preamp?
How did it sound like direct to mixer?
Peace,
Thomas
For guys that want to be able to have both modeling and natural tube tone distortion this V3 wins big with the parallel efx loop and mix level. You can add how much or how little of the GNX amp you want. Here's another example. Using the Krank patch, I modified the amp model by reducing the level of each amp model in Gree/Red; Juiced the gain to about 65%; Added low compression 4:1 ratio, gain 50, level 8. Now the efx levels I actually added 10% across the board. Reason being, the amp modeling level was lowered but each channel gain was juiced up, so the efx layers are even and dominate. Then I adjusted the level on the efx loop mix to blend the main amp tone and GNX tone and WOW !! Next I did the Plexi, and then just the stompbox efx with a modified clean model..PLEXI tone!! but with tons of warmth and vibe with NO breakup! IF nothing else, having the parallel loop is the tool for any MFX unit. Something I said many many moons ago here when guys were talking efx loops connections and keeping their main amp tone. Most use a series loop and have natural amp losses. Not with this. Oh yeah..Set the GNX efx types to Mono unless you use multiple amps.
MIDI- Midi aspects of this amp are like this. You add a controlled FC unit:
100 control patches (max)
Midi assigns for amp ch's 1,2,3, Boost, Loop 1 and 2 ( smart loop designation). It does not adjust or recall EQ, Volumes since those are basic global params. You can however store the loop on/off for each midi patch. Nice feature.
This review was more for the nature of the beast in it's original form. This is probably one of the best amps under a G I have seen. Like all amps and cabinets for any mfg, sweet spots can be found but this one has quite a bit of sweetness all around for 900 bones.
Next UP--- Valve King Peavey's made uhhhghhghh hmmmm ( clear the throat) non MS model. This is another 100 watt less frill than the V3, head from Peavey that is just guts. I liked the 112 and 212 combos, but now we are going to test out the Head Version through a 4x12.
It's Carvin so it's hard to test one Unless you are lucky enough to have a dealer nearby. 10 day return policy. If not happy..send it back. Most Won't for the low coin spent on a well made animal with an all tube signal path!! Other amps in this class are hybrid with SS distortions. NOT THIS ONE!! Carvin Quality?? My used X100B lasted 12 years of rentals, Live usage up to 26 times/yr. Changed tubes 5x. RIP X100b. ( parts not supplied)... Like all Carvin products..low bucks very good quality and service. Cabinets??? I like a 1960A marshall best. Let me add to that though...they are not using the cheaper Seventy-Eighties in their cabs for the V3 which has stock Celest G1275's. So does my marshall, and I did not order the V3 cab, so to be fair..no comment on the cab.
One last thing I forgot.. the direct line out is speaker compensated and can also go right to a board for monitors, or inear systems.
G3456
ran GNX efx loop using comp, efx, and stomps (in SB mode).
No amp models, cabinets off. With liberal efx levels and moderate compression added for leads only ( I made 2 patches, one with, one without comp). It kept the dist tone and Clean tones nicely. having a variable parallel efx loop is a must with the GNX4.
The only bad, was accidentally taking it out of SB mode. when I changed the preset bounceback was on...Nonetheless..ear piercing screetch from a heavy model not meant for what I was doing. At least it was on break though.
There was some coloring produced by the GNX4 in this mode. Best yet, I used coloring to it's advantage. I added cab sim on and changed tuning ref on some of my custom cabs stored in user slots. At about a 1.5 change in semitones, I was able to comparatively equalize the coloring ( make it sound like the GNX wasn't applied to get the live amp tone match). I've tried this with other amplifiers but again, the parallel efx loop is a must. My other guitarist and His 5150/stomp box kit loved it as well since we did not fight for tonal space.
Some ask, why all the changes? Well to accomodate this room which was on a terrace, carpeted throughout, and they had thick drapes along the walls similar to a movie theater to trap acoustics. This makes the room sound dead, so higher level of efx were needed.
I love the fact that the master settings for vol, depth, bright, boost are global to all 3 channels. Adding the GNX this time with this type of room created a need for higher efx levels..50% on delays to really cut through. This is where most say the GNX cannot do well. Yes..it can, you just have to counter the coloring..by coloring the cabinet model only. I used the custom 1960A cab model and changed the tuning res, which compensated for the digitized coloring applied to the efx loop and through the amp. In the end..nice even lead and hard tones, and able to keep consistent seemingly untouched pure amp tone.
For purists sake..would I recommend Digitech have a true bypass mode for efx/stompbox only applications?..absolutely!
Is this a nice head for 899.....YEP!!!! best I've seen at this price, feature for feature, but of course, you must get the Fs44 switch. Haven't applied midi fsw stuff yet, but that's next.
Seriously, that looks like a really nice amp bro, congrats.
A V3 review. Just like I did not touch on the modeling stuff in the review as much so as give an idea of it's actual tone when using efx only through the adjustable parallel loop. Either way..part of the amp review. Now no matter which patch is used, as I have said before, the coloring of any amp has to be countered by using custom cabs in the amp model. They will vary, no matter which amplifier you use them with. I only applied this with the EFX and Stompbox models using a Screamer, DOD250, and Pro co rat for additional things. Live, I used no modeling and all amp distortion since that's what the AMP review was about. NO amp modeling..efx only.
Update..today I went direct in to the clean amp with some presets and it was awesome. I used the boost feature in the FS44 ( efx loop sw that controls the boost for this purpose) and it worked very well.
I used a 4x12 cabinet with LEGEND MODELING 12's loaded and the sounds were more uniform with the modeler being used than the ones of the carvin cab I had with G12 Celestions equipped. M12's are more transparent and designed for this purpose. L6 uses m12's in most of their modeling amps. Cybertwin has a similar approach and I believe mimicked the m12 speakers by design. Others have follwed suit with modeling amps as well. BEhringer's Bubinga's are a similar design to M12's to be more transparent and not have the cone/voice coil combination add so much coloring. Some prefer it..others do not.
The V3 overall is a nice amp with many usable features by itself. For live, I recently added a TC M300 through the efx loop which serves it better. Considering the GNX not having a dedicated loop. If you have a PA with internal efx, you can use the S/R from the PA right to the loop of the V3 as well. having many options available is a good thing..being able to configure them to your liking is another great addition, and reason why I give this amp a high mark. Plus..it's all tube signal path!!