Carvin R600...Good? Bad? or Ugly?

[aschreiber2010]

actually i dont care if you thimk its ugly...its the sound that counts.

 

I found a carvin R600 on craigslist for $400 with a R2x10 cab

 

has anyone owned one or played on one or can tell me if they are good amps (especially for 400 smackers)?

 

note: here's a link in case you need help remembering the R series from carvin...

http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/images/01-redlinebassamps.html

[T. Alan Smith]

Well, since noone else has posted...

I never owned one, but heard plenty of horror stories.

$400 will get you 2/3 of the way to a new with warranty GK1001RB or 800RB, which is highly respected. Personally, I'd play a couple more gigs and order the GK.

The new Carvin heads are nice. Just don't know about the long term quality.

 

...and I always thought the Redlines were secsee with those red knobs, but I prefer quality over quantity with it comes to feature set.

[Perfessor]

The Carvin Museum!

[dwalmz]

Never owned but read a lot of negative feedback on them. Very problematic.

[BoundandBlocked]

I don't know about the quality (except to say that the one at my church broke down--I don't know if it was a quality issue or abuse), but I do not like the sound of that thing. I'm not good at describing tone, but something about it did not appeal to me and I played it a lot to give it a chance.

[bassplayer7770]

I'd steer clear of Carvin's Redline series.

 

I bought my Peavey Pro Bass 500 used in very good condition for $315 shipped on eBay. There are deals to be had on much better amps...

[L-1329]

 

There are deals to be had on much better amps...

 

 

Totally.

 

I had the redline 210 cab, and still have the R1000. They are not worth the money, and $400 for a R600 is way too much even with the 210. I haven't had any failures with either piece, but the amps problem, other than zero resale value, si that the poweramps are just the most pathetic, anemic excuses for amps I've ever had to deal with. The R1000 is at best a 200 watt head, the R600 even less. The tone was alright, but the usable power in the head is just non-existent. As for the cab, I gave mine away. It just did not have a tone I wanted, and I couldn't find anyone willing to buy it, which is a typical Carvin problem. Stay far away from the Redline series Carvin gear.

[Thumper]

My guitarist has an old Carvin 4x12 cab loaded with Celestion greenbacks. It sounds awesome.

 

Older Carvin tube guitar heads like this one are great amps.

 

I've heard very little good about Carvin bass gear.

[Bryan316]

I used the Carvin R1200 going into a 410 and 18 biamped, as my practice amp at my lead guitarist's house for years.

 

It is a stale, plain, lifeless sound. Yes it's loud, no it's not inspiring. It's got plenty of bells and whistles and tonal switches and tube/SS preamp voicing and all that. But it still didn't tickle my fancy or impress me. Did the job, didn't need to haul my rig every weekend, so I didn't complain. But I was always fidgeting and tweaking and changing things. Wasted a lot of time, actually.

[JeffBass]

I wouldn't get it. It's not bad but the new heads are way better and the Redline cabs are kinda weak sounding.

For 400 bucks you could get a brand new BX600 head with full warranty. Get that and steal a cab from the backup band! : o

[Funkee1]

 

I used the Carvin R1200 going into a 410 and 18 biamped, as my practice amp at my lead guitarist's house for years. It is a stale, plain, lifeless sound. Yes it's loud, no it's not inspiring. It's got plenty of bells and whistles and tonal switches and tube/SS preamp voicing and all that. But it still didn't tickle my fancy or impress me. Did the job, didn't need to haul my rig every weekend, so I didn't complain. But I was always fidgeting and tweaking and changing things. Wasted a lot of time, actually.

 

+1. I used one before discovering Genz Benz, and you have to understand, I was coming from a Crate I bought at a pawn shop!

 

With all that tone coloration, I thought I could get a useable tone out of it, and couldn't. I assumed it was pilot error, until I heard other people have the same complaint.

 

I guess if you take a lousy tone, and add a bunckh of tone- altering knobs, what you get is an altered, lousy tone.

[Davedblyoo]

I bought an R600 new with a 210 and a 115 cabs. I had used Carvin previously with good results and was expecting the same with new rig. WRONG! In addition to all of the bells and whistles on the amp being just bells and whistles, that amp had the most lacklustre tone I had ever experienced. It also had the weakest output of any so-called 600 watt amp ever created. It eventually crapped out on me and fortunately I had a friend who managed to correct the problem (cold solders) after NUMEROUS members on this forum encouraged me to check them.

 

For me, the R600 just plainly sucked. I have never had an amp in my 30 years of bass playing experience that was just as plain worthless as that particular rig. I've had numerous Peaveys, a Fender BXR, an Ampeg combo, a Trace Elliot Commando combo, and a GK 400RB, a Carvin Pro 300 and my current GK 700RB II with 210 and 115 GK RBX cabs (read my review of the 115 RBX at Guitarcenter.com!) and nothing compares in maximum a** suckage like the Carvin R600.

