blue tolex: carvin bx1200

this thing is really cool!

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=BX1200



trying it out last night, the tone sounded pretty warm for only turning it up 1/2 way to 1. i'm thinking (and hoping) that this thing is way more power than i need (more is better!). the contour and eq is iffey ... kinda throaty sounding, but i'm sure with preamp modeling and processing, i can get whatever sound i want. i havent spent enuff time yet.

with the fan running ... its real quiet. no hum whatsoever.

i'm running the bi - amp now ... really cool. knobs on the front for level from each cabinet! i need to get a cabinet mound speakerON connector for my 15" cab to run this correctly. carvin tells you to not run it this way with 1/4's, as its set up very particular about how its run in bi-amp (like a recessed button on the back to turn it on and individual jacks for each cabinet). i think it has something to do with the nightmare of loosing contact (i dunno what would happen! dont wanna know.).

i'm gonna run it in regular parallel @ 4 ohms tonite for the full 1200W (?) just to see (hear) how that sounds. i have enuff separation in the frequencies in my speakers that it may sound better. gotta experiment more.

the bi amp is just real cool tho.

i know some of you guys dont like it, but the compressor on this thing is the smoothest, single knob compressor i've ever used. it just compresses ... thats it. no drive ... no sustain ... just good sound.

... and royal blue tolex!

i'm happy with my purchase. nicest bass amp i've ever owned. wanted the red line model ... but just as good minus the tube.

Wow, that looks great, and like a lot of fun! Congrats on your purchase.

Nice! The LEDs and tolex case fit your cabs perfectly! That'll probably be plenty loud. Let us know how your experiments go.

Speakons are a good way to go in any case if your amp/cabs have the jacks. They're superior cables. I hate using 1/4" cables to go to my cabs, but that's what you get for using old junk.

That's nice about the compressor. I like it when they sound natural and don't squeeze and dampen the crap out of your sound.

here goes madmike with one of his his grumbly disgruntled rants about the mediocrity of the common musical instrument and equipment trade business ...............

speakON connectors.

just a fyi for every chain music store out there. we as americans are behind the times with our old fashioned 1/4 speaker jacks. europe has been using them as a standard for 15 years now. most emplyees at these chain stores could tell me no difference between speakon cables vs. 1/4s. (speakOn's can handle heavier loads guys!) i think most americans are resistent (lazy (i've been)) to it ... as well as the stores with the unwillingness to stock the hardware needed for someone who is so inspired (me) to change over.

not to mention how many times i heard at many stores, "you just need to buy a new cabinet." i just bought my 15" cabinet! i just need to solder a speakon female panel connector next to the 1/4. theres a space for it in the dish for heavens sakes! and plus ... i dont want your overpriced hartke pos.

i was just suprised at how many stores diddnt even sell the cables. i was only suprised when i was at the 6th store that i couldnt get the female speakon connector for the back of my cab.

fair warning ... i just bought the part on the internet in 5 minutes. if you chain stores cant stock what musicians need, theres only gonna be so many 16y/o's on their birthday dragging their mom with her credit card into your store before you go out of business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDF_8-21SUQ

5-7 business days and i can properly bi-amp this thing when my connector comes in from OH.

thanx for letting me vent.

btw ... bridged at the full 1200W ... this head rocks!

Just all the more reason as to why most of us are DIY'ers here.

and i applaud the diy'ers eric.


i just get frustrated when i go to do something like this and the monopolizing free market system prohibits me from getting what i need. i mean, i understand these stores arent gonna stock parts that they dont need; space, tracking inventory and having the added expense out while the part sits in inventory. changing over to these connectors shud be routine and the parts shud be available. i found em, but i gotta wait a week till they come in.

i did the deep breathing thing and found some acceptance again ... i'm ok.

test drive yesterday at practice ............

using the bi - amp w/ the crossover diddnt work so hot. the sound commin out of the 2X10's was awesome! ... but i had to cut them back for where the 15" was lacking; not only in volume but also in overall drive. just too much wattage and low frequency into one speaker.

i bridged it ... awesome! with the hf crossover in the 2X10, the drive and balance between the 2X10 and the 15" was perfect. (the guy at us speaker who told me "use THIS one" obviously knew what he was talking about). 1200 watts is still a bit much due to the 15", but it is plenty loud to the point where its nice when my bandmates say, "hey man, you gotta turn it down."

next investment is probably gonna be one of those high wattage eminence 15" lf models. at $130 to $160 i cant afford to not do it.

madmike wrote:

but it is plenty loud to the point where its nice when my bandmates say, "hey man, you gotta turn it down."

--now that's my favorite line from the bandmates as well !!!!!

we have a show on Wed night before T-Day, and the bar is small so I won't be in any volume wars, and I will only have to use my 4x10 in this small place, but it is 5 blocks from my house, so if more is needed, I'll run home and grab some more

and not to re-hash your rant about GC, but I KNOW WHERE YOUR COMING FROM.

From the day I went into a GC for some actual stuff, and not to show the kiddies "how it is done", they had nothing I wanted in stock anyway INCLUDING STRINGS, unless you wanted some cheap 9.95 no-name brand strings, or some display model AMP/cabinet that was all beat up, and they said..."sure discount, uh...10% off ---hahaha ya right, so from that point on, I ALWAYS use online stores, and wait a few days for shipping.

amimbari wrote:

madmike wrote:

but it is plenty loud to the point where its nice when my bandmates say, "hey man, you gotta turn it down."

--now that's my favorite line from the bandmates as well !!!!!

we have a show on Wed night before T-Day, and the bar is small so I won't be in any volume wars, and I will only have to use my 4x10 in this small place, but it is 5 blocks from my house, so if more is needed, I'll run home and grab some more

and not to re-hash your rant about GC, but I KNOW WHERE YOUR COMING FROM.

From the day I went into a GC for some actual stuff, and not to show the kiddies "how it is done", they had nothing I wanted in stock anyway INCLUDING STRINGS, unless you wanted some cheap 9.95 no-name brand strings, or some display model AMP/cabinet that was all beat up, and they said..."sure discount, uh...10% off ---hahaha ya right, so from that point on, I ALWAYS use online stores, and wait a few days for shipping.

Strings are so expensive at GC here. And that's the only thing I go there for. The local one has some cool, old, funky guitars that you're bound to find in Seattle, but yeah, a lot of it's cheap, cheap low end name brand gear. Crappy Ampeg, crappy GK, crappy everything. Just a bunch of meek solid-state amps and basses that will have fallen apart in 10 years.

But on the guitar side, they have some nice Fenders, the occasional very nice Jackson, and really nice effects and loud Marshall and Mesa stuff. They just got in one of Mesa's newest bass stacks. It sounds incredible.