[doyo]

I do own R600 head, well to be exact RC210 combo, which features R600 head. And unlike most of posts here, this thing RAWKS!!!!

At first I thought it sucked, but then I read the manual carefully and followed the direction exactly, then wow it became brand new beast!!

 

It has plenty of output as well (when you follow the direction, that is). I play in a trio with a loud(louder than usual) drummer and heavy guitar playing through 2x12/Mesa 100 watter, and guess what, I am usually the loudest in the mix!

 

I totally recommend it!

 

[perrydabassman]

 

actually i dont care if you thimk its ugly...its the sound that counts. I found a carvin R600 on craigslist for $400 with a R2x10 cab has anyone owned one or played on one or can tell me if they are good amps (especially for 400 smackers)? note: here's a link in case you need help remembering the R series from carvin... http://www.carvinmuseum.com/decade/images/01-redlinebassamps.html

 

 

You can get an R1000 for about the same price, and it is a much better amp. I played an outdoor gig one time with my ampeg 810. a couple came by and said they could hear my thumpin from over two miles away.

[Dutmon]

I have used an R600 for 20 years. I sent it out to Isla Vista where teenagers used it for a year and the cover disappeared. (The 2 by 15 speaker cab came back totally blown out).

I have never had any problem whatsoever with it. People always ask what amp I am using because they like the sound. I use a Carvin 18" speaker for the low frequencies and an Ampeg 2 by 10, with no tweeter, for the highs.

For some gigs I just use a Carvin 15" speaker cab.

These things are bulletproof. I upgraded my tube for a raspier option to go to. The biamp feature and endless tone controls allow any sound you want to be easily achieved.

It bothers me to have the first review of these amps be from a fellow who has never used one but has a strong opinion anyway.

Maybe reviewers should look at the bass guitars they are plugging into these amps. Mine sound fantastic.

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Welcome to Harmony Central Dutmon, and thanks for sharing your POV with us. Stick around, pull up a chair and tell us a bit more about yourself, your music and your gear. What basses are you running into the R600?

[WRGKMC]

Those posts date back to 7 years ago so I don't know if any will respond, but I've used several pieces of Carvin gear and its actually quite good. I even have a pair of their 400W 15" speakers in my Yamaha PA cabs and they work very well considering the low price I paid for them.

[Mikeo]

I owned the R600 bass head and there 4x10 cab. Had it at my place for about a year.

 

I absolutely hated it.

 

600 watts is broken down into two sections at 300 watts each at 2 ohms. So when you buy there 4x10 cab at 8 ohm, your really looking at a bass amp that is pushing out 75 watts of power. The manual say 175 watts at 8 ohm, but you do the math.

 

It distorts out rather quickly, didn't like my American made P bass all that much.

 

Too bad I keep this amp and cab , passed the send it back trial period.

 

I took my time and got really selective on a bass amps and looked at dozens of amps and bass combos.

I ended up with a UK made Ashdown 4x10 combo, which I have owned for well over 10 years.

 

I'm not a gigging bass player, but I hate buying stuff twice if you know what I mean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dutmon]

I have owned and used dozens of basses over the years. Gibson SG, Fender P and J, fretless and fretted, G&L 2001, Musicman.

None of them impressed me compared to what I returned to, the Carvin LB-70 and 75.

I now own Koa wood versions of the lb-70 and anniversary lb-75, which I doubt I will ever change out.

Easy to play, lightweight, awesome sounding with a huge variety of sounds.

Rock on!

[Bassbob]

Ok. Well there is a big difference between Carvin basses and guitars and Carvin amps and cabs. I have owned a few Carvin basses. In particular a Koa LB76 which is an awesome bass. My favorite guitar on the planet is my '99 TL60 which has a neck that puts my vintage Fenders and Gibsons to shame.

 

Now, on to the RL1000. I used this bass head with a Redline 410/118 rig. I loved that thing for a few years, then the preamp section went out on the amp. I got a SansAmp RBI and gigged it for another year or so. Eventually I blew a speaker in the 410. The Carvin replacement ( now no longer Eminence and sourced in China) lasted less than one gig. Literally hundreds of shows on the original speakers and the brand new one lasted a set and a half. Ok, so I buy another one. It lasted about 2 rehearsals. So I bought my first Ampeg 810 and have had no problems with smoking drivers since. These days I use SVTs, but as of now that old RL1000 is being used as a slave to power a sub off the mon out of a Yamaha EMX512SC in my ex drummer's studio.

 

Anyway, my opinion of Carvin amps and cabs, especially modern ones, is that they, well, they aren't for me. They are sterile sounding. The RBI pre sounded 1000000 times better than that old RL10000. Still, I gotta give that thing props. Other than the Ribbon cable issue I put that through sheer hell for years and it took it.